For the last 15 years, LA-based drummer Jason Boesel has been planted firmly behind the kit, keeping time for the likes of Rilo Kiley, Bright Eyes, The Elected, and more recently, Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band. Boesel was inspired to pick up the guitar and write his own record after his friends raved about the first song he ever wrote: 'Hustler's Son.' Now, a few studio sessions later, Jason Boesel announces his solo debut for Team Love Records: 'Hustler's Son,' out January 12, 2010.Boesel headed into the studio in March of 2009 with a core group of collaborators: Mystic Valley Band member Nik Freitas, Blake Mills (Band of Horses, Julian Casablancas), and producer Jonathan Wilson (Elvis Costello 'Momofuku' and Jenny Lewis 'Acid Tongue'). He eventually sought out the additional talents of Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Orenda Fink (O + S, Azure Ray), David Rawlings (Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), and fellow Rilo Kiley member Blake Sennett.
The result is an 11-song Americana album filled with powerful imagery and a sound that brings new colors to the sonic palette of country-folk greats like Townes Van Zandt, mid-'70s California rock, and the alt-country scene of today.
Listen to the first single- "Hand Of God" - available for download here: http://bit.ly/JBoesel_HandOfGod_MP3
While "Hand of God" is nearest to Boesel's breezy alt-country leanings, the entirety of 'Hustler's Son' is a road trip of an aural and emotional experience. Boesel isn't shy to admit his soft spot for the Southern California sound, but his sonic inspirations are as diverse as the places he's visited on the road. The music proves it: Dark "Black Waves" rolls in with West Palm Beach's "hurricane sand" and psychotropic guitars, "French Kissing" rocks to allusions of Santa Barbara's shores, "Burned Out And Busted" finds Boesel stranded in the desert, and the insatiable jam "I Got The Reason #1" - a fan favorite played by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band on tour- leaves Jason in the lobby of a hotel, waiting for the next surprise.
Sure, Boesel owes a lot to the road that inspired a moving album with many startling turns, but he'll return the favor in February on a national tour in support of 'Hustler's Son.'
1. Black Waves
2. Hand of God
3. French Kissing
4. Burned Out and Busted
5. New World Mama
6. Miracles
7. Hustler's Son
8. Getting Healthy (Good Luck)
9. I Got the Reason #1
10. Was It, Man?
11. Winking Eyes
