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You Can't Outrun The Radio

by Jonathan Byrd

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1.
.38 Baby 02:39
38 Baby one in the chamber and a full magazine she got a barrel like you ain't never seen She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart you just a rabbit on a hickory stump she says jump, boy, you better jump She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart she got no safety when she's gettin her kicks shot a hole in the window of the motel 6 quick on the draw and her pattern is tight she's got her finger on the trigger tonight She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart she was a child and her daddy was hip made her a rattle with a Bakelite grip She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart one to the heart, one to the head I'll love that woman 'til the day that I'm dead She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She' my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart
2.
Slip Away 03:41
Slip Away Free and clean, you're daddy's girl, dancin' down in Mexico, all night long and nobody knows. You're just a poet and you had to go slip away. Slip away. They try to love but you slip away. It's been a while since you paid a bill. Forgiveness is a shallow well. What you're given is all you've got- the way you look and the way you smell slip away. Slip away. They try to love but you slip away. Can't go home again for shame. You try to make it in a border town, running tar to hotel rooms. The sailor boys call you down. You slip away. Slip away. They try to love but you slip away. Even when the deal goes south, you never figure yourself for a slave. Confederacy is the easy way out, but you take your freedom to your grave and slip away. Slip away. They try to love but you slip away. Your uncle came and picked you up. You was toe-tagged and skin and bone. Took you back to Shasta Lake, but nobody ever took you home. You slipped away. Slipped away. They tried to love but you slipped away.
3.
Starlight 04:07
Starlight Jonathan Byrd He held a toothpick ‘tween his teeth, a mischievous carpenter. She boarded the train and gave him a kiss, a tentative wanderer. Star light, star bright, you’re the only star I’ve got tonight. Starlight. He stroked her hair and showed her the dough, no more than bargainer. She followed him back to the sleeping car, oh, Saint Christopher. Star light, star bright, you’re the only star I’ve got tonight. Starlight. That’ll get you all the way to Thunder Bay. Wait outside the Finlandia. I know a man who'll give you a room. You don’t have to work for him. Star light, star bright, you’re the only star I’ve got tonight. Starlight. Train kept a-chuggin on through St. Paul, her face in the window, drinking black coffee and cutting her hair on the white linoleum. Star light, star bright, you’re the only star I’ve got tonight. Starlight.
4.
Mama's Got Wheels - JByrd Mmm it's a sixty-three. Mmm it's got heated seats. Mmm a little Detroit steel, Mama's got wheels. Mmm not a lot of flash. Mmm paid for in cash. Mmm everything is real. Mama's got wheels. You wanna ride? You pay for the gas. You wanna drive? Don't drive me too fast. You wanna know how quality feels? Mama's got wheels, baby, Mama's got wheels. Mmm, what would you pay, mmm, to feel this way? Mmm, let's make a deal. Mama's got wheels. Mmm all it needs is love, mmm, and a tender touch. Mmm it's got the factory seal. Mama's got wheels. You wanna ride? You pay for the gas. You wanna drive? Don't drive me too fast. You wanna know how quality feels? Mama's got wheels, baby, Mama's got wheels.
5.
Big Truck Brought It Rob Vaarmeyer Keep your Kenworth running strong for regional, bulk, or hauling logs. Air suspension's got a nice soft ride. Fairing's got a toolbox inside. Piano-hinge doors stay quiet and square and that huck-bolted cab ain't going nowhere. 600 horses, charging straight and true, and it's aerodynamic, to save you fuel. If you got, a big truck brought it. If you want it, there's a big truck on it. Picture a semi in your mind, flat-nosed grill, red oval sign. The classic-looking semi, it was defined by the Peterbilt 389. New model's got a sloped-grilled hood. That lets you see the road real good. If you like that, that's just fine. Me, I drive a 389. If you got, a big truck brought it. If you want it, there's a big truck on it. Air-braking haulers go by many names. They're all a little different, but one thing's the same- whether Sterling, Mack, or Western Star, a big rig brought it to where you are. If it's Freightliner, Eagle, Volvo, or Ford, Playboy mudflaps or Baby On Board, hauling solid gold or a load of manure, a big truck brought it. You can be sure. If you got, a big truck brought it. If you want it, there's a big truck on it.
