In 1993, as part of the first-generation Bloodshot roster, Robbie fulks helped us define “Alternative Country.” In 2013, after two decades playing music everywhere from the taverns of southern Illinois to the honky tonks of northern Norway, from Austin City Limits’ soundstage to the historic Grand Ole Opry, he reunited with us for the highly acclained Gone Away Backward.
Upland Stories continues and – with sprinklings of pedal steel, drums, electric guitar, and keyboards – expands the sound of that acoustic set. Fulks’ richly emotonal storytelling is illuminated by his instrumental prowess and powerful voice. It’s a philosophically reflective album, written “with clear eyes and a full heart” (Ken Tucker, NPR). Don’t get us wrong, his wit is still as quick as his picking, but it’s reflected through the lens of fatherhood, marriage, middle age, and the literary voices he is drawn to and draws from. Accompanied by an incredible cast of players and produced by Steve Albini, Robbie makes songs that offer more than verse-chorus-hook: These songs have space, calmness, unresolved tensions and the hallmarks of lived experience.
Twenty years ago, Robbie’s exuberance for old-school country made a lot of noise. Today, his storytelling through folk and bluegrass music on Upland Stories delivers the quieter, sometimes unsettling truths of humanity
America’s most unjustly unsung singer/songwriter.” – SPIN
“My favorite songwriters can break my heart and/or make me laugh: Noel Coward, Loudon Wainwright, Randy Newman, very few others. Robbie Fulks has joined that august company.” – MICHAEL MCKEAN