New Music Friday: TEXAS by Rodney Crowell

Along with Chris LeDoux and Charlie Robison, Rodney Crowell was one of my earliest introductions to indie country. A buddy of mine from college came back from a summer internship with a record company raving about I Walk the Line Revisited. Last year I featured Crowell’s song Telephone Road, from his 2001 album The Houston Kid. I am happy to feature some new music. (Crowell was also one of the young turk songwriters who would hit Nashville and provide much of the motive force behind the outlaw country movement; he’s been around for a while.)

Out yesterday: TEXAS by Rodney Crowell.

And what a cool project it is. The songs are Texas-centric and feature collaborations from some Texas country hall of famers. Trigger from Saving Country Music can say it better than I can:

This won’t just be a Texas record in name. The album is said to embrace the musical legacy of the Lone Star State, from twangy two-stepping country songs, to cowboy ballads, to blues rockers embracing the roadhouse influence of Texas music, to even spoken word tracks and songs filled with Texas history. All but four of the 11 tracks will include guest appearances.

Those collaborators include Willie Nelson, Billie Gibbons from ZZ Top, and Steve Earle. Yeah, this is an album worth checking out. Plus, the first music video Crowell released was for a song called “Flatland Hillbillies.” Yup, a whole bunch of us made our way down those hillbilly highways to Houston and other parts of Texas. Just ask Steve Earle.

Flatland Hillbilly (feat. Lee Ann Womack & Randy Rogers)