6.
Pale Rider 03:45
Pale Rider A seagull flies out over the ice and perches, half a moon above the birches, pale rider on a white horse. The sunset shines in the eye of a loon as she watches falling shadows for the foxes, a little blood on the bone knife, pale rider on a white horse. The raven dreams he sees through the eyes of the dying into a sky full of dark wings. Night comes to take us home, a little blood on the bone knife, pale rider on a white horse. The sun returns and burns gold into the shallows. An eagle watches from the willows. There's a flash in the river. Night comes to take us home, a little blood on the bone knife, pale rider on a white horse.
7.
Poor Johnny 02:50
Poor Johnny Jbyrd Poor Johnny at the bottom of the lake. Bottom of the lake, poor Johnny. Poor Johnny at the bottom of the lake, boy went fishing and drownded. I had a girl I loved the best. Bottom of the lake, poor Johnny. Lord knows, Johnny could've loved the rest, but the boy went fishing and drownded. I had a bottle of ninety proof. Bottom of the lake, Poor Johnny. I'd take one drink, he'd take two, and the boy went fishing and drownded. Johnny was using my good cane pole. Bottom of the lake, Poor Johnny. Got so drunk that he couldn't keep ahold, and the boy went fishing and drownded. Then what happened, I never could tell. Bottom of the lake, poor Johnny. He never could handle his liquor well and the boy went fishing and drownded.
8.
Working Offshore It was Houston Texas, 1958. I was looking for work from state to state. The Man said, "Son, you're way too young, but there's jobs to be done, working offshore." I caught a 64-footer to a Grand Isle rig. I told em I was eighteen, just to get the gig. Two-fifty an hour, a steak and a shower, energy was power, working offshore. It's a long way out, just to trust your luck. It's a long way down, just to bring it back up. They put me in the crow's nest, lining up a run. I was lining up another when that one was done. When the sunset bled, the Gulf turned red, two men to a bed, working offshore. It was ten days on, five days off. My back was getting strong, my head was getting soft. I lost a finger in a chain, had to retrain, a little pain for my gain, working offshore. It's a long way out, just to trust your luck. It's a long way down, just to bring it back up. So, I packed it up in 1959. I went back to school to get what's mine. I heard then, eighteen of my friends never came in from working offshore. No telling how many men have fallen. Now it's two-fifty, what, three bucks a gallon? You're standing in that line, just keep it in mind, there's men still dying, working offshore. It's a long way out, just to trust your luck. It's a long way down, just to bring it back up.
9.
You Can't Outrun The Radio- Jbyrd I was driving out in Kansas when I heard that song you love. Big sunflowers, for all their graces, turn their faces to the sun. Son, you can't outrun the radio. My friends tell me, "Move to Austin, maybe Nashville, Tennessee." If I can get back to North Carolina, I'll let the music come to me. See, you can't outrun the radio. Even Dale Earnhardt. He was hell on the speedway. He was a champion seven times. He thought he'd make it one more five hundred, and went four hundred and ninety-nine. When it's time, you can't outrun the radio. Now I'm laying in this hotel. It's all uphill to fall asleep. I check the FM on the alarm clock, and pray the Lord this lap to keep. People, you can't outrun the radio.
10.
Close Enough To Touch Jbyrd and Anthony daCosta Do you ever wanna stone me? Do you ever think you're all grown up? If you ever get lonely, I'm close enough to touch. Close enough to touch. Deep cover on a dark night can't take away all my love. Behind the cloud, I'm a satellite, close enough to touch. Close enough to touch. Can you hear me? Can you feel me lovin you, lovin' you? Can I turn it off? Can I ever stop lovin you, lovin' you? There's a ghost on the telephone. Will it ever be good enough? There's a voice on the radio, close enough to touch. Close enough to touch. I got my heart tied up in twine, a bandana with all my stuff. A red hawk in the western sky, close enough to touch. Close enough to touch.

