They say that knowing is half the battle; what they don’t tell you is that it’s only the first half, and maybe not even the hardest half either. On their new single, “I Didn’t Know,” Nashville crossover rockers the Goldy lockS Band capture that moment when you realize you’ve been hoodwinked—and must acknowledge not only the time you’ve wasted on a lie but the shadow of uncertainty it’s cast across your future.

The song is a portrait of betrayal that’s rendered in stark, snapshot-like images: a rainy bus stop, a dead cell phone, a “missing ring” that turned into a “nasty thing.” Somebody’s done somebody wrong, all right, and the tune’s chorus couldn’t do a better job of laying out just how much of a cause for despair that is: “I didn’t know/ How quick that this would fold/ I didn’t know/ And our love could grow so cold.” Which begs the nagging question: Now what?

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The thought is left deliberately hanging, but there’s nothing indecisive about the music itself. “I Didn’t Know” makes a typically exhilarating addition to the band’s catalog of full-bodied, eminently commercial bangers, with a pointedly askew, “Smooth Criminal”-type crush groove that’ll bring you to your feet—and keep you on your toes, just like its disillusioned protagonist.

Giving its tears of heartbreak a little extra sting, the track features contributions from hardcore country artist (and pro wrestler) Mickie James Aldis, plus Clay "Uncle Snap" Sharpe and Brian Andrew "Rooster" King of country rappers The LACS. It was almost fated that Aldis and GLB frontwoman Goldy Locks would team up for a song someday, since the latter has been a part of TNA Impact Wrestling as a commentator, a manager and a wrestler in her own right (not to mention having a podcast, Goldy’s Closet, that’s a sub-cast of ex-WWE writer Vince Russo’s The Brand). 

“I can’t believe it’s taken so long for Goldy Locks and I to rock out together!” Aldis says. “She’s a force to be reckoned with and brings so much passion to everything she does. This was such a rockin’ blend of two worlds colliding, and I think it turned out pretty magical!”

The artistic alchemy the Goldy lockS Band engages in, though, goes beyond simply mixing harder-hitting sounds with elements like country. Their entire process is a study in creative improvisation, with guitarist Johnny Oro laying down riffs on the tour bus and at sound checks, just so Locks can later put words and melodies to them during workouts at the gym. That work in progress gets sent to drummer Rod Saylor so he can bash out parts in his home studio, and then all the way to Brazil, home base of the bassist Wandley Bala the group retains for recordings only. A circuitous way to operate, to be sure, but so far, it’s paid off handsomely: The outfit’s deep repertoire has made them a top concert draw as both a headliner and an opener for heavyweights like Nickelback, Stevie Nicks and Maroon 5, and on record, they’ve sold thousands of albums over the years of performing.

They’ll be adding to that tally with a new, as-yet-untitled album in the months ahead. Before then, the group has two big shows coming up to round out the year in style. December the GLB will be packed with private parties. The Goldy lockS Band will ring in 2025 with a New Year’s Eve bash at Kahuna OS in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Forget what we said earlier about the burden of knowing: When the music is this good, here’s to 12 more months of fooling around and finding out.

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