Thursday, May 25, 2006 , Updated
Slaid Cleaves Releases Unsung
Yeah, yeah, so he's already blown through Dallas/Fort Worth and he's on his way to a big ol' tour, but still. It's Slaid-freakin'-Cleaves fercryin'outloud!
"I’ve included other writers’ songs in my repertoire since the very beginning,” explains singer, songwriter, and guitarist Slaid Cleaves when asked about his new album Unsung, due May 23rd. Cleaves has come a long way since his early days as a busker, (when he sang one original song for every three covers) and is now one of the most highly-regarded songwriters in the Americana genre – thanks to such albums as Wishbones (2004) and Broke Down (2001). For his newest effort, he’s assembled a stunning, powerful collection of songs by friends, contemporaries, and other fellow songwriters, and given them readings marked with the same unique combination of grit and sensitivity that he brings to his original material."
"As the title implies, the songs on Unsung are not well-known. These are songs from the songwriter trenches – compositions Cleaves first heard at late-night song-swaps, open-mic nights, during downtime at recording sessions, and on modest self-released CDs. Thanks to the work of producers David Henry and Rod Picott, the performances and backdrops on Unsung are as evocative and captivating as the songs themselves. Cleaves’ gifts as an interpreter are such that the line between singer and song vanish completely. Featured songwriters include David Olney, Karen Poston, Adam Carroll, Steve Brooks, and others. “When picking songs for this project,” Cleaves concludes, “I never bothered to learn any song unless it put a catch in my throat or a tear in my eye.”
"Cleaves will perform throughout the U.S. in support of Unsung. Upcoming tour dates include performances in Los Angeles, New York and a CD-release party in his home base of Austin, TX on June 2-3."
You've still got a few more opportunities to catch Slaid live in Texas before he heads West, including an in-store CD release today (5/23/06) at Waterloo Records in Austin at 5:00 PM.
Unsung has been released on Rounder Records and he talks about the making of Unsung here.
Also be sure and check out Slaid's MySpace page for some tracks off the new album. They are so so so so so (infinity) good.
Click here to watch Slaid perform on the News 8 Austin Rooftop Summer Concert Series.
Slaid Cleaves will be back performing in Dallas on Friday, July 14th at the Granada Theater with wicked-awesome Hayes Carll.
Well don't just sit there, off you go to purchase Unsung!
