For over a decade now, Jake Xerxes Fussell’s records have been making traditional folk music come alive for modern ears. Today he’s announcing his latest, The Old Beloved Path, set for release on Fat Possum this fall. The lead single is out now, a contemporary take on “Rock Island Line” that transforms the American traditional into a tender alt-country ballad.
“Rock Island Line” is covered often enough that Fussell had never considered performing it himself, but a recording of the song by Lonnie Donegan unlocked fresh inspiration for him. He offered this context:
The song struck me as very beautiful, but just singing the verses wasn’t working for me. I couldn’t relate. So, I wound up putting it together with an old English nursery rhyme that I had been kicking around. “Wire, briar, limberlock/ How many geese is in our flock?” and “If you want to ride you got to ride it like you’re flyin, get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line.” Marrying those two things, I felt like something worked, it felt like a song to me.
Listen below, where you can also find The Old Beloved Path‘s tracklist and Fussell’s tour dates, including some shows with Naima Bock and Dougie Poole.
TRACKLIST:
01 “No. 1”
02 “Rock Island Line”
03 “Every Time I Go To Town”
04 “Rosin Some”
05 “Boney”
06 “Early Early In The Spring”
07 “Boll Weevil”
08 “Sandy Land”
09 “Of All The Beast-es In The World”
TOUR DATES:
08/01 – Lansing, NC @ Fly Around Festival
08/08-09 – Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Folk Festival
08/20 – Chicago, IL @ Fretboard Summit
09/12 – Durham, NC @ The Carolina Theater [Eno River Association 60th Anniversary]
10/02 – Liverpool, UK @ St Michael’s Church *
10/03 – Manchester, UK @ Hallé St Peter’s *
10/05 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club *
10/06 – Glasgow, UK @ St Luke’s *
10/08 – Cork, IE @ Cyprus Avenue
10/09 – Galway, IE @ Róisín Dubh
10/10 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
10/12 – Bristol, UK @ St George’s *
10/13 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 *
10/14 – London, UK @ Union Chapel *
10/24 – Buena Vista, GA @ Pasaquan
11/03 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room +
11/04 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club +
11/05 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater +
11/06 – Centralia, WA @ The Juice Box +
11/07 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret +
11/08 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern +
11/11 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall +
11/12 – Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall +
11/13 – South Pasadena, CA @ Sid the Cat Auditorium +
11/14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar +
12/02 – Copenhagen, DK @ Hotel Cecil
12/03 – Oslo, NO @ Røverstaden
12/04 – Stockholm, SE @ Nalen Klubb
12/05 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
12/07 – The Hague, NL @ PAARD
12/08 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique Rotonde
12/09 – Hamburg, DE @ Nachstasyl
12/10 – Berlin, DE @ Theater im Delphi
12/11 – Cologne, DE @ Stadtgarten
12/12 – Paris, FR @ Le Hasard Ludique
12/13 – Bruges, BE @ Duyster Festival
* = with Naima Bock
+ = with Dougie Poole
The Old Beloved Path is out 9/18 on Fat Possum. Pre-order it here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stereogum.com ’
