Music these days seems to straddle several genres of music and A Bakersfield Dozen
is no exception. There’s a heavy dose of Americana with an emphasis on
the Bakersfield sound (including a loving tribute to hero, Buck Owens).
Americana music is a lyricist’s domain, and the perfect vehicle for a
storyteller-songwriter, Stephen David Austin. There is also great
storytelling in the tradition country music sense while old-time string
music is played through telecaster guitars. Change is the theme
throughout the record with Austin’s vision of life feeling like a subtle
yet jarring seismic shift. The subject matter is at times heavy, but
his sense of humor prevails never leaving us alone in the dark.
Austin's new album A Bakersfield Dozen is already garnering praise. Known mainly as a sideman and cover musician before A Bakersfield Dozen, Austin decided to take the reins of his career with encouragement from both Tom T. Hall and Dave Alvin. “I told Dave how much his music was like my life story,” Austin recently told the newspaper, The Bakersfield Californian. “Then we started talking about Okie history. At one point he said it sounded like Merle Haggard wrote was I was saying. I met him again when he was in town and we started talking about those same things. He finally said his songs were largely autobiographical, which I interpreted as ‘you should write your own life story’.” Austin sent his songs to Tom T. Hall, who wrote back to him that he liked his music and encouraged him to make a living at it, saying, “it’s lots of fun and beats working!” Emphasizing raw roots music and great storytelling, Austin says,“If you can’t tap your feet to it, or tap your beer bottle against the tabletop you’ve missed the target.”
The players on A Bakersfield Dozen reads like a list of ‘Who’s Who’ in the Americana music world. Both Marty Rifkin (Pedal and Lap Steel--Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty) and Paul Marshall (Bass & Vocals-I See Hawks in LA, The Strawberry Alarm Clock) had a heavy hand in the encouragement and making of the album (Rifkin also mixed and mastered). Other players are Shawn Norse on drums (I See Hawks in LA, Dwigh Yoakam), Teresa James on background vocals (Reba McIntire, Levon Helm), Brantley Kearns on fiddle (Dave Alvin, Mike Ness), Skip Edwards on piano and accordion (Gene Clark, Lucinda Williams, Buck Owens) and Austin’s longtime friend, Dave Currall playing guitar on two songs.
Austin's new album A Bakersfield Dozen is already garnering praise. Known mainly as a sideman and cover musician before A Bakersfield Dozen, Austin decided to take the reins of his career with encouragement from both Tom T. Hall and Dave Alvin. “I told Dave how much his music was like my life story,” Austin recently told the newspaper, The Bakersfield Californian. “Then we started talking about Okie history. At one point he said it sounded like Merle Haggard wrote was I was saying. I met him again when he was in town and we started talking about those same things. He finally said his songs were largely autobiographical, which I interpreted as ‘you should write your own life story’.” Austin sent his songs to Tom T. Hall, who wrote back to him that he liked his music and encouraged him to make a living at it, saying, “it’s lots of fun and beats working!” Emphasizing raw roots music and great storytelling, Austin says,“If you can’t tap your feet to it, or tap your beer bottle against the tabletop you’ve missed the target.”
The players on A Bakersfield Dozen reads like a list of ‘Who’s Who’ in the Americana music world. Both Marty Rifkin (Pedal and Lap Steel--Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty) and Paul Marshall (Bass & Vocals-I See Hawks in LA, The Strawberry Alarm Clock) had a heavy hand in the encouragement and making of the album (Rifkin also mixed and mastered). Other players are Shawn Norse on drums (I See Hawks in LA, Dwigh Yoakam), Teresa James on background vocals (Reba McIntire, Levon Helm), Brantley Kearns on fiddle (Dave Alvin, Mike Ness), Skip Edwards on piano and accordion (Gene Clark, Lucinda Williams, Buck Owens) and Austin’s longtime friend, Dave Currall playing guitar on two songs.
No comments:
Post a Comment