Tom Russell is one of America’s most prolific and underappreciated singer/songwriter/authors (and painter) with forty-some albums to date. On his latest effort, October in the Railroad Earth, Russell describes the album as “Jack Kerouac meets Johnny Cash…in Bakersfield.” Russell co-produced the LP with long-time collaborator, Mark Hallman (Heartless Bastards, Gretchen Peters) and it features guest musician Bill Kirchen (Commander Cody) on the telecaster alongside a host of talented Austin musicians like Rick Richards (Gurf Morlix) on drums. The title comes from a prose poem by Jack Kerouac that appeared in the 1957 Evergreen Review recounting his experiences as a student brakeman on the Southern Pacific Railroad. It’s a fitting title for a collection of songs about in being on the road, loneliness, encounters with lively characters, tragedy and hard living. Album highlights include: the true story about twin boys on ”Red Oak Texas”; the sarcastic commentary on the uselessness of a GPS system in “Back Streets of Love”; a song about encounters with a wild beast in “Hand-Raised Wolverines”; the nod to Bakersfield on “Highway 46”; a humorous tale about growing up on a ranch on “Pass Me the Gun, Billy”; the number inspired by Russell’s wife, “When the Road Gets Rough”; and a cover of the traditional folk song by Henry Whitter, “Wreck of the Old 97.” October in the Railroad Earth is another fine album by one of my favorite musicians of all time. – Written by JFelton
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