On 23rd July, Texas-born Americana artist Dallas Burrow will release his self-titled record. Recorded with modern-day legend Bruce Robison, this second record marks a symbolic and literal homecoming for the songwriter – an album about embracing maturity and the responsibilities of family life. Here, we interview Dallas Burrow about the creation of the record and his journey so far.
Pre-save the album here ahead of its release.
Hey, good morning, how are you?
I’m doing well, thanks.
I’ve been listening to your record on repeat today, you must be so excited to release it into the world.
I am, it’s been a long time coming, so I’m ready to get it out that’s for sure.
Obviously for this project, you returned to Texas and worked with Bruce Robison. How was that experience, can you talk a bit about the decision to work with him?
Well, I had a couple different ideas of some places and some people I might record with, but when the opportunity to work with Bruce came about, it was one of those things that I just couldn’t turn down or pass up. He’s kind of a giant – he’s literally a giant, he’s a big dude – just in the music world, especially in Texas and the world of Texas songwriters, he is definitely a legend. It was a no brainer when the opportunity came up, but I had to go for it.
On the record you embraced a more mature side about family life, was that something that you knew you were going to do or did that happen as the record evolved?
It was something that happened organically, it’s really just a kind of a testament to where I’m at in my life. What I mean is, those were the things that were on my mind, they were on my heart, as a songwriter – my style really is to talk about whatever’s going on around me in my life, so it just kind of developed honestly in that way.
That’s how you get the most authentic music, listening to ‘Easter Sunday’, that song is so moving, sonically, but lyrically it’s so poetic. Where did that song come from in particular?
Oh, that one was one of the more personal songs on the record, it was leading up to the week of Easter a couple of years ago, and I had been out traveling and playing and just being a ramblin’ man. At the time, my son was about two years old and he and his mom were staying with some family and they were doing what they had to do with me gone. When I got back home, to my place in Texas, it all just really hit me in the gut, like, ‘oh, man, what have I done?’ kind of thing. So, I wrote that song in response to those feelings and the place I was at. I recorded it on my phone and I sent it to my son’s mom and it was able to get them to come home for Easter. It was right out of my life.
On this project, you used a very unique recording process with Bruce, with it feeling very live. Most recording nowadays is in the studio, and you go back and do many takes. How special was it for this to use an analog tracking process?
Yeah, it was a real eye-opening experience for me. I mean, it was like nothing I’ve ever worked on before. The analog process is the way that everybody used to record – that’s the way it was done, once upon a time. I think, as much as technology and the digital age has lent itself to people being able to work on creative stuff with more ease, there is something lost in translation that you don’t get with the digital. It was a real learning experience, recording to analog, it made everybody bring their A game, it made everybody really pay attention to what was going on. I think it just forces everybody to step it up a little bit. I’m super proud and happy with how it turned out.
You had the most incredible line-up of musicians on this record. Were they people you’d played with a lot or did you put the band together for the particular project?
A little bit of both, some of the guys were people I’d played with for a long time and that’s why I wanted to get them in the studio and get them on the record. Some of the other guys, Bruce brought in or we hired because of their talent and stuff. It was a group of heavyweights that we got to record with and I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.
I also wanted to ask you about ‘Outlaw Highway.’ The lyrics were written by your father, how did you come by those lyrics and how special was it to have them be a part of the record?
For sure, my dad has been one of the big inspirations for me getting into music and into songwriting. He’s got great stories about his travels and stuff like that. ‘Outlaw Highway’ was one that almost felt like a time capsule. At some point, toward the end of making the record, we had 12 or 13 songs recorded already, which is enough for an album, of course, but my dad brought me the lyrics. It was written as a poem, but he typed it up on a typewriter, and it was faded and yellow with time and it just looked like an epic piece of work, whatever it was, and as I started reading it, I got excited about it. So, to me, there’s a lot of folks these days that are trying to do that whole ‘outlaw’ kind of music – wild west thing. So, to have this piece of writing that was ripped out of my dad’s life. I mean, I think some some of it might be true, some kind of fantasy, but it just felt so kind of authentic to that whole style, that whole outlaw thing. It wasn’t an easy thing to turn it into a song, but it was very special.
What are the plans for the record’s release then? Are you planning to tour it for what’s rest of the year?
So, I’ve got a bunch of shows around Texas, luckily there’s a lot of great places to play around here. As things start to get back to normal and open back up, I definitely hope to get out on the road and maybe even come over there to the UK at some point. I’d love to come up there and play some music sometimes.
We’d love that, but congratulations on the record. We’ve loved it – such a beautiful and emotional record – so thank you and for taking the time to chat today.
