According to Athens singer-songwriter Adam Klein, there will be a full band version of “Crossin’ Texas” on his forthcoming LP Low Flyin’ Planes, but it’s tough to imagine it carrying the same forlorn poignancy as this stripped-down version captured by the Attic Sounds at Eddie’s Attic. Accompanied by Adam Poulin on fiddle, Klein delivers a stark meditation on financial hardship and the struggle to pursue your passions when there are bills to be paid, albeit with an eye towards freedom and escape. “They’re gonna repossess my soul” he laments over his gentle acoustic and Poulin’s wistful strains, but rather than caving to his fears, Klein looks towards Texas and Highway 61 for a sense of liberation.
“I wrote ‘Crossin’ Texas’ at a time when I had been off the road for a while and was feeling stuck in a freelance hustle, working random jobs as often as I could,” Klein explains. “So the song laments the capitalist need that keeps us chasing after a dollar in ways which may often be distant from the sort of work and activities that really nourish ourselves, our passions, and provide a sense of fulfillment. And it longs for the open road—that liberating feeling of possibility, stimulation, and aliveness. I’ve had a mystique about Texas and Texas music for a while, and of course Highway 61 is steeped in American lore and history in so many ways. In this song, and at many other times, I want to be on the move and taking in such places.”
Shot and edited by Fischbowl Productions, the latest edition to the Attic Sounds live performance series maintains the minimalist aesthetic that has served artists like Papa Jack Couch and others so well. There seems to be an intrinsic understanding that the song should be the hero and primary focal point, and the video does everything in its power to lure you into the pensive allure of Klein and Poulin’s performance.
When not performing solo, Klein can be found leading his band Adam Klein & the Wild Fires. Recorded and produced by Bronson Tew at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, MS, Low Flyin’ Planes will be Klein’s seventh studio release, and features musical assistance from sometime Wild Fires guitarist Crash Cason, Matt Patton (Drive-By Truckers), Eric Carlton (Jimbo Mathus), Kell Kellum (Young Valley), Tew, and others. The album is scheduled for release in early 2019.
Adam Klein will perform tomorrow night, Sept. 27, at Eddie’s Attic alongside Eric Bachmann. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Admission is $15-20.
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Web: adam-klein.com
Facebook: @adamkleinmusic
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