Rodney Crowell
Close Ties (2017)
Rodney Crowell's new album, Close Ties, includes a vocal collaboration with Crowell's ex-wife Rosanne Cash and John Paul White on the lead single “It Ain’t Over Yet," which has been nominated for a 2018 GRAMMY Award in the "Best American Roots Song" category. The album debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, as well as at #5 on Americana/Folk Albums and #8 on Top Country Current Albums. Co-produced by Jordan Lehning and Kim Buie, it both demonstrates his strengths as a songwriter and illustrates how he has learned to balance personal recollection, literary sophistication, and his profound musical reach. It is at once his most intimate record and his most accessible, the product of years of understanding the ways songs can enter—and be entered by—life.
“There's no doubt that Crowell was an architect of Americana as we know it, and with Close Ties, we're fortunate to have a look at his blueprints.”- NPR Music
“...energizing, engaging and often fascinating.” The Wall Street Journal
"It's his first album in more than three years, which might seem like a decade to Crowell, but the set ranks among his best."- Associated Press
“[Close Ties] collects his nuanced personal reflections with the intimate, literary sophistication that has been a hallmark of the Houston-born tunesmith's work since the early Seventies.” - Rolling Stone Country
“...exceptional…” - Los Angeles Times
“...wise, vulnerable and fearless in the truth.” - Paste Magazine
“Whether he’ll accept it or not, he’s now assumed the mantle of the late Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, two poets who could zero in on our emotions by telling wry, straight-as-an-arrow stories about the desiccated desolation of the failures or triumphs of relationships, or the battered denizens of small towns searching for truth, comfort, love, or refuge in their own halting ways.” - No Depression
“Close Ties shows that it's possible to be an experienced professional and still make music that's emotionally urgent and immediate; it's also a reminder that Rodney Crowell was and remains a talent to be reckoned with, and this album shows he's a long, long way from used up.” - AllMusic
“...Crowell’s brutally honest musings on his life and loves is a case-study that makes the reflective Close Ties a poignant and emotionally affecting portrait of one of American music’s most captivating, talented and honest artists.” - American Songwriter
premieres
Rolling Stone Country – "It Ain't Over Yet" Video Premiere
CMT – "East Houston Blues" Premiere
Paste Magazine – "Nashville 1972" Video Premiere
Billboard Magazine – "I'm Tied To Ya" Premiere + Feature
"best of 2017" accolades
NPR Music – "The 100 Best Songs Of 2017"
Rolling Stone – "40 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2017"
Wide Open Country – "25 Best Albums of 2017"
USA Today – "Nashville's Best Albums of 2017 (so far)"
UPROXX – "Unmissable Country Albums From 2017 So Far"
Innocent Words – "Favorite Full Length Albums of 2017"
features
Associated Press – "For Crowell, Music Is A Commitment That Deepened With Time"
Rolling Stone Country – "Rodney Crowell on 'Sh-tty' Songs, Growing Old and New Album 'Close Ties'"
CMT – "Rodney Crowell Talks Close Ties and Nashville in 1972"
Huffington Post – "Rodney Crowell: It Ain’t Over Yet"
The Boot – "Rodney Crowell Crafts a Musical Memoir With ‘Close Ties’"
Houston Chronicle – "Uncovering Past Shines Light on the Present"
The Tennessean – "Rodney Crowell Looks Back On 'Close Ties'"
Reverb – "Rodney Crowell On His Pre–War Gibsons and the Imposing Presence of Townes Van Zandt"
AXS – "Five Must-See Legends at the 2017 Americana Music Festival"
appearances/sessions
The Bluegrass Situation 'Sitch Session'
album reviews
Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Mother Jones, American Songwriter, Los Angeles Times, Paste Magazine, AllMusic, PopMatters, No Depression, Chicago Reader, Vintage Guitar, Lone Star Music Magazine, Glide Magazine, Elmore Magazine, Slant Magazine, Mxdwn, Saving Country Music, Ink 19
tour dates
CONTACTS
Management: Vector
Lisa Jenkins – ljenkins@vectormgmt.com
Press: New West Records
Brady Brock – bradybrock@newwestrecords.com
Radio: New West Records
Joel Habbeshaw – joel@newwestrecords.com