Those plangent guitars return on "Lost on the Desert," a Buddy Mize/Dallas Frazier tune Johnny Cash released in 1962 that shows the desert's dark side an escaped convict desperately searches for his buried loot, foiled either by fate or the devil himself, depending on which way those dry, dusty winds blow. And Campbell's co-production of Petty's 2010 release, Mojo, bore a bit of the heady desert-trip vibe he and Stuart have cooked up for Way Out West.Īfter conjuring up some ancient spirits with a swirling snatch of audio collage called "Desert Prayer" that blends the sound of Native American ritual with some rather psychedelic sitar splashes, Stuart offers up "Mojave," the first of several instrumentals that punctuate the album, luxuriating in the kind of deep-diving guitar reverb that evokes the grand echo of the desert canyons. The pair first met when Stuart joined with Petty's gang to back Johnny Cash on The Man in Black's 1996 Unchained album. Naturally, Nashville wasn't the place to make this kind of record, so Stuart called on his old cohort Mike Campbell, guitar hero for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, who produced the album at Hollywood's iconic Capitol Studios and his own recording headquarters. Having made his mark on country over the last four decades, first as a guitarist with Flatt & Scruggs and Johnny Cash and then as a reliably roots-conscious solo artist, Stuart takes the occasion of his 18th album to bring his Western preoccupation full circle with a moody, atmospheric song cycle. Stuart grew up in Mississippi, captivated at an early age by glimpses of the West like the Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens, and the cowboy ballads of his namesake, Marty Robbins. It finds country's stalwart neo-traditionalist turning cosmic cowboy for a journey through the Joshua trees, shadowy canyons and desert dreams that tantalize travelers with the promise of a golden shore on the other side. Way Out West is Marty Stuart's album-length paean to the myth and magic of the American West. Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives: Way Out West
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