Gabe Lee is on a straight track to country music success, and his new song “Property Line” shows how his narrative songwriting and old fashioned style singing (peak of country sound) still manages to stay incredibly modern.
Lee has come out swinging in his country music career, simultaneously setting both the tone and the framework for his success with his first three studio albums. Now, as he embarks on his fourth album in five years time, he seems to be going back to the basics with his songwriting, and the single releases have been exceptional.
Drink the River comes out on July 14th, and with the album’s title track and now “Property Line” already released, fans are starting to set expectations pretty high for the rest of the project’s track list.
His new album isn’t the only thing that Gabe Lee has going for him. Two days after his album’s release, Lee will grace the most famous stage in country music on July 16th, a feat he’s dreamed about for a very long time as a kid from Nashville, Tennessee.
Lee took to Twitter to convey his excitement and the honor he feels getting to make his Grand Ole Opry debut, saying:
“Wow folks. What an honor. Phew! This hometown kid is going to the Opry.”
As for the new single “Property Line,” the storytelling and rich vocals that Lee has become recognized for definitely sounds reminiscent of the classic sound of John Prine (and maybe a little bit of Bob Dylan mixed in?).
The song seems to draw a lot on Lee’s childhood and the connection he had with his father, who apparently was passionate about the land that he owned and protecting the boundaries, or as highlighted in the chorus, the “Property Lines.”
Lee calls it a universal sentiment:
“I knew I had to write this tune when some of my folks down in Alabama told me a story about having to run trespassers off their land last summer, a regular occurrence for ranch owners I hear.
I like to think this story song strikes a chord with pretty much everybody, regardless of creed, religion, party lines, that being… don’t touch ma stuff!”
Traveling around your land and protecting your property at all costs? Sounds a lot like a John Dutton from Yellowstone” type to me…
The song opens with some impressive lyricism setting the scene and imagery for the rest of the tune:
“Daddy bought a hundred acres,
outside of Birmingham.
Never knew a man to love better,
than driving on his own land.
Dashboard of scratch off tickets,
putting miles on that ole’ white truck.
Hauling around this fortune,
and turning it into luck…”
I won’t spoil the chorus for you. You’ll have to give it a listen and the song get stuck in your head like it did with me.
Sit back, relax, and take a listen to Gabe Lee’s next masterpiece: