Out Today – Edward David Anderson’s New Muscle Shoals Recording ‘Chasing Butterflies’

Edward David Anderson Releases Chasing Butterflies
Out Today October 19 on Black Dirt Records
Recorded at the NuttHouse in Muscle Shoals with Producer Jimmy Nutt

Available Now On All Outlets → http://smarturl.it/8bdvv6

BLOOMINGTON, IL — Edward David Anderson has been writing songs, making records, and playing shows for a living for more than 2 decades. An American songwriter and rock & roll veteran who spent his formative years fronting the revered Midwest band, Backyard Tire Fire, and having penned eight albums for the band, he is known for infectious melodies and memorable messages. Since their hiatus in 2011, EDA has continued to write and tour as a solo artist and his 3rd solo studio record, Chasing Butterflies, is out today October 19, 2018 on his own Black Dirt Records.

“The story of my life’s written on my skin,” sings Edward David Anderson on the devilishly sardonic “Bad Tattoos” on Chasing Butterflies. The song, like the artist, is brutally honest and has a worn feel; like it’s coming from someone that has been around and put in the miles. “I don’t think I could have written these tunes when I was 25,” Anderson explains. “Everything I’ve done, the people I’ve met, all the places I’ve been, have brought me to this moment.”

It was through a tip from a friend that Anderson connected with GRAMMY Award winner Jimmy Nutt (SteelDrivers) from the iconic Shoals region of north Alabama. During their first conversation it was clear the two had a natural rapport and he quickly set a course for Jimmy’s NuttHouse Recording Studio in Sheffield. Diverging from past albums EDA used local session musicians for his backing band. “I felt the way to get the most authentic Shoals sound was to play with people who live and work there,” he said. Nutt played bass and brought in Jon Davis (Dylan LeBlanc) on drums, Brad Kuhn on keys, Todd Beene (Lucero) on pedal steel, and Kimi Samson on violin and the chemistry was instant.

The core of the 10-track album was cut live in just a few short days with minimal overdubbing, making it feel both cohesive and human. “We brought in strings on a few and pedal steel on one, but didn’t want to get too carried away,” Anderson recalls. The result is a stunningly sublime, less-is-more snapshot of a writer in his prime.  

On Chasing Butterflies there is a feeling of arrival. Absorbing and learning and growing through life experience has clearly refined his ability to write about the human condition. In “The Best Part,” he sings to his wife “You help me to understand/you make me a better man/I’m gonna do the best I can/to love you,” and you believe him. This kind of sincerity and honesty along with a candidly dry sense of humor recur throughout the album.

WHAT FOLKS ARE SAYING:

“There are a handful of songs spread throughout the 40-minute disc that would make Chris Stapleton sit up and notice… Musically, the album has a deep southern soul feel… Grooves are deep, guitar breaks are extended (but not exaggerated), and emotion is palatable… Chasing Butterflies is a stunning collection of modern Americana. Poetic and fresh with a deceptively laconic quality making it all the more momentous. I don’t use the word often: brilliant.” —Fervor Coulee, Donald Teplyske

“Thematically, Anderson again weaves stories about the multi-faceted South, painting character portraits, dealing with its duality, its mysteries, and its special charms. Of course, there are love songs too…. Anderson has a knack for infectious hooks as evidenced by ‘Bad Tattoos’ and ‘Only in My Dreams’… Anderson continues to impress.” —Country Standard Time,  Jim Hynes

“He has the rare ability to open his soul and unfold his stories in a natural style that is simultaneously guileslees and universal. Another fine collection from my good friend!” —Johnny Hickman (Cracker)

“The album’s other standout track… ‘The Ballad of Lemuel Penn’ tells the true story of a black war hero and Assistant Superintendant of the D.C. Public School System who was shot near Athens, GA by white supremacists nine days after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Taking a story song format similar to Bob Dylan’s ‘The Hurricane,’ the song tells of how, despite witnesses turning in the three Klansmen who shot Penn, the ‘all white jury’ acquitted the trio. It’s an old story, but one that resonates just a year after the events of Charlottesville, especially in the closing lines, when Anderson reminds us that ‘one still lives in Athens today.’ Anderson’s tale is greatly assisted by fiddler Kimi Samson’s haunting melodies.” —Concert Hopper, Chris Griffy

“Edward David Anderson’s Chasing Butterflies paints a melodic Americana picture that humanizes symbols we see every day.” —Jon Norton (WGLT)

“EDA has always been one of my favorite songwriters and singers, and on this record he has beautifully managed to capture the elusive dichotomy that is the American South- a combination of mystery, darkness and relaxed geniality. Great album.” —Steve Berlin, Los Lobos

