49. Single Review of Cry Now by Katie Dwyer

 Originally published October 4th, 2024

About the Artist

When people think of October, the first thought that comes to mind is Halloween. Even now, as I write this review, I am in an office surrounded by Halloween decor that I'm going to be spending the weekend using to decorate for the festivities that will occur at the end of the month. Additionally, when I think of October, I think of it as the first real month of fall (technically, that would be September but Global Warming, am I right?). It's the month where we break out the flannel, cook our first pot of chili, football is in full swing, leaves are changing, and sometimes, we will be lucky enough to walk out one morning and feel that crisp fall air in the morning, for the first time after a long and treacherous summer persisting with its exhaustive heat. 

I love the fall. It feels so natural to me. Woodsie. I think of the Appalachia Mountains, log cabins, fire pits, seeing my breath in the air in the mornings, and most of all, I think of folk music. There is no greater time for folk music than those crisp fall months. If we are lucky, our community might have some sort of fall festival and local musicians will fill the air with the most wonderful acoustic sounds that can only sound like the silence of impending winter. The wonderful sensation of folk music is the experience I feel when I listen to Katie Dwyer and her new single Cry Now. 

Katie is a perfect ambassador of folk. Reminiscent of artists like Lisa Loeb and Ani DiFranco, she has a way of captivating an audience with her ability to sing the most beautiful melodies in a way that makes them sound broken. And she's taken those broken pieces, structured them so meticulously, painted them with feelings that only look like they're colors, and she's placed these fragments between her and the sun. Yes, the music hits me like sun through a stained-glass window. It's an abstract departure from reality, but it lacks the ray guns and time travel. It is purely organic. 

Katie is a folk artist from South Dakota. If you visit her website, she posts about upcoming shows and events she is involved in, she has really great merchandise available, she has a blog/digital diary where she can keep her fans up to date, and she has news about her music. You can also catch her on her social media profiles like Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. 

"In addition to writing and producing my own music, I am half of the band "Moon and Sea," organizer of local songwriter events, Board Member and past President of Short Grass Arts Council, a custom songwriter for Songfinch, a freelance audiobook narrator for audible, and the South Dakota Historical Society Press, and owner of Heartbreak Kick Productions" (Dwyer, katiedwyer.com, Bio) I think it is evident when an Independent Artist really wraps themselves within their community and Katie would be a great example of that. It may be somewhat speculative, as I have never been to South Dakota, but I get a sense that she lets that out in her music. 

About the Song

"Cry Now" is a folk-alternative song with a runtime of just under three minutes. Songwriting credit goes to Katherine Jean Dwyer (artist), and was published by BMI and Heartbeat Kick Productions. It features Dwyer on vocals, with an accompaniment of acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, drums and percussion, and strings. It is performed as a ballad but has a very romantic build.

About the Music

Musically, "Cry Now" has an unmistakable folk-air to its performance. Dwyer delivers a soft, subtle vocal melody that sounds shy but is still not afraid to stand up for itself. Her vocals are mostly of a pure tone, but she sneaks vibrato and soft vocal runs in that are so technical, so subtle, they're easy to miss if one is not listening for them. 

The instrumental performance operates within Dwyer's lead, introducing piece by piece to the song as the song builds. The acoustic guitar and piano get things started, with the guitar gently panned to the outside of the mix. As the vocals come in, the strings layer behind the guitar piano, then the percussion sneaks in; with the drums almost just playing an accent to the build of the song. This is very much a "lighter song," and leaves a meaningful impact. It somehow gives contradicting impressions as it has a very fluid movement but somehow manages to encourage stillness. That stillness could be a resounding effect of the lyrical performance bleeding into the space of the melody.

About the Lyrics

"(Cry Now) sounds like it might be a really sad song about me crying or something, but it's actually an empowering song about the fact that you can't please everyone." (Dwyer, Facebook) The lyrics pair so well with the melodic delivery as Dwyer introduces us to a meek narrative that begins to and eventually finds its strength through the song's progression.

"Never could I impress you baby/You're not ready to even let me/Denial has you under its spell/I'm on trial in your imaginary court from hell" I am going to pretend I didn't see Katie's facebook post, as I dive into her lyrics to try and find my own interpretation here. This, to me, sounds like the author is speaking to their Subject as if they are frustrated with them and exhausted from the Subject's control and judgement. The Narrator is addressing her Subject's unrealistic expectations.

"Cry now/Go ahead, babe/Let it all out/Insecurities/Keep falling/Out of your mouth/Every time you speak." In the chorus, the Narrator seems to identify within the Subject that these expectations are stemmed from their own insecurities and, instead of embracing them. Instead of doing the hard work to address them, they have placed these defense mechanisms to protect them. 

In the second verse, the Narrator seems to want to put their Subject on their heels a little bit: "Never could I impress you, darling/Please know that I'm not even trying/I do whatever I want and it has/Nothing to do with your insignificant preferences." Here, I get a sense that the Narrator is using the only threat they know can catch their Subject off guard. The Narrator takes power away from their Subject by admitting they no longer concern themselves with what the Subject expects from them.

I really love the lyrics here. This is a very empowering song and, now that I know what inspired the author to write these lyrics, the message resonates that much more.

Final Thoughts

There could not have been a better song to start October off with Fifteen Minutes of Fame reviews. To me, this is the perfect song to throw onto a Fall playlist and, while pulling crisp, blunt, Autumn colors down from your attics, or out from your closets, it will set the mood as we leave the summer behind and enjoy transitioning into the bleak still of winter. Katie Dwyer brilliantly mixes small-town vibe with main stage sound and she couldn't be peaking at a better time when the musical world seems emphatic on wanting to reintroduce the organic compositions of folk, bluegrass, country, and other roots sounds, while blending them with the more pop-culture ideals of Americana. This harmonious partnership bodes well for music and it bodes especially well for artists like Katie Dwyer. So, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Make sure you follow Katie on all of her social media platforms, take the time to sign up for her email list here and check out her other releases on Spotify.