Little Rebellion Music

Two decades after the release of Radney Foster’s now historic solo debut album, Del Rio Texas, 1959, the Texas singer-songwriter celebrates with a new acoustic version. The re-imagining, titled Del Rio, Texas, Revisited: Unplugged and Lonesome, will be released on Foster’s Devil’s River Records label on August 14, 2012. You can pre-order an autographed copy via radneyfoster.com.

The disc’s details are in the press release:

Foster crafts story songs with singular grit and grace. Twenty years ago, the contemporary country classic Del Rio, TX, 1959 showcased a songwriter in peak form with hits brassy (“Just Call Me Lonesome”) and bruised (“Nobody Wins”) and buoyant with blues (“Easier Said Than Done”).

Two decades on, Foster’s new Del Rio, TX Revisited: Unplugged and Lonesome reinvents his hallmark solo debut as an ambitious and haunting acoustic collection. “This time everyone was in the same room, with live takes with no fixes and no headphones,” says Steve Fishell, who produced the original Del Rio and played guitars on Revisited. “We have all new tempos and new grooves. Imagine the original version of Eric Clapton’s ‘Layla’ compared to his 1992 live unplugged version and you’ll get the idea.” Gloriously transformed high watermarks include “Don’t Say Goodbye,” “A Fine Line” and “Went For A Ride.” Elegance matches endurance with favorites (“Old Silver”) and bonus additions alike (the stunning new meditation “Me and John R.”).

Foster’s extraordinary session band effortlessly achieved transcendence. In early March, Foster along with Dixie Chick Martie McGuire (fiddle), Jon Randall Stewart (guitar), Glenn Fukunaga (doghouse bass), Michael Ramos (keyboard) and Fishell entered Austin’s Cedar Creek Recording with specific missions: Loosen all restraints. Shoot for the heart. Let feeling guide. Gems quickly emerged. “Things worked out beyond my wildest expectations,” Foster says. “Twenty years ago, I worried about every single detail. With this new record, you have these incredible musicians doing surprising things on the fly. There’s a looseness yet remarkable precision.”

In the last two decades Foster’s songs have been made popular by stars like Keith Urban (“I’m In,” “Raining on a Sunday”), Sara Evans (“A Real Fine Place to Start”), the Dixie Chicks (“Godspeed,” “Never Say Die”), and Gary Allan (“Half of My Mistakes’). Of course, Foster’s first work in the late 1980s country duo Foster and Lloyd (“Crazy Over You,” “Fair Shake”) alone displays his indelible portraits both timely (“What Do You Want from Me This Time”) and timeless (“Texas in 1880”). Del Rio, TX Revisited: Unplugged and Lonesome simply doubles down. “These songs are still as real to me,” Foster says. “They take on different meanings because it is 20 years later, but the stories still resonate.”

Folks laughed hard and played harder throughout the three days recording. Familiarity continually greased creative wheels. “I don’t do a lot of sessions, but I was so flattered when Radney asked me,” McGuire says. “I actually had the original Del Rio on cassette and it’s one of the handful of records in my life that I really, honestly wore out. When I went back and listened to the tunes, I knew all the words and chords. This record sounds very Texas in the chord progressions and the licks and these songs feel like how I learned to play fiddle. I felt very at home.”

Spin “Louisiana Blue” for evidence. “I’m gonna pack my bags, turn up my collar, put on my travelin’ shoes,” Foster sings as McGuire nimbly balances his most lonesome landscape. “Go down to New Orleans and turn Louisiana blue.” “It was really fun to have Martie’s feminine perspective,” Foster says. “The timbre of her voice and the richness of the tone that she gets out of the fiddle is remarkable. She has this way of playing things that sound deceptively simple, but she’s putting a lot of emotion into the notes. When she and Jon Randall started playing bluegrass tunes in the studio before anything happened, I thought, “This is gonna work!”

Tour Dates:

July 21 – Grand Ol Opry, Nashville, TN
July 28 – Texas Rangers Ball Park, Arlington, TX
August 1 – Waterloo Records, Austin, TX
August 2 – KNBT Free Concert Series, New Braunfels, TX
August 4 – Ring of Fire Ranch Rodeo, Boerne, TX
August 5 – Live Oak Music Hall, Fort Worth, TX
August 8 – Opry at the Opera House, Napa, CA
August 14 – Grimey’s New & Preloved Music, Nashville, TN
August 16 – Eddie’s Attic, Decatur, GA
August 18 – Franklin Theater, Franklin, TN
August 29 – Antone’s, Austin, TX
August 30 – Dosey Doe, The Woodlands, TX
August 31 – Cheatham Street Warehouse, San Marcos, TX
September 6 – Michael Hearn’s Big Barn Dance Music Festival, Taos, NM
September 27 – Main Street Crossing, Tomball, TX
October 4 – Leaside, Columbia, SC
October 25 – Mucky Duck, Houston, TX
November 1 – Natasha’s Bistro and Bar, Lexington, KY
November 16 – Mile High Station, Denver, CO

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Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.

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