This week’s local artist spotlight goes to Rock Eupora. Clayton Walker was raised in Mississippi but moved to Nashville to turn his rock dreams into reality. Now, Walker is known as Rock Eupora has taken music city by storm. Since 2014 Eupora has released three full-length albums that he wrote, produced, and performed himself. These albums blend rock, pop, and a little funk to create a unique sound that can only be described as gritty electric pop-rock.
As of late, Walker is back with two new singles. “Hurts to Laugh” and “Dish Island.” “Hurts to Laugh” is the subject of our affection this week, and we can’t get enough of this single.
“Hurts to Laugh”, is about letting go of the need to be important is liberating, providing some relief from the pressure to constantly perform,” says Walker.
This release sounds right out of the Stone Temple Pilots era; the instrumentation and rhythm make you want to bang your head, and the lyrics offer an upbeat escape to a hard rock-inspired song. The contrast of the lyrics and the high-intensity beat make this song a wild ride from start to finish. Especially after learning about the meaning behind the song, you can really tell that this is about letting go and finally being able to breathe after being free from the enormous weight of stress.
"I'm falling free, falling free, from fear and anxiety. I wanna breathe. I wanna breathe and be here now".
Lyrics like these make this release stand out and highlight a comforting statement we can all relate to our current reality. Everything is so heavy and daunting at the moment, we all want to be free from fear even if it only lasts three minutes and 45 seconds. “Hard to Laugh” is a perfect break from the chaos and a reminder to let go, no matter how difficult it might seem.
Walker even went a step further to lift spirits in a time of crisis with a new music video for “Sun.” Over the last few months, he has been urging people on social media to send in videos of something that has brought them joy over the COVID pandemic. He compiled these clips into a joyous music video filled with dogs, babies, and even new hobbies. It’s hard to watch without a huge smile and maybe even a few tears. Despite whatever madness surrounds all of us, we will always have music to be the one true equalizer.
Tune in all week long to hear “Hard to Laugh” as we feature Rock Eupora as our Local Artist of the Week. Catch it live on-air at 100.1FM on your dial or streaming live at lightning100.com.
written by Madison Sharp
