MAGNET Exclusive: Full-Album Premiere Of Josh Gilligan’s “Party Of One”

Though he’s lived there for more than a decade, Josh Gilligan doesn’t seem like Nashville material—even if defining “Nashville material” has become increasingly difficult these days. Party Of One (Easy Does It), his modestly elegant, ruefully affecting debut, positions him as a less intense Music City alternative to Elliott Smith. Or if you’re looking for comparisons among the living, Gilligan’s unassuming vocal approach and comfy folk/pop aesthetic bear more than a passing resemblance to award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter Ken Yates.

Gilligan credits his mother for “inadvertently crafting the palette” of Party Of One. The middle of five children, he was heavily influenced by the ’70s soft-rock and singer/songwriter fare floating around his Florida household: America, Wings, Christopher Cross. Half of the album was recorded in a friend’s home studio. The rest features guitarist Chris Peranich and bassist Ian Shaw, both members of Nashville’s Disappearing Teeth Trick, along with drummer Soren Burkum.

MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland got Gilligan’s take on each track.

1. “Anything”
“To put it simply, it’s a song about putting yourself out there. That’s all anybody can do—just keep showing up. That takes some courage, whatever your life may look like. It’s a ‘cheers’ to anybody re-upping and trying to live their life well.”

2. “Ceiling”
“The end of an era or season can sneak up on you, and you just know it’s time to start moving somewhere else. It’s not really a good thing or a bad thing—just the next thing to do.”

3. “Tightrope”
“This one’s about feeling like a late bloomer and choosing to believe it’s never too late to do what’s right for yourself. Musically, it’s one of my favorite songs on the record. I wrote it with my friend Jacob Jeffries, and it kind of became the blueprint for the musical feeling of the project.”

4. “Free”
“This is a live take of an instrumental written by Chris Peranich. He taught the song to the band, and we recorded it as he was teaching us. That’s the take that ended up on the record. I just loved the energy, and I think it serves as a really nice, reflective turning point in the arc of the record.”

5. “Turn The Lights Back On”
“This was the first song I recorded in my home-studio space. I was feeling really stuck in my writing, and I was so happy when this song finally came out of an afternoon of just pushing myself to get the project going. It’s about looking for that first feeling of joy after some low points. I wrote it while coming out of a bout of depression, and the chorus just kind of repeats that I was looking for the lights to come back on.”

6. 500 Questions
“A song about doubt—more specifically, about letting go of the myriad questions we may have and just moving forward. Working on what I can and letting go of what I can’t is something that is often very hard for me to do, so it was helpful to process it through a song.”

7. “Party Of One”
“At a few points, it says, ‘A party of one just isn’t that fun.’ I’ve grown to love solitude, but true friendship and connection are irreplaceable things. This song embodies that idea more than most of the songs on the record.”

8. “Everything”
“This started out as a song for my mom. It’s about speaking up about how we feel and expressing the good things we believe about each other, rather than just waiting or holding those thoughts in. Time can cruise on by us and feel so short, so I wanted this song to feel short, too. I like ending a record about solitude on a song about reaching out to those we love.”