Scorchstack Reviews Theo Fleury's Country Album
the Wayne Gretzky of country albums.
Album art taken by Fleury using a Motorolla RAZR phone, circa 2015
Over a week ago, the Scorchstack team convened in a music studio to do a group listening session of former Calgary Flame Theo Fleury’s debut country album “I Am Who I am”. Our goal was to review it, but things changed dramatically along the way. During the course of the Fleury Sessions as they came to be known we discovered a rich tapestry of analogies, nuanced imagery, and lyrics that shook us to the core.
We paid several hundred dollars out of our pockets just to hear this album the way it should be heard. By the end of the experience, we were changed individuals and the future of the Scorchstack newsletter as well as the trajectory of our very lives may never be the same. Below is an abridged transcript of our thoughts, through the Fleury Sessions for each song.
I Am Who I Am, the title track and front door into the mind of Theo Fleury
Actually, this is a cover of a Mac Miller song. - Ramz
Editor’s note: We discovered immediately that is in fact true. The late Miller released “I Am Who I Am (Killin’ Time)” in 2013 on Watching Movies With The Sound Off. We had no idea Fleury was a Miller fan.
Wait — this is also a song by Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato from Camp Rock. He stole this from Camp Rock! - Ramz
Editor’s note: It also appears Fleury was influenced by the classic Camp Rock single “This is Me” which features Joe Jonas of The Jonas Brothers fame and pop music icon Demi Lovato. We feel that this could be a situation of not attributing sources. Perhaps Fleury was watching Camp Rock during the production of this record and drew from the powerful lyrics of Lovato.
Ramina’s note: Camp Rock, which came out in 2008, has the single “This is Me” which goes “This is real, this is me, I’m exactly where I'm supposed to be.” Fleury’s song, which came out in 2015, goes “I am real, I am me.” Too close in lyrics to not be a coincidence. Fleury stole the lyrics from Camp Rock.
This sounds like he wrote this while touring with those yellow-vest bastards - Nathan
Doesn’t it feel like this would be a song from an episode of Lizzy McGuire? - Mike
General thoughts on the song:
That song fucking slapped! - Floob
I hope every song on this album has a poem in it - Nathan
I think a better song for this record could have been “Hard Out There in Chestermere” - Mike
Track Two: Road to Misery
Is this a Johnny Cash Song? - Ramz
Editor’s Note: No.
He’s so flat. - Nathan
Yeah, it sounds like the producer recommended Theo lay down in a chair while recording this track. - Konnie
At the end of the song our listening party identified a cryptic, if not uncomfortable laugh by Fleury which garnered mixed reactions. Subsequent listens of that section of the song through the rented studio’s equipment framed the laugh as symbolism of the chaotic nature of the demons Fleury may have been singing about.
This slaps. It just slaps. - Ramz
It needs more laughter - Everyone, unanimously
Orville Peck has his mask, Theo has his laugh. - Nathan
Everyone in the studio must have all been thinking “This is really good. We gotta keep going [after recording one song].” - Konnie
Track Three: Bottle of Shame
It’s a jig - an east coast country bop song
Concerns of rhyming and song structure crept into our listening session. By then we had spent close to four hours in the studio. We surrounded ourselves with iconography, imagery, and research material from the record. We didn’t just want to listen and review this record - we wanted to become this record. Our descent into the mind of Fleury continued well into the early hours of Sunday morning. We were sleep-deprived, we were digging into each other’s pasts, and trying to become the subject of the song’s stories.
Nothing made sense anymore. We were delirious from the countless listens, replaying of sections of the song, and sleep-deprived. Every guitar lick was air guitared in a manner that we were really performing the songs ourselves.
Track Four: Farewell
It sounds like a 2009 ballad that Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus would perform. - Ramz
Editor’s Note: We confirmed that neither Billy Ray Cyrus nor Miley Cyrus were involved with this song, the album, or ever performing any covers of the songs.
There’s too much reverb. Also, is that an accordian? - Floob
This has to be a song about a grandma or a close relative. - ???
When we emerged from the studio to conclude day one of our deep dive into this record it was 9AM. We broke away for a few hours to catch some sleep and recalibrate our senses. We started the next session with the aptly titled fifth track “Playing With Fire” which was also Fleury’s debut in the writing world.
It’s a dramatic retelling of his book?
Editor’s Note: The entire song is legitimately media quotes, excerpts, and etc. from the press around the book. If anything it doubles as some sort of avant-garde filler piece potentially produced by Kendrick Lamar. Research into the album concluded that Kendrick Lamar did not collaborate with Fleury or the production staff on this track.
We reached out to Lamar’s team for comment and did not hear anything back.
Track Six: Santa Fe Kinda Day
Why does this song sound like it started in the middle of the song? - Ramz
Yeah, and what exactly is a "‘Santa Fe Kinda Day?’ - Mike
With that question out in the open we started researching daily life in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We wanted to know the in’s and out’s of life there. Who are the people of Santa Fe? What do they do for a living? What pain do they experience. Because of the ongoing pandemic we could not travel there, seek out new lives among the community, or anything of that nature.
