G. Love - Fixin' to Die
"It's kinda the record behind all the records," says G. Love about his new Fixin' to Die (February 22, Brushfire). "It's a record I've been waiting to make my whole career." Produced by The Avett Brothers, no strangers to roots music and stripped-to-the-bone Americana, Fixin' to Die takes the "Philadelphonic" folk/hip-hop troubadour away from the sleeker street soul influences that dominated his guest-laden '06 Lemonade and punchy funk of '08's Superhero Brother album. We're taken to his formative years, pre-Special Sauce, when he was just Garret Dutton, a self-described "kid learning to play the blues." Die ironically also serves as the beginning of a rejuvenated new phase for the G. Love. "This is the most inspired I've ever felt making a record -- let's just put it that way," he enthuses. "I'm still buzzing about it."
The title track exemplifies the more rural, backroads sound of the new songs recorded in an old church-turned-studio in Asheville, NC. Handclaps and a stomping beat are the rhythmic undertow to G. Love's blues holler and the Avett's stark production so raw you can practically taste the blood. Guitars strings fray, the harmonica wails, heels kick into the wooden floor, sweat drips into the eyes. "It was an emotional recording session and I was truly blown away by the level of focus, care and passion that Scott and Seth brought to it. We felt connected the entire time -- it was instantaneous."
G. Love - Fixin' to Die (from the album Fixin' to Die) (Free download at the artist site)
Direct Current
Reader Comments