North Carolina-born, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jonathan Wilson whether you recognize his name or not—shares his fourth album Dixie Blur released this week via BMG. Wilson knows his way ‘round a tune, as his resumé reflects. As a producer, he’s worked with the likes of Father John Misty, Conor Oberst, Laura Marling, Dawes and Karen Elson. Wilson recorded Dixie Blur in Nashville in order to reconnect to his Southern roots, working with producer Pat Sansone of Wilco and recording everything live in-studio with a stacked supporting cast, a stark contrast to his previous albums, on which he handled most of the instrumentation himself.
With Wilson’s longtime friend Pat Sansone of Wilco producing, Wilson and the band recorded in Studio A at the Sound Emporium, the late country maverick Cowboy Jack Clement’s studio. The musicians included Nashville’s premier session players including bass player Dennis Crouch, Russ Pahl on pedal steel, multi-instrumentalist Jim Hoke, and world renowned Fiddle master Mark O’Connor. Working with this Nashville band gave Wilson the same kind of feeling he had as a kid, strumming along with those bluegrass bands.
The album was cut in six days and shows the magic that occurs when musicians play together in a room and create that one consistent thing in time. The album sounds like a stoner Laurel Canyon album performed by a crack band. Standouts include Wilson’s new take on Korean Tea, an old song he had done with his ‘90’s band Muscadine. Heaven Making Love is a killer song Wilson wrote for Rare Birds but was abandoned whilst 69 Corvette is a song thinking about his southern home whilst on tour with Roger Waters in 2017-18.
Jonathan Wilson “maximalist” album Rare Birds was released in 2018 to glowing reviews. Not only did it earn him Album of the Year awards in Rolling Stone,
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