Taken from their new album, ‘Hell on Church Street,’ out January 14 on Nonesuch Records, the Punch Brothers share their accompanying video for lead single Church Street Blues. This is a beautiful piece to introduce the album with. It doesn’t race along, opening instead to a more contemplative jog and ending on a beautiful instrumental that leaves you wanting more, it’s a real gem that’s sure to leave fans eager to hear the whole album after the New Year.
The album is the band’s reimagining of, and homage to, the late bluegrass great Tony Rice’s landmark solo album Church Street Blues. The record features a collection of songs by Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Bill Monroe, and others.
Recorded at Nashville’s Blackbird Studio in November 2020, during a time of great uncertainty, Hell on Church Street was intended as both its own work of art and a gift to Rice, who died that Christmas. Punch Brothers said of Tony Rice and Church Street Blues: “No record (or musician) has had a greater impact on us, and we felt compelled to cover it in its entirety, with the objective of interacting with it in the same spirit of respect-fueled adventure that Tony brought to each of its pre-existing songs.”
Hell on Church Street follows Punch Brothers’ critically acclaimed and Grammy Award-winning 2018 album All Ashore.
The accompanying video was directed by Alex Chaloff.
Punch Brothers tour North America in support of the album beginning in January, with stops in Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Boston, among others; see below for details and ticket links (tickets go on sale this Friday, October 1, at 10am local time) or visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
Pre-Order Hell on Church Street: https://smarturl.it/HellOnChurchStreet