Long ago, I had The Gourds up for a visit to the XM Studios in Washington, DC, when I was programming the channel X Country. We were doing a session for our weekly concert series, which was called Wired In. The recording engineers we worked with were amazing; they were quick, they had great bedside manner, and great ears to boot. There was just one problem with The Gourds. They played musical chairs, switching up to sit where the next instrument they wanted to play was located. Not so good for the precise setting on the microphone for each of their voices. The engineers that recorded that day hadn’t encountered the loosey goosey, hippie dippie, let it all hang out ‘tude that The Gourds brought. I remember going to dinner with them afterwards at a DC institution called A.V. Ristorante, an old school Italian joint that sadly has closed. It was perfect bringing The Gourds there, as we eyeballed the photos lining the walls of Senators, Judges and other DC luminaries who had worshipped at the chapel of AV’s incredible pizza and swarthy delicacies.

The Gourds do indeed like to mix things up, and yesterday marked the release of Old Mad Joy, their brand new CD. It was produced by Larry Campbell at Levon Helm Studios (The Barn) up in Woodstock, NY. This marks the first time they have recorded outside the state of Texas. We bring you a taste from the new album called “I Want It So Bad.”

The Gourds - I Want It So Bad by Vanguard Records

There are three Gourds writing, bassist Jimmy Smith, multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston formerly of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo, and guitarist and vocalist Kevin ‘Shinyribs’ Russell. Kevin, along with The Gourd's Keith Langford, graced our Threadgill’s stage in 2010 under the Shinyribs moniker. Jeff Brown joined on bass, and Winfield Cheek was on keyboards for “Devilsong,” taken from their album Well After Awhile. Here is hoping we get to record The Gourds next month at our Music Fog Fall Marathon sessions during Americana Fest in Nashville.

- Jessie Scott