Jake Xerxes Fussell, folk singer and guitarist, is preparing to release Out Of Sight, his follow-up to What In The Natural World 2017. We’ve heard two singles from the record already, a cover of “The River St. Johns” and a performance of the Irish folk tune “Michael Was Hearty.” Today, Fussell shares two new tracks: “Oh Captain,” and an instrumental that follows on the album called “Three Ravens.”
“Oh Captain” is a song originally recorded for Paramount Studios in the 1920s by singer and composer Willis Laurence James. “Three Ravens” is inspired by a copy of The American Songbag by Carl Sandburg, which Fussell allegedly found at a property sale in Oxford, Mississippi. In songwriting and tone, the vocals on “Oh Captain” feel imitative, but also interpretive of the 1920s era. Both tracks have a cadence of moseying. Swirling electric plucks with fiddles and steel pedals are pushing the folk strums to the front.
Here’s Fussell with more information about how he chose to cover “Oh Captain”:
It’s a very unusual recording… James spent much of his life collecting and interpreting and writing about African American worksongs, yet few have recognized his short, obscure stint as a recording artist. Turns out he was a trained singer who taught in the music department for years at Spelman College, whose library still holds his archive. I became fascinated with him and his work, so this song is my little homage to Dr. James.
Check out both “Oh Captain” and “Three Ravens” below.