More than 40 years after writing the award-winning bluegrass classic, Steel Rails, songwriter Louisa Branscomb has released a new interpretation of that song. Co-produced by Branscomb and fellow award-winner Missy Raines, the song appears on Branscomb’s twelfth album, Gonna Love Anyway out today on Compass Records. The collection features a phenomenal group of singers and instrumentalists all performing their versions of Branscomb’s songs, including Tina Adair, Dale Ann Bradley, Alison Brown, Becky Buller, Stuart Duncan, Jenni Lyn Gardner, Steve Gulley, Sierra Hull, Kimber Ludiker, Bryan McDowell, Missy Raines, Molly Tuttle, Jeanette Williams, and Celia Woodsmith, as well as Branscomb herself.
We took a designer approach to thinking of who we felt best matched each song. Thus listeners find singer Dave Peterson powering out a Monroe-style bluegrass traditional (Blue Moon Blues), veteran Claire Lynch on the plaintive, elegant Freight Train for a Song, and new sensation Molly Tuttle on the poignant gem of the album, Gonna Love Anyway – Missy Raines, co producer.
With the new recording of Steel Rails being released just ahead of the 30th anniversary of Alison Krauss’s chart-topping version, Branscomb brings it all home again with this contemporary version of the timeless hit that has inspired many of the singers and players that are making a name for themselves today. One such artist, bluegrass trailblazer
I heard Steel Rails for the first time when I was a child. It is such a lovely song that always resonated with me. I was so honoured to join this amazing cast of musicians to pay tribute to Louisa’s masterful songwriting craft – Molly Tuttle.
Called the songwriter’s songwriter, Louisa is one of the most-lauded songwriters in acoustic music, with three International Bluegrass Association Awards, several additional nominations, two Grammy cuts (Alison Krauss and John Denver), 2014 Song of the Year (Dear Sister, co-written and sung by Claire Lynch), well over 200 recorded original songs by artists including Claire Lynch, Krauss, John Denver, Dale Ann Bradley, and others. Her classic Steel Rails is one of the longest-running charts hits in bluegrass (also a Billboard country hit), while Dear Sister topped charts in bluegrass, Americana, and folk. Gonna Love Anyway is a fitting tribute to Branscomb’s legacy as a pioneer in bluegrass, both as a female performer and as a songwriter advocate.
You can preview the new album here.
Track list for Gonna Love Anyway:
| 1. Gone 2. Gonna Love Anyway 3. Barefoot Girl 4. Steel Rails 5. Ain’t No Good Goodbye 6. Blue Moon Blues |
7. Freight Train for a Song 8. There’s No Marker on Our Grave 9. Riding Double on My Old John Deere 10. Blackbird in the Rain 11. End of the Line |
It would be very much appreciated if these tunes could be sent to us as audio mp3.