Jason Ringenberg – Rhinestoned (2021)

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Jason Ringenberg releases his new album Rhinestoned on his Courageous Chicken label. A legendary alt-country pioneer, Ringenberg will have you Rhinestoned and boot-scootin’ to the best cow-punk this side of Nashville. Pandemic be damned, you’ll want to socially distance yourselves across the dance floor emulating Jason’s energetic stage presence. This ain’t no wallflower music.

Like the rest of us, when the pandemic hit Jason made a plan to savor his time off as what Country Music Hall of Fame Senior Director, Peter Cooper has called him, “Nashville’s greatest 20th-century rock ‘n’ roll frontman. That didn’t last long. Almost immediately the songs came flooding out and before he knew it, Rhinestoned was a thing. How to record safely was difficult, but not impossible. One of the perks of living in Nashville is that talent is never in short supply. Masked and safely distanced, long time compadre, multi-instrumentalist, producer George Bradfute and Jason holed up in the great Jim Reeves former basement studio. One at a time the accompanying artists came in to record their tracks, Steve Ebe on drums, Fats Kaplin on steel guitar and fiddle, Mark Andrew Miller and Kristi Rose provided harmony vocals, Camille and Addie Ringenberg chimed in making it a family affair. I wouldn’t doubt for a minute that the ghost of good ol’ Jim Reeves sat in on a set or two. Rhinestoned proves that even a worldwide pandemic cannot hold back the rocking Godfather of Americana from creating a great album.