''Chasin' Wild Trains'' is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a sess ...

. It was her first full-length album since '' Checkin' Out the Ghosts'' (1991) and her first internationally-released studio album since ''

View from the House ''View from the House'' is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Kim Carnes. It was released on July 25, 1988 by MCA Records. The album marked a return to her early country music roots. Carnes recorded the album in Nashville, Ten ...

'' (1988). Carnes self-released the album in the United States through Sparky Dawg in 2004, before it received an international release through the Dutch label CoraZong on September 16, 2005. Carnes produced ten of the twelve tracks, with

Angelo Petraglia Angelo Petraglia (born May 5, 1954) is an American record producer and songwriter. He was a member of the new wave band Face to Face and is best known for his work with Kings of Leon. Early life He was born in the Bronx and grew up in Pelham, N ...

and

Chuck Prophet Charles William Prophet (born June 28, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. A Californian, Prophet first achieved notice in the American psychedelic/desert rock group Green on Red, with whom he toured and rec ...

co-producing "Lucid Dreams" and

Matraca Berg Matraca Maria Berg Hanna (; born February 3, 1964, in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has released five albums: three for RCA Records, one for Rising Tide Records and one for Dualtone Records, and ...

co-producing "If I Was an Angel". "One Beat at a Time" and "Just to See You Smile" were both released as singles.

Writing and production

Carnes decided to record ''Chasin' Wild Trains'' after writing "One Beat At a Time" with

Marc Jordan Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

. "I went in the studio and cut it with my guys," Carnes told ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

''. "The minute I did it, I thought

t was T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

time to make an album. This is going to be cut one. Everything has to measure up to this." Carnes described ''Chasin' Wild Trains'' as a "rootsy songwriter album" written with her friends and musical collaborators. Carnes originally co-wrote "If I Was An Angel" with

for her album ''Sunday Morning to Saturday Night'' (1997). Berg co-produced and sang backing vocals on Carnes' new version for ''Chasin' Wild Trains''. "Goodnight Angel" was originally written for an unreleased companion album of songs inspired by the 2002 film ''

We Were Soldiers ''We Were Soldiers'' is a 2002 war film written and directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. Based on the book ''We Were Soldiers Once… and Young'' (1992) by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, it ...

''. "You Made My Skin Burn" featured in the soundtrack to the 2006 film '' The Moguls''.

Release and promotion

Carnes self-released ''Chasin' Wild Trains'' in 2004 through Sparky Dawg and sold the album to fans at her concerts. On September 16, 2005, the album was released internationally through the Dutch label CoraZong. In the following year, it was released again as a Limited Edition with live acoustic versions of "

Bette Davis Eyes "Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was originally recorded by DeShannon in that year for her album '' New Arrangement'' but it was made popular by American singer Kim Carnes in 1981 wh ...

" and "Just to See You Smile" as bonus tracks recorded during Carnes' appearance on American Connection, a show broadcast by KRO Radio 2 in 2005. On 9 November 2005, Carnes performed "Bette Davis Eyes" and "Just to See You Smile" live on ''Des mots de minuit'', broadcast by

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 ...

. The cover art for ''Chasin' Wild Trains'' features an image of Carnes taken at age 3 sitting on a toy 'honeymoon' car. She had been playing 'wedding' with her next door neighbor, David Lindley. "One Beat At a Time" was released as a single on September 5, 2005, and "Just to See You Smile" followed in 2006. In 2022, Carnes began releasing shortened edits of selected tracks as singles, beginning with "Just to See You Smile" on September 3, followed by "Lucid Dreams" on November 25.

Critical reception

''Chasin' Wild Trains'' received overall positive reviews from music critics. Joe Viglione of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

opined that Carnes sounds like "the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

going acoustic", echoing the songwriting of

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

with songs on the subject of time, dreams and angels. In ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...

'', Peter Cooper described the songs on ''Chasin' Wild Trains'' as "rich, with memorable melodies" and noted "If I Was an Angel" as the album's highlight. Writing for the Dutch

online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...

