I have a NEW ALBUM in the works. Click on the link in the previous line and you can read all about it and also pre-order it before the general public if you wish. I'm using a beautiful painting my Sister made for the cover. I have written many songs underneath this painting. Thanks for contemplating your support of a. true indie project.
Here's a littler essay I wrote for the campaign.
People ask me about my influences all the time. I like to point out that my big Sister—the visual artist Susan Easton Burns, is definitely one of the strongest. It meant a lot to me to see a family member follow the creative path in life. She continues to work today, and is also the unspoken therapist of my rather large family. It is a dream of mine to make a documentary about her. Perhaps I will do that in tandem with my next album, “fIREHORSE,” which will feature one of her paintings as the cover art. My entire creative life has been framed by a consistent path dreaming out loud and then taking action to make these dreams a reality. I thank you for coming on board to see what I have dreamt up for my next project.
This album will have both folk and rock elements, plus melodic and rhythmic surprises that haven’t even happened yet. That is the most exciting part for me. I have written tons of songs underneath my Sister’s FIREHORSE painting, which hangs over my couch in my living room in Nashville. Together, with the producer Kevin Nolan and a full band, we will go into a few studios in Nashville over the early months of 2025 and make an album of original songs inspired by the consummate art making of lifers such as my Sister. Two touchstone albums which I have mentioned to my producer Kevin Nolan have been Bob Dylan’s “Time Out Of Mind,” which he made with Daniel Lanois, and John Hiatt’s “Bring The Family.” We do not aim to copy these albums, but we are discussing the way the band treated these great songs in the studio. I will document the entire project and update all Kickstarter supporters along the way.
I was born in 1966, the year of the Horse, and specifically the year of The Firehorse. That year comes around again in 2026, and I will have an album ready to tour behind as the year kicks in. In the trenches of the music business that I dwell in, one has to plan a full year in advance in order to have vinyl and such ready for touring. I want to be very thorough with this album, both lyrically and melodically, and I have worked very hard on writing a collection of new songs. I will also consider older songs which til now have only gotten an acoustic treatment, because for this album I will return to the full band sound of my first albums. Special guests will be announced.
It feels so good for me to commit to a project such as this one. I want you to feel strong about it too. I am sure it will involve a lot of unseen hurdles, as all albums do. It certainly is not my first album rodeo however, but any artist can tell you that making vinyl is the biggest challenge today. Mixing, mastering, re-recording if need be…all these things take time and finances, but can and will be done until we are satisfied. The digital master may be ready for your listening a full 9 months before the vinyl appears. That is just the way it is today, and I have accepted that lag in time, which is why I am starting the process a full year in advance. I thank you for your consideration and support in all these matters.
May you find inspiration in your friends and family as I have, and I will see you out there on the road someday.