about

"Wonderful songwriting, beautiful production, and deeply rooted in what makes American Roots Music great: Deep Southern Pain. It’s the hurt that brings the songs, and it’s the songs that heal the hurt. Jonathan’s songs bring us there, and back. Check this record out, it’s a good ‘un.” ~ Mary Gauthier

"like church and sex at the same time" ~Jessee Havey of The Duhks

Country/folk/rock songwriter Jonathan Byrd has trouble standing still and gets tired of playing alone on the road. “I get tired of playing by myself and I get tired of having all of my own ideas out there every night," he recently said in Acoustic Guitar Magazine. This time around on his upcoming new release, You Can't Outrun The Radio, Jonathan has made one of his favorite albums of all time with strangers.

Kicking off with a chugging bassline from a lost 60's spy movie, the new You Can't Outrun The Radio is a wild ride where Country meets hi-fi Soul. Recorded in two days by people who'd never met each other, the new collection is being released September 22 on Waterbug Records.

"I live in North Carolina but I tour in Canada often” says Jonathan. “In 2009, I was on tour with Corin Raymond. We played the Green Room in Montreal- since burned down. Two heavy soul singers, Alexa Dirks and Andrina Turenne (Chic Gamine), were there. Corin introduced me. After the show, we sang and passed a guitar around the sidewalk until the bartender came out and said, 'Please don't stop, but you have to come inside so I can lock the door.' We left at four in the morning. We all fell in love that night. I had to make a record with them."

It took Jonathan two years to get a session together with Alexa and Andrina. When it happened it turned out to be February in Winnipeg. He didn't know any of the session players and had never met the engineer Jaxon Haldane of the D Rangers. Yet, the session turned out to be one of those magical encounters.

Guitarist Grant Siemens, usually with Alberta cowpunk Corb Lund, twangs out stunning updates of Stephen Bruton and Bill Kirchen. Drummer Joanna Miller (Scott Nolan, Mary Gauthier) coasts on a smoky, behind-the-beat feel reminiscent of Roger Hawkins. Bassist Rejean Ricard, of Winnipeg locals The Wind Ups, alternately summons Tim Drummond and Brian Ritchie. Gluing it all together with smoke and soul, are Alexa and Andrina. Corin Raymond even makes a cameo on a truck-song harmony.

"We arrived at the impossible. Somewhere between Harvest and I'm Still In Love With You. We call each other from time to time and say, 'I'm listening to our record!' We are all still surprised that we made one of our favorite albums of all time with strangers."

“...raw and gritty with moments of crystalline beauty.” ~ popmatters.com

Press: Lisa Shively, lisa@pressnetwork.com, 615-677-6645
Radio: Lisa Grey, Blue River Promotions, lgrey@optonline.net, 914-762-2976

credits

released October 13, 2014

Alexa Dirks and Andrina Turenne - harmony vocals
Grant Siemens - electric guitar
Joanna Miller - drums
Rejean Ricard - bass
Corin Raymond - harmonies and spiritual guidance
Chris Scruggs - steel guitar
Steve Conn - organ
special thanks to Tim O'Brien for arranging the Nashville session
Jaxon Haldane - engineering in Gimli, MB
Dave Ferguson - engineering in Nashville, TN
mixed by Jerry Brown and Jonathan Byrd at The Rubber Room in Chapel Hill, NC
Mastered by Brent Lambert at Kitchen Mastering in Carrboro, NC
Graphic design by John Dixon in New Orleans, LA

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Jonathan Byrd Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Preacher's kid, Gulf War veteran, award-winning songwriter, Youtuber, teacher, and creativity coach from North Carolina.

“One of the top 50 songwriters of the last 50 years. ” — Chicago Tribune

“...a folk singer with the heart of a rock 'n' roll band.” — K. Oliver, Free Times.
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