Behind The Album: Lightning Stills

By Editorial Staff | Published: Feb 23, 2026 10:41 AM EST

Omaha-based outlaw country crew Lightning Stills just released their self-titled debut album and to celebrate we asked them to tell us about the new record with a track by track breakdown. Here is the story:

On their debut album Lightning Stills Each song is a chapter of a journey. The cut-time upbeat "Gas Me Up" saddles up to a bartender's pour that "kickstarts the fires inside." And when that fire starts dying, the quick-step dirge "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Dealer" offers a pick-me-up, even if the keys haunt and forbode and a chorus joins in like a spiritual. Relationships go off the rails in the instant classic "Drunker than Me," its saloon piano and shaggy accompaniment coalescing into a soaring bridge just in time for "Rambled Out," a dirty rock and blues number. In "My Mama Wants a Love Song," the main character wonders how to "write a love song without the pain." Where would it start, and "where would it go?" In answer, fiddle and steel soar toward brightness, where "a catchy tune catches the light." But when you're as far down as the narrator is, the climb up is steep. When stark pulses of drum and guitar open "Spirits," a listener might expect Johnny, Kris, or Waylon to step in. Craig Fort bottoms out his voice, lamenting to a priest that there's a "devil over there, giving me hell." Still, by song's end, the time has come to throw off those "sheets to the wind," and "Willie and the Ghost" follows, shimmering like an Irish-American cowboy ballad, drums rolling. In "Closed Down the Bar," the character finds sober redemption-an uplift of singalong furnished perfectly with a shouted, "One more time."

Lightning Stills is a venerated cast of Omaha musicians - a who's who of local artists of varying genres, all unified in a love for pure and unadulterated Outlaw Country. Originating in 2020, Craig (a hardcore, metal, and garage mainstay whose leads the post-rock mainstays Leafblower) first formulated the band with Omaha music icon and multi-instrumentalist Mike Friedman who had been playing country for decades. Pulling into their magnetic orbit a "good-timing odd bunch" that features guitarist Tom May, bassist Dan Maxwell, and drummer Javid Thunders, Lightning Stills was born. "We're a real sundry assortment," he says. "Dan and I have been playing together in various projects for 15 years. The other fellas have played in folk, indie, garage, metal, etc. That's one thing that's always been nice in my experience about Omaha. You can have a bill with hip hop/metal/country, and everyone that comes out are friends and possibly play in other projects with each other as well."

Lightning Stills - Track by Track for self titled debut album

Gas Me Up
Lyrics By Craig Fort

Gas Me Up is a song about excess. My drug of choice was more. It didn't matter what it was. If I was drinking, I wanted to drink more. So I would find something to help to do that. Then I would want to do more of the help. I basically lived at the bar that I worked at for ten years. Most nights we went pretty hard. When you're at a bar for that length of time, there are lots of trips out to the car in between rounds with your buddies. Sometimes it was for a pick me up, sometimes it was to get positive, sometimes it was to put ears on a new song that someone was working on. Then you'd go back in and everyone would get another round of beer and shots. Despite the reason for the walk, there were a lot of great times and good talks just sitting in a car in a bar parking lot in between drinks. The "who ahh" hoot at the end of the song was a tip of the hat to my grandpa who recently passed. He gave me my first guitar and a fender amp that no teenager had any business owning. He also was the frontman of a country band. After he played a real bar burner, he would let out a very satisfied sounding "who-ahh!".

He's Not Heavy, He's My Dealer
Lyrics by Craig Fort

I would always tell myself "I'm not gonna do anything tonight", but then once I got to the bar, it was like my mind just said, "bullsh*t", and started ordering drinks one after another. That would get me to the point where I need a little nose booze to mix with my booze booze in order to keep going. Luckily my dealer was basically my roommate at the bar, so access and temptation was always there. With me handing my whole paycheck over to him, along with a bunch of other regulars doing the same, we helped secure his financial independence. He knew what he was doing, though, he would buy us all tons of shots to get us hammered so we needed to buy something to keep us going. It was a vicious cycle the whole gang of us were caught up in.

