Singer/songwriter Jack Schneider breathes new life into Barbara Keith’s long-lost gem “Stone’s Throw Away,” delivering a dreamy, soul-stirring cover that turns longing, homesickness, and heartache into something timeless, tender, and deeply human – a standout moment off his forthcoming album, ‘Streets of September.’
Stream: “Stone’s Throw Away” – Jack Schneider
We don’t have to write the words ourselves to mean them – and sometimes, the songs we don’t write are the ones that find us most deeply.
That’s the magic of Jack Schneider’s “Stone’s Throw Away”: A 50-year-old deep cut made refreshingly new again, it’s a testament to the enduring power of great songwriting and a stunning example of how interpretation can become its own art form. Schneider may be covering Barbara Keith, but he owns this performance completely: With a honeyed voice and expressive guitar in hand, he transforms “Stone’s Throw Away” into something deeply personal – a reflection of longing and loss, of homesickness and heartache. From the tender ache in his voice to the sun-drenched lilt of his fingerpicking, every moment of this song feels as warm and weathered as it does timeless and human. “Georgia never looked so good as it does in Tennessee,” he sings, and suddenly that line – so specific in setting – becomes a universal meditation on distance, memory, and the spaces we carry with us.
My friends from the sidewalk
have all gone home
The time on the hotel clock
is not my own
I’ve been taken by a blind man
who swore that he could see
Now he’s fallen by the wayside
but he’s way ahead of me
Just a stone’s throw away
from my blood relations
Begging mercy by the street light,
someone please deliver me
It’s a dead man’s town
and I can’t get down to the station
And Georgia never looked so good
as it does in Tennessee
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Stone’s Throw Away,” the second single off Jack Schneider’s forthcoming third album Streets of September, out September 19, 2025. A rootsy, radiant folk record steeped in reverence and rich with reflection, Streets of September was recorded live to tape with producer Matt Andrews (Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show) and features a mixture of Schneider originals and revelatory interpretations. Following June’s lead single “How in the World” (a co-write with Vince Gill, for whom Schneider plays guitar on tour), “Stone’s Throw Away” sees the Georgia-raised, Nashville-based artist honoring his past while continuing to find his voice in the present.
“Last year, I had the privilege of accompanying Vince Gill and Emmylou Harris at a Country Music Hall of Fame benefit in New York called All for the Hall,” Schneider recalls. “In my time off on that trip, I experienced the added honor of record shopping with Maple Byrne, Emmy’s longtime road manager and guitar tech and a music historian in his own right. At Generation Records in Greenwich Village, Maple pulled a self-titled Barbara Keith record from the stacks. I’d never heard of her, but I trust Maple’s advice wholeheartedly, and bought the record at his insistence. Later that day, when I mentioned my acquisition to Emmy, she was thrilled: Apparently Barbara Keith quit making music shortly after recording her self-titled album and pursued another career entirely before resurfacing in a ’90s rock band called The Stone Coyotes.”
“When I finally got the chance to listen for myself, I was enamored with Barbara’s songwriting and creative sensibilities, and was dumbfounded that so singular an artist has been largely unknown for such incredible work done back in the day. Being raised in Atlanta, one particular song stuck out to me: in ‘Stone’s Throw Away’ Barbara sings, ‘Georgia never looked so good as it does in Tennessee.’ I worked up a demo of the song, and Matt Andrews, who produced my record, loved it – he had never heard of Barbara Keith, either, and insisted on waiting to listen to the original until after our version was complete. It was important to both of us that we honored the song itself as a unique entity, so that both our version and Barbara’s would be able to co-exist; I wanted to breathe new life into the song and find my own voice as a translator in the process. I am thrilled with how our recording turned out and am especially excited about turning other people on to Barbara Keith and potentially helping her music reach a wider audience, even if a few decades late.”
Keith’s original version, released in 1972, is a propulsive, harmony-heavy rocker – full of jangling piano, searing guitar riffs, and a near-psychedelic energy reminiscent of CSNY’s Déjà Vu. Schneider strips all of that back. His rendition evokes the golden warmth of American Beauty-era Grateful Dead and the tender roots storytelling of The Band. Where Keith sang with fire and fervor, Schneider leans into soft clarity: A mellow, free-flowing delivery lets the lyrics breathe, as he turns his guitar into a second voice – one full of feeling, searching, and soul.
It’s hard not to be struck by the resonance of the words. “Just a stone’s throw away from my blood relations,” Keith (and now Schneider) sings, “begging mercy by the street light, someone please deliver me…” The song may be decades old, but its ache is evergreen – a portrait of displacement, resilience, and the unshakeable pull of home.
I play with a street band, it’s all I know
Held by a concrete hand that won’t let go
I was cut down in a crossfire, I believe it had to be
It took the worst of sinners and it got the best of me
“Stone’s Throw Away” fits seamlessly into Streets of September’s tapestry of personal and spiritual exploration. Much like the rest of the album – which includes covers of Carole King and Dick Siegel alongside Schneider’s own originals – this track speaks to the artist’s deep reverence for the song as a vessel: A way to carry memory, to honor the past, and to make sense of the present. As he puts it, “Songs are alive. They keep people’s memories alive long after they’re gone, too.”
This song, and this version, prove exactly that. A musical heirloom passed down and polished with care, “Stone’s Throw Away” is as much a tribute to Barbara Keith as it is a triumph of Jack Schneider’s own artistry – a dreamy, enchanting revelation full of heart, humility, and a whole lot of soul.
Streets of September is out September 19th. Let “Stone’s Throw Away” guide you there, now streaming exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
Just a stone’s throw away from my blood relations
Begging mercy by the street light, someone please deliver me
It’s a dead man’s town and I can’t get down to the station
And Georgia never looked so good as it does in Tennessee
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