Elvis and the “Nashville Cats” are putting out a box set, For King & Country livestream from the Ryman, and two psychedelic folk twosomes release new tunes.
Fifty years after Elvis Presley spent five days in RCA’s famed Studio B in Music City with the legendary “Nashville Cats,” he results of those sessions will be available as a single official Elvis release, From Elvis in Nashville.
Songs from those fabled “Marathon Sessions” appeared on three of his albums from the 1970s — Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old), and Love Letters From Elvis. However, for this new release, the master recordings from the marathon recording session were newly mixed by engineer Matt Ross-Spring and are free of the overdubs and orchestration added for previously released versions, allowing the studio band’s chops and chemistry with the King — who played acoustic guitar throughout — to take center stage.
Check out their take on Cowboy Joe Babcock’s “I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water” for a sonic sample.
The box set is available as a four-CD package that includes two bonus discs of outtakes from the sessions or as a two-LP vinyl set. Preorder here or get the limited aqua/tangerine 12-inch vinyl release (pictured above) from Graceland as part of this year’s Elvis Week, which runs through August 16.
From the Mother Church, for King & Country
Brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone, collectively known as the Grammy-winning duo for King & Country and currently enjoying their seventh No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart with “Together” featuring Kirk Franklin and Tori Kelly, will kick off Ryman Auditorium’s first livestream concert series, Live at the Ryman, at 8 p.m. Central on August 14. Various virtual concert options are available here.
Dreamy Folk Duos
A pair of dreamy psychedelic folk duos are releasing new music. Ferris & Sylvester (pictured at right), winners of the 2020 Americana UK Emerging Artist award, will release a new EP, I Should Be on a Train, October 2. Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester's project has earned comparisons to Jack White, First Aid Kit, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Civil Wars, among others. Check out the title track’s official music video below. But first, give this mesmerizing tune from Texas psychedelic folk-rock pair Field Division a listen. Along with primary members Evelyn Taylor and Nicholas Frampton, the recordings feature members of Midlake and the Texas Gentlemen. Earlier this year, they released “Black Velvet Skies,” and now they present the second single from their upcoming LP, “Star Where Are You.” Dallas Observer clubs editor and C&I fact-checker Diamond Rodrigue shared a revealing conversation with the two today.
