Veterans Day: The Tom Russell Anthology
Tom Russell
Patricia Hardin, Shawn Colvin, Ian Tyson, Nanci Griffith, Iris DeMent, Dave Alvin, Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Producer: David McLees, Tom Russell
Shout! Factory, 2008
2 CD
Catalogue #: 826663-10998
EAN: 0826663109986
UPC: 826663109986
You save: 20%
Personnel: Michael Martin (guitars, mandolin).
Audio Remasterer: Bob Fisher.
Tracklist
Shawn Colvin
Grammy-winner Shawn Colvin came up on the East Coast folk scene in the '80s, finally scoring a major label deal toward the end of that decade. Despite consistently strong work centered around her resilient voice and folk-rock songwriting, she didn't hit it big until her 1996 album A FEW SMALL REPAIRS, which put her on the pop map, though the singer-songwriter crowd had been cooing her praises for years.
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith has been a shining light in the American roots music community since the 1980s. Considered the female equivalent of maverick singer-songwriters such as Lyle Lovett and Dwight Yoakam, Griffith made several stellar albums that blended country, folk, and twangy rockabilly (she's an avowed Buddy Holly & the Crickets fan) into a sound distinctly her own. The Texas native recorded two albums of cover songs that made clear her influences extended well beyond the Lone Star state, and in 2007 she released RUBY'S TORCH, an album of pop standards and ballads that further extended her grasp on vintage American music.
Iris DeMent
A late bloomer, Iris DeMent released her first album in 1992 at the age of 31, but quickly established herself as a respected songwriter in the Americana mode. Her music is a patchwork of country, folk, and gospel influences, sung in a breathtaking soprano twang that evokes mountain streams, county fairs, and midnight train whistles. Fans have embraced her as torch-bearer for a lineage that has been frustratingly compromised by the more commercial strains of contemporary country music. DeMent has won a Grammy for her work with John Prine, and in 2003 married fellow roots-music aficionado Greg Brown.
Dave Alvin
Guitarist and songwriter for celebrated roots rockers the Blasters, Dave Alvin, in his tenure with the band, aided a quiet but influential rockabilly revival in the early 1980s. By mid-decade he'd left the group to pursue a solo career, and also joined forces with the seminal L.A. punk band X. Alvin's songwriting and guitar playing helped to take the band in a more reflective and melodic direction. He also played in the band's acoustic country alter-ego, the Knitters, and explored film scoring and acting, released acclaimed solo albums, published books of his poetry, and produced and played on several recordings by similar-minded roots artists. Alvin's deft blending of soulful Americana with punky forthrightness has left its mark on a generation of independent singer-songwriters.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Jimmie Dale Gilmore is one of the founding fathers of progressive country. His recording career began with the Flatlanders. He and his Lubbock singer-songwriter cohorts Joe Ely and Butch Hancock recorded the first Flatlanders album in 1972, but it didn't see widespread release until years later. In the late '80s, Gilmore began a solo recording career in earnest, and by the '90s he'd become one of the most revered singers in modern country music, particularly admired by the younger alt-country artists.
