Americana Highways brings you this track premiere of “40 Below,” from Michael Braunfeld’s upcoming release Driver. Driver is Michael Braunfeld on acoustic and electric guitars and vocals; Tom Hampton on lap steel, dobro, 12 string, baritone, and Nashville-tuned guitars; Tommy Geddes on drums and percussion; Nate Gonzalez on Hammond B-3 organ, Wurlitzer and piano; Ross Bellenoit on electric and acoustic guitars, slide guitar, nylon string guitar, mandolin; Ken Pendergast on electric and upright bass; with Raianne Richards and Mark Mandeville on background vocals. Driver was produced by Glenn Barratt and Kyle Swartzwelder, and recorded at MorningStar Studios, and will be available on March 22nd.
This track,”40 Below” features Michael Braunfeld on acoustic guitar and vocals, Tom Hampton on baritone guitar, Ken Pendergast on bass, and Ross Bellenoit on slide guitar. The song is outlaw country tension full of darkness and desolation. The lyrics tell the resigned tale of a northern prairie deputy, dealing with the simple facts: “around here we don’t expect too much, there ain’t enough to go around.” And the music, with its omnious slide guitar, sustains the Western outlaw feel of pending danger in the most ordinary of places. Driver is one badass record you don’t want to miss.
“40 Below” is about how the oil boom in the Bakken fields has changed small town way of life along the prairie. Once sleepy towns are now facing drug networks, sex trafficking, and overcrowded jails. While most come in search of new jobs or new lives, more people mean increased burdens on law enforcement. The saying “40 below keeps out the riff-raff” isn’t as true today as it once was! — Michael Braunfeld
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