About this product

Product Identifiers

Record LabelBrsm, Blue Rose Music

UPC0855820007391

eBay Product ID (ePID)4046052046

Product Key Features

FormatRecord

Release Year2019

GenreRock

ArtistBluhm, Tim

Release TitleSorta Surviving

Dimensions

Item Height0.42 in

Item Weight0.71 lb

Item Length12.39 in

Item Width12.32 in

Additional Product Features

Number of Tracks10

Country/Region of ManufactureUnited States

Tracks1.1 Jesus Save a Singer 1.2 No Way to Steer 1.3 Jimmy West 1.4 Where I Parked My Mind 1.5 Raining Gravel 1.6 Sorta Surviving 1.7 Del Rio Dan 1.8 I Still Miss Someone 1.9 Squeaky Wheel 1.10 Kern River

Number of Discs1

NotesFor a moment, you could almost forget what year it was inside the Cash Cabin, the small sanctuary-turned-recording-studio Johnny Cash built roughly 40 years ago in Hendersonville, TN. The Man In Black's frequent collaborators Dave Roe and Gene Chrisman were back at the bass and drums respectively, and tape was rolling as they counted in the Cash classic "I Still Miss Someone." Tim Bluhm had to pinch himself. "Recording in that space with those guys was like a dream come true for me," says Bluhm. "The depth of knowledge they walk around with in their heads is amazing, and you know you can trust the musical choices they're making because they have the experience to back it up. When they say, 'This is what Merle would have done,' it's because they know firsthand."While Bluhm may be best known for the breezy brand of West Coast roots and soul he helped pioneer with his band, The Mother Hips, his brilliant new solo album, Sorta Surviving, revels in his longtime love for classic country music. Recorded and mixed at the Cash Cabin under the guidance of Widespread Panic's Dave Schools, the collection is earnestly authentic and utterly timeless, and it finds Bluhm backed by elder statesmen like Roe and Chrisman along with younger virtuosos like keyboardist Jason Crosby (Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews) and Jesse Aycock (Hard Working Americans, Elizabeth Cook)."The band brought a certain maturity and experience," explains Schools. "Tim's songwriting is so strong that it naturally suggests how to complement itself, but those guys really know how to play and still leave room for a great singer."Indeed, the arrangements on the album are refined and elegant, yet still stripped-down and raw, enabling Bluhm's warm, easygoing vocals to sit front-and-center as he weaves vivid tales of ordinary men and women facing down hard days and even harder nights. Mixing new originals and reimagined covers, the record pulls from a half-century of American music to craft a thoroughly modern love letter to a bygone era, one that showcases both Bluhm's deft musical hand and his heartfelt reverence for the genre."I've been a fan of classic country ever since I heard Merle Haggard sing," reflects Bluhm. "I just admired his voice and storytelling so much, but I never made an album like this before because I figured it would take me at least 20 or 30 years to get good enough."Bluhm discovered Haggard around the same time he co-founded the now-iconic Mother Hips, a band the San Francisco Chronicle has hailed as "one of the Bay Area's most beloved live outfits." The group began it's journey at Chico State, where performing at frat parties quickly gave way to club shows, regional touring, and national buzz, and before Bluhm and his bandmates had even graduated, they were already signed to Rick Rubin's American Recordings on the strength of their debut album, 'Back To The Grotto.'"When we signed with American, the label had just put out Johnny Cash's first Rick Rubin-produced album, which was actually recorded at the Cash Cabin," says Bluhm. "I got to meet and hang with Johnny a couple times back then, and after that, we opened for him at The Fillmore in San Francisco. I was so impressed with his presence. He definitely lived up to his legend in real life, and he made a big impression on me."Over the ensuing two-and-a-half decades, the Hips would release nine more studio albums as they cemented their status as festival and critical favorites, sharing bills with everyone from Wilco and Widespread Panic to Lucinda Williams and The Black Crowes along the way. Rolling Stone called them "divinely inspired," while Pitchfork praised their "rootsy mix of 70s rock and power pop," and The New Yorker lauded their ability to "sing it sweet and play it dirty."Ever-curious and wildly prolific, Bluhm simultaneously released a slew of his own solo and collaborative projects on the side. He toured for years as music director with Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, teamed up with The