Drunker Than Me
Lyrics By Craig Fort

Drunker Than Me isn't necessarily a finger pointing song. It is about a severe alcoholic/addict being in a relationship with another severe alcoholic/addict and the struggles that come along with that. In the beginning, it seems like a match made in heaven because you're both partying and having a great time. Eventually, the two people have the same polarity and begin pushing each other away like magnets. There's also a dilemma there because not only are you frustrated that you have to deal with this, but you're also in the back of your head somewhat jealous that it's not you that is piss drunk. Addiction is wild.

Rambled Out
Lyrics by Craig Fort

Rambled Out is a song about fighting an uphill battle against a blind money train for years, and it just feels like it's never gonna end. When you can't make sense of what's going on because it just doesn't make sense. You can't give up so you just have to put your head down and keep on fighting the good fight and hope justice comes at some point. You're just so tired.

My Mama Wants a Love Song
Lyrics by Craig Fort

My mom actually called me once and pleaded with me to knock it off already with the drinking and drugging lyrics. She said I should write a nice love song for my wife. As I was sitting there feeling uncomfortable about making myself that vulnerable at that time, I realized this is what I should be writing about. It wasn't intentionally written to be a love song. It was written about how tough and awkward and uneasy it felt for me to write a love song. When I made the music video, though, it ended up turning into more of a love song for my mom after all.

Spirits
Lyrics By Craig Fort

Spirits is a song about the times that I would become a recluse. I wouldn't answer phone calls, texts, or the door. I would just hide in my house or basement with this awful feeling of dread that I couldn't shake. I didn't want to talk to anyone, all I wanted to do was drink and make myself numb. The drinking unfortunately was what was making me depressed and not wanting to talk to anyone. I think it was because I was ashamed of how much I was drinking, which in turn made me drink more and hide more. Sometimes I would even look at the situation and realize that I was not in a good spot and I didn't like where I was at, and I didn't want to be there, but I also didn't want to change my consumption. So I kept stepping on the rake.

Willie and the Ghost
Lyrics By Craig Fort

I've been at my current job for eleven years. There were two security guards that we had nicknamed "Willie"and "The Ghost" due to their appearances and behavior. I always wanted to use that as a song title so I put it in my pocket. One day I was dealing with some anxiety about who knows what and I started thinking about ghosts of my past. Sometimes things from that time will haunt you well after you've made amends. This song is about that struggle. To keep on fighting the good fight, and keep your head up. Looking forward and not back no matter how difficult, while also knowing you can't fall back on alcohol like you used to.

Closed Down the Bar
Lyrics By Craig Fort

I was very generous when I was drinking. That is what all of my money went to. I was at a movie theater watching a George Jones tribute with my wife, and during an interview they mentioned him closing down a bar. Right away in my head, I laughed and thought "I must have closed down the bar when I quit drinking.." The lightbulb went on and it was like a Dewey Cox moment. I had lyrics and ideas coming at me like crazy in my head. I was thoroughly enjoying the film, but I couldn't wait to get home and put this on paper. Once I started, I think it took me 10 minutes and I was done. I just started thinking about things that had actually happened since I stopped drinking. The liquor store that I used to buy beer and whiskey at, every single day for years, all of a sudden burnt down six months after I stopped going there. I still drink as much beer as I used to, it's just zero alcohol NA beer. I have noticed since I stopped drinking coincidentally the NA beer selection has gotten buck wild at the grocery store. I bought my first home a year after I quit drinking and there was a VFW with cheap mini pictures right down the street open to the public. It was a six block walk and I definitely would've been keeping their lights on if I was still drinking and living near there. This is a song of achievement and progress. Leaving the past behind and moving forward onto better things for you and everyone around you. It's a song that shows that change is possible and celebrated.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself below and learn more here and if you like what you hear, you can order limited editions vinyl here!