Ray Wylie Hubbard Details Upcoming New Album “Reel 2 Reel 4 Real”
Most musical performers tend to grow old with their music, slowing down, smoothing the edges off, and settling for more quiet, acoustic tones. Not Ray Wylie Hubbard. The Patron Saint of “Grit, Groove, Tone and Taste” is set to release his latest record Reel 2 Reel 4 Real on August 21st. And as opposed to singing his way quietly into the sunset, Hubbard is bound and determined to shake the devil’s cage and see what kind of trouble he can make as his horoscope sign nears 80 years circling the sun.
Mostly produced by Jonathan Tyler at his studio in Austin, Ray Wylie Hubbard solicited his road band of drummer Kyle Schneider, bassist John Michael Schoepf, and his guitar-slinging son Lucas as the studio band, with assists from Cody Braun of Reckless Kelly on fiddle and mandolin, Bukka Allen on organ, and guitarist Tobin Dale. The results are said to be loud, dirty, dangerous, and defying of age as opposed to showing it.
“You know, a lot of artists when they put out a record, they go, ‘This is the best record I’ve done up to this point,’” Hubbard says. “But I’m not going to say this is the best record I’ve done. I’ll say it’s the best record I’ve ever heard.”
Two songs from the album were also recorded with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fame at Mike’s studio in Los Angeles. This happened after Ringo Starr made a recommendation to Mike Campbell, speaking to the kind of influence and respect Ray Wylie pulls from his fellow musicians. But Jonathan Tyler handled everything else, which according to Hubbard, was sort of by accident.
“Jonathan’s just a really brilliant producer and a great engineer,” Hubbard says, “And it was such a treat to record at his place, because he’s got all this really cool old gear in there. In fact, the record’s called Reel 2 Reel 4 Real because I think there were three songs that we did right to tape. Just hit record and play, you know? And the funny thing is, I actually went in there thinking I was just going to do a demo thing, because we had originally thought about working with some other people. But we walked in and Jonathan had three mics on the drums, and we played it, and I thought, ‘Man!’ I just loved that sound. So we ended up recording eight songs there.”
Ahead of the release, Ray Wylie has released the song “Cassette Mix Tape,” recalling the time he stole his dad’s Chevy Vega—something long-time Hubbard fans have heard referenced in other songs. We’re finally getting more of the story.
From country standards like “Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother,” to Red Dirt anthems like “Wanna Rock & Roll” recorded by Cross Canadian Ragweed, to iconic singer/songwriter songs like “Drunken Poet’s Dream” cut by Hayes Carll, to collaborating with Eric Church and the aforementioned Ringo Starr, Ray Wylie Hubbard’s done it just about all. It appears he’s bound and determined to not go out with a whimper, but standing tall and howling.
Reel 2 Reel 4 Real is now available for pre-order/pre-save.
TRACK LIST:
1. “Cassette Mix Tape”
2. “El Diablo Esta Ganando”
3. “A Murder of Crows”
4. “Look What The Cat Drug In”
5. “Dog or Wolf”
6. “Tip Your Hat to the Black Crow”
7. “Gods Playing Poker”
8. “Cobwebs”
9. “She Plays ‘Crazy Mama’”
10. “The Night”