The One And Only Jesse James

The last song I released was my first in nine years. The song I released today is my first in a month. Not as monumental-sounding, but maybe it’s just as important to keep things going as it is to start them. Regardless, today I released “The One And Only Jesse James.”

This comes from a session at which I was joined by Hazel Royer on upright bass and Maxfield Anderson on lead acoustic guitar. They played live along with my acoustic guitar and vocal for the recording. Before we finished for the day, Hazel added a harmony vocal to the refrains. We brought Maxfield back at a later session to add some fiddle. Then Rachel and I added the ominous whooshing that opens the song and reoccurs twice toward the end of the song. As with “Snow In The Air,” the basic track was recorded by Sam Margolis at Riverview Sound. The overdubs were recorded by Rachel Sumner at Motivational Paralysis, where she also did some initial mixing. The final mix was done by Brad Bensko at Bearded Cat, and the track was mastered by John McLaggan at Parachute Mastering. I’m grateful to each of these people for their efforts.

The idea of the song began with a visit to the Jesse James Wax Museum in Stanton, Missouri. The cover art for the single is from a photo I took that day. That drive also included a stop at a gift shop called Ozarkland Village, which maybe could have inspired its own song. But this one will have to do for now.

You can download “The One And Only Jesse James” from Bandcamp or find it on the streaming service of your choosing. And I hope you will.