Harlan, by Freakwater.
It seems unfair to record the one Freakwater song that the dude in the band sings, but I’ve always loved singing it, and it’s easy, and I needed something easy tonight. This song isn’t as iconic as Picture In My Mind, which should be next on my list for this band, but it’s certainly timeless.
And I checked, and it’s not a cover-of-a-cover, but maybe Harlan (1998) fits somewhere in the mythology with Goin’ Back To Harlan (Emmylou Harris / Anna McGarrigle, 1995), and You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive (Darrell Scott, 1997), or maybe Harlan, Kentucky just loomed large as an Americana symbol town in the mid-1990s?
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Did I have time today to restring the acoustic? Nope.
Did I start recording long past 9:30pm? Yep.
Did I want to play this song without a high E string? Nope.
Did I take the sticky, high action, hard to stay in tune big ol’ Blueridge acoustic I played from years 16-40 of my life out of the closet? Yep.
Did it stay in tune? Nope.
Did I play a little solo anyway? Yep.
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