''Kinda Muzik'', Jelle Schuilenburg described ''Chasin' Wild Trains'' as "simply a beautiful album", featuring songs with "a nice mix of Americana, singer-songwriter and country rock". She compared Carnes' vocals to contemporaries like

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

and

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

. In ''Country Music Today'' magazine, Stephen L. Betts opined that ''Chasin' Wild Trains'' is "one of 2004's best albums in any genre". Dutch website ''Muziekwereld'' noted the "sparse solo guitars and atmospheric keys" giving Carnes' "emotional voice more space than the chilly, fashionable production of he 1980s. They likened the album's sound to the music of

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

and

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

, concluding that Carnes "proves how mature pop music can sound." In ''Break Out'', a German music magazine, Birgit Bräckle wrote that ''Chasin' Wild Trains'' is a "melancholic" album with "sparsely instrumented songs, infused with Nashville country and blues influences".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Musicians

* Kim Carnes – lead and backing vocals, keyboards (5, 7) * Tim Lauer – keyboards (1–4, 6, 8, 9, 10),

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

(6, 11),

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

(12) * Billy Panda – guitar (1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11),

Ebow The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...

(2), bass (2), acoustic guitar (4), electric guitar (12) *

– guitar (2, 5), backing vocals (4) * Richard Bennett – guitar (3, 6, 8) *

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac is an American session musician and producer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in nearby Willowick, Ohio. He has been a Nashville-based musician since 1992. He previously owned 2nd Gear, a used music consignment shop in Sou ...

– electric guitar (4) *

– guitar (5), bass (5), drums (5), backing vocals (5) * Greg Barnhill – guitar (6), backing vocals (6, 9) *

Anders Osborne Anders Osborne (born May 4, 1966 in Uddevalla, Sweden) is an American singer-songwriter. He tours solo and with a band, and often plays in North Mississippi Osborne (N.M.O), a group formed by Osborne and North Mississippi Allstars. Early life ...

– guitar (7), drums (7), backing vocals (7) * Gary Burnette – guitar (9, 11) *

Jeff Hanna Jeffrey R. Hanna (born July 11, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and performance musician, best known for his association with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. His professional music career has spanned six decades. Early life Hanna was born in D ...

–

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

(10) * Al Anderson – acoustic guitar (12), guitar solo (12), backing vocals (12) * Alison Prestwood – bass (3, 4, 6, 8) * Byron House – bass (9, 11) *

Jeffrey Steele Jeffrey LeVasseur (born August 27, 1961), known as Jeffrey Steele, is an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than 60 hit ...

– bass (12) *

Greg Morrow Greg Morrow is an American drummer, percussionist, session musician, mixing engineer, and vocalist. Biography Morrow was born in Ripley, Tennessee and raised in Memphis. At age 11, Morrow and his band performed on a local TV show, and he par ...

– drums (1, 9, 11) *

Craig Krampf Craig Krampf (born October 22, 1954) is an American drummer, percussionist, arranger, record producer and songwriter. The majority of his notable credits are as a studio drummer. Since the 1970s, he has played on albums by other artists ranging f ...

– drums (2, 8) * Tommy Harden – drums (3, 6, 12) * Dave Ellingson – percussion (6, 12) * John Catchings – cello (7) *

Tammy Rogers Tammy may refer to: *Tam o' Shanter (cap), a Scottish hat * ''Tammy'' (film series), a series of four films **''Tammy and the Bachelor'', the first film in the series ** "Tammy" (song), a popular song from ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' ** ''Tammy'' (T ...

– viola (7), violin (7) *

Jonathan Yudkin Jonathan Yudkin is an American multi-instrumentalist who is a proficient player of banjo, violin, mandolin, and other stringed instruments. He is a Nashville-based session musician, record producer, arranger, and band leader. Biography Growin ...

– strings (9) *

– backing vocals (10, 11) *

Kim Richey Kimberly Richey (born December 1, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Career Kim Richey came onto the music scene in the 1990s and entered her first recording contract at the age of 37. Kim signed with Mercury Nashville. She spent the n ...

– backing vocals (11)

Technical

* Kim Carnes – producer * Angelo Petraglia – producer (5), additional recording * Chuck Prophet – producer (5) * Matraca Berg – producer (10) * Scott Baggett – recording, mixing * Tim Lauer – additional recording * Josh Muncy – additional recording, assistant engineer * Billy Panda – additional recording * Eric Tonkin – additional recording * Adam Beard – assistant engineer * Erik Jaskowiak – assistant engineer * Jim DeMain – mastering

Design

* Don Bailey – art direction, design * Mike Condon – live photography * Glen Rose – photography

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Kim Carnes albums