Fusell’s latest, Good and Green Again, doesn’t signal a major shift in the singer-guitarist’s approach, but it might be his best effort yet. His elegant and earth fingerpicking has always been a highlight, but here it’s Jake’s vocals that really capture (and keep) your attention. He’s singing a bit sweeter, a bit softer, this time around, taking us deeper into these ancient, elemental tunes, as well as a handful of originals.
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Jake Xerxes Fussell :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
For his fourth and latest album, Good and Green Again, Fussell worked with James Elkington to bring rich, subtle shadings to these reconstructed songs, achieving a melancholy clarity and modern-day resonance in music first conceived centuries ago. We spoke earlier this year about how he finds personal meaning in old songs, why he respects but doesn’t emulate the note-for-note recreators, and how the way you hear traditional music can change as you change over time.
Jake Xerxes Fussell:: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
The son of folklorist Fred C. Fussell, Jake Xerxes Fussell spent his youth documenting the sound and feel of blues singers and indigenous fiddlers. The younger Fussell carries on curatorial work with Out of Sight, his latest lp. AD caught up with him to explore how the scope of traditional music is not limited by region or provenance.
Jake Xerxes Fussell :: Out of Sight
His first album recorded with a full band (featuring fellow like-minded traveler Nathan Bowles on drums), Out of Sight sees Fussell fixing his gaze on songs from a wide variety of sources and locales, though the treatment they receive is the same—compassionate, revelatory, and seemingly effortless. It’s no small wonder the likes of Bill Callahan and Will Oldham count themselves among Fussell evangelists.
Jake Xerxes Fussell :: Furniture Man
Next month sees the return of Jake Xerxes Fussell with his sophomore lp, What in the Natural World. Like its predecessor, this new offering again finds the Georgia native exploring traditional folk songs […]
Jake Xerxes Fussell :: S/T
Via Paradise of Bachelors, the self-titled debut long player from North Carolina singer and guitarist, Jake Xerxes Fussell — a lively and wholehearted gem of folk, country and bluegrass. Immersed in old world […]
Setting :: At Black Mountain College Museum
In Setting, the trio of Bowles, Fennelly and Westerlund have lit upon an improvisational ensemble of astonishing force and inventiveness, fluent in a musical language that melds roots, jazz, drone and minimalism. Their work is as swirling and cryptic as the abstract expressionists who once called Black Mountain College home. Even as a chaser to their proper album from last fall, at Black Mountain College Museum shows the group relentlessly evolving. It possesses a gnarled, terrible beauty. Like Appalachia itself.
The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PST, Channel 35)
Via satellite, transmitting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.
34.1090° N, 118.2334° W
The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PDT, Channel 35)
Via satellite, transmitting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.
34.1090° N, 118.2334° W
Aquarium Drunkard :: 2022 Year in Review
Looking back to look ahead. It’s our Year In Review 2022. As always, our list is unranked and unruly. Let it blurb.
Joan Shelley :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
We caught up with Joan Shelley on a summer Friday shortly after the Supreme Court upended Roe Vs. Wade, a weird and unsettled time for everyone, but perhaps particularly for a female artist in Kentucky with a new daughter. We talked about making art in a pandemic, the importance of collaboration and the difficulties of doing anything else when you have a young child, as well as the pleasures of listening to music all the way through, the way it was intended.
Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard :: January 2022
Signals coming in mighty strong. Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard on dublab returns for its regular third Sunday broadcast. Four hours of freeform radio from the RFAD crew on January 16 4-8 PM Pacific.
Bandcamping :: Quarantine Edition II
Bandcamp threw thousands of musicians a lifeline in March by waiving its fees for 24 hours, ensuring that all cash spent went directly to artists and labels. The music community showed up in a big way, spending $4.3 million. Every good deed deserves an encore, so Bandcamp is waiving fees again on Friday, May 1. Just like last time, we’ve got some recent/random recommendations for you … and there’s a whole lot more in the Bandcamping archives.
Aquarium Drunkard :: 2019 Year In Review
Once again, our obligatory year-end review. The following is an unranked list of albums that caught, and kept, our attention in 2019.
Aquarium Drunkard :: Decade / 2010-19
Well, that was fast. Decade is just about over, and as it draws to a close, its highs look awfully high in the rearview. Presented here, an unranked sprawl of 100 records that stuck with us, managing to break through the noise of an increasingly distracting age, and stick around in our heads.