Tom Russell rides again — and this time he’s carrying eight new stories in his saddlebag. Mount Olive, released November 8 on Frontera Records, is lean, lyrical, and loaded with the kind of truth only a lifetime on the road can teach.
He’s been on my radar as a songwriter, author, and painter for many moons. I’ve always said the man’s a genius in his field — a storyteller who can take a barroom, a border town, or a broken heart and make it sound like scripture whispered through a cracked radio.
These new songs — “1946 Martin D-18,” “Where the Cows Turn Their Backs to the Wind,” “Kindred Spirits (The Choctaw Song)” — are proof that Russell still writes with a brush dipped in dust and blood. The title track “Mount Olive” feels like a hymn to endurance, while “I Grew Up on Western Movies” tips the brim to the myths that shaped every dreamer who ever looked west.
There’s no flash here, no over-polish — just the gravel of his voice, the wisdom of his pen, and the kind of melodies that hang in the air like smoke over a campfire.
If you’ve ever chased a story across a two-lane highway, or felt the pull of the wide open, this one’s for you.
Tom Russell rides again — and the trail sounds mighty fine.
As a long time devotee of Tom Russell’s music I was delighted to see this release and have listened to it today.
Although it is a new release I am curious as to when these songs were written and recorded. By chance the next selection on my iTunes library is the collection called Museum of Memories 1972-2002 which were all released as a compilation in 2002. The very first song refers to “Beckers Funeral Home” mentioned in one of the songs on Mount Olive and he sounds almost exactly the same on these older tracks.
I’m not complaining but given that Tom has not been touring and there were rumours of ill health I would love to know more about Mount Olive
I wondered the same thing but I think the recordings are recent, and recorded at the same time. There’s a posting on Instagram at trnovabeat with information from Frontera which lists the Austin studio, the producer and engineer plus the musicians involved.