Austin Lucas Announces New Album “Immortal Americans”
Austin Lucas—Americana Heartland rocker with bluegrass pedigree—will be releasing his latest album Immortal Americans on August 17th via Cornelius Chapel Records. Co-produced by Lucas and Will Johnson of Centro-matic, and engineered and recorded by Steve Albini, it captures Austin returning to his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, both spiritually and physically after years hacking away at the business in Nashville and elsewhere.
Immortal Americans is said to be birthed out of a period of incredible hardship, heartbreak, and perseverance for Austin. After shedding 100 pounds, an oppressive contract with New West Records, getting sober, and losing his long-time canine companion Sally, he’s back in Bloomington where after overcoming other struggles, found out his girlfriend had Cancer. Holding her hand through surgery and chemo treatments created the somber backdrop for the record, as well as the underlying story of determination.
Austin Lucas says that seeing the state of affairs in his hometown of Bloomington also helped inspire the record. “I was watching the changes in Bloomington and reflecting upon the changes in my own life. Not all of this is happy stuff, but there’s hope. There’s light in the darkness. I really do believe in second and third chances, because I know how many chances I’ve received. You have to keep fighting, because that’s what makes life worth living.”
While Austin’s music career has been defined by vacillating between hard rockers and country kickers mixed in with acoustic balladry, he says the approach with Immortal American will be much more sedated and organic. The tracks were cut live and analog, and his father, bluegrass musician Bob Lucas, showed up to lend some banjo.
“I wanted it to sound like human beings playing instruments,” says Lucas, “I knew the best thing for this batch of songs was for them to sound as organic as possible. I sang live, playing guitar at the same time, and we worked very quickly. It was an in-the-moment kind of album.”
Austin Lucas is well-categorized right beside bands like Lucero and the Drive-By Truckers who bring a lot of heart to country rock, as well as solo singer/songwriters artists such as SCM Song of the Year winners Matt Woods, Justin Wells, and Lydia Loveless who can pierce your soul with the pen.
The title track can be heard below, and Immortal Americans is now available for pre-order on Bandcamp.
TRACK LIST:
1. Immortal Americans
2. Killing Time
3. Happy
4. Monroe County Nights
5. My Mother and the Devil
6. Eye of an Asp
7. The Shadow and Marie
8. Between the Leaves
9. Goat and Goose
10. Shallow Inland Sea
Thoroughbred
June 27, 2018 @ 7:16 pm
Steve Albini, ’nuff said.
ScottG
June 28, 2018 @ 7:49 am
“I wanted it to sound like human beings playing instruments.”
Could he have found anyone better to record it?
Black Boots
June 28, 2018 @ 11:02 am
He gets good drum sounds, but uh, most of the records he’s produced have blown goats. He DOES have a few great records under his belt, though.
ScottG
June 28, 2018 @ 11:16 am
He hasn’t produced any records, other than his own. He’s tried to make that clear since day one. “Producing” is the exact opposite of what he does.
Black Boots
June 28, 2018 @ 11:18 am
lol, oh spare me that pedantic none-sense. You knew exactly what i meant. Sorry, records he’s recorded/tracked. My mistake! Won’t happen again! Point is, having him behind the boards doesn’t mean all that much besides that sweet, sweet drum sound.
ScottG
June 28, 2018 @ 11:28 am
Besides the drum sound, him being behind the board also means that the end product will sound like a record made by humans, kind of what Austin said and was looking for. He’s kind of taken for granted now after all these years. But in an industry that has vehemently pushed in the opposite direction, and made every attempt to make music sound as banal, overly compressed, and generic as possible, I for one, am appreciative of what he has done. I also don’t think its pedantic to point out the difference between a producer and engineer, but OK, I’ll spare you the non-sense next time.
Thoroughbred
June 29, 2018 @ 7:21 am
I’d say quite a few actually, be happy to find the list. But I’ll concede his resume is streaky.
RD
June 28, 2018 @ 6:32 am
Between the Moon and the Midwest was a great album. I’ll have to check this out.
kross
June 28, 2018 @ 6:33 am
looking forward to this one. Always happy to support a fellow Hoosier.
albert
June 28, 2018 @ 7:19 am
”who bring a lot of heart to country rock, as ”
Not familiar with this artist …… he has a very unique voice ….more folky/grassy than country to my ear . I think I like this ..
One of the most concerning issues , I think , with the burgeoning numbers of artists overall and those who choose to dwell under the Americana umbrella in particular , is the sameness of sound , aside from , as I’ve pointed out , an artist’s vocal style or characteristics . Certainly all genres are suffering with this ‘sameness’ issue and the fact that the technological artillery req’d
to launch an indie attack artistically is more ubiquitous and affordable by the minute . A good thing ? Yes and No . Artists who might otherwise never see the opportunity to express themselves on a larger than just local scale do have that chance now . However for every worthwhile recording there seem to be dozens of also- also- also – rans . LOTS to wade through . In short , there is no question that there is a glut of music available and it is growing .
THIS fact is the challenge , I think for many indie artists . How do you survive and thrive without an incredibly unique style/vision / SONG ? To the uninitiated , for instance , this track could be a track by Jason Isbell , Sturgell ,…even Mellancamp . The sonic similarities of these artists needs to be countered by SOMETHING very unique alongside some serious writing chops and singleness of vision . Maybe Austin’s album has that . I hope so .
Phil Oxford
June 28, 2018 @ 10:02 am
Good stuff here. I have some similar concerns.
J
June 28, 2018 @ 3:31 pm
Because its Austin Lucas and he has a great following. Guys not new by any means and it’s never seemed that he was in it for money or recognition to begin with. Lucas has always been a bit different and made his music the way he likes to and doesnt seem like anything has changed here. Just that he’s now sober which is great news.
Killen Thyme
June 28, 2018 @ 10:48 am
Loved his last record! Excited for this one.
Jack Williams
June 28, 2018 @ 2:15 pm
I do love Austin Lucas and I like the sound and feel of this cut. He’s one of my first discoveries through SCM and his A New Home in the Old World was my favorite album of 2011. Will be getting this.
J
June 28, 2018 @ 3:33 pm
I haven’t seen him in a while and the cover threw me off. I’ll always think of Austin as that cutoff shirt, tattooed punk rocker. Extremely excited about this release and glad to hear he’s sober.
Bigfoot is Real (now that's country!)
June 29, 2018 @ 10:00 am
Looks great, sounds great. Congrats Austin!