LISTEN TO LOUELLA HERE
Jason Dea West has managed a dozen new songs with his album Louella, promising a journey through different soundscapes sure to leave you bumping the volume up with each track. Much like the many states Jason traverses, these songs have their own characteristic feel, and this record takes you through the dusty forgotten pastures of rural Wisconsin, the banks of the Mississippi River, through the windy small town streets of Wyoming, down to the sun soaked Arizona deserts, and up to the forested mountains of Northern California. A true American troubadour, it seems Jason Dea West has culminated his life’s journey into this record.
Decades have passed since the days of his punk youth, studded jackets and sweaty midwest basement shows, but Louella folds time and space to bring life back to these dormant roots of his. Blending Blues, Folk and Americana into an energetic sound that throws a mean buck, with lyrical lines and melodies that echo something familiar but yet to be known. Louella offers a deeply satisfying listen, and serves as a window into the unique and winding road that has carried this determined traveler through the many phases of his musical journey. The imagery conveyed in his songwriting delivers with a clear simplicity that could not be pared down, while also not holding anything back. It’s rough and raw but also tender and sincere, and shines with a quality that comes not by rag and polish, but the heavy patina of time.
Jason stands at the helm of his 6th record, fierce crew in tow, ready to sail off to uncharted territory. If “the songs he used to sing have all been lost out in the rain”, what is there left to do but to pick up, carry on, and find a different way? It just might lead him right back to where he started- but with a reborn perspective on what it all means to live this dream and hold steady to your roots. If one thing has always been true, it’s the hope behind it all that this music brings us together; no matter how different we all may be, we all have hearts pumping the same damn blood trying to keep us all truckin along day in and day out. May you listen to the music, but more importantly, may you listen to your heart.
Matt Decosta recorded & engineered Louella at Roadrunner Studios in Bisbee, Arizona. Jason is joined by a full band composed of Julia Fryling on drums, Amie Astelle on upright bass, Mason Alexander & Matt Heckler on fiddle, Timothy Dick on pedal steel & keys, Jack Garza on banjo, and Nate Mahan on electric bass, organ and baritone guitar. Mixed and co-produced by Matt DeCosta, Nate Mahan & Jason Dea West. Mastering done by longtime collaborator and friend Dan Emery at Black Matter Mastering in Nashville, Tennessee. Louella, by Jason Dea West, out now on Honey Baby Records. Catch Jason on tour this spring, playing these new songs near and far. Full tour dates and more information at jasondeawest.com/tour
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