Music: Kyle Paisley

KYLE PAISLEY

Evansville singer-songwriter returns with a breezy pop jam for the summer

One of the tri-state's most gifted songwriters, Kyle Paisley is back in a big way with "Just Friends," a finely-crafted three minute pop jam that's tailor-made for the summer with a breezy, hummable melody. The sugary chorus, which features some sweet John Mayer-esque guitar strumming and a jazz-funk chord progression, lays out the case for keeping a relationship simple rather than risk losing a valued personal connection: "We don't have to be lovers/ We can just be friends/ Either way I'm gonna love you/ Right until the end." Paisley expands, "there are a few key people that the song is about, but I take from my entire life of having relationships with people."

Like Paisley's previous singles - "Wishing," "Mine," "Only One," "Dance All Night" and "Kisses" - "Just Friends" was tracked with local producer Steve Tyner at Black Cat Recording. The two handled all the instrumentation apart from the drums which were provided by Tyner's right hand man, Jon Kern. Officially released at the end of June, this new addition to Paisley's growing catalog of original songs slots in nicely and sounds great live - even when stripped down acoustically as performed recently on the web series Lifestyles After Dark.

Paisley hopes to release two or three more singles this year, including the two-years-in-the-making "Brokenhearted" which

boasts an irresistible ELO vibe

and his most adventurous

vocals to date. Ultimately, he's working towards one goal in particular: "This whole year has been about building up enough original material content to not play covers anymore under my moniker."

Catch Kyle Paisley live at Lamasco Bar & Grill on August 7.

For more info, follow Kyle Paisley on Facebook.