New West

McMurtry James: The horses and the hounds 2021 [Digipack / CD]

Som titeln antyder är nya plattan en hyllning till läromästaren och vännen Jerry Jeff Walker, som dog hösten 2020, 78 år gammal. <br/><br/>Med "Jerry Jeff" kompletterar Steve Earle den serie hyllningsplattor som inleddes med 2009 års "Townes" (Townes van Zandt), fortsatte med 2029 års "Guy" (Guy Clark) och som nu avslutas med "Jerry Jeff".<br/><br/>2021 gav Steve Earle dessutom ut "J.T.", en fin men smärtsam hyllningen till sonen Justin Townes Earle, som dog 2020, endast 38 år.<br/><br/>"The records were recorded and released in the order in which they left this world. But make no mistake - it was Jerry Jeff Walker who came first," says Earle.<br/> <br/>Earle was 14 when he first heard Walker. His high school drama teacher gave him a copy of "Mr. Bojangles," Walker's classic ballad about an unforgettable character he met in a New Orleans jail. After Earle moved to Nashville in the 1970s, he had the opportunity to get to know Walker, who enlisted him as his designated driver.<br/>"There's a tendency to think of Jerry Jeff around a relationship to one song," Earle says, referring to "Mr. Bojangles," which was covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Sammy Davis Jr. "He was also such a great interpreter of other people's songs. But my main purpose in recording this album was to remind people that he wrote a lot of fucking great songs."

"Gonna hang on a little bit longer, sleep well, work a little harder; put my faith in something I can't see", sjunger Lilly Hiatt i titelspåret till sitt tredje album, "Trinity Lane". Några raka, uppriktiga rader från ett album där Hiatt blottar sig totalt. Texterna är i högst grad personliga och berättar om en uppväxt präglar av mammas självmord när Lilly var bara ett år, om personliga problem, om alkoholberoende och kampen att göra sig fri från det. Men här finns också sånger som blickar framåt och är fyllda av hopp.<br/><br/>"Trinity Lane" är producerad av Michael Trent från Shovels & Rope och musikaliskt är det en befriande blandning av Hiatts americana-rötter och hennes kärlek till nittiotalets grunge/postpunk med band som Dinosaur Jr., the Breeders och the Pixies.<br/><br/>"I like to rock out", säger Hiatt. "Trent really brought that alive. I wasn't playing by the rules because I didn't and don't believe in them. And what I really miss is the way we celebrated angry women in the nineties very openly and allowed them to express that side of themselves through their music. I think women should be allowed to be angry".<br/><br/>Lilly Hiatt är som de flesta säkert redan anat dotter till John Hiatt.

Inleds med en skitig americanablueslåt - och vandrar sedan runt i genres som rock, country och soul. Med ett komp som bl.a. inkluderar Mark Knopfler, Derek Trucks och Chuck Leavell levererar Randall något av det bästa vi hört på denna sidan jultomten. På New West såklart.

Kristofferson Kris: Closer To The Bone [CD]

Yoakam Dwight: 21st century hits 2000-12 [CD]

Crowell Rodney: Christmas everywhere 2018 [CD]