Jim Lauderdale "Patchwork River" (Thirty Tigers)
Two-time Grammy Award winner singer and songwriter Jim Lauderdale will release his new album, Patchwork River, on the Thirty Tigers label on May 11.
He co-wrote the album with longtime Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, whom Lauderdale has praised as “one of the greatest writers that has ever lived in my book. He says things in songs that have never been said before. He paints pictures that have never been seen. I can’t believe that I ever got to meet him, much less work with him. He’s a world-class genius.”
Lauderdale will make two appearances Thursday, March 18, at the South By Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas. He has an afternoon show at the Ruby Stardust Lounge at Maria’s Taco Express at 3 p.m., then a gig later that evening at the Americana Music Association’s Showcase at Antone’s at 8 p.m.
Patchwork River, written at Hunter’s California home, was produced by longtime production partner Tim Coates and Doug Lancio, who also plays guitar. James Burton, Al Perkins, Ron Tutt, Garry Tallent, Kenny Vaughan, and Patty Griffin round out an all-star cast by contributing their musical talents to the record.
This marks the second album written by Lauderdale and Hunter, who first met when Lauderdale was preparing to record I Feel Like Singing Today, the first album he recorded with Dr. Ralph Stanley. Lauderdale knew that Hunter and Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia were fans of Stanley, so he approached Hunter about contributing lyrics to the album. From there, the two became friends and wrote more than 30 songs together during Hunter’s three-month visit to Lauderdale’s Nashville home in 2001; 13 of those tunes wound up on the 2004 release, Headed For the Hills.
Lauderdale was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009 in the “Best Bluegrass Album” category for his album, Could We Get Any Closer, along with nominations for “Best Country Album” for George Strait’s Twang for which he co-wrote two songs (including the title track). He was also included in “Best Contemporary Folk Album” for Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane by The Sugarcanes, Elvis Costello’s band of which Lauderdale is a member.
Lauderdale has previously won two “Best Bluegrass Album” Grammy’s: in 2002 for his Lost In the Lonesome Pines collaboration with Ralph Stanley and in 2008 for his album, The Bluegrass Diaries.
He has written songs for several artists including the Dixie Chicks, Solomon Burke and George Jones, and has numerous hits with Patty Loveless, George Strait, Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack and others.
As a musician, he has also recorded and toured with Lucinda Williams in addition to The Sugarcanes.