Drivin N Cryin frontman Kevn Kinney has announced his first solo record in more than a decade, and his first vinyl since 1990’s MacDougal Blues, set for a Dec. 9 release. Featuring R.E.M. co-founders Peter Buck and Bill Berry, as well as Brad Morgan of Drive-ByTruckers, Laur Joamets (Drivin N Cryin, Midland, Sturgill Simpson) and more, the star-studded Think About It has its roots in the introspective solitude of the pandemic, and also the passing of Kinney’s old friend, the iconic oddball musical / improvisational genius and lighting-rod philosopher Col. Bruce Hampton.
Recorded in indie-music mecca Athens, Ga., and helmed by ex-Sugar bassist and sought-after producer/engineer David Barbe (Drive-By Truckers, Lee Bains, Son Volt), the album showcases just about everything Kinney excels at, while also revealing some new facets of an artist who never stops reflecting, evolving and chasing his muse. There’s downhome alt-country and Americana (“Half Mast,” “Close the Door”); creepy, forlorn folk (“Catching Up to Myself”); chiming, hook-heavy jangle rock (“Scarlet Butterfly,” “Stop Look Listen Think”); finger-snapping beatnik jazz and spoken word (“Think About It,” “Shapeshifter Grifter,” “Never the Twain Shall Meet”); as well as some noticeably fresh turns with the almost proggy, flute-anchored trad folk of “Down in The City” and the gorgeous, string-laden torch song “Wishes.”
“When Col. Bruce died [back in 2017], I had the idea of taking a different approach, having all these different styles of musicians play with me—something, in the spirit of Bruce, that was a little more out there,” Kinney says. “I really loved his bass player Kevin Scott [The Pharaoh Gummit] and his drummer Darren Stanley [The Madrid Express, Jimmy Herring, Larkin Poe], who are these really accomplished jazz guys. So I had them in mind, and I also really wanted to go into the studio with David Barbe again, who I’d worked with back in 2004 on a project called the Sun Tangled Angel Revival, and who had been an engineer on MacDougal Blues. The idea was to do something a little more spoken word, singing in a lower register than usual for some of it, and using words to paint these picturesque landscapes. I didn’t want to fill in all the spaces; I wanted to have a lot more air for things to grow from.”
