Country music icon and trailblazer Mark Collie announced today the release of his new album, Book of My Blues, set to release Friday, June 4 via BFD/Audium Nashville/Orchard in association with Harvest Entertainment, Creator Label Co., and Collie Kuhl Music.
The themes in Book of My Blues - love, lust, betrayal, addiction, recovery, damnation, redemption - are derived from the graphic novel Rockabilly Hitman, a long-gestating collaboration between Collie and renowned film director Jonathan Hensleigh (The Punisher, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Armageddon and the soon-to-be-released Ice Road starring Liam Neeson). The novel depicts the exploits of rockabilly singer Jesse Wayne Hardin, who by night is an avenger of evil, as he travels the hard backroads from Muscle Shoals to Memphis, from the Mississippi Delta to Music City.
"There are a lot of ways to describe the music, maybe Roadhouse Rock, Southern Gothic, Americana, Country, but at its core, it's a reflection of me and many others who came before me," explains Collie.
The album features twelve original songs written or co-written by Collie, plus three rockabilly classics - "Hey Boba Lou" by Ronnie Hawkins, Jacqueline Magill and Robbie Robertson of The Band fame, "Night Train to Memphis" written by Country Music Hall of Fame member Owen Bradley with Marvin Hughes and Beasley Smith, and "Matchbox" by Carl Perkins. The album was co-produced by Kenny Greenberg (Allison Moore, Josh Turner, Toby Keith and the Mavericks) and Chad Cromwell (Joe Walsh, Neil Young, Willie Nelson and Boz Scaggs).
Collie's list of collaborators reads as a "who's who" of songwriter elite, including Collie's long-time friend, actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton as well as Tom Douglas, Gary Nicholson, John Scott Sherill, Jonathan Hensleigh and co-producers Kenny Greenberg and Chad Cromwell.
Instant grat tracks "Born Ready" and "The Son of a Gun" are available now. MusicRow Magazine's Robert K. Oermann gave both tunes rave reviews.
The respected country music historian/journalist hailed "The Son of a Gun" as "dramatic and forceful." While on "Born Ready," Oermann writes, "That Waylon/outlaw beat gets me every time. And it fits this renegade/rebel song perfectly. Welcome back, buddy. We've missed ya."
Collie is set to release the album's third single, "Book of My Blues," on May 14.
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