Yuma - STEVEN R. TABOR

Yuma

When Justin Townes Earle died of an overdose in August 2020, the world lost one of its most insightful singer-songwriters. His songs, his albums and his live performances, could be dark and cynical but they could also be raucous, joyful and just plain fun. Each time I saw him perform, I was left with the uneasy feeling that he was battling addictions and sadness, and that there was little that he, or anyone else, could do about them. When I first heard "Yuma", I was astonished that anyone could write a song from the perspective of someone preparing to end his own life. I could imagine the mother in the song receiving the postcard from Yuma (or I always interpreted it as--"You, Ma") and the girlfriend "pretty Angeline" getting a phone call to let her know that her boyfriend was no more. It's the kind of song that gets acted out in your mind, and won't let you be. For that reason, in this series, I have the model Nicky playing the part of "pretty Angeline" as she receives the news that her boyfriend just "fell back to earth again".

If you'd like to see the full series, download the PDF catalog here.