Jared Deck didn’t mean to give up his music career, he just needed to get by. During the pandemic, he found a full time job in political organizing which ultimately led to him running for and winning election to the Oklahoma State House of Representatives. “Head Above Water” speaks to the blue-collar struggle of getting ahead in a getting by world. Winner of the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival songwriting contest, Deck sings of hard work and hard luck, harkening upon his days as an outsourced factory worker, an oil field roughneck, and a full gospel church musician.