The Long-Awaited Album

by Steve Martin, Steep Canyon Rangers

Overview

The Long-Awaited Album arrived six years after Rare Bird Alert, the 2011 collaboration between Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, so perhaps the wait between records wasn't all that long. Still, the clever title also suggests the difference between this 2017 affair and its predecessor: Martin is no longer hesitant to crack a joke as he stands behind a banjo. After playing it relatively straight on 2009's The Crow -- the album where he revived his longstanding love of bluegrass -- a smile started to creep into his performances on Rare Bird Alert, but on The Long-Awaited Album he seems unable to resist any quip that fluttered across his mind. Perhaps this is a reaction to the pair of subdued records Martin cut with Edie Brickell in the mid-2010s, but Martin seems ready to cut loose with jokes and fingerpicking. The Steep Canyon Rangers are ideal foils for him in that regard, as they're fleet-fingered and versatile, and they boast a fine deadpan singer in Woody Platt, who trades off tunes with Martin. The songs on The Long-Awaited Album are littered with references to contemporary life -- references to cell phones, Olive Garden, and Skype calls are threaded into a mosaic of modern life -- and the music feels fresh too, alternating between lilting ballads, funny bits designed for a stage, and the quick-stepping instrumentals that act as the glue binding it all together. Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers specialize in good cheer, and while that means they can sometimes overplay their hand here -- "Strangest Christmas Yet" sticks out like a sore thumb, each punch line landing with a thud -- their act is ingratiating and so is The Long-Awaited Album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	09/22/2017
Label:	Rounder
UPC:	0888072033092
Rank:	60627

Tracks

1. Santa Fe
2. Caroline
3. All Night Long
4. Canadian Girl
5. Office Supplies
6. Bad Night
7. Strangest Christmas Yet
8. Always Will
9. So Familiar
10. Nights in the Lab
11. Angeline the Barista
12. On the Water
13. Girl From River Run
14. Promontory Point

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Steve Martin   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Steep Canyon Rangers   Primary Artist
Mike Guggino   Mandola,Mandolin,Vocals (Background)
Nicky Sanders   Fiddle
Graham Sharp   Banjo,Vocals (Background)
Charles Humphrey III   Bass
Woody Platt   Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Mike Ashworth   Percussion,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Steve Martin   Composer,Group Member
Edie Brickell   Composer
Tony Trischka   Composer
Peter Asher   Producer
Robert L. Smith, Jr.   Engineer
Nathaniel Kunkel   Mixing,Engineer,Mastering
Philip Barker   Composer
Mike Guggino   Group Member
Nicky Sanders   Group Member
Gary Paczosa   Engineer
Julian Dreyer   Engineer
Graham Sharp   Composer,Group Member
Ivy Skoff   Production Coordination
Charles Humphrey III   Composer,Group Member
Woody Platt   Group Member
Carrie Smith   Art Direction
Sean Winter   Package Design
Mike Ashworth   Group Member
Shani Gandhi   Assistant
Luke Klingensmith   Assistant
Alfredo Pasquel   Engineer,Mixing Assistant,Mastering Assistant
Anna Webber   Photography