Singer, guitarist, and folk music interpreter Jake Xerxes Fussell presents new singles, “Boney” and “Boll Weevil,” from his forthcoming album, The Old Beloved Path, out September 18th via Fat Possum Records. Following lead single, “Rock Island Line,” “Boney,” features sprightly spider rhythms and is a traditional tune that has been rarely played let alone recorded. Fussell’s upbeat take on another traditional American classic, “Boll Weevil,” takes an airier approach, focusing on building textures and staying focused and direct in the art that sustains him.
Fussell reflects: “‘Boney’ is believed to have been what’s known in maritime worksong tradition as a ‘short drag’ – a chantey sung to accompany & keep pace for a brief hauling task aboard a ship. But the song has also lived a life in the decades that have passed since the golden age of sail. The self taught musicologist Sam Eskin recorded a version of it, as did the great Paul Clayton. Listeners will recognize that the song recounts some of the bolder and finer points along the timeline of events in the life of Napoleon Bonaparte – though somewhat out of order and at times half-wrought. In some variants his dancing and cursing receive more attention than his victories or defeats, which I appreciate. Other versions will have him crossing The Rockies in addition to The Alps. I think this song is, among other things, a curiously rendered and fractured portrait of a colossal and difficult figure. Or a short drag – whichever you prefer.”
“Speaking of strange portraits, ‘Boll Weevil’ is another one, though this one’s set a little closer to home – or at least for me it is. I like Sid Selvidge’s version a lot. Charley Patton’s recording is absolutely foundational. The version I play draws a bit from the one recorded by Atlanta singer and guitarist Blind Willie McTell in the early 40s. But I took a number of different verses from a few different versions I know and I strung them together to try and make some narrative sense. This song deals with themes of encroachment, influx, growth, the invasive, the entrepreneurial, the opportunistic, the parasitic. The Boll Weevil is treated as a literal parasite in some versions of the song, in others he’s a shrewd and savvy market competitor, in some a quirky nuisance. And yet in others the singer will hold more of a sympathetic and forgiving view of the bug in question. Often the Boll Weevil is all of these things in one song. Like so many of us, he’s looking for a home.”
Over six unique and very personal studio albums, Fussell has found his musical future by reimagining, reorchestrating, and reunifying the past. By combining different traditional music sources in a completely original way, he routinely creates fresh works of art that are at once rooted in history and ingeniously modern.
Recorded in North Carolina, The Old Beloved Path was mixed by producer Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station), who has also played bass on tour with Fussell. Friends Dominic Billett, Isa Burke, Wayne Horvitz, and Ken Whiteley add their instrumental voices to Fussell’s singular musical amalgams. As producer, Whiteley fulfilled Fussell’s desire to make an album that was more a document of musicians playing live together in a room, dwelling less in atmospherics and musical elaboration. Working together, they intentionally limited their palette – focusing less on all the things a song could be, and honing in on the essential.
“For people in the folk music world, songs are their religion,” states Fussell. “But traditional music is not a bee stuck in amber. I tend to think of everyone who plays traditional music as being on a spectrum from conservative to wildly creative. I am somebody who tends to sit on the edge of those two worlds. I don’t always present these songs in a historical context. I have to relate to them personally. I approach these songs through my own worldview.”
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Jake Xerxes Fussell UK / EU Tour Dates
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 *
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
Photo credit – Fred Fussell