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Following his August indie-folk single Like This Again, Los Angeles singer-songwriter Mike Stocksdale returns today with a fiery, political and bluesy new single Build A Wall.
The Dylan-goes-electric Americana vibes of the new track arrive on the eve of one of the most important elections in US history, and it’s sardonic and incendiary lyrics are the fruits of the division, frustration and deception sowed by the Trump administration. It’s available on all streaming platforms now and precedes his new LP If You Ask Me I’ll Tell You, set for release on October 1st.
“This song was a highlight of a hip hop side project I released under the pseudonym $IDEQUEST. I found myself wanting to write protest lyrics, but I couldn’t find a voice for them in my folk/rock/singer-songwriter style,” explains Stocksdale. “Somehow hip hop became the perfect genre for my response to our nation and administration. I started playing this folksy bluesy version of “Build a Wall” live in 2019 and it quickly became a crowd favorite, so I decided to put it on this record. The lyrics speak for themselves. They’re blunt and political and urge people to view everyone as equals with different stories, not as lesser humans because they were born on a different part of a map with dissimilar upbringings. The song calls out Trump for his crimes and inadequacies while turning his catch phrase, build a wall, back on himself. “
Listen on Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube (lyric video).
Mike Stocksdale is an artist you’ve listened to your whole life – or at least it feels that way. There is a familiarity in his melodies, the warmth and grit of his guitar playing and the honest stories he tells that hits home. His ability to translate his personal experiences into relatable lyrics and choruses is a reminder of the timeless power of honest and organic songwriting in an era of quick-hits shapeshifting and blurred genre lines.
Find Mike Stocksdale at mikestocksdale.com, instagram.com/mike_stocksdale and twitter.com/mikestocksdale now.
