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JOAN BAEZ: DAY AFTER TOMORROW

Joan Baez has turned to Steve Earle as the producer of her 24th studio album, Day After Tomorrow. Earle seems to have taken as his assignment the goal of creating a modern Joan Baez album that is in the tradition of her great albums of the 1960s. First, he assembled a group of acoustic musicians in Nashville, anchored by multi-instrumental string players Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott (a rhythm section of Viktor Krauss and Kenny Malone is sometimes present also), and then he and Baez cherry-picked recent songs from contemporary singer/songwriters working in the spirit of those Baez covered earlier in her career, including Elvis Costello, Eliza Gilkyson, Patty Griffin, and Tom Waits. At 67, Baez betrays some vocal aging, but she uses it wisely to impart extra feeling into what is often a downbeat collection of quality songs, and Earle has succeeded in his attempt not to reinvent her, but to re-create her sound and message in contemporary terms.

Tracklist:

1.God Is God 2.Rose Of Sharon 3.Scarlet Tide 4.Day After Tomorrow 5.Henry Russell's Last Words 6.I Am A Wanderer 7.Mary 8.Requiem 9.The Lower Road 10.Jericho Road

Lineup:

Joan Baez - vocals, guitar, Steve Earle - guitar, harmonium, background vocals, tamboura, Viktor Krauss - bass, Kenny Malone - drums, percussion, Tim O'Brien - fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki, background vocals, Darrell Scott - guitar, dobro, bouzouki, Hawaiian guitar, banjolin, resonator guitar, background vocals, Thea Gilmore - harmony vocals, Siobhan Maher Kennedy - harmony vocals

Release date: September 9, 2008