Jake Xerxes Fussell Shares Two New Songs, “Breast of Glass” and “Frolic.”

Jake Xerxes Fussell Shares Two New Songs, “Breast of Glass” and “Frolic.”

“[‘Love Farewell’ is] a heartbreaking song of love during war time that Fussell reinterprets and refreshes masterfully, his tender vocals and acoustic guitar turning the minimal source material into something rich and beautiful.” — NPR Music

Jake Xerxes Fussell grows ever greener.

Today the singer, guitarist, and folk music interpreter shares two new songs, “Breast of Glass” and “Frolic,” from his forthcoming album, Good and Green Again, out January 21st. Produced by James Elkington (Jeff Tweedy, Michael Chapman, Steve Gunn, etc.), Good and Green Again is Fussell’s most conceptually focused and breathtakingly rendered album to date, a transcendent place on a musical map of melancholy, quietude, and foot-stomping joy. Following previously released album opener “Love Farewell,” “Breast of Glass” features beautiful, sparse horn arrangements written by Fussell and Elkington and performed by Anna Jacobson. “Frolic,” one of the three airy instrumentals on Good and Green Again, punctuates the program, offering respite and light in the form of crisp, shuffling play-party tunes.

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Fussell has distinguished himself as one of his generation’s preeminent interpreters of traditional (and not so traditional) “folk” songs, a practice which he approaches with a refreshingly unfussy lack of nostalgia and preciousness. By recontextualizing ancient vernacular songs and sources of the American South, he allows them to breathe and speak for themselves and for himself; he alternately inhabits them and allows them to inhabit him. In all his work, Fussell humanizes his material with his own profound curatorial and interpretive gifts, unmooring stories and melodies from their specific eras and origins and setting them adrift in our own waterways. The robust burr of his voice, which periodically melts and catches at a particularly tender turn of phrase, and the swung rhythmic undertow of exquisite, seemingly effortless guitar-playing pull new valences of meaning from ostensibly antique songs and subjects.

For Good and Green Again, Elkington and Fussell enlisted engineer Jason Richmond and a group of formidable players hailing from Durham, North Carolina (where Fussell lives) and elsewhere, including regular bandmembers Casey Toll (Mt. Moriah, Nathan Bowles) on upright bass, Libby Rodenbough (Mipso) on strings, and Nathan Golub on pedal steel. They were joined by welcome newcomers Joe Westerlund (Megafaun, Califone) on drums, Joseph Decosimo on fiddle, Anna Jacobson on brass, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, who contributes additional vocals.

“Fussell is creating his own legacy within the long lineage of traditional folk musicians and storytellers that have come before him.” – The New York Times

“So elegant…It’s relaxing in the way that pondering a Zen koan is relaxing, and sweet in the way that the wounded, honey-voiced blues of Mississippi John Hurt are sweet.” – Pitchfork

“Music that resides at the seams of Appalachia and the cosmos.” – NPR

Deluxe LP edition features 140g virgin vinyl; heavy-duty board jacket with song sources, credits, & artwork by Art Rosenbaum; & high-res Bandcamp download code.
CD edition features gatefold jacket with LP replica art.
All preorders include an immediate 320k MP3 download of lead single “Love Farewell” (featuring Bonnie “Prince” Billy)
RIYL: Bob Dylan, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Ry Cooder, Bill Frisell, Dave Van Ronk, Michael Chapman, Jim Dickinson, Michael Hurley, The Youngbloods, Raccoon Records, James Elkington, Nathan Salsburg, William Tyler, Bonnie “Prince” Billy

Watch Good and Green Again manifest on the material plane.

Jake Xerxes Fussell 2022 Tour Dates

Jake is hitting the road in the US, UK, and EU this winter and spring. Tickets on-sale now. New dates are in bold; stay tuned for more TBA.

Fri. Jan. 21 – Chapel Hill, NC @ The Nightlight

Sat. Jan. 22 – Richmond, VA @ The Camel

Sun. Jan. 23 – Washington, DC @ Pie Shop

Tue. Jan. 25 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA

Wed. Jan. 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Knitting Factory

Thu. Jan. 27 – Boston, MA @ Club Passim

Fri. Jan 28 – Keene, NH @ Nova Arts

Sat. Jan. 29 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Caffe Lena

Thu. Feb. 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers *

Sat. Feb 19 – Santa Monica, CA @ McCabe’s Guitar Shop *

Tue. Feb 22 – Portland, OR @ The Old Church *

Sun. May 1 – Kilkenny, IE @ Kilkenny Roots

Mon. May 2 – Kilkenny, IE @ Kilkenny Roots

Tue. May 3 – Dublin, IE @ Bello Bar

Wed. May 4 – Belfast, UK @ Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival

Fri. May 6 – Manchester, UK @ Gulliver’s

Sat. May 7 – London, UK @ Oslo

Sun. May 8 – Glasgow, UK @ Glad Cafe

Mon. May 9 – York, UK @ Fulford Arms

Wed. May 11 – Ultrecht, NL @ Tivoli (Club Nine)

Fri. May 13 – Nijmegen, NL @ Merleyn

Sat. May 14 – Cologne, DE @ King Georg

Mon. May 16 – Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus

Tue. May 17 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso

* w/ special guest Tom Brosseau

Jake’s self-titled 2015 album and What in the Natural World (2017) are casualties of the current vinyl supply-chain shortages and manufacturing delays, but rest assured, we have LP repressings in process, and you can purchase them now on backorder. What in the Natural World should begin shipping this month. Thank you for your patience as we navigate the Great Vinyl Doldrums of 2021–22.

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