Singer-songwriter
Ed Romanoff was a latecomer to a musical career. As something of a peripatetic wanderer, Romanoff spent his early adulthood working in odd jobs around the country, including as a cowboy in Wyoming. In his forties, he decided to focus on music and develop his craft, which he did in the best place for that, Nashville. Romanoff may be a late bloomer, but it’s obvious his talent has been lurking for a long time as he is such a songwriting natural that he won the Kerrville New Folk Competition.
On 23 February, Romanoff will release his new album
The Orphan King, the title of which refers to the fact the musician discovered recently through DNA testing that his father isn’t his father. The emotions of dealing with that revelation fuel the song “Less Broken Now”, which we are premiering today in video form. Romanoff is joined by the brilliant duo of Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams on some truly heavenly harmonies that lift the song to greatness.
Romanoff tells PopMatters that “‘Less Broken Now’ is about appreciating the difference from where I am now, to where I was just a few years back. After the shock of learning the truth about my dad (that he wasn’t), and then searching for my biological father (unsuccessfully), I did somehow manage to connect with another family, and then also find a real, true love.
“So, sometimes I still well up these days, usually from a small kindness, but I no longer feel like someone who’s been left behind by false friends, or dark lovers.
“I’d say “Less Broken Now” is a battle cry for the broken-hearted. With Larry Campbell’s beautiful fiddle parts and then vocals from him and his wife, Teresa Williams, the song became what I’d hoped for, a celebration of getting to the other side of sadness.”