New West

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."

Hiatt själv placerar "The Eclipse Sessions" vid sidan om två av sina bästa album - 1987 år "Bring the Family" (med Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe och Jim Keltner) och "Crossing Muddy Waters" från 2000. "The three albums are very connected in my mind", säger Hiatt. "They all have a vibe to them that was unexpected. I didn't know where I was going when I started out on any of them. And each one wound up being a pleasant surprise."

Wallflowers: Exit wounds 2021 [Digipack / CD]

I can do whatever I wanna all by my lonesome<br/>If that's a problem well you can't say shit<br/>Cause I'm going my way<br/>Livin' and dyin' - NIKKI LANE<br/><br/>From the first bass note within the driving drum beat you can tell something is different about the new record from Nikki Lane. The backbeat feels like a gutsy strut while the lead guitar feels like a revved up engine shifting gears. Denim & Diamonds comes out firing, spit shining the cowboy boots and tossing on a jean jacket.<br/>Produced by Joshua Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Denim & Diamonds has the Highway Queen embracing a more rock-oriented sound while still maintaining the heartfelt outlaw country sound she has developed across her previous three releases. Denim & Diamonds still has the fuck-off flare of which Nikki has come to be known. Her stylized, story-telling lyrics are all there as well as her catchy country hooks. The outlaw country sound is now balanced out with a gritty guitar and a machine gun snare that echoes the sound of 70's rock.<br/>Nikki Lane has made a record that sounds new and old. Familiar and surprising. She embraces where she has come from, ("First High", "Born Tough") the lessons learned along the way, ("Good Enough", "Try Harder") all while doing things her way, ("Denim & Diamonds", "Black Widow").

Rootshjälten Steve Earle's första album med enbart nytt material på fyra år. "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive" är titeln på plattan och även på boken som kommer ut i USA samtidigt. Boken, som redan fått mycket bra kritik, handlar om en fiktiv läkare som inte får någon ro eftersom Hank Williams ande plågar honom. Till saken hör att läkaren var den som försåg Williams med tabletter under hans sista tid... " I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive" var titlen på den sista låten<br/>Hank Williams spelade in. <br/><br/>I vackra "Heaven Or Hell" gästar Earles fru Allison Morer. Som producent hittar vi ingen mindre än T Bone Burnett som bland mycket annat producerat kollaborationen mellan Alison Kraus & Robert Plant. Han har också producerat album med John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello och soundtracket till "Walk The Line".<br/><br/>Digipack.

Earle Steve & The Dukes: Ghosts of W.V. 2020 [Digipack / CD]

Samtliga tolv låtar på "Breakdown On 20th Ave South" är skrivna av Julie Miller och producerade av Buddy. Plattan är till stora delar inspelade hemma i paret sovrum, som de döpte till Studio B, med en humoristisk bugning till den lite mer berömda RCA-motsvarigheten. <br/><br/>"Breakdown On 20th Ave South" är paret Millers första gemensamma album sedan 2009 års "Written In Chalk". Anledningen till att det dröjt så länge är dels att Julie haft hälsoproble, dels att Buddy varit extremt eftertraktad som musik och producnet och jobbat med artister som Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Solomon Burke, Richard Thompson, Shawn Colvin & Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, The War & Treaty med flera.