After paying tribute to songwriting mentor Townes Van Zandt with 2009's TOWNES, Steve Earle & the Dukes will now do the same for late musical hero Guy Clark.
The fittingly titled GUY will arrive March 29 on New West Records, and finds Earle and his band performing 16 songs written by Clark. The album was produced by Earle and recorded by longtime production partner Ray Kennedy.
Earle first met Clark after hitchhiking from San Antonio to Nashville in 1974, leading to him taking the role of bass guitarist in Clark's band. Clark passed away in 2016 at age 74.
"No way I could get out of doing this record," Earle said of the effort in a statement. "When I get to the other side, I didn't want to run into Guy having made the TOWNES record and not one about him."
Earle added, "GUY wasn't really a hard record to make. We did it fast, five or six days with almost no overdubbing. I wanted it to sound live... When you've got a catalog like Guy's and you're only doing sixteen tracks, you know each one is going to be strong."
The present incarnation of the Dukes features Kelley Looney on bass, Chris Masterson on guitar, Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle/mandolin, Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel guitar and Brad Pemberton on drums/percussion.
GUY will also feature guest appearances from Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Terry Allen, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mickey Raphael and more. A first taste of the effort can be heard below with "Dublin Blues."
To go along with the new album, Earle has mapped out a North American tour. You can see all the dates for that over here.
GUY:
1. Dublin Blues
2. L.A. Freeway
3. Texas 1947
4. Desperados Waiting For A Train
5. Rita Ballou
6. The Ballad Of Laverne And Captain Flint
7. The Randall Knife
8. Anyhow I Love You
9. That Old Time Feeling
10. Heartbroke
11. The Last Gunfighter Ballad
12. Out In The Parking Lot
13. She Ain't Going Nowhere
14. Sis Draper
15. New Cut Road
16. Old Friends
The fittingly titled GUY will arrive March 29 on New West Records, and finds Earle and his band performing 16 songs written by Clark. The album was produced by Earle and recorded by longtime production partner Ray Kennedy.
Earle first met Clark after hitchhiking from San Antonio to Nashville in 1974, leading to him taking the role of bass guitarist in Clark's band. Clark passed away in 2016 at age 74.
"No way I could get out of doing this record," Earle said of the effort in a statement. "When I get to the other side, I didn't want to run into Guy having made the TOWNES record and not one about him."
Earle added, "GUY wasn't really a hard record to make. We did it fast, five or six days with almost no overdubbing. I wanted it to sound live... When you've got a catalog like Guy's and you're only doing sixteen tracks, you know each one is going to be strong."
The present incarnation of the Dukes features Kelley Looney on bass, Chris Masterson on guitar, Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle/mandolin, Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel guitar and Brad Pemberton on drums/percussion.
GUY will also feature guest appearances from Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Terry Allen, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mickey Raphael and more. A first taste of the effort can be heard below with "Dublin Blues."
To go along with the new album, Earle has mapped out a North American tour. You can see all the dates for that over here.
GUY:
1. Dublin Blues
2. L.A. Freeway
3. Texas 1947
4. Desperados Waiting For A Train
5. Rita Ballou
6. The Ballad Of Laverne And Captain Flint
7. The Randall Knife
8. Anyhow I Love You
9. That Old Time Feeling
10. Heartbroke
11. The Last Gunfighter Ballad
12. Out In The Parking Lot
13. She Ain't Going Nowhere
14. Sis Draper
15. New Cut Road
16. Old Friends