Before I Leave This World

Tucson kid (he was about 14 when this was recorded) playing beautiful, desolate old-time country blues and fingerstyle guitar. This is from a 2017 live set when he opened for Sir Richard Bishop. Covered in desert dust, lived-in, heavy with evening atmosphere, played with powerful and restrained feeling. Includes renditions of some very old songs. It’s hard not to feel an thick aura of cool listening to this. RIYL Mississippi Fred McDowell, John Fahey, Billy Sedlmayr, William Tyler, Gwenifer Raymond. Favorites: 1, 4, 5. No FCCs detected.

1. *(5:24)—Mid-tempo twlight song of mourning, almost a drone. Feels effortless. Very bluesy.
2. (4:11)—Medium-fast instrumental. Nice slide guitar.
3. (4:31)—Medium-slow, with a little swing. Dark and cool and slack, eyes half closed.
4. *(8:02)—Instrumental for the first half. Slow, minor key, intense. Not far from this to heavy metal.
5. *(4:52)—Mid-tempo, jerky, very bluesy railroad song. Mesmerizing ending. This song is more than 100 years old; check out Furry Lewis’s “Kassie Jones,” too.