A Productive Season
Singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale releases two distinctly different records on the same day
Jim Lauderdale has a little too much of a good thing. Much like Brooklyn’s prolific Stephin Merritt, whose group The Magnetic Fields once released three CDs all on the same day, Lauderdale plans to defy convention by releasing two CDs at the same time: The Hummingbirds, a country record, and Lost in the Lonesome Pines, his second collaboration with bluegrasser Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. At this point, the remarkably productive Lauderdale, who’s had his songs recorded by everyone from George Strait and the Dixie Chicks to Kelly Willis and Shelby Lynne, has little other choice.
“I already had The Hummingbirds finished when I released The Other Sessions [his previous country record] last year. Then I wanted to hold the record I made with Ralph until after he released his Clinch Mountain Women collection of duets. Plus, I’ve got a bunch of other stuff on the back burner that I want to get out, so it seemed like there was no other way around it than to put them both out on the same day.”
Lauderdale’s “back burner” is getting pretty crowded. In addition to the upcoming releases, he’s been working on no fewer than five other projects: a solo bluegrass record, a collection of songs co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, a traditional country record, a collaboration with Buddy Miller and a record with Cajun-country jam band Donna the Buffalo. On top of all this, he plans to tour extensively in support of The Hummingbirds and Lost in the Pines.
Credit for Lauderdale’s prodigious output must be shared with his friend, engineer/producer Tim Coats. Coats is a founding member of legendary Nashville rock band The White Animals and a partner (along with E-Street Band member Gary Tallent) in Moondog studio, where Lauderdale prefers to record.
“I really rely on Tim in the studio,” Lauderdale admits. “He has such great ears and musical sensibilities.... I depend on his opinion, and that enables me to move on instead of dwelling on something too long. Plus, so many things that we start recording as demos turn out sounding like masters and end up as records.”
Lauderdale plans to launch The Hummingbirds and Lost in the Pines with a release party on Wednesday, May 8, at 12th and Porter. The first part of the show will be dedicated to acoustic and bluegrass material, after which he’ll be joined by a full band. Although there’s bound to be plenty of special guests, Ralph Stanley will not be able to appear. A pretty productive guy himself, the 74-year-old Stanley has prior commitments.
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