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THE BLUERUNNERS EMERGE FROM LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA WITH FIRST ALBUM IN THREE YEARS, HONEY SLIDES January 25 street date puts CD in front of Mardi Gras
LAFAYETTE, La. – Cajun rockers The Bluerunners have broken a four-year silence with the impending release of Honey Slides, once again combining the native sounds of their Southwest Louisiana heritage with alt-rock and blues. The new album features a duet with Susan Cowsill (“Ghost of a Girl”), who follows an eclectic list of previous collaborators that includes Michael Doucet and Sonny Landreth. Honey Slides is set for January 25, 2005 street date – the week leading up to Mardi Gras.
The album’s curious title refers to an herbal concoction developed by fellow Louisiana native Rusty Kershaw for Neil Young during the latter’s On The Beach sessions. Having a nearly coma-inducing effect on its users, it’s basically just weed, fried up in a skillet, then covered with honey and then eaten. The effects are along the lines of hash brownies. Between the honey slides and the unorthodoxy of its recording, On The Beach became a pretty bizarre album -- and a favorite of the Bluerunners.
The Bluerunners are fronted by Mark Meaux (mandolin/guitar/songwriter) who founded the band in 1987, which led to its 1991 self-titled debut album on Island Records. Meaux is joined by “new guys” Willy Golden (slide guitar) and Adrian Huval (accordion) – both members for the past 11 years. Drummer Frank Kincel and bassist Cal Stevenson have been with The Bluerunners for five and six years respectively. (Previous members have gone on to join Uncle Tupelo, Wilco and Cowboy Mouth.)
The album contains 13 songs, nine of which are original. “Working Man’s Zydeco” pays homage to Zydeco originators Clifton & Cleveland Chenier. “Coulee Rodaire” revives a Conray Fontenot classic with Huval’s strong vocals and Mitch Reed’s fiddle. “Ghost Of A Girl,” with vocals by Susan Cowsill (Cowsills, Continental Drifters) provides a glimpse of what it might have sounded like if John Doe and Exene sat in on the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet sessions. “Black Cat Bone,” the band’s paean to Northern Mississippi Hill Country, is a Jessie Mae Hemphill classic that rocks the house down with live crickets in the mix.
According to Meaux, “Honey Slides is our most fully realized album in terms of songwriting, production and good vibes coming together at the right time.”
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