Duhon, Andrew - The Parish Record [LP]

Andrew Duhon has a knack for telling the kind of stories that clearly cost the writer something to tell- the kind of honesty that feels noble and never half hearted. When a song written by a stranger heals you, even in the smallest way, that's a connection beyond entertainment, and that is the journey Andrew Duhon sets out on from his home in Louisiana. His songs are about recognizing our story as much as they are about telling his, and his coast to coast pursuits have given him a clearer view of the American Landscape than most are privy to. Still, after years of voyaging off to every corner of the country, a new sensation arises with each return home to New Orleans. From that familiar return comes The Parish Record, a snapshot of life venturing from and returning to one of America's purest cultural vignettes, and the beauty, conflict, and stories that come with it.The Parish Record was recorded at Dockside Studios in Maurice, LA, where deep in Cajun country sits a wood-panel barn engulfed in oak and cypress trees along the slow butterscotch bayou pace of the Vermillion River. In this isolated hub of Acadiana, Andrew Duhon embarked with his trio of most trusted musicians - Myles Weeks (James Hunter Six, Eric Lindell) on Bass, Jim Kolacek (Feufollet) on Drums, and Daniel Walker (Heart, Ann Wilson, Amy Ray) on Keys - to harness of the sound and feeling of their surroundings."I wanted this record to feel like home. It wasn't time to get out of town or try out something new on this one. It was about believing in the songs from where the songs came from," Duhon says.This new collection speaks of Louisiana and carries the weight synonymous with Andrew's acclaimed discography: deep, evocative narratives that take listeners on a journey through a character's skin, heart-wrenching ballads which bare the songwriter's soul, and hard-driving rockers that rise in counterbalance to the weight of the lyric.Wherever the winding roads of America's highways take him, New Orleans follows. With all of it's cultural idiosyncrasies, it's the place he's most intimately familiar- a wellspring of honest stories and influences that could only be forged from a lifelong immersion. The Parish Record serves as the latest vehicle through which Andrew can spread the songs and lessons of a life lived in the flawed, divergent, singularly magnificent bayou he's called home.