Rodney Crowell Teams With Jeff Tweedy For New Album ‘The Chicago Sessions’, Shares New Single “Everything At Once”: Listen

Rodney Crowell is a country music legend who broke in on the genre’s outlaw fringes before finding huge success in the ’80s and ’90s. Today, Crowell is 72 years old, and he’s still hugely active; he and old collaborator Emmylou Harris have been working together a lot lately. Today, Crowell announces a new album called The Chicago Sessions, which he recorded in close collaboration with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.

Jeff Tweedy is a big fan of Rodney Crowell, and he’s always down to work with a legend. Crowell and Tweedy recorded The Chicago Sessions together at Wilco’s Loft studio, and its packaging echoes the look of Crowell’s 1978 debut Ain’t Living Long Like This, an album that Tweedy loves.

The Chicago Sessions is mostly originals, but it also has a new version of “You’re Supposed To Be Feeling Good,” a song that Crowell wrote for Emmylou Harris in 1977, and a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “No Place To Fall.” In addition to producing, Jeff Tweedy plays guitar and banjo and adds backing vocals on the record, and his son Spencer is one of the drummers.

In a press release, Crowell says:

In a lot of ways, this album feels like that very first record to me. When my daughter suggested we lay the artwork out similarly, the connection made perfect sense. There’s something very simple, very innocent about it. It’s just me and the band in a room together, loose and live and having fun.

Here’s what Jeff Tweedy says about working with Rodney Crowell:

The way that Rodney writes is deeply connected to a classic era of country songwriters that I’ve always loved. In my estimation, it’s as close as I can get to working with Townes Van Zandt or Felice and Boudleaux Bryant — people who crafted songs with a very specific sensibility. And I like being near that.

Rodney Crowell and Jeff Tweedy co-wrote the album’s lead single, a hard-chugging country-rocker called “Everything At Once,” and they sang it together as a duet. Below, check out the video for “Everything At Once,” shot during the album’s recording sessions, and the new LP’s tracklist.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Lucky”
02 “Somebody Loves You”
03 “Loving You Is The Only Way To Fly”
04 “You’re Supposed To Be Feeling Good”
05 “No Place To Fall”
06 “Oh Miss Claudia”
07 “Everything At Once” (Feat. Jeff Tweedy)
08 “Ever The Dark”
09 “Making Lovers Out Of Friends”
10 “Ready To Move On”

The Chicago Sessions is out 5/5 on New West Records.