CD includes co-writes with old friends Rodney Crowell, Shawn Camp, Verlon Thompson, Gary Nicholson, Jon Randall, Ray Stephenson, Joe Leathers; and young songwriters Jedd Hughes, Patrick Davis and Ashley Monroe
Collection includes Townes Van Zandt classic "If I Needed You"
Sept 22, 2009
In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, Bob Dylan mentions Guy Clark as one of his favorite songwriters. That is no surprise to anyone familiar with the master songwriter and legendary artist. Today, Clark releases Somedays The Song Writes You, his second CD with Dualtone Music Group, which released the critically acclaimed Workbench Songs in 2006.
When Guy Clark discusses the art and craft of songwriting, people listen. He has, after all, been writing songs of uncommon quality for nearly four decades, songs like "L.A. Freeway," "Desperados Waiting For A Train," "The Randall Knife," and "Texas, 1947."
Some of them have been snatched up and recorded by other distinctive artists, many of whom are no slouches in the songwriting department themselves ("She's Crazy For Leaving" written by Clark and Rodney Crowell, "New Cut Road" by Bobby Bare, "Let Him Roll" by Johnny Cash and "Heartbroke" by Ricky Skaggs, to name just a few), while others have filled out the twelve studio albums bearing Clark's name, beginning with his 1975 debut, Old No. 1. Somedays The Song Writes You is the thirteenth entry to his enduring body of work.
Like Workbench Songs and The Dark before it, Clark did all his writing for Somedays The Song Writes You with others, many of them old friends, including Rodney Crowell and Shawn Camp.
But it's hard to miss three new names, since they pop up on half the songs on the album: Patrick Davis, Jedd Hughes and Ashley Monroe. All three have one thing in common: they're young. By writing with them Clark is bridging generations, mingling his ideas and experience with theirs.
Clark talks about his recent embrace of youthful songwriting partners, "I used to write exclusively by myself. I really enjoy writing with other people. One, I learn a lot musically. Like Jedd is a fantastic guitar player. He comes from a whole other place and comes up with stuff that I would never think of doing or exploring. And I really enjoy that part of it."
The only song on the album that Clark didn't write is one by his late best friend, Townes Van Zandt. It's become tradition for Clark to include a Van Zandt composition on each album he records. Interpreting "If I Needed You" is especially meaningful, since he and his wife Susanna were almost certainly the first to hear it, in their own home. "That particular song, Townes was living with Susanna and I. He woke up one morning and played this song and he said he had dreamed it."
The eleven blues-shaded, wisdom-filled songs on Somedays The Song Writes You were given a light, loose acoustic treatment by what may well be the most tasteful string band on earth: besides Clark's lean guitar playing, there's Camp on fiddle and mandolin, Bryn Davies on bass and cello, Thompson's intuitive leads and Kenny Malone's gentle pulse on drums.
Clark and his trusted co-producers, Thompson and Chris Latham, care nothing for studio sheen. They aim simply to capture Clark's songs at moments that ring true. And, as anyone who hears their latest effort will find, they achieve it.
The vocal performances on the album are some of the most natural and relaxed of Clark's career. "Hopefully I get better," he offers. "I'm mostly learning what to leave out. With guitar players, it's not what they play, it's the holes they leave."
A well-placed hole is a marvelous thing. Clark is that rare breed of writer who puts himself willfully, directly in inspiration's path, and whose expert hand illuminates, never flattens, the mystery.
See Guy Clark On Tour
Wednesday September 23 - The Belcourt Theater, Nashville, TN
Friday & Saturday September 25 & 26 - Wildwood Springs Lodge, Steelville, MO
Saturday October 3 - Golden Gate Park - San Francisco, CA
Thursday October 22 - The Ark - Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday October 27 - BB King Blues Club, New York, NY
Wednesday October 28 - The Turning Point, Piermont, NY
Friday October 30 - Boulton Center for the Performing Arts, Bay Shore, NY
Sunday November 1 - Sawyer Theater - The Egg, Albany NY
Wednesday November 18 - Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
Friday & Saturday November 20 & 21 - Texas Union Theater, Austin, TX
Wednesday February 17, 2010 - L2 Arts and Cultural Center, Denver, CO
For press kits and high resolution photos log on to ellis-creative.com/clark.html
PR Contact: Tamara Saviano / tamara@ellis-creative.com / 615-298-2009
Win a songwriting session with Guy Clark - details at guyclark.com
