''Singing Bones'' is the sixth studio album by
the Handsome Family
The Handsome Family is an American music duo consisting of husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks formed in Chicago, Illinois, and as of 2001 based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are perhaps best known for their song " Far from Any Road" fro ...
. It was released in 2003 by Carrot Top Records (North America) /
Loose Music (Europe). It includes a cover of the folk song "
Dry Bones", known from
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians".
Biography
...
's 1928 version on
Harry Smith's ''
Anthology of American Folk Music
''Anthology of American Folk Music'' is a three-volume compilation album released in August 1952 by Folkways Records. The album was compiled by experimental filmmaker Harry Smith from his own personal collection of 78 rpm records. It consists ...
''. In 2014, the album received a resurgence of interest when the song "Far from Any Road" was used as the theme song for the
first season of
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
's crime drama ''
True Detective
''True Detective'' is an American Anthology series, anthology Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and ...
''.
Reception
The album was well received by critics: according to
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the album has received an average review score of 85/100, based on 8 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
[
]
"Far from Any Road"
Besides its appearance in ''True Detective'', "Far from Any Road" was also used as an opening song for '' Guns N' Roses 2014 world tour, and during the ending credits of the 2015 ''The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' episode " Cue Detective".
"Far from Any Road" also charted on SNEP
SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...
, the official French singles chart, in 2015, reaching number 61.
Track listing
Personnel
* Rennie Sparks – vocals, lyrics, bass , banjo , autoharp
* Brett Sparks – vocals, guitars, composition, recording, pedal steel guitar , saw
* Darrell Sparks – drums , banjo , violin
* Jimmy Pontzer – drums
* Dave Gutierrez – mandolin , pedal steel guitar
* David McChesney – trumpet
* Greg Hansen – dobro
* Tony Watkins – bowed bass
* Roger Seibel – mastering
References
External links
The Handsome Family official website
2003 albums
The Handsome Family albums
Carrot Top Records albums
Loose Music albums
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