Traveller (CD) | Mint (M) Mint (M)

BRAND NEW
 
Label: Mercury Nashville – B0019405-02
Format: CD, Album, Digisleeve
Country: US
Released: 2015
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country

1        Traveller
Written-By – Chris Stapleton
3:42
2        Fire Away
Written-By – Chris Stapleton, Danny Green (4)
4:04
3        Tennessee Whiskey
Written-By – Dean Dillon, Linda Hargrove
4:53
4        Parachute
Written-By – Chris Stapleton, Jim Beavers
4:13
5        Whiskey And You
Written-By – Chris Stapleton, Lee Thomas Miller
3:56
6        Nobody To Blame
Written-By – Barry Bales, Chris Stapleton, Ronnie Bowman
4:04
7        More Of You
Written-By – Chris Stapleton, Ronnie Bowman
4:38
8        When The Stars Come Out
Written-By – Chris Stapleton, Dan Wilson
4:17
9        Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore
Written-By – Chris Stapleton
4:10
10        Might As Well Get Stoned
Written-By – Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Stewart (11)
4:37
11        Was It 26
Written-By – Don Sampson
4:49
12        The Devil Named Music
Written-By – Chris Stapleton
6:07
13        Outlaw State Of Mind
Written-By – Chris Stapleton, Jerry Salley, Ronnie Bowman
5:37
14        Sometimes I Cry
Written-By – Chris Stapleton, Clint Ingersoll
4:00
 

Personnel: Chris Stapleton (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin); Dave Cobb (acoustic guitar, percussion); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Mike Webb (piano, organ, Mellotron); J.T. Cure (upright bass); Derek Mixon (drums, percussion); Morgane Stapleton (background vocals). Audio Mixer: Vance Powell . Liner Note Author: Chris Stapleton. Recording information: Blackbird Studio, Nashville, TN; Grand Victor Sound, Nashville, TN; The Castle, Franklin, TN. Photographer: Becky Fluke. Like many country troubadours, Chris Stapleton cut his teeth as a songwriter in Nashville, churning out tunes that wound up hits in the hands of others. Kenny Chesney brought "Never Wanted Anything More" to number one and Darius Rucker had a hit with "Come Back Song," but those associations suggest Stapleton would toe a mainstream line when he recorded his 2015 debut, Traveller. This new release, however, suggests something rougher and rowdier -- an Eric Church without a metallic fixation or a Sturgill Simpson stripped of arty psychedelic affectations. Something closer to a Jamey Johnson, in other words, but where Johnson often seems weighed down by the mantle of a latter-day outlaw, Stapleton is rather lithe as he slides between all manners of southern styles. Some of this smoothness derives from Stapleton's supple singing. As the rare songwriter-for-hire who also has considerable performance chops, Stapleton is sensitive to the needs of an individual song, something that is evident when he's covering "Tennessee Whiskey" -- a Dean Dillon & Linda Hargrove tune popularized by George Jones and David Allan Coe in the early '80s -- lending the composition a welcome smolder, but the strength of Traveller lies in how he can similarly modulate the execution of his originals. He has a variety of songs here, too, casually switching gears between bluegrass waltz, Southern rockers, crunching blues, soulful slow-burners, and swaggering outlaw anthems -- every one of them belonging to a tradition, but none sounding musty due to Stapleton's casualness. Never once does he belabor his range, nor does he emphasize the sharply sculpted songs. Everything flows naturally, and that ease is so alluring upon the first spin of Traveller that it's not until repeated visits that the depth of the album becomes apparent. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Media Condition: Mint (M)
• Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
• Format Detail: CD
• Format: CD
• Genre: COUNTRY
• Format Type: CD
• Released: 05/04/2015