JIM LAUDERDALE: TO RELEASE ‘PATCHWORK RIVER’ MAY 11; NEW ALBUM WRITTEN WITH GRATEFUL DEAD LYRICIST ROBERT HUNTER

LAUDERDALE TO HIT THE ROAD AS GUITARIST
WITH ELVIS COSTELLO & THE SUGARCANES

Lauderdale will make two appearances Thursday, March 18 at the South By Southwest music conference in Austin, TX: he has an afternoon show at the Ruby Stardust Lounge at Maria’s Taco Express (3:00 PM), then a gig later that evening at the Americana Music Association’s Showcase at Antone’s (8:00 PM, with times subject to change).

PATCHWORK RIVER–written at Hunter’s California home–was produced by longtime production partner Tim Coates and Doug Lancio, who also played guitar. James Burton, Al Perkins, Ron Tutt, Garry Tallent, Kenny Vaughan, and Patty Griffin round out an all-star cast by contributing their prodigious musical talents to the record.  

This marks the second album written by Jim and Robert, who first met when Jim was preparing to record I Feel Like Singing Today, the first album he recorded with Dr. Ralph Stanley.  Lauderdale knew that Robert and Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia were fans of Dr. Stanley so he approached Robert about contributing lyrics to the album, which he agreed to do. From there, the two became friends and wrote over 30 songs together during Robert’s three-month visit to Jim’s Nashville home in 2001, 13 of which wound up on the 2004 release Headed For the Hills.

Says Robert Hunter about Jim, “I’m proud to call him a friend and I know what I say is true. This man has what it takes. If you don’t like country with a humble jolt of human soul, leave him alone.”

On Patchwork River’s title track, Hunter extols a simpler, loving life, while “Alligator Alley” spins a raucous tale of escape from a Floridian environmental apocalypse peppered with Hunter’s wit. In “El Dorado,” Hunter tells the story of an ancient mariner that has yet to find his spiritual city of gold and is aware that his powers are declining. Robert Hunter, one of rock music’s most important poets, has remained a vital force, weaving threads of love, profundity, sly humor, and rhythm into his compositions from “Dark Star,” his opening salvo as a member of the Grateful Dead, through contributing lyrics to ten of the eleven songs on Bob Dylan’s 2009 Together Through Life album. His iconic words (i.e. “What a long, strange trip it’s been” from “Truckin’”) are perhaps the strongest lyrical threads in the tapestry that is rock music’s greatest communal experience.

Lauderdale was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009 in the “Best Bluegrass Album” category for his album Could We Get Any Closer along with nominations for “Best Country Album” for George Strait’s Twang for which he co-wrote two songs (including the title track).  He was also included in “Best Contemporary Folk Album” for Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane by The Sugarcanes, Elvis Costello’s band of which he’s a member.  Lauderdale has previously won two “Best Bluegrass Album” Grammy’s: in 2002 for his Lost In the Lonesome Pines collaboration with Dr. Stanley and in 2008 for his album The Bluegrass Diaries. He has written songs for artists including the Dixie Chicks, Solomon Burke, and George Jones and has numerous hits with Patty Loveless, George Strait, Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack, and others. As a musician, he has also recorded and toured with Lucinda Williams in addition to The Sugarcanes and last year hosted the 2009 Americana Music Awards in Nashville for the seventh consecutive year.

Look for Lauderdale on the road this year.