So you are to me.

I realize that I love singer/songwriter types way more than a lot of my friends. I realize that I go weak in the knees at the mere mention of a guy with a guitar who writes and sings his own amazing songs. I also realize that I sometimes get stuck in musical Groundhog Days, during which I basically listen to the same album or artist non-stop for awhile.

Well, folks, we’re in the midst of one. The artist in question is Peter Bradley Adams. (Who goes by three names. I so think we should all go by three names. It’s just that Mandy Marianne Crow doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. And it somehow seems way cooler on a guy. Anyway, I digress.) Lately, I’ve been listening to eastmountainsouth, a duo made up of PBA and a girl with a beautiful voice—and they’re no longer singing together. On Sunday night, I lay in my bed listening to eastmountainsouth while reading a book. It was beautiful and comforting, relaxing even.

There’s some music that I think you just have to close your eyes and feel. It’s just too beautiful, too big, too much. It involves all the senses and asks more of you than just passively listening. Damien Rice is like that for me, along with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. And lately, eastmountainsouth.(As an aside, eastmountainsouth’s music is used in one of my favorite movies, “Elizabethtown.” It’s “Hard Times,” and I think it’s played right at the beginning of the road trip. But I could be wrong. Because I often am!)

Don’t get me wrong, I like PBA’s solo stuff. Guy has a beautiful voice and can write amazing lyrics. But in his solo albums, he seems to be trying to replace the magic of his eastmountainsouth partnership with Kat Maslich-Bode by inviting a revolving list of female vocalists to sing harmony on his albums. “Gather Up” included Sara Bareilles and “Leavetaking,” his newest, includes Katie Herzig’s harmony vocals—and her smoky voice is a good match for PBA’s voice and songwriting. PBA was the primary songwriter in eastmountainsouth and his skill is still on full display in his solo releases. . . but something’s just not the same. Oh, I love his solo albums and close my eyes to listen to his voice, but as good as his solo stuff is, nothing compares to the simple, pure beauty of eastmountainsouth’s “Hard Times,” “Show Me the River,” and “So You Are to Me.” (I apologize for this video.)

And PBA included a solo version of So You Are to Me on “Leavetaking.” It’s the one song on the entire album that doesn’t have some female singer providing background or harmony vocals, which I think is probably intentional. And while the version is nice, it’s not the song that haunts me like the eastmountainsouth rendition does. It’s not the song I hit repeat on just to hear it all again. It just doesn’t have the same purity, power, or passion without Kat.

So, I love you, PBA. I may even have a bit of a crush on you. I think your songwriting is nothing short of amazing. But I miss eastmountainsouth. A lot.

It’s sad you guys only put out one album!