SONGWRITING LEGEND ERIC ANDERSEN TO MARK 75TH BIRTHDAY WITH ‘THE ESSENTIAL ERIC ANDERSEN’ (SONY LEGACY / REAL GONE) MARCH 30

GUESTS ON FIRST CAREER-SPANNING, MULTI-LABEL 2-DISC COMPILATION INCLUDE JONI MITCHELL, DAVID BROMBERG, LEON RUSSELL, JOAN BAEZ, RICHARD THOMPSON, RICK DANKO, PHIL OCHS, & LOU REED

RELEASE & TOUR MARKS FIVE DECADES IN MUSIC FOR MASTER SONGWRITER WHOSE SONGS HAVE BEEN INTERPRETED BY BOB DYLAN, JOHNNY CASH, JUDY COLLINS, LINDA RONSTADT, THE GRATEFUL DEAD, & GILLIAN WELCH

“Impressive… Very few songwriters have built a body of work as consistently strong as Mr. Andersen's.” – New York Times

“Masterwork… Andersen is the most elegant of singers.” – Rolling Stone

“Eric Andersen is a great ballad singer and writer.” – Bob Dylan

"Your song 'Violets of Dawn' got me started writing songs." Leonard Cohen confessed to Eric Andersen, seated side by side, legs in the pool, at the Landmark Hotel, Hollywood, California, in 1967.

Sony Legacy and Real Gone Music will release ‘The Essential Eric Andersen’ on March 30, marking the master songwriter’s 75th birthday as well as five decades in music, with a tour shortly to follow. Andersen’s songs have been interpreted by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, The Grateful Dead, Gillian Welch, Pete Seeger, Fairport Convention, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Eilen Jewell.

The two-disc, 33-track CD or 42 track digital-collection was recorded between 1964 and 2006 originally issued on Vanguard, Columbia, Folkways, Appleseed, Rykodisc, and Arista Records. Performers joining Andersen on the compilation include Joni Mitchell, David Bromberg,Leon Russell, Joan Baez, Richard Thompson, Rick Danko, and Lou Reed. Andersen and the late Phil Ochs duet on “Plains of Nebrasky-o.” Andersen’s version of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” recorded in Nashville in 1971 with Bromberg, will see release for the first time. Comprehensive liner notes by the songwriter himself and Rolling Stone and NY Times writer and Lou Reed biographer Anthony DeCurtis accompany the compilation. A press copy of the liner notes is here: http://bit.ly/2D5k63o

Andersen was seemingly involved in every scene of counter-cultural significance, even as his songwriting bona fides mounted over the course of twenty-plus albums: seeing Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, and The Everly Brothers in concert as a kid outside Buffalo, NY; spotting
John and Jackie Kennedy leaving a church in southern Massachusetts; playing and trading songs in Greenwich Village in 1964; opening for John Lee Hooker upon his arrival to NYC; meeting beat poets in San Francisco at City Lights and seeing them read the night JFK died; working to register black voters in Liberty, MS in 1965; being on the managerial roster of Brian Epstein (until his untimely death); starring with Edie Sedgwick in an Andy Warhol movie called Space; showing Joni Mitchell open G and D modal tunings on the guitar; playing on the legendary Festival Express (event and film) alongside The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, and Buddy Guy; recording in Nashville in the early ‘70s; being introduced to Cash by Dylan at Newport Folk Fest in 1964 and later appearing on TV’s The Johnny Cash Show; opening for The Doors, Elton John, and The Byrds; living in the Chelsea Hotel in the 1970s alongside Kris Kristofferson, Sam Shepard, and Leonard Cohen; moving to Woodstock in the mid-70s; playing on the first two shows of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour; co-writing with Townes Van Zandt and Lou Reed; moving to Norway and then the Netherlands; and singing with Rick Danko in the trio Danko/Fjeld/Andersen.

The album includes songs from ‘Stages: The Lost Album,’ whose masters were misplaced for two decades. A number of the sessions were produced by famed Nashville producer Norbert Putnam (who also produced Jimmy Buffet, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dan Fogelberg, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Baez, and played bass for Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, and Jerry Jeff Walker) and featuring a list of ace Nashville session men such as Charlie McCoy, Kenny Buttrey, Eddie Hinton, and others.

“The Songpoet,” a full-length documentary film on Andersen is expected to be completed sometime later this year.
The New York Times music critic and author Robert Palmer said, “great American music from one of the masters.”

