Afton Wolfe keeps it all in the family with his new rich and moving new EP The Harvest — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
Although he’s earned a reputation for the pointed lyrical dynamism and sonic adventurism of his own songcraft, the gravel-throated Nashville troubadour and soothsayer takes a new approach with this rich seven-track collection of covers penned by venerable tunesmith LH Halliburton — who also happens to be his father-in-law.
“LH has a very distinct songwriting style that I’ve admired since I’ve known him, which has been about six years now,” Wofle explains. “His writing style is sincere, poetic, and melodic in a timeless way. It differs from mine in a lot of ways but there was common ground as well. We’ve become close over music, so I wanted to record these songs as a way to include my family in a project because, ultimately, family is the most important thing in this world.”
Lawrence H. Halliburton (right) was born in Des Moines in 1948 and raised in Oklahoma, though he has spent the last 40 years in Nashville. Never seen without boots and rarely without a cowboy hat, he comes from a musical family. His mother, a gifted pianist, and his father leading the church choir and a barbershop quartet, he wrote songs and played guitar from an early age, as did his brother. As a young man, Halliburton was drafted to serve in Vietnam, spending 18 months in the Tonkin Gulf aboard the USS Coral Sea. After leaving the Navy in the ’70s, he bounced between Greenwich Village, Virginia Beach, Colorado, Western Kentucky and many portals along the way.
This nomadic lifestyle and search for answers has been distilled into his magnificent musical tales. From the rollicking, freewheelin’ Neil Young amble of the title track to the late-night street poet vibe of Hello Mr. Wolf to the explosive feedback-laden expulsion of Til the River No Longer Flows, the musical scavenger hunt of New Orleans Going Down and the soothing gospel shanty Lost Prayers (which features gorgeous harmony vocals by Texas artist Courtney Santana), The Harvest reaps moods and memories from five decades of life and presents them side by side in a wholly dignified, modern new age testament.
Although Halliburton sent Wolfe 30 songs to consider, the title track was where Afton’s journey began. “This song was what inspired me originally to record some of LH’s songs,” he confirms. “The song is about perseverance and patience — the realization that just because things haven’t been perfect early in life, there is still more life to live. And the seeds that have been planted by love, hard work and determination can still pay off in the fall, when the harvest comes in.”
He also couldn’t resist a loose tribute to the complicated history of his birthplace, the piston-heavy Mississippi. “The song had just enough R&B mixed with grungy country and that classic chord progression. It sounds to me like speeding through country backroads in Mississippi in a ’50s Chevy that someone’s grandfather rebuilt in humid summer and grease,” offers Wolfe.
The album’s final treatise, one Wolfe labels “one of the saddest songs I’ve ever played,” is the haunting confessional Here to Stay, a gravelly lamentation that addresses struggles with mental health, all set against a warbly, nearly out-of-tune piano.
Synching up with esteemed producer Doc Sarlo (who also features on drums/percussion, guitar, bass, mandolin, piano and organ), Wolfe also brought in his usual merry band of skilled multi-instrumentalists, including Seth Fox (baritone sax, flute), Anna Eyink (violin), Will Hammond (guitar), Madison George (drums), Erik Mendez (bass), Ilya Portnov (harmonica) and Anthony Saddic (piano, organ). His wife Robin adds vocals to Harvest.
Listen to The Harvest above, preoder it HERE, hear more from him below, watch my 2022 interview with him HERE, and and hang out with Afton Wolfe on his website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
