Elvis Costello’s career has spanned across four decades and probably quadruple that many genres. While he made his name with the highly-melodic, energized New Wave/Rock/Pop sound of his “angry young man” years (and his subsequent, more mature Pop), Costello has never shied away from a musical challenge, exploring various styles, recording with string ensembles, Jazz artists and Pop songwriting maestro Burt Bacharach.
Costello’s latest project is an acoustic, Bluegrass/Country-tinged offering, Secret, Profane and Sugarcane, which — to absolutely no one’s surprise — is another fantastic piece of work. Cut in Nashville with T Bone Burnett in just three days, EC is joined by an all-star team of Bluegrass and Country players, including Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan. The songs are all Costello originals (with help from Loretta Lynn and Burnett on a few tracks) and once again he manages to sound perfectly comfortable in the setting. Early reports from the current Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes tour (with many of the new album’s players making up the ’Canes) have been enthusiastic. The band is playing much of the new material, as well as several cover songs (everything from Velvet Underground to Merle Haggard) and some of Costello’s most famed material reworked, including “Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes” done TexMex style and a slow ballad version of “Everyday I Write the Book.”
He plays Fraze Pavilion in Kettering. Get show details and Sound Advice here.
