Corb Lund’s Landmark “Cabin Fever” Gets Deluxe Release

If you’ve been cooped up in close quarters and are hankering for some new music from one of Canadian country’s most iconic contributors, Corb Lund has just released a deluxe edition of his landmark album Cabin Fever, which was nominated for Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year when it was initially released in 2012.

Combining the cutting wit and Western flavor that is at the heart of Corb’s version of country—as well as some of the most sentimental moments of his career—it’s a great starting point if you’ve never taken the time to delve into Corb’s music. Like the cowboy poets of old, Corb Lund is a master craftsman with the pen, knowing how to balance humor and heartbreak, irony and perspective to perfection. Cabin Fever is angry, bordering on insane at times, but never loses its poetic, top-shelf aptitude with words, while boasting some real fun music ranging from rock & roll to Western Swing.

“Last year, I was digging around in the archives and came across some previously unreleased tracks from 2012’s very pandemic-appropriate album, ‘Cabin Fever’,” says Corb. “It is one of my favourite records that I’ve ever made with the guys, and it was an extra good time because our buddies John Evans and Scott Franchuk helped us make it at Riverdale Recorders in Edmonton.”

The new deluxe edition includes two songs that were recorded during the original Cabin Fever sessions that for whatever reason didn’t make the final cut. The first is called “R-E-G-R-E-T,” which has been floating out there in bootleg form for a while, and the second is “The Case of the Wine Soaked Preacher,” which is an old Corb Lund song, but was recorded during Cabin Fever for the first time with his backing band The Hurtin’ Albertans as a four piece instead of a three piece.

A couple of new songs are cool enough. But what really sets the deluxe edition off is it includes all of the expanded 14 songs also recorded acoustically in a second album, and not just Corb and his guitar, but with the entire band. All of these tracks were also recorded as part of the original session, but are only seeing the light of day now. “We had a day or two left at the end of the session, so we just kind of jammed them all for fun acoustically,” Corb says.

Physical CD’s are currently available via New West, but PLEASE NOTE they don’t include the two new songs, only the new acoustic tracks. “R-E-G-R-E-T” and “The Case of the Wine Soaked Preacher” are only available digitally.

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