Ball of Wax 56: James Kelly Pitts – “Rose Colored Wine Bottle”

We’ve heard James Kelly Pitts in many modes: lo-fi weirdo, pissed-off polemicist, field-recording dronemonger, climate mourner, and more. “Rose Colored Wine Bottle” is possibly the most straightforward track I’ve heard from him – a slow, gorgeous, meditation for finger-picked guitar and James’s hushed baritone, backed by subtle swells of steel guitar. The subject seems to be a tragic figure, the tone set with the opening line, “She picks up a rose colored wine bottle and begins to say, ‘All that time I waited on somebody has just been a waste.'” A series of images follows probing the depths of faith and addiction. As you might guess it’s a pretty bleak landscape, but there are moments of light and even laughter – although probably of the bitter sort. There is no redemption to be found here, but there is beauty – as there always is – in the darkness, so we might as well surrender to it. In the words of our protagonist, “my glass might always be half-empty, but it’s never too early in the day.”