New Tom Russell Featuring Calexico

[mp3] Tom Russell: "Santa Ana Wind"

Tom Russell has been flying under the popular radar for over 20 albums worth of dusty Texas country music. His influence can be seen in the names of the artists who have covered his material: Johnny Cash, k. d. lang, Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Iris Dement, Dave Alvin, and Suzy Bogguss among many. On his upcoming album Blood and Candle Smoke (9/15 Shout! Factory), Russell makes a play for Americana indie cred, tapping longtime masters of the dusty South West style, Calexico, to record and play on the record. Calexico guitarist Nick Luca Comments: "He encouraged us to pull out the stops and reach into our southwest-style bag of tricks. Like most records we make at Wavelab, you can hear the vast space and maybe some dust as well, I think this record has this quality in droves." Um. Yes, please. Here's a taste of the record, enjoy "Santa Ana Wind" above. Looking forward to hearing more from this pairing.