“Big Skies” is the pangs of nostalgia for the wild cowboy days, boiled down to their most poetic, country essence. The record from R.W. Roldan is permeated by a palpable, yet not overwhelming or heartbreaking melancholy; the kind of melancholy whose bitter-sweetness seamlessly envelops your mind and body and makes bourbon taste even better.
It certainly has a common feel to it, as with pretty much all songs epitomizing country’s best practices – unadulterated, laid-back, but emotional singing that sounds like a calm reminiscence of a different time that is slipping away, accompanied by some melodic acoustic guitars and slide guitars that gently waft in the background like warm memories, and poetic lyrics that feel like a mature cowboy’s inner monologues.