Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Springsteen's greatest-selling album comes this tribute, featuring 12 Americana and alternative artists covering the Born in the U.S.A. album, song by song, start to finish.
Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars says "any of those songs could be played with acoustic guitar alone and still be great," and Dead Man's Town takes this idea as its premise, stripping down the album's twelve tracks. As Rolling Stone.com wrote, these artists are "reimagining Born in the U.S.A.... with a reduced approach more influenced by that of the acoustic Nebraska."
Dead Man's Town: A Tribute to Born in the U.S.A., on Lightning Rod Records, was co-Executive Produced by Logan Rogers and Evan Schlansky. Dave Cobb -- whose credits include Sturgill Simpson's Metamodern Sounds in Country Music and Jason Isbell's Southeastern -- produced the contributions by Isbell & Amanda Shires, Apache Relay, and Holly Williams. Other highlights range from Low's spectral take on "I'm on Fire" and Nicole Atkins' ethereal "Dancing in the Dark" to Justin Townes Earle's soulful, rootsy "Glory Days" and the swampy, sax-laden rock of Joe Pug's "Downbound Train."
Side One:
1) "Born in the U.S.A" - Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires
2) "Cover Me" - Apache Relay
3) "Darlington County" - Quaker City Nighthawks
4) "Working on the Highway" - Blitzen Trapper
5) "Downbound Train" - Joe Pug
6) "I'm On Fire" - Low
Side Two:
1) "No Surrender" - Holly Williams
2) "Bobby Jean" - Ryan Culwell
3) "I'm Goin' Down" - Trampled By Turtles
4) "Glory Days" - Justin Townes Earle
5) "Dancing in the Dark" - Nicole Atkins
6) "My Hometown" - North Mississippi Allstars