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“CARRIED TO DUST is, at least
partially, the story of a writer in Los Angeles around
the time of the writers’ strike
we had a while back in late 2007,” CALEXICO’s
Joey Burns explains. “Our hopper heads out east
on a whim and a dry Santa Ana tail wind. Stopping at
the Yucca Valley swap meet he buys an old road map with
a route already marked with red pen. It leads him to
a cabin and from the cabin to a chain of other small
town thrift stores, picking up old copies of National
Geographic magazines along the way. Stories about snow
drops in Moscow, leaning houses in Valparaiso, abandoned
neighborhoods in New Orleans, and a manmade lake full
of cell phone trees creep their way into his notes. He
finds further inpiración at old roadside diners,
bending an ear to each waitress and the local news over
badly brewed coffee. The break proves to be enlightening.
He falls in love with the newly found space and being
carried along spontaneity's spark.”
There’s always been intrigue and adventure at the
heart of CALEXICO. Ever since they were a largely instrumental
duo experimenting with their unique collection of instruments
and soundtrack sensibilities, Joey Burns and John Convertino
have constantly imbued their music with an unparalleled
sense of drama, calling upon the myths and iconography
of the American West and its Spanish speaking neighbor
Mexico, equal parts Sergio Leone, Larry McMurtry, Carlos
Fuentes and Cormac McCarthy. Naming themselves after
a town near the California/Mexico border in honor of
this cultural mélange, they’ve spent the
eighteen years since they met in Los Angeles mapping
out musical territory that had otherwise been neglected
or at the very least considered the preserve of historians.
Now, with CARRIED TO DUST, they have defined that sound,
calling upon almost two decades of exploration and an
ensemble of musicians that must surely be the envy of
bands throughout the world. CARRIED TO DUST represents
the pinnacle of their achievement, a thrilling and moving
journey through a landscape that draws upon the modern
world as much as it does the decayed reminders of times
past, stumbling upon unexpected delights whilst always
moving forward with a pioneering sense of purpose. It
presents a vivid picture of a world in which listeners
can immerse themselves much as one is caught up in the
tangled narrative of a Steinbeck novel or the imagery
of a John Ford film, and confirms CALEXICO as one of
the great American bands of the 21st Century.
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