A Train Bound For Glory
"This album and the ones that came before are to some degree my bridge from England to America - the two places where I truly grew up. They seem so far apart but on some levels they are so close together. It's like the same river runs through them all".
About the Album
Recorded at Playground Sound Studios in Nashville and featuring contributions from The Jordanaires and Chris Scruggs, ‘A Train Bound For Glory’ is the third album by Kent born singer-songwriter Pete Molinari. His debut album ‘Walking Off The Map’ (2006) had been recorded and produced live by Billy Childish in his kitchen, while Molinari's adventures on the Guardian backed Big Bertha label had brought him public attention thanks to regular updates in that newspaper courtesy of would-be music mogul Will Hodgkinson. His second album ‘A Virtual Landslide’ (2008) was produced by Liam Watson at Toe Rag Studios, received widespread acclaim and led to BBC Radio 2 recording sessions for Mark Lamarr, Bob Harris, Janice Long, Aled Jones and Radcliffe & Maconie (who also bestowed Record of the Week status on two singles released from the album). Other radio highlights at this time included guest appearances for Robert Elms, Sean Rowley, 6 Music, Radio 4's Loose Ends and long time supporter Ralph McLean's BBC Ulster show (who was to make the record his ‘Album Of The Decade’). It was soon to become a ‘musicians' album", with the likes of Ray Davies, Paul Weller and Richard Hawley all singing its praises, while Molinari also received a Mojo Honours List nomination as Best Newcomer.
Molinari had first made a trip to Nashville during a break from touring ‘A Virtual Landslide’ and while there had hooked up with producer Adam Landry and a number of local musicians. His reputation as a songwriter and vocalist of some note had already made it Stateside thanks to the British music press, but to see and hear him perform in the flesh was a revelation to the locals and it was not long before he was holed up at Playground Sound with new admirers The Jordanaires to record a collection of covers that was to see the light of day on the ‘Today, Tomorrow & Forever’ EP. For a man brought up on many of the classic records that these legendary performers had sung on, the experience of working with the vocal group was mindblowing.
"The Jordanaires came in, listened to the tracks, wrote down parts, gathered around one mic, started to sing, and my jaw dropped," recalls Molinari. "I didn't want them to leave."
Spurred on by the success of these recordings, Molinari decided to stay on in the States – playing the bars and coffee shops of Nashville, New Orleans, San Francisco and New York, just as he had as a young kid when first crossing the Atlantic [Pete had previously based himself in Greenwich Village for 18 months, playing shows and honing his trade and stagecraft in front of some very tough and unforgiving audience who were all just waiting for this young pretender from the UK to trip up – by all accounts he never did]. Having spent almost two years touring the UK and mainland Europe as both headlining act and as support to the likes of Richard Hawley and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, this extended road trip not only gave him a much needed break from a rigorous schedule but also allowed him the chance to rediscover the country he had first fallen in love with back home in Chatham, Kent via the works of Kerouac and Guthrie and the impressive record collections of his older brothers and sisters; factors that would prove to be hugely influential to a boy with a classic case of the small town blues.
Molinari: "As a kid I was given two books that made as big an impression on me as anything could. They were by Woody Guthrie and Jack Kerouac and along with the songs and music that were later handed down to me, they helped convince me that my life should and would be some kind of journey on the road that some call bound for glory and others the road less travelled by".
Many of the songs on ‘A Train Bound For Glory’ were already written (at least in part) before he headed back to the States, but by immersing himself in and being subtly seduced by cities such as Nashville, New York and a defiant New Orleans – towns that for Molinari remain not only the birthplace of but also the catalyst for some of the greatest pieces of music ever written – they became fully formed and, thanks to incredible performances from all involved, took on a life of their own.
Release date: June 7th 2010
Label: Clarksville
Producer: Adam Landry & Justin Collins
All songs written by Pete Molinari
The Players
Pete Molinari – vocals, guitar
Adam Landry - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, glockenspiel
Chris Scruggs - steel guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Tyson Rogers - piano
James Haggerty - upright bass, electric bass
Fred Eltringham - drums, percussion
The Jordanaires – backing vocals on 'Since You’ve Been Gone' and 'Heartbreak Avenue'
The McCrary Sisters – backing vocals on 'Since You’ve Been Gone'
Carey Kotsionis, Kim Collins, Courtney Kotsionis, Justin Collins, Adam Landry – assorted backing vocals, handclaps. Strings on 'What A Day, What A Night, What A Girl' played by Peter Hyrka Quartet.
Below are links where you can get your copy on Vinyl, CD, or Digital Download. The album is also available in HMV and Rough Trade stores in London. Featuring the single "Streetcar Named Desire" (as seen on Later Live with Jools Holland and The Sun's Single of the Week) plus 11 other great new tracks!
Where to Get the New Album
Click on a logo below (or a link underneath) to get hold of 'A Train Bound For Glory'.
