Those just getting acquainted with Nell Robinson and Jim Nunally ought to know they are hardly the wide-eyed and unassuming artists their quaint, eponymous band moniker of Nell & Jim Band might make them out to be. Seasoned songwriters and musicians hosting the likes of performances with PBS and the former Prairie Home Companion, Grammy accolades, and more between their cumulative resumes, Nell & Jim Band now moves to usher in its third album not with a mindset of creative complacency or an urge to pursue trends. Instead, the duo have made a shift to look inward – literally and emotionally – for the inspiration to their latest batch of songs.
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Premiering today on American Songwriter, “Travelin’ The Road West” is the lead single from forthcoming LP, Western Sun, which will be released on May 29, 2020 via Whippoorwill Arts.
Rather than simply leaning on their reservoirs of pure musicianship to impress, Nell & Jim Band decided to write music meant to illuminate stories and sentiments of their own lives, as well as significant issues of current times. A song like “Travelin’ The Road West” is a clear-cut demonstration of these priorities. Despite being an uptempo, foot-stomping track with an incredibly engaging hook, the bluegrass style song still goes right to heart of Nell & Jim Band’s objective of self-reflection and historical contemplation as the song tells a tale derived from Nunally’s own familial past.
“I can remember my Dad said he had been called an ‘Okie.’ But he was from Arkansas; his Dad was a sharecropper there. And he, his parents, and sisters moved out west looking for work and a better life in the ‘Golden State.’ Reading The Grapes of Wrath inspired me to write about my own family’s history,” Nunally says.
Travelin’ the road west | Travelin’ the road west | It’s a long hot dusty road | where you ain’t a gonna get no rest | Ain’t a gonna get no rest boy | ain’t a gonna get no rest
The factual aspects of this song would be easy enough to verify. However, when heard by someone relatively young or uninformed about the past, the kind of trials Nunally’s family had to endure nearly a century ago might not sink in right away, as western travel and the hardships of early 20th century life are more prone to distortion through today’s entertainment-minded lens. While “Travelin’ The Road West” is propelled by a catchy rockabilly vibe, the repetitious structure of the song works to its advantage for instilling the emotional value of its story.
“During the 1930s, the Great Migration west took place as southern and midwestern farmers fled one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history.” says Robinson.
Through a composition like “Travelin’ The Road West,” Nell & Jim Band hope to highlight this devastating part of American history with descriptively rich songwriting that can bring those experiences into a more grounded and humanizing light. Ideally, “Travelin’ The Road West” strikes the perfect balance: It’s a piece of astutely performed, sonically uplifting music, that doesn’t shy away from the details of an important personal event, even if people are clapping along when they hear it.
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