Instead we relistened to the song on repeat, searching for the hidden meaning. Maybe there was a secret to finding the perfect balance in life. Maybe it was another cliche, on top of cliche after cliche we had listened to already.
There’s a part on the chorus where there’s a drawn out “Same” to start the chorus, which garnered mixed reactions:
It sounds like he’s about to bust into Metallica’s "St. Anger” every time he sings “same” that way. - Mike
I would rather listen to St. Anger than this song. - Floob
We listened to St. Anger after this and concluded that we would actually listen to the next song on the album. We only had 12 hours of studio time left and any further distractions from our project would certainly cost us more.
Track Seven: My Life’s Been a Country Song
This album does need more banjo. - Konnie
He bought a John Deere just for this song. - Nathan
Do you think he knows when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em - Floob, wondering about life’s cards being dealt in Fleury’s life
Midway through the 33rd listen of the track, Ramz posed perhaps the most important question of this review and project: Do you guys feel like Theo Fleury’s life has been a country song? We were all quiet, pondering, and attempting to put ourselves into his shoes here. Was it? Was his entire life a country song? If so, which song? What if our lives had also been country songs? What would our songs be?
Floob asked us outright “What song would his life be if it were a country song?”
Nathan’s recommendation was Johnny Cash’s “Hurt”
Mike’s was much more meta: "He was the ‘friends’ in Garth Brooks’ hit single ‘I Got Friends in Low Places’
Ramz, Floob, Christian, and Konnie could not make an educated guess.
As we approached the chorus the conversation focused in on Theo, the artist not the hockey player. We forgot for a brief moment that this man endured so much playing hockey and he was pouring his heart into this non-offensive, radio-friendly country.
He’s a honky-tonk badonkadonk. - Nathan
Would he try to save a horse by riding a cowboy? - Floob, noted horse conservationist
Imagine RMR doing a cover of a Theo Fleury song - imagine him covering this song. - Mike
Editor’s note: RMR gained notoriety earlier this year with his touching tribute to Rascal Flats with his instant hit RASCAL. Like we were when RMR dropped his country trap classic, we were wiping tears off our glocks.
Track Eight: First Rodeo
Amid the high we felt from the previous track, Ramz known for her astute ability to predict the future posed the most important question in the Theo Fleury Sessions:
Do you think “this ain’t my first rodeo” is a lyric in this song? There’s a 60% chance it is.
I bet this is a song about his experiences at his first rodeo, ever. - Floob, astute observational literary figure
Is this a circus song?! - Nathan, Konnie, Mike when we hear the accordion hit the first time.
Then it happened: he said what Ramz had predicted. The studio erupted. There were cheers, hooting, hollering, and hugging. It was as if we all were winning a sports championship. This moment in song, in music, in Theo was our Stanley Cup. Nothing will ever top it. We have experienced something few on this planet will experience, the purest form of adulation for an artist and his craft.
The backing vocalists are now known as “The Traveling Theo Fleurys” - Floob
The guitar solo in this song has appeared in three or four previous tracks. - Konnie
Wouldn’t be funny if this wasn’t his first rodeo.
Editor’s note: In the following weeks we will be conducting an in depth research piece on Theo Fleury’s history at rodeos. Imagine that we’re CBC’s Fifth Estate and we’re going to produce an award winning documentary series only it’s based on the merits of whether or not a former-NHL player turned country music artist is telling the truth about his history in rodeos.
Track Nine: Sick As Your Secrets
Definitely about an ex-wife. This is the ex-wife song. - Mike
This was written years prior but it was clearly directed at future prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau - Nathan
He rhymed ‘else’… with ‘else’. - Konnie
Is anyone else thinking about a Theo Fleury standup routine now? - Floob
With Floob’s question posed, we used what remaining time we had in the studio to work through a hypothetical standup routine. All of the jokes would be strictly directed at the Liberal Party and all of them are the same jokes your uncle makes on Facebook; receiving two likes from his circle of boomer friends.
Track Ten: Rattlesnake aka The end of our journey
We went into a brief discussion as we hit the end of the listening experience revolving around what the key demographics were when conceiving this album. We wanted to try to form some sense of understanding on how Fleury went about determining his audience:
Paddy McCallion, producer - “Theo I think you have all these great ideas and there is something here, but… what’s the demographic? Who is this record for?”
Fleury looks up from his notebook, full of his deepest secrets and shoots a look only a NHLer would use to make his point heard
Fleury - “Red Deer.”
McCallion - I love it.
Editor’s note: Nathan felt it was important to emphasize that this is the greatest thing to be associated with Red Deer, ever.
Final Grades and Favourite Tracks
Konnie - Rattlesnake. Grade: 7/8 Wayne Gretzkys
Floob - Playing With Fire. Grade: 6/8 Ash Koleys. Editor’s note: Phil Deschambault was in Ash Koley. He helped produce this album with McCallion.
Ramz - First Rodeo. Grade: C+
Christian - Playing With Fire. Grade: At least one rodeo.
Nathan - Playing With Fire. Grade: 3/5 Trucks.
Mike - First Rodeo. Grade: Must listen.