All Music called Eric’s music “timeless… The archetypal, literate romantic.”

Eric Andersen Tour Dates:

April 6 – Green Brook, NJ – House Concert
April 9 – New York, NY – City Vineyard at Pier 26
April 11 – Plainville, CT – Church of our Savior
April 12 – Boston, MA – City Winery
April 13 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Caffe Lena
April 15 – Piermont, NY – The Turning Point
April 16 – Buffalo, NY – Sportsmen’s Tavern
April 18 – Worthington, OH – Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza
April 19 – Cleveland, OH - Nighttown
April 20 – Oxford, NY – 6 on the Square
April 25 – Santa Ynez, CA – Tales from the Tavern
April 27 - Sacramento, CA - The Side Door at the Fifth String
April 29 – Soquel, CA – Michael’s On Main
May 3 - Los Angeles, CA - The GRAMMY Museum (Q&A and short set)
May 4 – National City, CA – AMSD Concerts
May 5 – Santa Monica, CA – McCabe’s
May 6 – Altadena, CA – The Coffee Gallery Backstage
May 11 – Portland, OR – The Old Church
May 12 – Grants Pass, OR – House Concert
May 24 – Marlboro, NY – The Falcon

'The Essential Eric Andersen' 2CD track list:
Disc 1
1.  Everything Ain’t Been Said
2.  Dusty Box Car Wall
3.  (We Were) Foolish Like The Flowers (featuring Bruce Langhorne)
4.  Dream To Rimbaud
5.  Secrets
6.  I Will Wait
7.  Waves Of Freedom
8.  Mama Tried (featuring David Bromberg – previously unreleased)
9.  Is It Really Love At All
10. Florentine
11. Blue River (featuring Joni Mitchell)
12. Pearl’s Goodtime Blues
13. Woman, She Was Gentle (featuring Joan Baez and Leon Russell)
14. Moonchild River Song (featuring Dan Fogelberg, Debbie Green Andersen, and Pete Drake)
15. Time Run Like A Freight Train (featuring Dan Fogelberg)
16. Wild Crow Blues (featuring Leon Russell and Pete Drake)

Disc 2
1.  The Blues Keep Fallin’ Like The Rain (featuring Tim Scott and Maria Muldaur)
2.  Thirsty Boots (Live at the Bitter End)
3.  Close The Door Lightly (When You Go)
4.  Violets Of Dawn (Live at the Bitter End)
5.  Messiah
6.  Belgian Bar
7.  Trouble In Paris
8.  Hills Of Tuscany (featuring Richard Thompson)
9.  You Can’t Relive The Past (featuring Lou Reed)
10. Rain Falls Down In Amsterdam
11. Keep This Love Alive (featuring Rick Danko and Fjeld Andersen)
12. Driftin’ Away (featuring Rick Danko and Fjeld Andersen)
13. Foghorn
14. Salt On Your Skin (Live featuring Inge Andersen and Michele Gazich)
15. Don’t It Make You Wanna Sing The Blues (Live featuring the Spoonful of Blues Band)
16. Under The Shadows (featuring a duet with Sari Andersen)
17. Plains Of Nebrasky-O (duet with Phil Ochs)

'The Essential Eric Andersen' Digital Album Track List:

1.  Everything Ain’t Been Said
2.  Dusty Box Car Wall
3.  (We Were) Foolish Like The Flowers (featuring Bruce Langhorne)
4.  Dream To Rimbaud
5.  Secrets
6.  I Will Wait
7.  Waves Of Freedom
8.  Come To My Bedside, My Darlin’
9.  Mama Tried (featuring David Bromberg – previously unreleased)
10. Is It Really Love At All
11. Florentine
12. Sheila
13. Blue River (featuring Joni Mitchell)
14. Pearl’s Goodtime Blues
15. Woman, She Was Gentle (featuring Joan Baez and Leon Russell)
16. Moonchild River Song (featuring Dan Fogelberg, Debbie Green Andersen, and Pete Drake)
17. Time Run Like A Freight Train (featuring Dan Fogelberg)
18. Wild Crow Blues (featuring Leon Russell and Pete Drake)
19. Be True To You
20. The Blues Keep Fallin’ Like The Rain (featuring Tim Scott and Maria Muldaur)
21. I Shall Go Unbounded
22. Thirsty Boots (Live at the Bitter End)
23. Close The Door Lightly (When You Go)
24. Violets Of Dawn (Live at the Bitter End)
25. Come Runnin’ Like A Friend
26. Messiah
27. Ghosts Upon The Road
28. Belgian Bar
29. Listen To The Rain
30. Trouble In Paris
31. Rain Falls Down In Amsterdam
32. Goin’ Gone
33. Hills Of Tuscany (featuring Richard Thompson)
34. You Can’t Relive The Past (featuring Lou Reed)
35. Keep This Love Alive (featuring Rick Danko and Fjeld Andersen)
36. Driftin’ Away (featuring Rick Danko and Fjeld Andersen)
37. Foghorn
38. Under The Shadows (featuring a duet with Sari Andersen)
39. Salt On Your Skin (Live featuring Inge Andersen and Michele Gazich)
40. Singin’ Man
41. Don’t It Make You Wanna Sing The Blues (Live featuring the Spoonful of Blues Band)
42. Plains Of Nebrasky-O (duet with Phil Ochs)

