Corb Lund and his band the Hurtin' Albertans had only two days in Sun Studio, but it's obvious from this new release they made good use of the hours.
“Counterfeit Blues” is the result, the country and rockabilly band roaring through songs culled from seven previous albums and more. Playing together with the same guys for more than 10 years probably helped the live-performance recording process.
“Partly because we know the songs inside out and have played them live a thousand times and partly because recording at Sun is a very old fashioned, low-tech process that ends up sounding really great if you can pull it off,” Lund said in statement about the studio that housed Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and others you could call Lund's forebears.
The sharp groove of “Hair In My Eyes Like a Highland Steer” (originally out in 2005 on the album by the same name) pokes out to me most, with Lund's yodel and devilishly smart arrangement. You can check out the exclusive premiere of that above.
“Counterfeit Blues” is out as a CD/DVD set (and digital, and on vinyl) in the U.S. on July 1. Sit in wait for a full album stream next week.