Ronnie Fauss – “The Big Catch” (audio) (Premiere)

Following his 2012 debut LP I Am the Man You Know I’m Not, Texas songwriter Ronnie Fauss just released his followup to that record, titled Built to Break. Below you can stream “The Big Catch”, a track that Fauss views as critical to the album, calling it the music’s “emotional anchor”. Lyrically, “The Big Catch” examines the effects divorce has on children. As Fauss clarifies, though, this does not stem from anything happening in his life: It’s an interesting thing to explain at home: ‘I’m really happy; we’re all good. This is just a song I wrote.” However, he does add, “I think there’s a little bit of truth and a little bit of fiction in every single one of my songs.” Fauss’ wise words here bring to mind one of the great truths of songwriting; as Warren Zevon put it, “In the songwriting business, there isn’t a section for fiction and non-fiction. It’s all mixed together.”

“‘The Big Catch’ is about ‘what ifs’, big choices, consequences, and regret. It’s inspired by true stories and imagined stories, by people I know and people I don’t,” Ronnie Fauss says to PopMatters about the track. “It’s a song about childhood and how what happens there can echo for generations.”

Built to Break is out now via New West/Normaltown on 4 November.