Hometown Life allows us an inside glimpse at Sully Erna’s vulnerability on a very personal level, and attributes most of his honesty and inspiration for this album to the love of his life, Sarah. "We've definitely gone through some complicated times and fought for what we have. And I’m really grateful to have her in my life. We have a very special and unique kind of relationship that most people can only dream of having. And I wouldn’t put that second to anything! These songs are about exposing my inner thoughts, laying myself bare, being honest and expressing genuine emotions... about dark times and positive ones. The celebration of life is about experiencing all those things. Hopefully, they can translate to other people's lives.”
Some songs offer fatherly advice, like the percussion-heavy “Your Own Drum,” an admonition to his teenage daughter to follow her own muse and not be afraid to be different, or trying to deal with life’s hurried pace, as in the rhythmic tick-tock of “Father of Time.” On the soaring “Blue Skies,” Sully reaches out to his loved ones and asks them to acknowledge the man and father he has become from the immature boy he once was.
“When I do a solo album, I write for myself,” he explains. “It’s not for critics, radio or even the fans. I like all different kinds of music that work together. A good song is a good song. I stopped categorizing a long time ago.”
As for how his solo career fits in with his “other band,” Sully is circumspect. “Godsmack is a very energetic, aggressive, powerhouse rock band. It’s for those moments when you want to scream and stomp your feet. My solo stuff is a lot more vulnerable, the grown-up version of who I am and how I process. It’s about finding acceptance for the things that don’t go right in your life, being appreciative for all the memories, good or bad. Sometimes these experiences can be very painful, but I do get some beautiful songs out of it. I’m just happy to be blessed with a gift that enables me to channel this stuff and vent it through my music. And not hurt myself or anyone else along the way. It’s just safer, more therapeutic, to get it out this way.”
Hometown Life does just that, revealing sides of Sully Erna only hinted at in Godsmack, a spiritual man who doesn’t believe in traditional religion, but has forged his own belief system by taking what fits from everywhere, much like the music on his first two solo albums. He’s even hoping people who’ve never even heard of his other band will embrace the new album.
“That’s the whole point,” he explains. “The people who have followed me and can appreciate it, I encourage them to explore. All my albums--including the ones with Godsmack--are like musical journals, diaries of what I’ve gone through in my life at the time. I’d love to reach a whole new audience with this. Music has helped me get through some tough times. That’s when I write. When something makes me either really happy or really sad.”
“All those things we’ve ever done/Give us our chance to prove our love,” sings Sully on the album’s closing track, “Falling to Black,” which is, as he describes it, “a beautifully sad song,” which offers a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. The same could be said of Hometown Life. As Sully himself puts it in “Your Own Drum”: “There’s no shadows/If you don’t have light.”
