Events

[FOLK] Initially, it seemed to fit a template of co-ed duet albums begun ages ago, carried out by classic country royalty like Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, George Jones and Tammy Wynette… even Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell. But Steve Earle insists his debut album with Shawn Colvin is nothing of the sort.

“This isn’t George and Tammy, it’s Crosby, Stills and Nash” he said rather adamantly, calling from Boston where the pair were making an early stop on a four month tour that comes to the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater this Friday, July 15. “It’s not about singing duets, we sing simultaneously in cross harmony throughout the entire album, switching parts — it’s a completely different thing.  Granted, I’m a horrible harmony singer, but Shawn’s pretty good at it. On each track, one of us takes the lead and the other does their best to keep up.”

Colvin and Earle, 60 and 61, respectively, toured their celebrated ‘songs and stories’ format in 2014,parlaying their songwriterly admiration for one another into some well received stage chemistry that’s proven to be mutually inspiring. Both successful solo artists, the pair also have quite a bit in common as aging rock-and-roll survivors: sobriety, multiple failed marriages, and battles with depression. Music remains the guiding force in both of their lives.

Though his point about cross harmony holds true, the resulting Colvin & Earle, out last month on Concord, doesn’t sound much like CSN. But the walking wounded motif suits them well. The album brims with a transparent world-weariness that’s further complemented by Buddy Miller’s hands-off production. Call it a wonderfully warts-n-all record that eschews commercial country gloss in favor of Americana rawness.

“There hasn’t been any reverb on a Steve Earle record in years,” he said. “We cut all the vocals live with a couple very minor exceptions. Because of various other commitments, we were contractually obligated to produce this album in a certain period of time, which I actually found somewhat irritating, but that’s just how it is. We chose Buddy Miller because we knew how he works, and he didn’t have a lot of time either… we cut it in five days.”

From those five days comes a total of fourteen tracks: ten on the standard version, thirteen on the deluxe, and a winning cover of “Wake Up Little Susie,” made famous by the Everly Brothers, which was pressed as a vinyl 45 for Record Store Day last April.

Amid tunes by The Rolling Stones (“Ruby Tuesday”), Emmylou Harris (“Raise the Dead”), Ian & Sylvia (“You Were On My Mind”), and The Nashville Teens (“Tobacco Road”), the pair also penned six originals for the project, which were written in a couple of quick, three day writing sessions — unusual for Colvin, who’s suffered from long periods of writing block during her career. From the sassy “Tell Moses” to the heartbreaking refrain in “You’re Still Gone,” it’s the new songs that really showcase the creative heat between them.

“The covers are what we call pure fantasy camp,” Earle said. “The choices show our age, but they’re songs we both love and wanted to use. As far as the originals are concerned, we’re both pretty good writers. Frankly, I can’t afford to have a problem with writer’s block, so I like to work pretty fast. I figure there are always gonna be other songs to write, so I don’t want to get stuck on one. And I tend not to want to collaborate, because I usually end up feeling like I did all the work and only got half the credit. But Shawn is the most equitable writing relationship I’ve ever had.”

Shawn Colvin & Steve Earle at The Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater, Friday, July 15 at 8:15. $42.