Lambchop's Kurt Wagner and Cortney Tidwell Join Forces for Country Covers Album

BY Alex HudsonPublished Dec 1, 2010

If anyone is qualified to record an entire album of cover tunes by Nashville songwriters, it's Kurt Wagner. As the leader of Lambchop, Wagner has established himself as one of Music City's most beloved alt-country residents, releasing a constant stream of albums since the mid-'90s. Now, he has teamed up with fellow Nashville songwriter Cortney Tidwell to release the cover album Invariable Heartache, due out in North America February 9 via City Slang.

Wagner and Tidwell (Kurt and Cortney, if you'd prefer) are releasing the album under the name KORT. For their covers, they chose obscure gems rather than big hits, meaning that you might not recognize any of the titles on the tracklist, which you can see below.

According to a press release, "KORT was born after a discussion about Cortney's family history with the Chart Records catalogue, a label run by Cortney's grandfather Slim Williamson, A&Red later by her father Cliff Williamson, and for which her mother Connie Eaton also recorded."

Fittingly, 11 of the album's 12 tracks come from the Chart catalogue; the other song was recorded by Tidwell's mother and released via ABC-Dunhill.

The disc was recorded at Starstruck Studios with Tidwell's husband Todd, and at Hap Town with Lambchop producer Roger Moutenot. It was mixed by longtime Lambchop collaborator Mark Nevers.

The album is already out in Europe, and you can preview the entire thing in the Soundcloud stream at the bottom of this page. See a ten-minute documentary on the album below that.

Invariable Heartache:

1. "Incredibly Lonely"

2. "Eyes Look Away"

3. "A Special Day"

4. "Picking Wild Mountain Berries"

5. "Yours Forever"

6. "He's Only a Memory Away"

7. "She Came Around Last Night"

8. "Penetration"

9. "April's Fool"

10. "I Can't Sleep with You"

11. "Let's Think About Where We're Going"

12. "Who's Gonna Love Me Now"

Kurt Wagner & Cortney Tidwell present KORT - Invariable Heartache by cityslang

Kurt Wagner & Cortney Tidwell present KORT - Mini Documentary from City Slang on Vimeo.

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