Jake Xerxes Fussell has today shared two new singles, Boney & Boll Weevil, from his forthcoming album The Old Beloved Path, out September 18th via Fat Possum Records; they follow last month’s Rock Island Line.
The album is his second for Fat Possum Records, following 2024’s When I’m Called. While they are both traditional songs, Boney, a short-drag chantey/shanty (sung when only a few strong pulls were needed), isn’t one you hear that often. Fussell shared the following about its origins and variants:
“‘Boney’ is believed to have been what’s known in maritime worksong tradition as a ‘short drag’ – a chantey sung to accompany & keep pace for a brief hauling task aboard a ship. But the song has also lived a life in the decades that have passed since the golden age of sail. The self taught musicologist Sam Eskin recorded a version of it, as did the great Paul Clayton. Listeners will recognize that the song recounts some of the bolder and finer points along the timeline of events in the life of Napoleon Bonaparte – though somewhat out of order and at times half-wrought. In some variants his dancing and cursing receive more attention than his victories or defeats, which I appreciate. Other versions will have him crossing The Rockies in addition to The Alps. I think this song is, among other things, a curiously rendered and fractured portrait of a colossal and difficult figure. Or a short drag – whichever you prefer.”
Boll Weevil, a more familiar song, has been recorded by many. Alan Lomax recorded Lead Belly performing in 1934, and it later featured as Boll Weevil, Holler, on Shirley Collins and Davy Graham’s legendary 1964 album Folk Roots, New Routes. Fussell calls on a foundational version by Charley Patton and an early 1940s version from Blind Willie McTell.
“Speaking of strange portraits, ‘Boll Weevil’ is another one, though this one’s set a little closer to home – or at least for me it is. I like Sid Selvidge’s version a lot. Charley Patton’s recording is absolutely foundational. The version I play draws a bit from the one recorded by Atlanta singer and guitarist Blind Willie McTell in the early 40s. But I took a number of different verses from a few different versions I know and I strung them together to try and make some narrative sense. This song deals with themes of encroachment, influx, growth, the invasive, the entrepreneurial, the opportunistic, the parasitic. The Boll Weevil is treated as a literal parasite in some versions of the song, in others he’s a shrewd and savvy market competitor, in some a quirky nuisance. And yet in others the singer will hold more of a sympathetic and forgiving view of the bug in question. Often the Boll Weevil is all of these things in one song. Like so many of us, he’s looking for a home.”
Streaming links: https://jakexerxesfussell.ffm.to/boney-bollweevil
In our last interview with Fussell, in 2024 (read it here), he was very open about how source material influenced his interpretations. Talking about the new album he touches on that malleability of folk song and how his own worldview shapes his interpretations:
“For people in the folk music world, songs are their religion,” states Fussell. “But traditional music is not a bee stuck in amber. I tend to think of everyone who plays traditional music as being on a spectrum from conservative to wildly creative. I am somebody who tends to sit on the edge of those two worlds. I don’t always present these songs in a historical context. I have to relate to them personally. I approach these songs through my own worldview.”
Don’t miss Jake Xerxes Fussell’s UK and EU tour dates; some of the UK dates are with the excellent Naima Bock.
Pre-Order The Old Beloved Path
Jake Xerxes Fussell UK / EU Tour Dates
Fri. Oct. 2 – Liverpool, UK @ St Michael’s Church *
Sat. Oct. 3 – Manchester, UK @ Hallé St Peter’s *
Mon. Oct. 5 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club *
Tue. Oct. 6 – Glasgow, UK @ St Luke’s *
Thu. Oct. 8 – Cork, IE @ Cyprus Avenue
Fri. Oct. 9 – Galway, IE @ Róisín Dubh
Sat. Oct. 10 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Mon. Oct. 12 – Bristol, UK @ St George’s *
Tue. Oct. 13 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 *
Wed. Oct. 14 – London, UK @ Union Chapel *
Wed. Dec. 2 – Copenhagen, DK @ Hotel Cecil
Thu. Dec. 3 – Oslo, NO @ Røverstaden
Fri. Dec. 4 – Stockholm, SE @ Nalen Klubb
Sat. Dec. 5 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
Mon. Dec. 7 – The Hague, NL @ PAARD
Tue. Dec. 8 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique Rotonde
Wed. Dec. 9 – Hamburg, DE @ Nachstasyl
Thu. Dec. 10 – Berlin, DE @ Theater im Delphi
Fri. Dec. 11 – Cologne, DE @ Stadtgarten
Sat. Dec. 12 – Paris, FR @ Le Hasard Ludique
Sun. Dec. 13 – Bruges, BE @ Duyster Festival
* = with Naima Bock