B-Side Guys

Nashville transplant Matt Sahadi’s latest single burns with the fierce clarity of hindsight, painting a portrait of liberation tinged with accusation. “Now That I’m Gone” masterfully meshes the storytelling depth of contemporary folk with arena-ready rock production, creating a passionate indictment of small-town inertia.

The track’s arrangement mirrors its narrative journey, with synth textures and delay-washed guitars providing a dreamy counterpoint to the gritty realism of its lyrics. When Sahadi sings about working “an arc furnace in the scorching heat,” the instrumental backdrop swells with a harmonious blend of British-influenced guitar leads and American heartland rock urgency, effectively bridging the gap between his Rust Belt roots and broader sonic ambitions.

This isn’t just another escape narrative – Sahadi’s detailed imagery cuts deeper, contrasting “clear blue skies” with “red cloud skies of soot and clay” to underscore the stark reality of choosing freedom over comfort. The song’s critical edge emerges in its portrait of the left-behind lover, whose new life of “spending weekends drunk watching television” while following the Steelers season serves as both character study and cautionary tale.

The production choices honor both modern and classic influences, with folk instruments like harmonica and tambourine weaving naturally through the synth-enhanced soundscape. But it’s the chorus that delivers the song’s emotional payload, as Sahadi’s assertion that “the dreams you had were much better with me in them” lands somewhere between lament and triumph.

“Now That I’m Gone” succeeds by avoiding both rural nostalgia and simple condemnation, instead capturing the complex calculus of choosing between transformation and tradition. It’s a song that understands how hometown gravity can either ground you or grave you, depending on whether you’re built for flight.