Esteemed musician, songwriter and author Rodney Crowell has teamed up with New West Records to release Tarpaper Sky, his new self-produced album. It comes fast on the heels of Old Yellow Moon, Crowell’s critically lauded collaboration with Emmylou Harris, which won a 2013 Grammy® Award and was named 2013 Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association. Crowell has pushed the boundaries of country, folk and roots music since long before the term Americana was coined as a genre, making a name for himself and gaining respect as both a songwriter and as an artist.

My childhood memories of Christmas aren't warm and fuzzy. The holidays were more of a nuisance for my parents than cause for celebration. This is not to say that on behalf of their only child they didn't give the season a halfhearted try. There were Christmases when I found under the tree an electric football set, a Daisy pump air-rifle and a basketball goal that never got nailed up.

Produced by Grammy Award winner Joe Henry (Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, Aimee Mann), "The Traveling Kind" comprises 11 duet tracks, including six new songs written by Harris and Crowell with co-writing by Mary Carr, Cory Chisel, Will Jennings, and Larry Klein. Also featured are new renditions of previous Crowell cuts including "No Memories Hanging Around" as well as new interpretations of Lucinda Williams' "I Just Wanted to See You So Bad" and Amy Allison's "Her Hair Was Red". This album is Country & Bluegrass, 2016 Grammy Nominees.

Take a look at the cover of Rodney Crowell’s brilliant new album, The Chicago Sessions, and you might recognize a familiar callback to the legendary songwriter’s 1978 debut. “In a lot of ways, this album feels like that very first record to me,” Crowell reflects.

2013 collaboration between two of Country Music's most respected artists. "Old Yellow Moon" features four songs written by Crowell as well as interpretations of songs such as Hank DeVito's 'Hanging Up My Heart,' Roger Miller's 'Invitation to the Blues,' and Allen Reynolds' 'Dreaming My Dreams,' among others. Produced by Brian Ahern (Johnny Cash, George Jones, Roy Orbison),Old Yellow Moon is the first official collaboration from the duo since Crowell joined Harris' Hot Band as guitarist and harmony singer in 1975. In addition to Harris and Crowell, the album features world-renowned musicians including Stuart Duncan, Vince Gill, and Bill Payne, as well as members of the original Hot Band.

Americana has had a banner few years, to put it mildly, and the roots of its current incarnation can be traced back to Rodney Crowell. The Texas-born songwriter has collaborated with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Waylon Jennings, all while maintaining a solo career that's netted him two Grammys and an induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. It's fitting, then, that Crowell's album "Close Ties" unfolds like a history lesson, both of his personal mythology and the music that shaped it. Produced by Jordan Lehning and Kim Buie, the 10-song collection considers Crowell's influences while looking to the future, each song delivered with Crowell's slight growl and poet's eye for detail. Also, the album features guest appearances from Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow and John Paul White.