This Long Broken Road
| # | Sample | Song Title | Writer(s) | Duration | ISRC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |    | This Long Broken Road | Brian Kittrell | 03:50 | QT65W2535539 |
| 2 | | All It Takes | Brian Kittrell | 05:29 | QT65W2535556 |
| 3 | | Cut Me a Little Deeper | Brian Kittrell | 03:42 | QT65W2535562 |
| 4 | | No Place Like Gone | Brian Kittrell | 03:55 | QT65W2535573 |
| 5 | | Borrowed Time | Brian Kittrell | 04:37 | QT65W2535583 |
| 6 | | Reason Why | Brian Kittrell | 04:13 | QT65W2535590 |
| 7 | | Let Go | Brian Kittrell | 05:17 | QT65W2535596 |
| 8 | | War Inside | Brian Kittrell | 04:39 | QT65W2535601 |
| 9 | | Do or Die | Brian Kittrell | 03:30 | QT65W2535606 |
| 10 | | Paid in Full | Brian Kittrell | 04:35 | QT65W2535620 |
This Long Broken Road was conceived and written by Brian Kittrell, with all lyrics and melodies authored as part of his dual-persona storytelling project. The album is performed by Dawson McCoy, the male voice of the journey, with a counterpart female perspective (Sadie McCoy) planned as a parallel release.
The record was not written in one sitting; fragments and ideas for many of these songs had been sketched across nearly three decades before being shaped into a unified album. That long gestation gave the project both a lived-in authenticity and a layered perspective, tying together youthful longing, adult struggle, and hard-earned reflection.
The production was deliberately stripped-down, leaning into a dark country and Americana aesthetic rather than glossy Nashville polish. The sonic palette is centered on 12-string acoustic guitars, heartbeat-like percussion, sparse piano textures, and raw vocal performances that range from fragile to defiant. Each arrangement was built to breathe, leaving space for imperfection, silence, and grit — making the songs feel lived rather than manufactured.
In keeping with the album’s themes of survival, heartbreak, and resilience, the vocal delivery was recorded to emphasize emotional immediacy over technical precision. The result is an unpolished, cinematic soundscape that mirrors the lyrical terrain of broken highways, shuttered diners, and inner battles.
The song fragments of this album were written over a period of nearly 30 years, and only recently, they were compiled into a full-length album of deep reflection on hardship, endurance, and resilience—themes that run through every track. The title song, “This Long Broken Road,” sets the tone: a weary traveler pushing forward despite exhaustion, looking for meaning in the endless miles ahead. It frames the album as both a literal and metaphorical journey through life’s struggles.
“Borrowed Time” reinforces that sense of grind, describing overwork, sacrifice, and the crushing weight of obligations that never seem to ease. Together, these two tracks embody survival and perseverance.
On a more personal and intimate scale, “Cut Me a Little Deeper” explores betrayal and broken trust, while “Reason Why” captures the anguish of sudden loss — a desperate plea to hold on when it’s already too late. Its “twin,” “Let Go,” offers the perspective from the other side: a farewell in a "voice from the grave" style from someone who cannot stay, urging their loved one to carry on. Heard together, the two songs reflect the devastating duality of grief and acceptance.
“War Inside” turns inward, showing that no matter how successful or composed a person may appear, unseen battles with self-doubt and despair can be all-consuming — and dangerous if left unspoken.
Other songs tackle the choices and consequences that define life’s crossroads. “Do or Die” is an urgent reminder that time is short and decisions carry weight, while “All It Takes” critiques the shallow hookup culture of modern nightlife, showing how fleeting pleasures often lead to emptiness.
Leaving toxic cycles behind is another recurring thread. “No Place Like Gone” deals with walking away from promises that never change, embracing painful freedom rather than staying stuck in deceit.
Finally, “Paid in Full” closes the album with reflection: every joy is sharper because of past sorrow, every love more valuable for the losses that came before. Its stripped-down arrangement captures both fragility and transcendence, hoping to leave the listener with a sense of completion.
Through these ten songs, Brian Kittrell delivers a cohesive body of work that is intentionally raw, unpolished, and cinematic. Each track contributes to a broader portrait of struggle, survival, and the price of carrying one’s burdens down life’s long, broken road. Musically, the album mirrors its lyrical arc: arrangements begin spare and intimate, often building into full, anthemic climaxes. Across the record, fragile vocals, haunting acoustics, and cinematic dynamics bring the themes of despair, struggle, and perseverance vividly to life.
This section offers a deeper look at select tracks from This Long Broken Road. Not every song will appear here — some stories are simply too personal, too painful, or too private to share. What follows are the ones I’ve chosen to speak about, along with the moments and meanings that shaped them.
War Inside
This was a song I needed to write — but more importantly, I needed to produce it, because it has a chance to save lives. Depression isn’t talked about enough, and my goal wasn’t to say, “Oh, you’re gonna be all right. Everybody gets a little sad.” I wanted it to feel like I walked right up to someone in that hole, told them what was happening inside me, and let them know they weren’t alone.
Sometimes, when I was very deep in the darkest places, knowing that there were other people suffering alongside me gave me a glimmer of hope. Even though we were all hurting and doing our best to hide it from the world in isolation, it meant that we weren’t completely alone. Those of us who suffer from depression all know that “voice within that tells us the truth.” It’s not the truth — but in those moments of deep despair and anguish, when we’re alone in the dark with that voice, we’ll believe anything it says and take it as the truth.
Reason Why (twin song with Let Go)
This song carries the weight of fifteen years I spent as a 911 dispatcher. It’s written from the perspective of an operator (me) who answered hundreds of calls that ended this way — with grief, loss, and silence on the other end of the line. Too often, both I and the caller were powerless to do anything more than wait for help to arrive.
I didn’t write Reason Why as a dramatization. I wrote it as a testimony—to capture the echoes of voices I still hear. It’s my attempt to give shape to that helplessness, and in doing so, honor the countless people who’ve cried out for help in their final moments.
Let Go (twin song with Reason Why)
The line “To live in the hearts of others is to never die” is my own adaptation of the epitaph on my grandparents’ tombstone: “To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die.” I never met my grandfather, Pete Walker, who drowned years before I was born, but I miss my grandmother, Alice Faye Walker, every single day.
Let Go is dedicated to them. It’s written as a “voice from the grave,” a message of comfort from the ones who’ve gone before us. For me, it’s a way of carrying their love forward. For others, I hope it serves as a reminder that the ones we’ve lost live on inside us, in memory and in heart.
Do or Die
I tried to go to college half a dozen times across my life, but it wasn’t until 2021 that I finally made the leap to leave 911 dispatch behind and pursue computer science and technology. I started with zero credits, and in December 2025, I’ll graduate with a master’s degree in computer science.
Do or Die came from staring down this long, broken road and deciding it wasn’t too late. I could change my life. I could take a different path. And I could finally be happy. This song is my anthem of determination—for me, and for anyone else who needs to know that no matter how far gone you feel, there’s still time to turn the wheel and blaze a new path for the better.