Now, poised to record his sophomore project, McComb feels he's finally found exactly who he is as an artist and is excited to show the world, having come through the myriad of challenges the music business has thrown at him in only a few short years.
"I've spent the last year and half writing songs." explains Jeremy. "It's just a more focused approach to what it is that I do. It took me a few years to figure out who I am as an artist and a writer. Now I finally feel like I'm hitting my stride both personally and professionally. I've also been co-writing with some highly respected and great songwriters like Bart Allmand, Rick Huckaby and Jonathan Singleton. I feel like I've found where I fit in. I recorded my first album, "My Side of Town" five years ago and I have come so far from that. I've been writing since I was a teenager but after the last record, I really focused on trying to hone that craft and I think it's paying off," says McComb.
It's been a long road for the hard-working entertainer, who paid his dues in a multitude of ways before landing his break with Parallel Records and JP Williams, the manager of Larry the Cable Guy. At 23, while working as an afternoon DJ and music director of a Spokane radio station, Jeremy met “Cable Guy,” who was so impressed with Jeremy's smarts and savvy that he hired him to come on the road as his tour manager. Williams was also impressed with Jeremy's music and signed him to a subsequent management/record deal. They Charted three singles from his debut album including the ballad, "This Town Needs A Bar," the heart wrenching "Cold" and "Wagon Wheel," with videos on CMT & GAC.
Jeremy also contributed several of his original songs to movie soundtracks during this period, including the theme songs for the Grammy-nominated "Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again," "Blue Collar One More For The Road," two songs on the "Health Inspector" movie soundtrack and the “credits” song for the movie "Bait Shop" starring Billy Ray Cyrus & Bill Engvall. Impressively, his songs have appeared on projects with combined sales totaling over six million.
Following his run with Parallel, Jeremy stepped back from the business to concentrate fully on his songwriting and rededicate himself to his music, while he continued performing and touring around the country, opening for artists like Sugarland, Montgomery Gentry and Trace Adkins. He also captured the top spot on MySpace for an unsigned country artist.
Jeremy found a sort of peace in the process this time around and settled in, focusing fully on expressing who he is and what he's about. The result are songs like the breezy and sweet, "Easy As Breathin," which he co-penned with Grammy nominated writer / producer Kevin Kadish, and "Cherry Chapstick," which takes us all back to those fun, innocent days of a first kiss. The new material is a departure from the hard-livin’ & rowdy, take-no-prisoner days of his earlier years that Jeremy is relieved to be seeing from his rear-view.
"I was in a different place on my first record...lyrically, mood-wise, just everything. Now I feel like my focus is clearer. It’s a natural progression for an artist to change from record to record and I think I've found a happy medium of all of my influences and of who I am now musically,” says McComb. “I'm proud of my first record and I'm also proud when I listen to it that I can see that I've grown. I'm still just writing what I know.” I've got a song called "Lived In," which is about exactly where I'm at in my life,” McComb says.
Fans will get a chance to hear some of the new material in the new webisode series, "Big Country Blues” starring Jeremy, which will air online in the coming months. Created by Brian Ross (an associate producer with MTV), the series chronicles the life experiences of a Fictional struggling young country artist who leaves his home state of Kentucky, at the urging of his girlfriend and family, to try out for an American Idol-style show. Jeremy starts filming in early September.
