Cold-calling usually isn’t the most effective way to get an iconic artist’s attention, but it worked for Nashville’s Matt Urmy. The songwriter called up Cowboy Jack Clement one day and asked him to headline a show, to which Clement agreed. Not long after, the pair got to work on what would become Urmy’s new album, Out of the Ashes, with Clement taking the lead on production duties.
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The title is taken from the 2011 electrical fire that destroyed Clement’s home, and, it was thought, the files for Urmy’s album. A year after the fire, the files were found, and the two got back to work on finishing the album. Clement passed away the following year.
“I could not have dreamed of a better person to have worked with as my first producer,” Urmy says. “Jack’s humor, joy, and utterly musical spirit were so inspiring. Some of my most favorite moments were sitting in his office, listening to our mixes, and past recordings he had done of his songs. He would point out small details in the tracks, and tell such great stories from sessions he’d run over the years. Being lucky enough to have those times with him was a real paradigm shift for me. It brought the magnitude of the history of rock and roll and country music into a focus I don’t think I could have gotten from anyone else.”
In addition to a duet with Clement himself, the album features a track with John Prine.
Out of the Ashes is out March 31. Listen to the album in its entirety below.
