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Posts Tagged ‘Americana Storytelling’

🎶 Gringo Corazón II: Amor y Olvido

Posted in Music, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Listen on Bandcamp →

There are some stories that never really end — they just find a new song to travel through.
Gringo Corazón II: Amor y Olvido is that kind of record.

It picks up where the first Gringo Corazón https://bill-leyden.bandcamp.com/album/gringo-coraz-n left off — with laughter still in the air, a little more mezcal in the glass, and the same tender curiosity for love, memory, and the people who remind us who we are.


These are stories told across tables, train cars, and plazas — half in Spanish, half in English, always from the heart.

Across nine songs, we meet friends and ghosts, wander old streets, and toast to everything we meant to forget but never did.
From the playful chaos of Whiskey and Prayer Beads to the smoky elegance of Still Laughing in Spanish, and the dreamlike mystery of La Mujer del Tren, each track carries a piece of the same truth: the heart does what it wants — in any language.

The album closes with The Heart’s Got Its Own Plan, a wry, warm farewell that reminds us we’re all just maps without compasses, pointing south beneath the moon.

This project wouldn’t exist without all those nights of music, stories, and the laughter that followed.
Gracias to everyone who’s joined me on this road — from Monterrey to Colima, from memory to melody.

So pour something good, turn up the volume, and enjoy the next chapter of the Gringo Corazón story.

(A la vida, al amor, y al destino que ríe de mí.)

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🎶 Don’t See That Everyday

Posted in Music, tagged , , , , , on November 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

by Bill Leyden
Listen on Bandcamp »

Some songs start as stories, and some stories sneak up and turn into songs. Don’t See That Everyday is a collection of nine of those moments — little snapshots of life that surprised me, made me laugh, or stopped me long enough to notice something ordinary turning into something bigger.

These songs all came out of small towns, quiet roads, and late nights where things don’t look all that special until you slow down. There’s humor in a broken-hearted oil change, grace in a laundromat, a ghost in a barroom, and an angel who may or may not have been there at all. Each track has its own kind of truth, told with the mix of disbelief and gratitude that seems to come with getting older and paying attention.

I didn’t set out to write about miracles, but they kept showing up — not the thunderbolt kind, just the small ones that hide in everyday life. The kind that look like forgiveness, a wave from a porch, or someone refilling your coffee without asking.

“If you’re lookin’ for a miracle, this one’s small — but it’s everyday, after all.”

The album moves from curiosity to peace, from wonder to acceptance. By the time the last song fades, I hope it feels like driving home after sunset — headlights stretching down a familiar road, heart lighter than it was a mile ago.

Thanks for listening, and for finding yourself somewhere inside these stories.
— Bill Leyden

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🎵 New Album Out Now — The Winner’s Curse

Posted in Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I’m excited to share my new 10-song album, The Winner’s Curse, now streaming on Bandcamp.

What It’s About

The Winner’s Curse is a set of small victories and near misses—moments when luck, timing, and human nature twist the outcome just enough to sting. These songs capture the irony of wanting something just out of reach, the humor of good intentions gone sideways, and the quiet grace of letting go.

The Journey Track by Track

Here’s how the album unfolds:

  1. Shut It Quick – When silence makes you irresistible and speaking up breaks the spell.
  2. Wrong Side of Right – No matter what he tries, love keeps flipping the script.
  3. Big Peccadillos – A sly confession of big-little flaws and guilty pleasures.
  4. Missed It by a Mile – Close enough to taste it, too far to hold it.
  5. Shot Right Up to the Middle – Aiming high and landing squarely in life’s perfect nowhere.
  6. Part-Time Hero – Right place, right time, accidental heroism with a humble shrug.
  7. Guess I Shoulda – Small hesitations that ripple into lasting what-ifs.
  8. Breakin’ a Lucky Streak – Catching a sudden run of fortune, knowing it can’t last.
  9. Toronto Layover – A fleeting airport romance that turns into a lesson in grace.
  10. Round and Round – Life’s lessons looping back on themselves with a knowing smile.

Why It Matters

These songs live in the everyday choices that shape us:
– The wave you don’t return.
– The hero you never meant to be.
– The love you almost had but never owned.

If you’ve ever felt like you “won” only to realize there was more to the story, you’ll recognize yourself in these tracks.

Listen Now

🎧 The Winner’s Curse on Bandcamp

Thank you for listening and sharing these stories. Every play, every comment, every quiet nod means more than you know.

— Bill Leyden

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