Jake Xerxes Fussell - "Rock Island Line"
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| Photo by Paige Prather |
Jake Xerxes Fussell has an innate knack for taking classic folk songs and making them completely his own. His latest is "Rock Island Line," which started out as a spirtual and was first recorded in the 1930's. We've heard many versions of this song, but none quite like Fussell's. His latest version is much quieter and laid back than Johnny Cash's from the 70's, and is almost unrecognizable as the classic I'm more familiar with. It lands somewhere between traditional folk and a more modern version, but finds quite a bit of impact by going more quiet. Fussell has long been a favorite of ours, and a song like "Rock Island Line" only solidifies our fandom.
Jake Xerxes Fussell says of his new single:
“The song struck me as very beautiful, but just singing the verses wasn’t working for me. I couldn’t relate. So, I wound up putting it together with an old English nursery rhyme that I had been kicking around. ‘Wire, briar, limberlock /How many geese is in our flock?’ and ‘If you want to ride you got to ride it like you’re flyin, get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line.’ Marrying those two things, I felt like something worked, it felt like a song to me.”
You can listen to "Rock Island Line" below. The Old Beloved Path is due out September 18 on Fat Possum Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Jake Xerxes Fussell, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the song.
Sat. Aug. 8 - Sun. Aug. 9 - Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Folk Festival
Thu. Aug. 20 - Chicago, IL @ Fretboard Summit
Sat. Sept. 12 - Durham, NC @ The Carolina Theater [Eno River Association 60th Anniversary]
Fri. Oct. 2 - Liverpool, UK @ St Michael's Church *
Sat. Oct. 3 - Manchester, UK @ Hallé St Peter's *
Mon. Oct. 5 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club *
Tue. Oct. 6 - Glasgow, UK @ St Luke's *
Thu. Oct. 8 - Cork, IE @ Cyprus Avenue
Fri. Oct. 9 - Galway, IE @ Róisín Dubh
Sat. Oct. 10 - Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Mon. Oct. 12 - Bristol, UK @ St George's *
Tue. Oct. 13 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 *
Wed. Oct. 14 - London, UK @ Union Chapel *
Sat. Oct. 24 - Buena Vista, GA @ Pasaquan
Tue. Nov. 3 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room +
Wed. Nov. 4 - Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club +
Thu. Nov. 5 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater +
Fri. Nov. 6 - Centralia, WA @ The Juice Box +
Sat. Nov. 7 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret +
Sun. Nov. 8 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern +
Wed. Nov. 11 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall +
Thu. Nov. 12 - Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall +
Fri. Nov. 13 - South Pasadena, CA @ Sid the Cat Auditorium +
Sat. Nov. 14 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar +
Wed. Dec. 2 - Copenhagen, DK @ Hotel Cecil
Thu. Dec. 3 - Oslo, NO @ Røverstaden
Fri. Dec. 4 - Stockholm, SE @ Nalen Klubb
Sat. Dec. 5 - Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
Mon. Dec. 7 - The Hague, NL @ PAARD
Tue. Dec. 8 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique Rotonde
Wed. Dec. 9 - Hamburg, DE @ Nachstasyl
Thu. Dec. 10 - Berlin, DE @ Theater im Delphi
Fri. Dec. 11 - Cologne, DE @ Stadtgarten
Sat. Dec. 12 - Paris, FR @ Le Hasard Ludique
Sun. Dec. 13 - Bruges, BE @ Duyster Festival
* = with Naima Bock
+ = with Dougie Poole