Twilight Tattoo
John Brannen's 2004 Sly Dog Records debut "The Good Thief"  has been hailed as "an original hybrid" (No Depression) and "versatile and rewarding" (Billboard), the album was co-produced by master guitarist Pete Carr (who started his career in The Hour Glass with Duane and Gregg Allman and went on to work with Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson and other stars), and featured such A list players as bassist Willie Weeks (whose credits include work with The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Gregg Allman, Rod Stewart and a host of other stars) and keyboard player Clayton Ivy (who has played with R&B; greats like Clarence Carter, Johnnie Taylor and Millie Jackson). Once again, reviewers cited America's top rock songwriters as a reference for Brannen's command of writing about the cultural landscape of the South, adding such names as John Hiatt, Chris Isaak and - for some of Brannen's more stirring vocal moments - Roy Orbison to their comparisons.Now Twilight Tattoo finds Brannen once again applying his keen songwriter's eye to his Southern homeland, albeit this time from a different vector after moving to Asheville in the North Carolina mountains (which he recounts in the album's vibrant closing grace note, "The Mountain"). "I used to like to say that my songs are where Shakespeare meets Freud in the swamp, but this is where Shakespeare meets Freud in the mountains," Brannen explains. "There's this sense you get up here where you can look back and almost see the ocean."The set starts with a rabble-rousing glance towards his past on "Just Restless" - "I've been that guy on and off for too many years," Brannen admits with a chuckle - and chronicles some of his own story on such emotionally-stirring numbers as "Almost Love," "A Cut So Deep" and "Rain." He takes listeners on a rocking trot along "Heartbreak Ridge" finds profound metaphorical power in the elemental act of "Goin' Fishin'," and introduces us to vividly quintessential Blue Ridge Mountain characters in "Black Mountain Dandy" and "Jericho Road."And then there's the title track - "a song I had to write," says Brannen - and its look at the people of the current war zone through the eyes of a rank and file Southern guy in the service. "In the modern world, war's devastation is on civilians more than soldiers, and it's something I just couldn't ignore.""I wanted to make a record that was a little more fun and made one equally as dark, which is the way it is with me," explains Brannen. Because ultimately his well-grounded sense of place and musical style permeates whatever he writes. "I'm a Southern American artist. I feel capable of making a bluegrass record and I feel capable of making a jazz record. But what I do is out of the essence of rock'n'roll with soul and blues influences."For Brannen, it's all about following his muse through the Southern heartland to wherever it takes him. "It's a big old house that's fraught with unknown rooms. You go down a hall and find a door that will open and explore what's in there and see what you get. And then get out alive," he adds with a laugh."I just try to stay in favor with the muse," Brannen concludes. "That's what it's all about."