“An artist to the bone who is raw, open, gritty… A portal into the human condition.” —Seth Walker

“Chasing Butterflies is a treasure chest full of American songs, just waiting for you to open and find all of the joy and mysteries stored inside.  Edward David Anderson’s voice and these songs are like a back porch conversation with a great old long lost friend. You can pick up right where you left off and it always feels right.” –Ed Jurdi (Band of Heathens)

The Bluegrass Situation Song Premiere “The Best Part”

Americana Highways Song Premiere “Chasing Butterflies”

Live And LIsten Song Premiere “Only In My Dreams”

Chasing Butterflies Track Listing:

1. Harmony (3:19)
2. The Ballad of Lemuel Penn (4:02)
3. The Best Part (3:23)
4. Bad Tattoos (4:19)
5. Crosses (4:03)
6. Only in My Dreams (4:49)
7. Dog Days (2:32)
8. Chasing Butterflies (4:19)
9. Sittin’ ‘Round at Home (2:23)
10. Seasons Turn (5:45)

Edward David Anderson – vocals, acoustic, electric & baritone guitars, banjo
Jimmy Nutt – Bass, Percussion
Jon Davis – Drums, Percussion
Brad Kuhn – Keys (Wurlitzer, Hammond A100, Yamaha C7 Grand, Rhodes)
Kimi Samson – Violin (2,6,9)
Todd Beene – Pedal Steel (8)

For more information, please visit www.edwarddavidanderson.com, facebook.com/edwarddavidandersonmusic, twitter.com/edanderson72, and instagram.com/edwarddavidanderson.

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Chicago Farmer Shares New Song From ‘Quarter Past Tonight,’ Due Out Aug. 3

‘Quarter Past Tonight’ Live Album Art by Keith Berson Photography

Chicago Farmer Releases a Live Double Disc Album on Aug. 3
Quarter Past Tonight
Recorded at the Apollo Theater in Peoria, IL
During Two Nights of Sold Out Shows

“Chicago Farmer has a truly eclectic style that echoes Arlo Guthrie’s with a contemporary twist, and his storytelling is presented in clear syncopated cadence.” —Americana Highways: Song Premiere of “Dirtiest Uniforms”

BLOOMINGTON, IL — Some live albums are so good they become the recordings those artists are known for. Frampton Comes Alive and Cheap Trick at Budokan were monster hits and catapulted them to rock superstar status. Cody Diekhoff, too, has big hopes for his first live Chicago Farmer first live album, Quarter Past Tonight, a two-disc set to be independently released Aug. 3. “Folk superstar would be just fine,” Diekhoff says.

A touring musician for 20 years with a quarter century of writing songs under his belt, Diekhoff has seen the type size for his moniker grow steadily larger on festival posters over the years. He called his 21-song 2005 debut album About Time, and the same title would have fit for the new live album, recorded Dec. 1-2, two sold-out nights at the Apollo Theater in Peoria, IL in 2017. This is a solo record with Cody being the only performer, singing and playing guitar as well as harmonica as Chicago Farmer. Fans have requested a live album for years with a love for his stories and banter as much as his songs.

Chicago Farmer. Photo by Troy Phillips

“People for the longest time have been coming up to me at the merch table — ‘What do you have that’s just like what you just did on stage,’” Diekhoff says. “So after a long time of putting it off, I finally did it.”

Quarter Past Tonight is a celebration of a musical career in which he’s recorded five studio albums of Chicago Farmer music, criss-crossed the country playing thousands of shows, and shared stages with Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, Greg Brown, Greensky Bluegrass, The Wood Brothers, Elizabeth Cook, Wayne Hancock, Del McCoury, and Gene Ween — the last two on the same weekend. It also marks a milestone in his life, coming out just before his 40th birthday. “This is kind of my big tribute to me for sticking around this long,” he says.

Growing up in the tiny Illinois town of Delavan (born the same year Cheap Trick at Budokan was recorded), Diekhoff got the writing bug in high school, translating daydreams into stories. He thought of becoming an English teacher… but then he got a guitar. A friend’s father with a guitar introduced him to the timeless artistry of Hank Williams, and when he moved to Chicago after high school he went to the famed Old Town School of Folk Music to hone his harmonica skills and took a deep dive into work of John Prine and Steve Goodman, giants of the Chicago folk scene. Neil Young, John Fogerty, and Arlo Guthrie were among the other role models Diekhoff turned to as he launched his career.

The storytelling he does came early on, from having to fill a four-hour gig without repeating his songs, so he began crafting elaborate introductions to his songs. “In some cases, I guess the story of the song became more entertaining than some of the songs themselves, so people started reciting and requesting those as well,” he says.