Cold
Jeremy McComb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is tellin me that your still crazy for me
Somethin bout' the way your lookin
Is tellin me that your not really over me
Am i holdin not letting go
The things that never went away
Am i not holdin on ive got the need to divide you from every living breath
Im cold in the morning thinking about you
Cold in the evening when Im without you
Cold in the morning and I go crazy living life like this
Somethin bout' the way you move me
Is telling me that your still crazy for me
Somethin bout' the way im feeling
Is telling me that im not really leavin
Im holding on not letting go
The things that never went away
Holdin on ive got the need to provide you with every living breath
Im cold in the mornin thinking about you
Cold in the evenin when im without you
Cold in the mornin and I go crazy living life like this
Cold in the mornin thinking about you
Cold in the evenin when im without you
Cold in the mornin and I go crazy living life like this
You say you dont know, you say you dont know me
Since i lost my soul
Ohhh take a look inside, you cant deny
Ohhh take a look inside theres more then just a ghost to find in me
Im cold in the mornin thinking about you
Cold in the evenin when im without you
Cold in the mornin and I go crazy living life like this
The lyrics to Jeremy McComb's song "Cold" speak to the conflicting emotions that come with a relationship that has ended, but the feelings of love and attraction have not faded away. The opening lines "Somethin in the way your movin, Is tellin me that your still crazy for me" indicate that there is still an unspoken connection between the two parties. The following lines "Somethin bout' the way your lookin, Is tellin me that your not really over me" suggest that both parties may have moved on, but there is still a lingering desire for one another.
The chorus, which is repeated several times throughout the song, emphasizes the emotional turmoil that the singer is experiencing. The lines "Im cold in the morning thinking about you/Cold in the evening when Im without you/Cold in the morning and I go crazy living life like this" express the singer's longing for their ex-partner and the difficulty in moving on.
The bridge of the song features lines that indicate the singer's frustration with their ex-partner's lack of understanding. The lines "You say you don't know, you say you don't know me/Since I lost my soul/Ohh take a look inside, you can't deny/Ohh take a look inside there's more than just a ghost to find in me" suggest that the singer feels misunderstood and wants their ex-partner to see them beyond the relationship's end.
Overall, "Cold" is a song that speaks to the complicated nature of love and relationships. Even when a relationship has ended, the feelings between the two parties may not disappear entirely, leading to confusion and emotional turmoil.
Line by Line Meaning
Somethin in the way your movin
The subtle movements you make suggest that you still have feelings for me.
Is tellin me that your still crazy for me
Your actions indicate that you still have strong emotions towards me.
Somethin bout' the way your lookin
The way you stare at me implies that you haven't completely moved on from our past relationship.
Is tellin me that your not really over me
Your gaze suggests that you still have lingering feelings for me.
Am i holdin not letting go
I may be holding onto something that I should have let go of a long time ago.
The things that never went away
The unresolved issues that we faced in our relationship still linger with me.
Am i not holdin on ive got the need to divide you from every living breath
I cannot let go of my desire to keep you away from every aspect of my life, even if it means causing myself pain.
Im cold in the morning thinking about you
The thought of you leaves me feeling empty and alone in the early hours of the day.
Cold in the evening when Im without you
Without you, I feel a sense of loneliness and disconnection that leaves me feeling cold inside.
Cold in the morning and I go crazy living life like this
My feelings of emptiness and loneliness are enough to leave me feeling unhinged and lost in life.
Somethin bout' the way you move me
Your actions and words still have a strong impact on me.
Is telling me that your still crazy for me
Your words and actions reveal that you still have strong emotions towards me.
Somethin bout' the way im feeling
The way I am feeling suggests that I have not yet moved on from our past relationship.
Is telling me that im not really leavin
My emotions reveal that I am still clinging onto the memories and emotions of our past relationship.
Holdin on ive got the need to provide you with every living breath
My desire to keep you away from me is so strong that I am willing to make sacrifices and suffer consequences in order to achieve it.
You say you dont know, you say you dont know me
You have expressed a sense of disconnection or unfamiliarity with who I have become since we were last together.
Since i lost my soul
I have lost a part of who I am since we were together.
Ohhh take a look inside, you cant deny
If you take a closer look at me, you will see that I still have emotions and feelings that refuse to go away.
Ohhh take a look inside theres more then just a ghost to find in me
If you dig deeper, you will find that there is more to me than just a simple spirit or an ex-lover.
Contributed by Kaelyn K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.