Jim Lauderdale, the prolific, two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning American music icon, shares the video for “Cackalacky,” from his new bluegrass album, When Carolina Comes Homes Again, out March 27 (note new release date) on Yep Roc Records.
A raucous tune co-written with North Carolina songwriter/activist Si Kahn that declares North Carolina “always means home sweet home,” “Cackalacky,” is the latest track unveiled from Lauderdale’s 33rd album, which is now available for pre-order. “Si Kahn is a national treasure,” says Lauderdale. “I’ve wanted to write with him for a long time, especially after talking about it for years at Merlefest and IBMA. I’m so proud and happy to have written this song of Carolina with him, and I hope this will be the first of many songs with Si.”
“North Carolina has such a long and important heritage in bluegrass music,” Lauderdale says. “Since it’s where I’m originally from and where I started playing bluegrass, it seemed right to go back to my roots in bluegrass there and collaborate with musicians in that area. There’s just something in the atmosphere there. Hearing bluegrass in different areas and settings in North Carolina, the music is just there in the air. The first bluegrass festival I ever went to was Union Grove when I was 14, and it blew my mind. The music got into my bones, and I just had to get a banjo.”
The album, which follows 2019’s From Another World, is a return to his geographical and musical roots and pays homage to his native North Carolina harkening back to the earliest music he learned to play.
Recorded at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, NC, in conjunction with Come Hear NC, the 13-track album features instrumental accompaniment from various members of NC-based acts, including Balsam Range, Cane Mill Road, Hank Pattie & the Current, John Stickley, Songs From The Road Band, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Town Mountain; as well as Matt Pruett (banjo); Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw (fiddle); Aaron Ramsey (mandolin); Nick Dauphinais and Presley Barker on guitars.
The album includes notable co-writes including John Oates on the title track, the late Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter on, “As A Sign,” Songs From The Road Band bassist Charles R. Humphrey III (“Misery’s Embrace,” “The Last To Know,” “You’ll Have To Earn It”), Steep Canyon Rangers banjo player Graham Sharp (“It Takes One To Wonder”), Logan Ledger (“Better Than You Found It”) and Sara Douga (“I’m Here To Remind You”)
Before embarking on a tour in support of When Carolina Comes Home Again, Lauderdale will continue his From Another World tour with a string of U.S. dates across the West Coast in May.
FROM ANOTHER WORLD WEST COAST TOUR
May 3 –- TBC – Kansas City, MO
May 6 – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
May 7 – White Eagle Saloon – Portland, OR
May 9 – Domino Room – Bend, OR
May 10 – Goldfield Trading Post – Sacramento, CA
May 14 – The Wayfarer – Costa Mesa, CA
May 15 – Zebulon – Los Angeles, CA
May 16 – Hotel Congress – Tucson, AZ
