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Acclaimed Americana singer-songwriter Gillian Welch will mark the 20th anniversary of her debut album, Revival, with a collection of outtakes, out Nov. 25 on Acony Records.
The collection, entitled Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg, will feature two discs of previously unreleased material, alternate versions and demos. The collection was curated and produced by Welch and Dave Rawlings with the help of archivist Glen Chausse and features different versions of all 10 Revival cuts including “Annabelle,” “One More Dollar” and “Orphan Girl.” There are also eight previously unreleased songs, such as “Georgia Road,” which has only been preformed live once, and “Dry Town,” which was written shortly after Welch and Rawlings opened for Johnny Cash.
Revival was produced by T Bone Burnett, earned a Grammy Nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album and kickstarted the careers of Welch and Rawlings.
“I’m happy that the songs hold up. That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of,” Welch said of the release. “There is that interesting moment in any writer’s first batch of songs or any writer’s first novel or anything, a filmmaker’s first movie that always seems to have something that is different from what comes after. Something happens in that first push. Maybe because you’re usually up against more resistance. But there is a purity or a diamond hardness to the first batch that doesn’t seem to happen again. And so Revival has that when I look at it. Maybe it’s lack of ego. You know, there really was no me. You know, the artist Gillian Welch didn’t really exist. And then after that, I did.”
Welch is currently on tour with the Dave Rawlings Machine and is plotting a handful of solo dates after Christmas. You can see her tour dates and the Boots No. 1 track listing below, as well as hear the demo of “Dry Town” that will appear on the release.
Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg Track List:
Disc One
1. Orphan Girl (Alternate Version)
2. Annabelle (Alternate Version)
3. Pass You By (Alternate Version)
4. Go On Downtown (Revival Outtake) *
5. Red Clay Halo (Revival Outtake)
6. By The Mark (Alternate Mix)
7. Paper Wings (Demo)
8. Georgia Road (Revival Outtake) *
9. Tear My Stillhouse Down (Home Demo)
10. Only One and Only (Alternate Version)
Disc Two
1. Orphan Girl (Home Demo)
2. I Don’t Want to Go Downtown (Revival Outtake) *
3. 455 Rocket (Revival Outtake) *
4. Barroom Girls (Live Radio)
5. Wichita (Revival Outtake) *
6. One More Dollar (Alternate Version)
7. Dry Town (Demo) *
8. Paper Wings (Alternate Mix)
9. Riverboat Song (Revival Outtake) *
10. Old Time Religion (Revival Outtake) *
11. Acony Bell (Demo)
*previously unreleased
Dave Rawlings Machine Tour Dates:
October 5— Chico, CA—CSU
October 6— Redding, CA—Cascade Theatre
October 7— Arcata, CA—The John Van Duzer Theatre
October 8— Grants Pass, OR—Rogue Theatre
Gillian Welch Tour Dates:
December 27— Nashville, TN—The Ryman Auditorium
December 28— Birmingham, AL—The Lyric Theatre
December 29— Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse
December 30— Chattanooga, TN—Tivoli Theatre
To read more stories on Gillian Welch from our archives, click here.
