Traveler, the new album from world-renowned musician Jerry Douglas, is his first first solo release since his acclaimed 2009 Christmas album "Jerry Christmas".
The project features special guest vocals from Eric Clapton, Mumford & Sons, Paul Simon, Keb’ Mo’, Marc Cohn and Alison Krauss and Union Station. The 11-track album also features legendary musicians Dr. John (piano), Béla Fleck (banjo), Del McCoury (harmony vocals), Sam Bush (harmony vocals and mandolin) Omar Hakim (drums) and Viktor Krauss (bass), among others.
Recorded in Nashville, New Orleans, New York and Banbury, U.K., Traveler was produced by Russ Titelman. Songs include versions of Paul Simon’s “The Boxer” and “American Tune,” as well as several original Douglas tunes (“So Here We Are,” “Duke and Cookie,” “Gone to Fortingall” and “King Silkie”). Of special note is Douglas’ rendition of the Leadbelly classic “On A Monday,” which marks his lead vocal debut. “For the first time in my career,” says Douglas, “I found myself ready to step completely out of my comfort zone to begin a solo recording project with a producer. Giving someone else the controls of a personal endeavor to allow myself the freedom to focus entirely on what I would want to play in this new situation was something I had never allowed myself. This record is the culmination of a long career spent making friends and lending my sound to theirs. This time my friends have come onboard to lend their voices to me.”
Internationally recognized as the world’s most renowned Dobro player, Douglas ranks among the top contemporary artists in American music. Douglas has garnered thirteen Grammy Awards while holding the distinction of being named “Musician of the Year” by The Country Music Association (2002, 2005, 2007), The Academy of Country Music (11 times), and The Americana Music Association (2002, 2003), as well as numerous International Bluegrass Music Association awards. Douglas is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Americana Music Association, and was honored as the 2008 Artist In Residence at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN. In 2004, the National Endowment for The Arts honored Douglas with a National Heritage Fellowship, acknowledging his artistic excellence and contribution to the nation's traditional arts, their highest such accolade.
In addition to his groundbreaking work as a member of Alison Krauss & Union Station, The Country Gentlemen, J.D. Crowe & The New South, Boone Creek, Strength in Numbers, Elvis Costello’s Sugarcanes, and others, Douglas has graced over 2,000 recordings by such distinguished artists as James Taylor, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Lyle Lovett, Elvis Costello, Garth Brooks, Charlie Haden, Earl Scruggs, Phish, Emmylou Harris, Bill Frisell, The Chieftains, and the eight million-plus selling soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou.
Traveler is now available as a gift during KSUT’s mail/or pledge online membership campaign. You’ll hear songs featured all week and the CD in its entirety on Friday, August 17 at 12 noon.
Jerry Douglas will perform at the Four Corners Folk Festival over Labor Day weekend in Pagosa Springs: www.folkwest.com.
