‘Trying Times’ from Tai Shan – Out Now!
We’re delighted to feature the wonderful Tai Shan again today, with her latest single ‘Trying Times’. It’s a simply gorgeous song about facing struggles and it’s one that many of us can relate to, especially after the last couple of years and the mental health epidemic that Covid-19 has been the cause of. The song comes from the place of a friend lending a hand and letting another know that things will work out and get brighter. We asked Tai Shan to give us the story behind the song:
‘Trying Times is a song written as a response to the challenges I have faced during the pandemic as a new mom. My daughter was 4 months old when the pandemic started and I was literally packing to be on a plane when a major tornado hit Nashville March 3rd 2020, a day later my tour was canceled as the Covid shutdown began. With the loss of touring and steady income my husband (and duo partner) Austin and I had to get by with donations, food banks and PPP loans. It was a lonely existence raising a new soul alongside a new threatening virus. Questions like “will she ever have friends” and late night scrolling through covid infections google searches were a constant and still are a real part of my life as we wait for 2-5 year old vaccinations to start.
Then in the fall of 2021 my uncle died of Covid, a family member brought it back from a family trip and he died 3 days later. I remember being overwhelmed by grief and mourning his death when I saw a…
small sign in a church parking lot. The little billboard read, ‘Trying times don’t mean that you stop trying.” The line knocked me over because as a parent of a young kid with no local help or family, I am beyond exhausted and fatigued and sad at the state we are in. It made me think about my daughter’s birth. I was in labor for 52 hours with no drugs and this pandemic has been 10 times harder than the pain of birth.
When I sat down to write Trying Times, I wanted to write an anthem, a soundtrack for someone saying to their partner or their friend ‘Don’t give up on me, we can make it through. I know the words of Trying Times have helped me barre down and keep trying, keep working and be hopeful for a better tomorrow. I hope they can help others too.’