Five years ago, Arthur Alligood took his first few steps into the music industry. Then he sidelined such plans to look after the first few steps of his child. For the first time since 2006, the Nashville area songwriter is back with a new recording entitled I Have Not Seen The Wind. Produced by kenny Hutson (katy Bowser), Alligood’s acoustic charms carry whispers of Bill Mallonee and Matthew Perryman Jones within. That bodes well for an artist hopeful for an audience after so much time. “It might have been difficult if I didn’t have anything else to occupy my mind, but I was rushed into a whole other world,” says Alligood. “I’m changing diapers and trying to keep up. Music is a whole other world in itself to keep up with if you’re an independent artist, so everything just got put on hold in that world. I almost feel that I’m beginning again as far as music is concerned. Everything feels really new.” While Alligood might have put the career on hold, he maintained some semblance of a writing schedule during that parental season. It was the outer momentum of touring and recording that was placed on hold. Then he made a new friend in Hutson who helped birth the idea of a new project. “I didn’t start thinking about another record until the last year or so,” says Alligood. “I met kenny Hutson and we did one song together and really hit it off. We had a lot of fun and decided to do something together. We did a Kickstarter deal and raised the money to finish the record, so we’ve just been doing that for the last year or longer and we’ve just put it out.” If you’re wondering if being a new father will affect Alligood’s melodies, you’re not alone. Alligood’s own friends wondered the same thing. “A friend asked me if I was going to start writing sappy father-daughter stuff,” explains Alligood with a laugh, “but I haven’t done that. I didn’t start writing songs about looking into a baby’s eyes or anything. But it has completely affected the way I look at everything—the way I look at the world, my wife, my own life. If your perspective goes through such a change, it’s natural for that to affect your songwriting.” — Matt Conner www.arthuralligood.com Arthur Alligood CCM 43