Chris Thile presents a truly solo album,
Laysongs, on which his voice and mandolin are the sole contributors. Released by Nonesuch Records, the album contains six originals, including “Salt (in the Wounds) of the Earth,” a three-part suite inspired by C.S. Lewis’
The Screwtape Letters, and three covers and was co-produced by Thile’s wife, Claire Coffee. “[Coffee] has incredible taste and narrative intuition,” Thile said. “She was able to help me weave the original and non-original material together.” Engineer Jody Elff recorded
Laysongs with Thile at Future-Past, a recording studio in Upstate New York built inside an old church. The album’s content was informed by Thile’s Christian upbringing, spurred by Nonesuch’s Chairman Emeritus Bob Hurwitz, who told Thile he, “should do a God-themed record of some kind, it’s all over [Thile’s] work.”
By: Holly Gleason
Harry Reese/Courtesy Billy Gibbons
True Value: Hardware s Matt Sorum, Billy Gibbons and Austin HanksFew people embody the randy, the bawdy, the blues shuffle and the stanky tone like Billy F. Gibbons. Beyond being a master and afficionado of style and form, he’s a top-shelf purveyor of all those things that he also embraces. To hear him play is to understand how deep is his love: wang, dang and doodle, the music – like everything else in the sharp dressed man’s purview – is a stew of technique, a touch of gear and a whole lotta vibe.
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