If you like country music (like actual country music), and you’re not listening to Vincent Neil Emerson, you’re doing it wrong. You just are.
I’ll give you a minute to process the news…
But… it’s never too late to hop on the bandwagon.
Announced today, Vincent Neil Emerson is gearing up to release his sophomore album, a self-titled project with the great Rodney Crowell at the helm.
“I think I’ve always gravitated towards artists that are honest about what they’re doing. It’s the most important thing because people have a chance to connect to a little more if you’re telling the truth.
Songwriting has always been a therapeutic thing for me. So, I just started writing more from the heart.”
Producing the new album, Rodney Crowell paid Emerson the ultimate compliment, saying that he is cut from the same cloth as notable Texas songwriters like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson:
“When asked to explain the Texas singer/songwriter/poet mystique, I often said that Guy Clark was a regional artist with global appeal, that his literary sensibilities… one could say he and Larry McMurtry were cut from a similar cloth… was the basis for his broader appeal. And that Townes Van Zandt’s allure was, much like Dylan’s, rooted in his effortless access to the higher realms of archetypal imagery. To put it simply, he made incredibly complex songwriting sound easy. Add Willie Nelson to the mix and you have the Texas trifecta.
Now, in the case of one Vincent Neil Emerson, whose new record it was my honor to produce, I’m happy to say the Texas singer/songwriter/poet tradition is alive and well. And I can’t help thinking that if he grows on the public the way he’s grown on me, it’s possible young Vincent will plant the flag of his forebears firmly in the consciousness of a whole new generation.
And yet, setting aside the Texas folksinger tradition for a moment, I must say that the artist Vincent Neil Emerson puts me in mind of most is the late, great common-sense poet, John Prine. If I perceive correctly, it’s in everybody’s best interest to nurture this up-and-coming artist to full fruition.”
I mean, could there be higher praise?
Emerson announces the new album with the lead single “Learning To Drown,” a gut-wrenching song about his father’s suicide:
“I had been trying to write a song about my father’s passing for a while. I was just having a hard time processing that emotionally. Before I was always trying to find a way to kind of dance around it and not really give too much away. But there’s no beating around the bush here.”
It’s heavy, but it’s real… the way country music should be.
The self-titled album is set for release on June 25th.
Vincent Neil Emerson Tracklist:
Texas Moon
Debtor’s Blues
High On The Mountain
Learnin’ To Drown
Ripplin’ And Wild
Durango
The Ballad Of The Choctaw-Apache
White Horse Saloon
High On Gettin’ By
Saddled Up And Tamed
