Jacksonville’s Kevin Driscoll has an interesting origin story for this one. The song grew out of a chance meeting with Vancouver-based songwriter Moira Chicilo at an Andrea Stolpe songwriting workshop on a hilltop outside Nashville in 2023. The two connected, decided to collaborate despite living nearly 3,000 miles apart, and the chord progressions came together during a stretch Driscoll spent in New York City in 2024. He sent a rough recording to Chicilo, who came back with the title “Someday Got Away” – a phrase that apparently locked in the song’s emotional direction immediately. They finished it within a month over video sessions. Because neither could fully agree on the final lyrics, both recorded their own versions, so listeners who seek out Chicilo’s take will find something similar in spirit but distinctly different in execution. Driscoll’s version was recorded at Long Jump Studios in Jacksonville, with synth work from Jeremiah Johnson in Los Angeles – whose chorus contributions bring what Driscoll describes as an “ethereally simple” quality – and mixed and mastered by Johnson as well.
Musically, the acoustic guitar and simple percussive elements create a musical drone that represents the stagnation and inaction Kevin is speaking to in the lyrics – the paralysis of not pursuing opportunities that could have turned out great if only fear wasn’t so crippling. In hindsight, there is a lot of regret around those moments where fear got the upper hand, and the song takes time to dwell on that beautifully, especially with those almost spoken-word baritone vocals that carry a strong Leonard Cohen quality.
The influence list – Tom Waits, Roger Waters, Nick Cave, Joni Mitchell – is a coherent one for a song this measured and lyrically focused, and Driscoll earns the comparison rather than just claiming it. For a song about the roads not taken, the production wisely resists the urge to overcrowd the space. The restraint is the point.
