David Ferguson—one of Nashville’s great musical treasures and a living legend for his work as a Grammy award winning recording engineer, studio owner, video game soundtrack composer, and collaborator with the likes of Johnny Cash, John Prine, and Sturgill Simpson—has taken a long overdue step into the spotlight with his new album Nashville No More. Available everywhere on Friday, Sept. 3 via Fat Possum Records, Nashville No More presents Ferguson aka Fergie at the very top of his game, causing critics and fans alike to collectively sigh, “finally.” This is no greenhorn debut album, but a long-marinated and much-awaited reveal of a warm and familiar voice of a generation.
“Chardonnay,” the album’s final single, is available today and features the man himself joined by outlaw country’s great asset, Margo Price, lending her voice to a country-meets-bossa nova feel. "Chardonnay was there to comfort me during the recording of this record,” says Fergie. “I’m forever thankful to Roger Cook for having the good sense to write a beautiful love song to a glass of wine. Fans can listen to “Chardonnay” right here and pre-order or pre-save Nashville No More ahead of its September 3rd release at this link.
Catch up with Fergie by spending a few moments with the following podcasts that recently interviewed him: WMOT’s The String is a deep dive into his career and upbringing and on NPR’s Respawn he spoke about his work on Red Dead Redemption 2’s soundtrack. Both interviews show the man behind the curtain as well as provide a fascinating look into how his brain works.
Familiar faces on Nashville No More: The entirety of Nashville No More’s roster is A-lister after A-lister. Bluegrass fans will easily pick out the playing of Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Béla Fleck, and Tim O’Brien, to name a few, and the more guitar-minded will catch the six-string picking and strumming of Mark Howard, Billy Sanford, and Kenny Vaughan. Bluegrass power couple Sierra Hull and Justin Moses lend their voice and instrumental prowess and Margo Price jumps in on the aforementioned “Chardonnay.” Add in Nashville studio greats like Russ Pahl on pedal steel, Sam Bacco on percussion, Mike Rojas on keyboards, and Mike Bub and Dave Roe on bass, and the end result is a mutual admiration society of taste and respect not equaled in most Nashville recordings of today. All of those instruments and all of those people are in turn enveloped by Ferguson’s resonant baritone singing his favorite songs and the results are breathtaking.
Nashville No More Tracklist:
Four Strong Winds
Boats to Build
Fellow Travelers
Nights With You
Looking for Rainbows
Chardonnay
Early Morning Rain
Knocking Around Nashville
My Autumns Done Come
Hard Times Come Again No More
About David Ferguson (in the words of Sturgill Simpson): “The Ferg is a bonafide card-carrying legendary hillbilly genius and when he talks you better shut up and listen. He's played bass for Jimmy Martin, chopped tape for Cowboy Jack Clement, been called a dear friend by Johnny Cash and John Prine, recorded every one of your damn heroes at least twice, and he's forgotten more about music, specifically recording music, than you'll ever know in your entire existence. So...next time you start thinking your shit doesn't stink just stop and look in the mirror and ask yourself, ‘I'm sorry and you'll have to excuse me but...is your name David Ferguson?’”