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Chris Harden of The I.V. Labs Studios in Chicago, Quarter Past Tonight offers a greatest-hits retrospective of his work with 32 tracks of stories and songs, including “Watch Doctor,” “Round Table,” and “Postcards” from his debut album, “Illinois Anthem” and “Assembly Line Blues” off of From a Small Town in Illinois [2006], “Weatherman” from Talk of Town [2007], “Workin’ On It” and “Backseat” from Backenforth, IL [2013], and “Rocco N’ Susie” and “Umbrella” from Midwest Side Stories [2016]. The album also features three new original Chicago Farmer songs — “Dirtiest Uniforms,” “$13 Beers,” and “I Need A Hit “— as well as a cover of Backyard Tire Fire’s “Good to Be.”

Quarter Past Tonight is about as authentic as they come. The first disc is the first night’s show, as presented, and disc two documents the second night just as it happened. What’s on those discs is about 98 percent of what he gave the audiences those nights. “We tried to keep it as real as we could,” he says, and that’s his approach to songwriting, too. “Now that I’m older, there’s way more honesty and realness that goes into my songs. Life has happened to me in the last decade, good and bad, and that’s what these songs are about.”

Todd Snider has called Chicago Farmer “the genuine heir to Arlo Guthrie and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot,” and he’s one of Pokey La Farge’s favorite singers. Accolades like that and the chance to record a double live album have Diekhoff feeling fortunate. He’s grateful for what he’s been able to do, for being able to make his daydreams come true, and yet he wants more, has unfulfilled ambitions and feels no relief from “the creativity bug.”

“My heroes all have their own chapter in the Great American Folk Book. Right now, I have a run-on sentence,” he says. “With this live album, I hope it will turn into a paragraph, and maybe a page, and who knows, maybe a chapter of my own. I’m a quarter century into it and feel my best adventures and songs are yet to come.”

Chicago Farmer 2018 Tour Dates
7/12 Thu – The Village Idiot – Maumee, OH
7/14 Sat – Acorn Theater – Three Oaks, MI
7/26 Thu – The Southgate House Revival Sanctuary – Newport, KY
7/27 Fri – Zanzabar – Louisville, KY
7/28 Sat – The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy  – St. Louis, MO
8/2 Thu – SPACE (40th B-day Celebration) – Evanston, IL
8/3-4 Fri-Sat – Castle Theatre (40th B-day Celebration) – Bloomington, IL
8/9 Thu –  Codfish Hollow Barnstormers – Maquoketa, IA
8/10 Fri – The Washington – Burlington, IA
8/11 Sat – People Fest – Hillsboro, WI
8/15 Wed – Harmony By The Bay – Sturgeon Bay, WI
8/16 Thu – 3 Sheeps Brewing – Sheboygan, WI
8/17 Fri – Minocqua Brewing Co. – Minocqua, WI
8/18 Sat – Short Branch Saloon – Neenah, WI
8/22 Wed – Hi-Fi – Indianapolis, IN
8/23 Thu – Whispering Beard Folk Fest – Friendship, IN
8/31 Fri – Brewgrass Festival at Edgewater – Madison, WI
9/1 Sat – Shoe Fest – Manteno, IL
9/6 Thu – Woodlands Tavern – Columbus, OH
9/13 Thu – Raccoon Motel – Davenport, IA
9/14 Fri – Cavalier Theater – La Crosse, WI
9/15-16 Sat-Sun – Prairie Burn Music Festival – Hudson, WI
10/12-13 Fri-Sat –  Wander Down Music Festival – Makanda, IL

Quarter Past Tonight Track Listing:

Disc One

1. Dirtiest Uniforms   (4:52) [Previously Unreleased]
2. Round Table   (4:38)
3. Pulled Over On 29   (1:29)*
4. Anymore   (2:54)
5. Benefits   (1:23)*
6. Backseat   (7:57)
7. Assembly Line Blues   (3:23)
8. $13 Dollar Beers   (3:03) [Previously Unreleased]
9. Six Records   (1:00)*
10. Who On Earth   (4:42)
11. Fall   (4:05)
12. Illinois Anthem   (4:03)
13. Jon Stokes Prison Break Blues   (3:34)
14. People N’ Places   (10:56)
15. Good To Be   (3:27) [by Edward David Anderson & Backyard Tire Fire]
    
