The Westerner is my psychedelic, soul record from the Arizona desert.

The Westerner is dedicated to Michael Blake, author of many books including Dancing With Wolves, and a scholar and advocate for Native American rights. He was also one of my best friends for over 30 years. Michael taught me how to ride horses (we knocked each other off them several times) and we taught each other about writing, music & art. Many of these songs are about him or use him as the main character, and his presence has been with me throughout the making of the record. It’s a wild, spread-out, desert & ocean life that we’ve lived,

Michael lived in Tucson, as did another great friend, Howe Gelb, who I asked to produce & play on The Westerner. Howe, the city of Tucson & particularly WaveLab Studios have a sparse, desert sound you may have heard from Giant Sand, Neko Case, Iron and Wine & Calexico. Since many of the new songs are set in the desert, recording there was a natural choice.

Singers & players from A to Z: Tom Brosseau, Ryan Feves, Connor Gallaher, Howe Gelb, Debbie Harry, Eric Heywood, Stuart Johnson, Thøger Lund, Val McCallum, Ernie E. Mendoza, Jamie Muhoberac, Cat Power, Gabriel Sullivan, Cindy Wasserman, Dave Way

Recorded by Chris Schultz, Dave Way & Tim Hatfield. recorded at WaveLab Recording Studios, Tucson; The Waystation, Hollywood & Cowboy Technical Services, Brookly

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