Dusty is the 12th studio album by Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter

Fred Eaglesmith Frederick John Elgersma (born July 9, 1957), known by the stage name Fred Eaglesmith, is a Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter. He is known for writing songs about vehicles, rural life, down-and-out characters, lost love and quirky rur ...

. It was produced by Scott Merritt, and released by A Major Label on November 23, 2004.

Background

2004's ''Dusty'' marks Eaglesmith's reunion with producer Scott Merritt, who had helped shape Eaglesmith's breakthrough studio sound in the mid-90s.

Track listing

All songs written by Fred Eaglesmith. #"Dusty" – 4:43 #"Tunnel" – 3:44 #"I 75" – 4:46 #"Ship" – 4:36 #"Rainbow" – 3:53 #"Wichita" – 7:11 #"Crowds" – 5:21 #"Hey Baby" – 3:12 #"Codeine" – 5:03 #"Carne del Toro" – 3:29

Personnel

– vocals,

wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

funmaker * Scott Merritt – gut string guitar, bass, hammond, glockenspiel, samples, wurlitzer, acoustic guitar, reed organ, drums, baritone guitar *David Hetherington – cello *Winonna Zelenka – cello *Maurizio Baccante – cello *Roman Borys – cello *Paul Intson – bass on 1, 4, 7 *Peter Von Althon – drums on 1, 6, 9; percussion on 9, 10; tambourine on 6 *Matt Keighan – drums on 3, 4, 8 *Darcy Yates – bass on 5 *strings conducted by Dan Parr *string arrangements by Dan Parr and Scott Merritt

Reception

Of the album, Jason Schneider at Exclaim! said, "(it) immediately proves to be a radical departure, and a thoroughly welcome one. ... (A)im(ing) for classic Memphis blue-eyed soul(, i)t doesn't exactly achieve this goal. Instead, the album could be the equivalent of Bruce Springsteen's ''Nebraska'' if it had been recorded with

ProTools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-product ...

. ... (I)n the process, (Eaglesmith) and Merritt created something entirely different, and like a newborn colt, beautiful in its own awkward way." The reviewer at ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' gave ''Dusty'' a 4-star rating, saying, "It's neither country nor folk - it just is what it is. This is also as bleak as (Eaglesmith) has been. These stories rarely mention it directly, but they reek of a time where on top of the daily hassles of working, wanting and getting by is a patina of gnawing despair. It's a sorrow aimed at a world more fixed on anger, retribution and empty religious sentiments than offering hope."

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Fred Eaglesmith albums