''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, Los Angeles. A veteran writer of many of her own hits, as well as those for numerous other artists, she began her career in 1966 as ...

. 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'' (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 and Chuck Prophet 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 h ...

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 Wallace Jordan (born March 6, 1948) is an American-born Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician, and actor. Covering a wide variety of genres, he has written songs for a number of well-known artists, including Diana Ro ...

. "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, ...

''. "The minute I did it, I thought t wastime 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''. "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 recorded by DeShannon that year but made popular by Kim Carnes in 1981 when it spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard ...

" 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 free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

. 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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

opined that Carnes sounds like "the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

going acoustic", echoing the songwriting of

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, 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, releasing the album ...

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, w ...

'', 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

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''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 Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

and

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

. 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 singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

and

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, 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 vocals, backing vocals, keyboards (5, 7) * Tim Lauer – keyboards (1-4, 6, 8-10),

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"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 (mou ...

(6, 11),

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

(12) * Billy Panda – guitars (1-3, 6, 8, 9, 11),

Ebow The EBow is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It was invented by the American guitarist Greg Heet in 1969 and introduced in 1976. The EBow uses a pickup and a magnetic feedback circuit to ...

(2), bass (2), acoustic guitar (4), electric guitar (12) * Angelo Petraglia – guitars (2, 5), backing vocals (4) * Richard Bennett – guitars (3, 6, 8) * Tom Bukovac – electric guitar (4) * Chuck Prophet – guitars (5), bass (5), drums (5), backing vocals (5) * Greg Barnhill – guitars (6), backing vocals (6, 9) * Anders Osborne – guitars (7), drums (7), backing vocals (7) * Gary Burnette – guitars (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 ...

–

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 that ...

(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 – bass (12) * Greg Morrow – drums (1, 9, 11) * Craig Krampf – drums (2, 8) * Tommy Harden – drums (3, 6, 12) * Dave Ellingson – percussion (6, 12) * John Catchings – cello (7) *

Tammy Rogers Tammy Rogers (born 1966) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. In addition to releasing three albums on the Dead Reckoning Records label (which she founded with Kieran Kane), she is also a founding member of the Grammy ...

– viola (7), violin (7) * Jonathan Yudkin – strings (9) *

– backing vocals (10, 11) *

Kim Richey Kimberly Richey (born December 1, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Early life Richey was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on December 1, 1956. She grew up in Kettering, Ohio, graduating from Fairmont East High school in 1973. Career Riche ...

– backing vocals (11)

Production

* 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 at Yes Master (Nashville, Tennessee)

Design

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

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Kim Carnes albums