Cliff Eberhardt News

Red House Records is pleased to announce the Fall, 2009 release of 500 Miles: The Blue Rock Sessions, the new album from soulful songwriter Cliff Eberhardt. A deeply personal album, it follows his critically acclaimed The High Above and the Down Below, which was named the #5 album of the year by USA Today. This new album proves what his last indicated--that Cliff is in the midst of a personal and artistic renaissance. Tucked away in the Texas Hill Country, Cliff recorded the twelve tracks to 500 Miles at the legendary Blue Rock Studio with some of Austin’s hottest players, including guitarist Mike Hardwick (Eliza Gilkyson, Jon Dee Graham, Kelly Willis), bassist Glenn Fukunaga (Alejandro Escovedo, Ruthie Foster), drummer Rick Richards (Mary Gauthier, Tom Russell, Slaid Cleaves), the Band of Heathens’ Colin Brooks and famed accordion player Joel Guzman (Joe Ely, Los Super Seven). With these fine musicians and acclaimed producer Billy Crockett at the helm, the recording is flavored by the many sounds of Texas--Americana blues, Tex-Mex and soulful roadhouse ballads.

Cliff lived in Wimberley, Texas during the many months of recording, and the album captures the open space and creative spirit that flourishes at Blue Rock. In addition to housing an impressive high-end recording studio, Blue Rock hosts a popular concert series and publishes The Blue Rock Review, an annual journal of visual art, essays and poetry about the creative process.

In the tradition of Texas’ greatest troubadours (Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Jimmy LaFave), Cliff delivers 500 Miles, a road album that swaggers with passion and humor. Starting off with a fresh take on the Hedy West classic “500 Miles” and continuing through his own powerful originals, Cliff takes us on a journey that ends with a poignant reworking of his 1990 hit “The Long Road.” Featuring Texas singer Karen Mal on harmony vocals, this new version is made richer with the insight that age brings. “I wrote ‘The Long Road’ twenty years ago in Italy,” Cliff says in the liner notes. “I was on tour with Richie Havens and he ended up doing the song with me as a duet on my first CD. I still love that recording. I did a new take on the song because after playing the song for twenty years it has changed as I have.” Like “The Long Road,” the whole CD is a journey of people and places loved and lost. Highlights include the romping romantic ballad “I Want to Take You Home,” the humorous “I Love Money,” his heartbreaking “Have a Little Heart” and his cover of John Hiatt’s “Back of My Mind.” An album of sonic superiority and first-rate songwriting, 500 Miles: The Blue Rock Sessions shows that Cliff’s long musical road has led him to making this—his finest recording to date

“One of the most talented musicians on the solo acoustic circuit... full of well-crafted songs and rich, emotional vocals.”
—Seattle Post Intelligencer

www.redhouserecords.com