rodney crowell is probably best known for his songwriting, having written hit songs for everyone from waylon jennings (‘i ain’t living long like this’) to bob seger (‘shame on the moon’), but he is a very talented musician as well. on his most recent release, he dives in to his rolodex and calls in some favors to flesh out a sort of tribute album to the state he was born and raised in, ‘texas’.

eleven songs about characters and regions of the lone star state, delivered in a wide range of musical styles. the guest list includes such luminaries as willie nelson, lyle lovett, billy gibbons, vince gill, lee ann womack, and ringo starr. he also shares some songwriting credits, most notably the late guy clark on ‘caw caw blues’. and mary karr (author of ‘liars’ club’) on ‘flatland hillbillies’. crowell says the inspiration for the album came about as the result of a twenty year conversation with steve earle.

crowell had written something called ‘brown and root, brown and root’, a song about a construction worker in the sixties. he had shared it with earle, and earle started playing it on tour. it was never recorded until now, and the rest of the songs just seemed to fall into place. a great introduction to his work, if you are not familiar with him.