David Ferguson – Nashville No More
Fat Possum Records – 3 September 2021
In the course of the past 40 years, David Ferguson has become a living Nashville legend, producing, engineering and collaborating with the likes of Prine, Cash and Sturgill Simpson, the latter earning him a Grammy for A Sailor’s Guide To Earth recorded at his sadly now defunct Butcher Shoppe studio. Now he’s stepped to the other side of the desk to make his own recording debut, showcasing his deep, life-grained baritone with a ten-song country/folk collection of covers and a clutch of special guests.
Ian Tyson’s classic Four Strong Winds opens proceedings with Sierra Hull on mandolin, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, and Mike Rojas providing piano. The Guy Clark/Vernon Thompson reflective co-write Boats To Build finds Duncan handling both mandolin and fiddle. Written by Allen Reynolds and Charles Cochran (who contributes piano), the dreamy waltzing Fellow Travelers featured on Bobby Bare’s 2005 album The Moon Was Blue. With its accordion, it sounds as though it belongs to some 40s romance set in Paris, here with Bela Flek on backing vocals and Roy Agee on horns.
With Kenny Vaughan on acoustic and electric, the equally dreamy, strings-washed, chorus soaring Nights With You is one of three co-written by Roger Cook (here with Sandy Mason). The others follow in succession, leading with the pedal steel and strings coloured Looking For Rainbows, a Cook/Cochran co-write featuring Margo Price on backing vocals and Mark Howard on the ukulele. The final is the bossa nova meets country-styled Chardonnay, which sounds as though it belongs on some Western soundtrack and which you might be surprised to find was co-penned by Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers.
It’s back then to the more familiar folk territory as Tim O’Brien weighs in on mandolin and backing vocals with Jerry Douglas contributing dobro for Gordon Lightfoot’s evergreen Early Morning Rain. It’s followed by the album’s honky-tonk waltzing lead single, Knockin’ Around Nashville, originally written and recorded in 1994 by Pat McLaughlin, who sings backing and plays acoustic here alongside Kenny Malone’s conga, Bobby Emmett on organ and some weeping pedal steel from Russ Pahl.
One of Lee Hazelwood’s lesser-known songs, the getting old reflections of My Autumn’s Done Come, the 1966 B-side of his pre-Nancy Sinatra version of Sand, again features Hull on mandolin and Duncan on fiddle with Jason Moses on banjo, Rojas providing moody pump organ alongside strings and rich, resonating guitar.
Rojas, Duncan and Hull reprise their roles for the album’s closer, the latter and bluegrass partner Moses adding backing vocals to an uncluttered, backwoods folk gospel reading of Stephen Foster’s perennial and now pandemic prescient Hard Times Come Again No More. The line-up of such a celebrated Nashville musician is a testament to the respect David Ferguson commands. This debut album is a testament to the fact he most certainly deserves it.
Pre-order/save Nashville No More here: http://ferg.lnk.to/nashville
Photo Credit: Scott Smiontacchi