    Disc Two
16. I Need A Hit   (5:07) [Previously Unreleased]
17. Umbrella   (4:55)
18. We’re All Billy   (:48)*
19. Quarter Life Crisis   (2:17)*
20. Watch Doctor   (5:58)
21. Weatherman   (3:04)
22. Nostalgia & Folklore   (2:02)*
23. Postcards   (2:41)
24. Hats   (3:49)
25. Workin’ On It   (7:38)
26. Breaking Bad   (1:57)*
27. Rocco N’ Susie   (5:55)
28. Thank You’s   (:45)*
29. Victoria Walker   (5:13)
30. Farms & Factories   (4:22)
31. Won’t Let You Down   (5:04)
32. For Dad (Pool Song)   (8:04)
    
    All tracks FCC clean
    *Banter/Story
    
    Further information can be found at www.chicagofarmer.com, www.facebook.com/chicagofarmer, and twitter.com/chicagofarmer.

 

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Barbie Angell – Writer, Poet, Artist, Thinker – Returns to Illinois for a Few Performances

Barbie Angell Photo by Rodney Smith of Tempus Fugit Design

Barbie Angell – Writer, Poet, Artist, Thinker –
Returns to Illinois for a few Performances

Fri 10/4 – 7-11pm “Just Jim” and “Fun Poetry Show”
VFW Cantigny Post 367 Joliet, IL
Mon 10/7 – Salt Creek Wine Bar’s Open Mic – Brookfield, IL
Sat 10/12 – 2pm Downtown Normal Roundabout

“Barbie’s poems are reminiscent of Shel Silverstein, but totally unique to her sensibility. They are infused with a bright spirit, a heart that seeks & explores, and a gentle insight. Even though the poems are about the gamut of human emotions & the subtle twists of perspective that happen with repeated experience, her words are never proselytizing or lofty. Her ‘anthropomorphizing’ of feelings (‘irony tastes like fudge’) is quirky & engaging. I imagine children & adults both will revel in her work—both her poetry & her wonderful drawings”
~ Rosanne Cash

Barbie Angell is a poet, short story writer, satirist and artist based in Asheville, North Carolina. Born near Chicago, Barbie grew up on a farm in Yorkville, Illinois. After her parents divorced, she was placed in Mooseheart, in Aurora, Illinois. Known as “The Child City,” Mooseheart is a home for children, sponsored by the Loyal Order of Moose, whose parents are unable to care for them.

While her first Christmas there was difficult, one of the gifts donated to her was a diary that would change her life. Since an orphanage is not a place where one can have privacy, she chose instead to hide her thoughts in poetry. Barbie’s writing flourished there. After graduation, Barbie attended a small, private school near her family. Since she had her sights set on being a lawyer since the age of six, the attention her writing garnered there was not enough to change her career choice—until her mentor, Lincoln College’s theater director Jerry Dellinger, sat her down for an honest discussion. “So here’s the thing.” Jerry said, “You want to study to be a lawyer, but that’s not right. You’re not going to ever be a lawyer no matter how much you study, because you are a writer. That’s what you’re good at and that’s what you should do.” This discussion changed her major—and her life.

In 1994, Jerry convinced her she should perform her poetry in order to grow as an artist, and Barbie gave her first live performance at the Bloomington, Illinois Barnes & Noble. In 1997, she began successfully performing at a local bar, and also started “The Open Mic That Wouldn’t Die,” which she ran until moving to Asheville in 1999. Her words took her to a poetry competition in DC in 1997 as well, where she placed 12th out of 1400 poets from around the world. Barbie has performed in coffee houses, bars, ice cream shops and outdoor venues. Her goal has always been to reach people who don’t know they like poetry, and convince them that they do. In addition to live performances, Barbie has sold over 500 copies each of three previous self-published volumes of poetry. Barbie is a writer who rhymes, and her affinity for rhyme is not surprising at all—she grew up devouring the works of Shel Silverstein and Lewis Carroll. As a child plagued with illness and severe asthma, she spent quite a bit of her childhood alone. As is often the case with writers, her love of words is derived from the fact that books were her closest friends.

Since moving to Asheville, NC, Barbie has performed her varied collection of poetry in venues ranging from coffeehouses and ice cream shops to bars and bookstores. Named a Mountain Xpress Best of WNC Poet in 2011, 2012 and 2013, she is also well known in the online community and was named a Best of WNC Social Media Personality in the 2013 readers’ poll.

And now Barbie is following in Shel’s footsteps again, with her first book of children’s poetry and illustrations, Roasting Questions, which was published by Grateful Steps Publishing House in Asheville.
To find out more about the book, please visit: www.barbieangell.com/roasting-questions

Find out more about Barbie, connect with her on Twitter,
and see more of her words at www.barbieangell.com.

*****

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