THE PIECES OF EDEN BRENT'S 'JIGSAW HEART': HOW MISSISSIPPI LIFE AND MUSIC INSPIRED HER MOST DEEPLY-FELT ALBUM TO DATE

Eden Brent walked us through the fascinating pieces of her new Americana album 'Jigsaw Heart' (out this week on Yellow Dog Records), her most deeply-felt album to date. Here are some highlights:

+ "Back in the 70’s the IRS auctioned some of Jerry Lee Lewis’s belongings to offset his outstanding tax debt, and my Daddy was highest bidder on his confiscated home stereo. So, I used to listen to Floyd Cramer’s 'Last Date' on a record player that once to belonged to Jerry Lee Lewis!"
+ "'Better This Way' is the only song I’ve ever written that made me cry while I was writing it."
+ A local Greenville, MS bluesman cautioned Brent about her reputation, which lead to the rollicking "Everybody Already Knows."
+ The McCrary Sisters add vocals to "Opportunity," giving it a hint of Nashville gospel flavor.
+ Though a pianist by trade, Brent wrote "The Last Time" on guitar, for a friend who died in a car accident.
+ "Let's Go Ahead and Fall In Love" features sly double entendre verses inspired by the blues tradition.
+ "Locomotive" was inspired by how Brent's father met Johnny Cash in 1956 and Brent likens the beat to that of "Folsom Prison Blues," which Cash dedicated to Brent's father at a show. "'Locomotive'" has the same country two-step rhythm with a strong backbeat."
+ "Valentine" strips down the arrangement and lays bare the emotions; Brent was in tears by the end of the recording.

Eden Brent will perform at Iridium in NYC and at Hill Country Live in D.C. Complete tour dates here.

American Songwriter is streaming 'Jigsaw Heart' in its entirety.

SONS OF FATHERS’ PAUL CAUTHEN’S GRANDFATHER INSPIRES HIS MUSIC, NAME, SPIRITUALITY, AND TATTOO

The roots of Sons of Fathers dig deep, back two generations in fact to Paul Cauthen’s grandfather Jim Paul Cauthen. “My granddad is the force inside of me that keeps me motivated. He’s the reason I play,” says Cauthen, who was named for him.

He remembers, “My grandfather was a man of wisdom, who made the choice of the spiritual life rather than rock and roll. He sang in every Church of Christ this side of the Mason-Dixon line! I will always be grateful for the a cappella singing that he taught me. I learned harmonies when I was 5 years old or so, and was singing them in the bathtub by the age of six years old in Tyler, TX.”

Paul continues, “I was exposed to old gospel songs: ‘Wings of a Dove,’ ‘Old Rugged Cross,’ ‘Amazing Grace.’ Then he opened my eyes to Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Buddy Holly. He was best friends with Sonny Curtis [Holly’s lead guitarist] and he knew Buddy. Granddad played music with all of the old west Texas boys.”

He exclaims, “His voice was huge. Once, he was singing along in the audience at an Everly Brothers concert and they pulled him onstage to join them.”

Jim Paul was such an influence on Paul’s life that he has the man’s signature tattooed on his forearm. But his example goes well beyond music. Paul says, “Most importantly my Grandfather taught me how to live for more than myself. He taught me to live for God, family, and a good song.”

Sons of Fathers will perform at Philadelphia’s Tin Angel October 8; Brooklyn’s Freddy’s Bar October 12; Brooklyn’s Branded Saloon October 14; and Brooklyn’s Southpaw October 15.