Justin Lamb – Podcast Host, Writer, Musician

01 West Virginia

When I was 19, I wanted to go on a road trip through the Appalachian Mountains. While it was a bumpy trip filled with farmers and shotguns and getting lost, it culminated in stopping at a scenic outlook in West Virginia. I walked out into the mountains and climbed down this steep mountainside to discover a hidden treasure trove of love notes and graffiti all colored on the underbelly of this mountain. That visual and that feeling of standing out in the nothingness stuck with me and inspired this song.

The song, itself was primarily recorded in a haze one night when a few of us were hanging out in my buddy’s living room. My friend Dan had his Macbook and some new drum machines he wanted to play with. The rest is history.

02 Sea of Faces

This song was originally written on my guitar when I had a broken string. I think it represents the loneliness we all feel at that fragile age of 18 or 19 when we are trying to figure out where we fit in this world.

03 My Father’s Song

I never knew how to have a relationship with my father when I was growing up. He was some familiar version of a stranger to me, so when I had the opportunity as an adult to not have any relationship with him, I didn’t. I would always end up hearing about him from other family members though. At one point, someone told me that he had been depressed and suicidal. I, myself, had been in that place before and it made me sad that we probably had more in common than either one of us was willing to give credit for. I wrote this song as a love letter to him. He died in 2015 of alcohol-related health problems.

04 Long Way Home

This song first appeared on my album “Walking Away From You” in 2002, but it kept evolving and so I kept recording it. It’s a fun song to visit when I’m playing guitar to see where it currently lives. The lyrics hold no special meaning, but I will always circle back to it, as it was one of my friends’ favorite songs and he passed away in his mid-thirties at a time when we were disconnected. I like to think of him when I play it now.

05 Falling Apart

This narrative is a true story of finding an ex, who had just broken up with me, in bed with my friend a couple days later. I went to a dark place and was filled with rage. This song is the culmination of that.

06 Don’t Know

This song, blatantly inspired by Counting Crows, is about a time in my life where I constantly settled for second best and was frustrated that everyone I was in love with didn’t ever seem to love me back.

07 Cry

This song also appeared on “Walking Away From You” in 2002, but I kept recording it for years as I made tiny tweaks to it. When i was looking back on this album, I was actually frustrated I put this on it. I wish I would have let it live in the past and only be brought to life at shows.

08 Imaginary One Night Stand (Extended Edition Only)

Imaginary One Night Stand, or IONS as we called it, also appeared on “Walking Away From You”, but it was more fun than that album allowed it to be. Once my producer and best friend, Chad Nini (9E Records) got his hands on it and started adding new instrumentation, it finally found its own feet, so we threw it on the extended edition of Living Room Sessions.

09 Complicated (Marissa) (Extended Edition Only)

This song is another true story bred out of frustration. I was newly single and in Los Angeles and crushing hard on a girl named Marissa. We made out one night and I, in true love lust fashion, made a huge deal out of it and proclaimed my undying love for her. She was sweet in her rejection, but it was rejection nonetheless. I kept telling myself that it was all about the timing and that’s what fucked it all up. I think Marissa would probably disagree…