Richard Orofino employs a deft use and contrast of texture and more ethereal guitar tone on his song “Johnnycakes.” There is a more distorted rhythm guitar part that serves as a grounding element in the song as more ethereal guitar melody floats over the top accented by keyboard and synths that sprinkle the song with a bell tones like the glimmer in a stream in bright direct sunlight, and all of it giving off an aural haze that lends the track an otherworldly, dream-like yet uplifting quality. Difficult to say what the song might be about but it does draw upon nostalgic imagery including the johnnycake which is a cornmeal flatbread that was an American breakfast staple and in some parts of the country it still is, a bit like pancakes but of a specific variety. The song invokes the image of steaks and “mom’s gravy” and contrasting that with the ideas of being expected to act like someone is in love with an actual human with flaws and limitations rather than the idea of that person. But that the narrator in the song will miss that person when they leave. It’s that ambiguity that lends the song a variety of interpretations regardless of specific inspirations. But where it hits the most poignantly is in the layered musical elements that make it feel like it exists out of a specific time and context which is something one doesn’t often hear in a pop song. Listen to “Johnnycakes” on Spotify and follow Richard Orofino at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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