Search - Jeff Black :: Plow Through The Mystic

After four critically acclaimed commercial releases on label homes, three fan favorite independent releases on his own Lotos Nile imprint, song placement on numerous independent films, thirty plus years of celebrated live performing and songs covered by artists as diverse as Alison Krauss, Waylon Jennings, Sam Bush, Blackhawk and Dierks Bentley, Jeff solidifies his reputation as a creative force in the roots genres with this eighth album. Blacks grassroots following has allowed him to build a career like few other singer/songwriters in the business and to sustain his contribution as an artist in the disrupted music business environment. I feel like I already have the brass ring in my pocket, just being able to nurture this thing that I ve wanted, this need to observe and relate, since I was 10 years old, says Black. But I had to ask myself, What s the best way to do it now? Over the past decade I ve learned that I have to make changes in how I create music and put it out there. Produced and recorded by Black in his own Arcana Studio, Plow Through the Mystic delivers a richly textured and intimate canvas of acoustic roots and world instrumentation. The album features contributions from mandolin legend and Newgrass founder Sam Bush, Resonator guitar master Jerry Douglas along with vocal contributions from Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters and Kim Richey. The album s 14 tracks take listeners down personal paths of faith, doubt and spiritual grit, liberated by tones of gritty neo-folk and dirt blues. At times Blacks delivery is intimately conversational like an old, trusted friend, other times fiery with an almost tribal fervor. Jeff entrusted the mix to Dave Sinko, known for his work with The Punch Brothers, Sam Bush and legend Don Williams. I met Dave Sinko in 1991 when we were working on a project for Warner Chappell. It was a blessing to reconnect with him. Dave s clarity and his observance of space for acoustic instruments is an art unto itself and I knew he would bring everything into that place where nothing gets lost and every interval shines. He is the original craftsman. Mastered by Grammy winning engineer Joe Palmacchio (Jeff Buckley, Bill Withers, Hank Williams Sr.). He s a technical giant but emotion and human condition come first I believe, for Joe, and that s why it was important to me for him to be part of it. The widest signal relay for carrying Jeff s songs has been his fans. Next to that, Blacks series podcast Black Tuesdays, profiled as pioneering by NPR in 2005, constitutes 100+ downloadable EPs that continue to grow both his live audience and drive record sales and patronage. It is the convergence of the direct connection with his fans via old school touring, together with the immediacy of digital content delivery that created this community of loyal fans who in turn made Plow Through the Mystic possible. Continuing to evolve as a writer, performer and recording artist, Black has never before expressed so much of the creative process on his own terms, deepening his work and leaving the listener with the most fully formed and resonant album of his career.