Robbie Fulks Now Then (Turquoise)

Robbie Fulks is a fiercely independent voice in American music, blending the raw spirit of punk with the storytelling tradition of country and Americana. Variety Magazine calls him one of the best singer-songwriters in American roots music over the last 25 years — and “one of the best writers in America, period.”
On his new release, Now Then, Fulks offers an introspective look at his life’s journey, from his Appalachian upbringing through the experiences that brought him to Los Angeles, where he has lived since 2018. Fulks said: “These songs came out of my feelings about the specific environment of Los Angeles and, more generally, the outlook of older age. I moved to L.A. when I was fifty-five and soon fell in with new musicians and friends. I excitedly imagined how these folks would sound on the songs and tried to musicalize and shape the oddments of my mind as they emerged — anxieties, amusements, dread, scenes of family life, and childhood. Listening back to it now, I’d say it reveals my present psychological profile to be 70% pensive, 20% droll, and 10% angry.”
Fulks produced the album, recorded at Jackson Browne’s Santa Monica studio, Groove Masters, by Sheldon Gomberg. Tucker Martine (Roseanne Cash, My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists) mixed. The musicians on the project include Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello) and Jay Bellerose on drums, Jenny Scheinman on fiddle, Kevin Barry and Duke Levine (Bonnie Raitt) on guitar, Paul Bryan (Aimee Mann) and Kimon Kirke on bass, and Wayne Horvitz on keys.
Robbie Fulks gained national recognition as a key artist in the alt-country scene during the 1990s, with releases on Bloodshot, Yep Roc, and Geffen Records. While Fulks’s aversion to genre constraints and conventions has sometimes made him hard to categorize, his reputation as one of America’s contemporary music masters precedes him in many important circles, whether through the two Grammy nominations he’s received, his fame for acoustic shredding that has landed him on guitar magazine covers, or the caliber of musicians who are drawn to play with him.