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Song by Bob Dylan / Ketch Secor
Danny Frankel; percussionsJanie Cowan; acoustic bassAndi Lechner; e- & resonator guitarGeorg Altziebler; harp, vocalsrecorded by: Gar Robertsonmixed & mastered by: Fabio Schurischuster
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Son of the Velvet Rat, in partnership with the Ghost and the Machine (the professional alias of Austrian singer-songwriter Andi Lechner), follow up on the former’s 2024 standout album Ghost Ranch with a series of six digital singles, recorded live, to be released one a month beginning in March 2025. The songs feature a rawer, more immediate sound than previous recordings, with Lechner’s National resonator guitar often tuned down several steps to add an ominous underpinning to the music.
Son of the Velvet Rat divide their time between their home in Graz, Austria and Joshua Tree in California’s high desert. Their songs reflect a sonic landscape stretching from the Old World romanticism of Jacques Brel or Fabricio de Andre to the visionary realm of American balladeers like Bill Callahan or Michael Hurley. Lechner hails from Vienna, Austria, where aside from helming Ghost and the Machine, he is a much-in-demand session guitarist.
These songs were recorded live at Gar Robertson’s Red Barn Recorders in Morongo Valley, just down the hill from Joshua Tree, and produced by Altziebler and Lechner. Rounding out the rhythm section are fellow desert-dwellers Janie Cowan (Bob Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom) on standup bass and Danny Frankel (Lou Reed, Spain, She & Him) on drums and percussion.
Improvisation alternates with composed passages. The dynamic ranges from fragile folk to ferocious noise - with colors and transitions being hazy and obscured. The Red Barn Sessions capture the poetry created by the confluence of these blurry shades.
(Paul Cullum)
Wagon Wheel
- Heading down south to the land of the pines
I'm thumbing my way into North Caroline
Staring up the road and pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in 17 hours
Picking me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a-hoping for Raleigh, I can see my baby tonightSo rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel
Rock me, mama, any way you feel
Hey, mama, rock me
Rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain
Rock me, mama, like a southbound train
Hey, mama, rock meRunning from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band
My baby plays the guitar, I pick a banjo now
Oh, north-country winters keep a-getting me down
Lost my money playing poker, so I had to leave town
But I ain't turning back to living that old life no moreSo rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel
Rock me, mama, any way you feel
Hey, mama, rock me
Yeah, rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain
Rock me, mama, like a southbound train
Hey, mama, rock meWalking to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly, had a nice long toke
But he's a-headed west from the Cumberland gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I got to get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby calling my name, and I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh, at least I will die freeSo rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel
Rock me, mama, any way you feel
Hey, mama, rock me
Oh, rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain
Rock me, mama, like a southbound train
Hey, hey, mama, rock me, ohSo rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel
Rock me, mama, any way you feel (oh, I wanna feel)
Hey, hey, mama, rock me
Mama, rock me, mama, rock me
Rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain (oh)
Rock me, mama, like a southbound train
Hey, yeah-yeah, mama, rock me
You can rock me, rock me