Sammy Brue / Joe Kaplow
Event Details
In celebration of The Journals, a posthumous collaboration with the late Justin Townes Earle.
Sammy Brue pays tribute to his mentor by writing, finishing, or re-imagining never-before-recorded songs found in Earle’s journals, entrusted to Sammy by Justin’s widow. Some of the songs on the album are based on lyric sheets Brue found. Others are co-writes or songs Brue wrote based on compilations of ideas and little paragraphs Earle wrote. Fans of Justin Townes Earle will be grateful to Brue for this lovingly crafted album and will become more familiar again with a singer and songwriter dedicated to bringing the beauty of folk to the world.
Sammy Brue embodies the kind of wisdom, talent and natural empathy that are often signs of age and maturity, and yet at 15 years old, he can place himself in the shoes of others, real or fictionalized, and write stories about them. “He’s a student of East Nashville, not Greenwich Village, budding from this new folk resurgence in fascinating ways.” ~ Rolling Stone Country
Though Sammy may appear quiet and unassuming, his songs speak volumes. From busking at Sundance at the age of 10, to opening for Justin Townes Earle, John Paul White, Lucinda Williams and John Moreland to mention a few, and performing at Summerfest, and the Newport Folk Festival, you will be hearing a lot about Sammy Brue as he stands on the precipice of what appears to be a long and ever-evolving creative journey.
“This is a special record to me. Unlike the past few, this one sounds like a more cohesive ‘band’ statement. Most of it was cut together live, in a room over five days. Rob, Elliott, and I had been playing for a long time with Mikey and then Hawes on drums, and while the music always felt great, the ‘band’ feeling hadn’t made its way into the recording studio. ‘Time Spent In Between’ and ‘Sending Money and Stems’ were very pieced together albums; me playing most of the instruments, collaborating with many different drummers but working one song at a time, etc. However, when Jeff moved back from Nashville and joined the band, it felt more cohesive. Maybe we gelled because Jeff came from the same musical world. In our little family Jeff championed nicknames, Elliott invented musical travel games, and Rob and I rolled our eyes at their enthusiasm for Arby’s. We travelled around sharing our art and feeling free. When we went to Enterprise, OR to record the first session, most of the songs were learned on the spot. We strove for the zenith moments when we knew the song well enough to not make errors but still had to fly by the seats of our pants to keep it from coming unglued. Everything has an arc like this. After all, when you know something well enough you can take the present for granted. After those sessions we toured our new songs for a year (it usually goes the other way around) and decided some of the songs were misunderstood the first time so we recorded them again, live and together. I am thankful and proud of that process and proud of them. The music captured on this record occurred in very special moments between four people who had a special bond, musically and beyond. We hope you enjoy it.”