Robert Coleman Trussel
talks about "Texas Gothic"
by Johanna J. Bodde


                                                                   

ROBERT COLEMAN TRUSSELL talks about "Texas Gothic" Self-Released   www.robertcolemantrussell.com "Texas Gothic" was recorded over a 7-year period. There was an initial burst of recording activity, followed by a long period where nothing happened (real life was interfering with the creative process), and finally another 18 months to finish.  It took so long that my co-producer Kelly Werts and I actually passed through two eras of recording technology.  The initial tracks were recorded on tape but by the time we finished Kelly was using a Pro Logic hard-drive system. The songs themselves were written over a period of 25 years or so. Many of them were revised and rewritten through the years, but they nonetheless represent decades of non-prolific creative output.  All the recording was done at Werts Music in Fairway, Kansas. 1. MAMA DON'T YOU KNOW    The chord structure never varies and there's no real musical bridge, but the simplicity seems to work for the tune. 2.  ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE IN G      Inspired by a drunken train ride from Los Angeles to San Antonio in the 70s.  The song is fatalistic, romantic, a picture of fog-bank loneliness.  I tacked on "IN G" to make it distinct from all the other songs called Across the Great Divide or The Great Divide. 3. BROKE TO RIDE      Inspired by a newspaper ad placed by a man trying to sell a horse.  The horse, according to the ad, had been "broke to ride." 4. GO GO GO       The initial inspiration for this tune was a driving trip from Austin to Vanderbilt, Texas to see my best friend and his wife.  I was driving an old Plymouth Belvidere that leaked oil.  It broke down as soon as I arrived. 5. I SEE YOU     A love song from the point of view of an outlaw on the run.  The music is economical or rudimentary, depending on your point of view. 6. HELL ACROSS THE TRACKS       The idea for the song was taken from a poem by my father. There's nothing wrong with the sentiment but he's probably spinning in his grave.  He hated anything that sounded remotely like country music. 7. LOOKING FOR THE OLD MAN       This one probably has him spinning in his grave, too.  He was not a sentimental man. The music changed radically as it evolved. 8. MISTER HOLLIDAY         This an attempt to create the musical equivalent to a Sam Peckinpah western.  The refrain, "Who the hell cares now anyway," could be taken as a comment on the decline of the western genre. This song changed very little over the years. 9. SPANISH GIRLS        I changed the music to this one and added it to the album very late in the recording process.  My wife insisted that I include it.  She says it's about freedom. I like it because it's existential and bleak.

10. RUN ON HOME        An old one.  The music changed a lot from the time it was written.  It used to more of a faux rock song.  Now it's as you hear it. 11. BILLY GOT BAD        Inspired by my legendary night in jail in Austin, Texas. 12. SWEET LITTLE .22        There really was a .22 rifle in the family.  In the song it has more importance as a symbolic heirloom than as a weapon. 13. ROUND AND ROUND         One of my patented pyscho love songs. 14. WHAT THE SIDEWALKS SAY        Inspired by spray painted messages on buildings and sidewalks in downtown Kansas City.  Some people assume this is a religious song.  My response: Listen to the lyrics more carefully. 15. CRAZY LEGS         I thought the album needed a coda. This is what we came up with fooling around in the studio.  To my amazement, some people have actually bought it as a download. =====