Zach Russell – Where the Flowers Meet the Dew
We music writer types like to get our annual “best of” lists finished up by late November because, quite honestly, not much fresh music hits our inboxes after that (also – it allows us to dip into the spiked eggnog a little sooner). However, during the past two years, early December releases have upended that long-held norm. Last year, Adeem the Artist’s excellent White Trash Revelry caused more than a little bit of hasty rewriting. This year, it’s Eastern Tennessee’s Zach Russell with the late-year bid for excellence. His first full-length album, Where the Flowers Meet the Dew, draws from Russell’s Southern upbringing and the deep impact it’s had on him. He shares that similarity with Adeem’s record (Russell also sang and contributed a co-write to White Trash Revelry, and both records have producer Kyle Crownover in common), but Russell’s songs also delve into mortality, reincarnation and bodily decomposition (Happy Holidays, y’all!), with deeply personal lyrics portraying a man not only trying to find his place in this world, but his effect on lives yet to be lived.
Much of Where the Flowers Meet the Dew finds Russell traveling that road of “where am I, and where do I want to go?” That journey begins with the short, acoustic-led and Wurlitzer-tinged “What You Want Comes to You,” with Russell espousing a mix of passion and patience – “If you learn to like what is right in front of you/It’ll all come to you.” The album’s first full song, “I Thought I Was the Trees,” a steely, waltz-y tune, was inspired by a whole boatload of changes all experienced in a short period of time – moving, marriage, and a scare-inducing medical appointment – all of which end up with Russell exploring his new surroundings and coming to a realization about fear – “I said ‘I’m not afraid to die’/But I just had nothing to lose” – in the face of a new life worth fully living – “Taming my mind/Biding my time/Waiting on mine to bloom.”
After 10 years spent toiling in Nashville, Russell decided that his Eastern Tennessee home was what truly informed his music and fulfilled his life. Like anything else, though, a lot can change in one’s hometown in a decade. The wistful “Take Me Back to Tennessee” notes that the bucolic lifestyle he remembered (and maybe, at least a little bit, imagined) was not so easy to find – “But there ain’t much work to do there/If a man could make a life on/String beans and twine/He might not worry away all his hair.” Turns out, in a lot of those places, posers have replaced planters, and the sardonic country rocker “Nothin’ to Haul” takes on those “concrete cowboys” driving over-compensating, smoke-belching pick-ups – “Did ya jack it up to make yourself feel tall?” The track wraps with a greasy guitar coda from Jake Smith, and the room that Russell gives his songs to expand, and his players to play, is one of the joys of Where the Flowers Meet the Dew.
That room to breathe is best felt on the record’s lead single, “Born Again.” The seven-minute track that grabbed a ton of buzz when it was released a couple of months ago begins as an up-tempo reflection of Russell’s unique view of reincarnation – “Every minute, every hour I am born again.” – then shifts tempo and purpose roughly two minutes in, becoming a mantra of rebirth – repeating “And again and again…” – while laying down a headphone-engulfing swirl of guitars. It was a ballsy first release that turns out to be a hell of a good listen. “Back to Dirt” sonically swings back toward old-school country, but it reflects Russell’s new-age view of death – “God’s copy and pasting/Reincarnation/It all comes back around” – and what comes next – “You can’t go to heaven, Lord, if you’re stuck here/So let the dirt eat your bones.” Like his home, his music, and his band, Russell, even post-mortem, won’t ever want to be boxed in.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Born Again” – this mystic country mini-epic is reason enough to see Russell and his band when they float through your town.
Where the Flowers Meet the Dew was produced by Kyle Crownover and recorded, mixed and mastered by Robbie Artress. All songs written by Zach Russell. Musicians on the album include Russell (vocals, acoustic guitar), Chas Covington (bass), Daniel Ryan (drums), Jake Smith (electric guitar), Mr. Jimmy Rowland (Wurlitzer, organ, piano), Ellen Angelico (mandolin), Alex Leach (background vocal) and Tim Woody (closing prayer).
Go here to order Where the Flowers Meet the Dew (out December 1): https://stores.portmerch.com/zachrussell/
Check out tour dates here: https://www.zachrussellmusic.com/tour
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