We Speak Music
Oscar Peris Rubio releases quietly beautiful new single “So I Will Walk”
There’s something quietly beautiful about the way “So I Will Walk” came into existence. Born from an open mic encounter in Amsterdam and recorded just before Oscar Peris left the city for Ireland, the collaboration between Oscar Peris and Maria Lucia feels less like a calculated duet and more like two wandering artistic paths naturally crossing for a brief moment in time.
The song itself reflects that spirit of transition. Built around gentle folk textures and carried by a sense of emotional openness, “So I Will Walk” is about stepping into uncertainty without needing every answer beforehand. It captures that strange point in life where familiarity begins to lose its meaning, and the unknown suddenly feels more honest than staying still.
Lines like “We keep dancing the routine on a worn out floor” immediately establish the emotional landscape: exhaustion with repetition, with cycles that no longer inspire growth. But instead of turning cynical, the song moves toward surrender and curiosity. There’s a quiet courage in the chorus:
“So I will walk / Even though the path’s unclear”
That sentiment becomes the emotional center of the track, not dramatic rebellion, but a calm decision to keep moving forward despite uncertainty.
What makes the collaboration especially compelling is how naturally both artists’ sensibilities seem to blend. Maria Lucia’s warmth and softness balance Oscar Peris’ introspective and philosophical leanings, creating something that feels grounded yet searching at the same time. Even the creative process behind the song feels deeply personal and handmade: Oscar improvising on saxophone, Maria painting the cover art, both stepping outside of their usual artistic comfort zones.
There’s also an understated universality to the writing. While the lyrics speak specifically about leaving, exploring, and embracing change, they never become overly literal. Instead, the song leaves enough emotional space for listeners to place themselves inside it. Whether it’s about leaving a city, ending a chapter, or simply becoming someone new, “So I Will Walk” understands that growth rarely arrives with certainty attached.
In a musical landscape often driven by immediacy and overstimulation, Oscar Peris and Maria Lucia offer something quieter here: a song that breathes, reflects, and gently encourages movement toward the unknown.
And maybe that’s what makes it resonate most—not that it claims to know where the road leads, but that it walks anyway.
We Speak Music
SCARECROW’s John Blaze Delivers a Career Milestone With “Twisted” and Earns Josie Music Awards Song of the Year Nomination
John Blaze has spent nearly four decades fronting SCARECROW, the New York hard-rock outfit he founded in 1989, and in 2026 he delivered one of the most ambitious releases of his career with “Twisted.” Now, the song has reached another major milestone: “Twisted” has been nominated for Song of the Year in the Metal/Alternative category at the Josie Music Awards.
The nomination places Blaze and SCARECROW among this year’s recognized independent artists and songwriters at the Josie Music Awards, with the awards ceremony set to take place at Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry. For an artist whose career has been built on persistence, independence and decades of hard-rock storytelling, the recognition gives “Twisted” an entirely new chapter.
Written by John Blaze and Chaffin, “Twisted” pulls together a lineup of guest players that reads like a rock family reunion, built around Blaze’s long-standing friendship with Dee Snider and the legacy of Twisted Sister, a band woven into SCARECROW’s story from its earliest days.
That connection goes all the way back to the beginning. SCARECROW’s original lineup featured guitarist Eddie Ojeda, best known for his work in Twisted Sister, and the two camps have remained connected ever since. “Twisted” makes that history explicit: Dee Snider appears on the record with guest vocals during the track’s climactic second verse and chorus, lending the song an instantly recognizable jolt of arena-rock power.
Snider isn’t the only marquee name in the credits. Mark Wood, founding violinist of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, contributes electrifying violin work that gives “Twisted” a cinematic sweep uncommon in modern hard rock. Rounding out the track are TJ Jordan on lead guitar and Bobby Marks on drums, creating a powerful, road-tested foundation behind Blaze’s signature gritty vocal delivery.
The Josie Music Awards nomination feels particularly fitting because “Twisted” isn’t simply another SCARECROW release. It brings together different eras of Blaze’s musical life while pushing the band’s sound forward. There’s history in the recording, but there’s also urgency. It doesn’t sound like a band looking backward. It sounds like one with unfinished business.
For Blaze, the nomination also represents recognition of a career that has largely been built outside the traditional machinery of the mainstream music business. Independent rock artists rarely survive for decades without a fierce commitment to what they do, and SCARECROW’s longevity speaks for itself. From the band’s early years and its 1991 debut, through the Blood, Sweat and 20 Years retrospective and the theatrical production I Am SCARECROW, Blaze has continued developing a world around the music rather than simply releasing songs.
That makes the Song of the Year nomination especially meaningful. After nearly four decades of building SCARECROW, Blaze now heads to the Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry with one of his most ambitious songs recognized in the Metal/Alternative category.
And there’s something wonderfully appropriate about the song that got him there.
“Twisted” connects SCARECROW’s beginnings to its present, reunites Blaze musically with figures tied to the band’s history, and demonstrates just how much fire remains in the project. With Snider and Wood contributing to the record and Blaze still driving the band he created from the ground up, the track feels less like a nostalgic reunion than a statement of survival.
Now it’s also an award-nominated song.
For John Blaze and SCARECROW, nearly four decades into the journey, “Twisted” has become more than another entry in the catalog. It’s a career milestone — and this September, that milestone is taking SCARECROW all the way to the Grand Ole Opry.
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