Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Dan Pallotta is sharing “Kickin’ a Stone,” the latest single from his upcoming sophomore album, Winnebago Dreams (set for release on November 17th), a folk reflection which is imbued with child-like wonder.

Pallotta paints the scene that inspired the songwriting: “I go for a three and a half mile walk each morning on narrow country roads around our home. I pass cows and chickens, sheep and their little lambs, sometimes a few miniature horses pulling a small coach that my neighbor Peter drives around. It’s my favorite time of the day, and over the years I’ve developed a group of friends that are passing the other way and we stop and chat. 

So, what inspired the song was, literally, kicking a stone down the road like I used to do when I was a kid—like we all did‚ trying to see how far I could get it to go, and realizing that such a pursuit is not a frivolous waste of time. Doing the mindless things we did as children—daydreaming, playing with direct, kicking rocks down the road, these things are good for the soul.”

The warm and simple arrangement features a subtle drum groove which adds texture to Pallotta’s reflections. “We’re all living together in the ‘I don’t know,’” he sings. Reflecting on these lines, the artist states that “we all live with existential dread. But we talk about the weather instead of the deep, deep mystery that is life, instead of talking about the things that keep us awake at night.”