CHARLIE LOUVIN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND CHARLIE LOUVIN EXPLORES VISIONS OF HEAVEN AND HELL ON TWO NEW ALBUMS

NEW YORK - Country Music Hall of Famer and half of the legendary country duo The Louvin Brothers, Charlie Louvin is releasing two new albums on New York City's Tompkins Square label.

Steps to Heaven , released September 16 th , 2008, has been nominated for a Grammy Award, Best   Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album. The album features ten traditional gospel classics including two Louvin Brothers songs. The New York Times' Amanda Petrusich called the album "a raw and stunning collection." The release is followed by Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs , out December 9, 2008. Both albums were produced, recorded and mixed by Mark Nevers (Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Andrew Bird, Bobby Bare Sr.)

2007 saw Louvin celebrate his 80 th birthday amidst a swirl of activity around the release of his first studio album in ten years, Charlie Louvin . Grammy-nominated for Best Traditional Folk Album, the disc features George Jones, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, Elvis Costello and many others. Charlie toured and recorded with Lucinda Williams, made a video for the song "Ira", released a field recording of one of his many in-store performances, Live at Shake It Records , played over 100 concert dates sharing stages with Ryan Adams and Neko Case, appeared on giant festivals like Bonnaroo and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and placed a medallion around Emmylou Harris' neck inducting her into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Charlie's self-titled album earned 4 out of 5 stars in Uncut and Mojo Magazine, and sparked a bevy of great press and renewed interest in his fascinating career.

Instead of hanging back at age 81, Charlie has instead chosen to challenge himself. Steps to Heaven was recorded live with a gospel choir comprised of three sisters, journeyman gospel pianist Derrick Lee, and Chris Scruggs adding doghouse bass and electric guitar. Louvin had never recorded with black gospel musicians before, and in doing so discovered a new musical path. "I did things on the gospel record I had no idea I could do. I'd be thinking along the way, 'How can I do things I've never done before?' And I did it."

Although some might be surprised at a thematic Charlie Louvin album dealing with death and destruction, one needn't look any further than the very first Louvin Brothers album to find a connection. Tragic Songs of Life , released in 1956, is full of emotional songs detailing heartbreak, betrayal, violence and loss. Inspired by Tompkins Square's recent Grammy-nominated 3CD box set People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, 1913-1938, Charlie reached back for a couple of songs from that first Louvins album, and pulled nine songs from the box set to create a moving and sometimes raucous new take on traditional songs of tragedy.

ABOUT CHARLIE LOUVIN:

Charlie Louvin was born July 7, 1927 in Henager, Alabama. He and his older brother Ira worked as field hands on the family farm. In the evening, they would listen to the country hits of the day on their father's Victrola. Inspired by the tight-harmony duets of The Delmore Brothers, Monroe Brothers and Blue Sky Boys, the brothers began developing a distinctive style called "shape note singing" based on gospel harmonies they had learned in church.

The duo nailed down steady work in the 40's on local radio stations in Knoxville and Memphis. They also toured heavily in Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee during this period. On one swing through Dyess, Arkansas, Charlie remembers an encounter with a teenager named Johnny Cash. "We were playing with Eddie Hill. I was selling tickets and I saw this young man standing outside alone. I asked him to show me where the bathroom was. As we walked back, he noticed I had two soda crackers in my shirt pocket. He asked me why, and I said, 'To keep from starving to death.' I invited him in to the show - I could tell he didn't have any money. Years later in his book (Man In Black, 1975), he said he always ate two soda crackers before he went on stage."   Cash also recalls the date in an intro to his version of the Louvin's "When I Stop Dreaming" on the recent Columbia/Legacy release, Personal File.

The Louvins scored their first record deal with Apollo in 1947, released a single on Decca in 1949, and recorded 12 sides for MGM in 1951 and 1952. One of those sessions took place with Hank Williams waiting outside for his turn in the studio. Their recording and performing schedule was sporadic due to Charlie's military service during the Korean War. Upon his return to the States, they began recording for Capitol Records, which remained their label home until the brothers parted ways in 1963.

Marking a shift from gospel to secular material, the Louvins scored their commercial breakthrough in 1955 with the top ten hit "When I Stop Dreaming." They toured in early 1955 with soon-to-be superstar Elvis Presley as their opening act, and became members of the Grand Ole Opry. From 1955 through 1962, the Louvin Brothers churned out 12 hits on the Billboard country chart, including "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby," "You're Running Wild," "Cash On The Barrelhead" and "Knoxville Girl."

Although the Louvins hit machine had slowed by the early 60's, they instead created a string of themed albums, cult favorites that still resonate with today's alt-country audience, including A Tribute to the Delmore Brothers and Satan Is Real .   By 1963, with a shifting marketplace and interpersonal tensions mounting, the Louvin Brothers parted ways. Ira released his lone solo album, The Unforgettable Ira Louvin , in 1964. He died in a car crash in Missouri on June 20, 1965.

Charlie's solo career began in 1964 with the top five hit "I Don't Love You Anymore," and he followed it with six Billboard-charting singles from 12 Capitol LPs. By the late 60's, a renewed interest in the music of the Louvin Brothers began to take shape.

The Louvins' continued legacy is at least partly attributed to Gram Parsons, who, according to legend, paid people to scour LA record shops looking for their out-of-print sides. His versions of Louvins classics "The Christian Life" from the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo , or "Cash on the Barrelhead" from Grevious Angel , serve as the blueprint for so much "alt-country" that was to follow. Emmylou Harris' first hit was the Louvins' "If I Could Only Win Your Love." Uncle Tupelo covered "Great Atomic Power" on their third album, March 16-20, 1992 . "The Christian Life" has been worked into The Raconteurs' live set recently.

In 2007, Charlie Louvin's self-titled album received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Album.

Tompkins Square Label is distributed in North America by Fontana Distribution.

###

For more information, please contact:

Ken Weinstein at Big Hassle Media

or

Josh Rosenthal at Tompkins Square
info@tompkinssquare.com