SONG PREMIERE: Jeff Mamett Spins a Rich Cowboy Tale with Lived-in Americana On “Like Old Uncle Jim”

Jeff Mamett writes songs rooted in place, work, memory, and the quiet bonds between people. His music sits in the Americana tradition—plainspoken, melodic, and attentive to everyday lives rather than spectacle.

His forthcoming album, Fortunate Son (due out August 21st), is a collection of character-driven songs moving through rural landscapes, late shifts, front porches, and family stories, tracing how meaning is passed hand to hand. The record favors restraint over drama, letting small details carry weight and leaving space for listeners to bring their own experiences into the songs.

Mamett’s writing is observant without judgment, reverent without sentimentality—songs meant to be lived with: heard on back roads, at the end of the day, or in moments where listening feels like company rather than distraction.

Today, Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the standout tune “Like Old Uncle Jim,” a character-driven Americana piece centered on a worn-down rodeo man most people don’t quite believe anymore—told through the eyes of a kid who still takes him at his word. The song is a work of lived-in Americana that finds Mamett spinning another rich lyrical tale of life in the West. Driven by a rootsy pocket with a steady feel and a chorus that tends to stick after one listen, the tune has the same galloping tempo of a slow horseback ride, accentuated by acoustic guitar and a subtle twang.

Mamett describes the inspiration behind the tune:

“I knew somebody like this—the kind of man whose stories don’t always land the same way depending on who’s listening. With Like Old Uncle Jim, I was interested in that gap between what people say about somebody and what you see for yourself. As a kid, you don’t question it the same way—you just take it in.
The details felt more honest than trying to explain him—the cigarette, the pony ride, the way he carried himself. By the end, the truth is there if you’re paying attention, but it doesn’t come out and announce itself. It just sits in the room.”

LISTEN: