“The Phone Call” Rings with Truth and Testimony from Country Veteran Richard Lynch

Michael May 4, 2025 3 min read 0

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Richard Lynch isn’t chasing trends. He never has. He’s the kind of artist who shows up, guitar in hand, boots planted firmly in the soil of real life. And on his latest single, “The Phone Call,” he proves once again that sincerity and soul will always matter more than polish or pyrotechnics.

This isn’t just another country gospel tune with a Jesus name-drop for effect. “The Phone Call” is Lynch doing what he does best—telling a story so intimate and unaffected it feels like you’re eavesdropping on a man’s reckoning with his past. There’s no posturing here. Just a verse, a voice, and a truth that hits like a Sunday morning hangover turned holy.

Lynch spins a tale about a buddy who calls out of the blue after hearing a song on the radio. At first, it sounds like a catching-up call. But as the conversation unfolds, it becomes something more: a confession, a cry for help, and finally, a moment of salvation.

“I’ve done some things in my life that I’m not proud of,” the friend admits, “but I’m giving my troubles to Jesus, starting now.” Lynch doesn’t just sing the words—he inhabits them with the kind of gravity only lived experience can give.

There’s no flash in the arrangement, and that’s the point. A lonesome steel guitar haunts the background like a ghost from the Grand Ole Opry, while Lynch’s baritone—weathered and real—does the heavy lifting. It’s not trying to be slick; it’s trying to be honest. And in that honesty, it becomes powerful.

This new version of the track, pulled from his latest LP Pray on the Radio: Songs of Inspiration, reaffirms Lynch’s place as one of the few remaining torchbearers for true-blue country. While the genre’s mainstream often forgets its roots in favor of beer-soaked clichés and pop production, Lynch digs into the dirt of human connection. He’s not singing for stardom—he’s singing because he has something to say.

In a world of empty hooks and algorithm-chasing singles, “The Phone Call” feels like a lifeline. It’s not flashy. It’s not urgent. But it’s real. And that makes it radical.

Richard Lynch didn’t reinvent the wheel here. He just reminded us why it was built in the first place.

–David Marshall