THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Of the many hats John Leventhal has worn during his 45-year journey as musician — producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and recording engineer — ”solo artist” has never been among them. That all changes with Rumble Strip, the six-time Grammy winner’s debut album that showcases some of the most adventurous work of his career.
“I’ve always had a catalog of ideas that have never found a home,” Leventhal says. “In the back of my mind, I thought that one of these days I should try to harvest some of those ideas and confront the personal gauntlet of making a solo record.” The great pandemic made it inevitable.
That willingness to confront pays off handsomely on Rumble Strip, which combines Leventhal’s distinctive, lyrical guitar work, full-band productions with and without vocals, solo guitar pieces that draw on Leventhal’s love for classical music and Anglican hymns, and humid blasts of Southern soul, country twang, and improvisation.
The single The Only Ghost was co-written with Marc Cohn. “We were thinking we might pitch it to Dr. John, as I had been hired to mix what became his final album,” says John. “Mac never recorded it, but it wasn’t that hard to repurpose a song about a musician who’s ‘been down that road before.’ ”
Leventhal has previously shared That’s All I Know About Arkansas, featuring vocals and lyrics by Rosanne Cash, his wife and collaborator of 30 years. The other is the solo guitar piece, JL’s Hymn No. 2, written and recorded in the same evening. “I’ve always loved a good hymn,” he adds. “A good one can look sorrow straight in the eye, and still leave you with some hope.”
Born in New York City, Leventhal began his career in the late 1970s, playing guitar in dozens of N.Y.C.-area bands, including outfits led by Billy Vera, Steve Forbert and Levon Helm. His impulse to look for unexpected moments of beauty has served as a compass and survival tactic throughout his remarkable career. He’s produced albums for Cash, Marc Cohn, Sarah Jarosz, Jim Lauderdale, William Bell, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Joan Osborne and many others. As a guitar player he has recorded and performed with Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby, Willie Nelson, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Ry Cooder, Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen and recently, The National (Leventhal co-produced the song Crumble from Laugh Track).
Leventhal has been a Grammy winner in five consecutive decades, including as a co-writer and producer on Shawn Colvin’s 1998’s Song Of The Year Sunny Came Home, Cash’s moody The River And The Thread, and Stax legend William Bell‘s sublime 2016 album This Is Where I Live. Presently, he’s collaborating with Cash on a musical version of Norma Rae. His unique approach hasn’t always aligned Leventhal with whatever is reaping the biggest commercial rewards, but he figures that’s probably the only way he could’ve done it. We’re all the luckier for it.”
