STEPHEN McCARTHY (Long Ryders, Jayhawks, Dream Syndicate) and CARLA OLSON (Textones, solo artist, producer) have today (September 21) unveiled the video for the title cut of their first-ever duet album, NIGHT COMES FALLING, out November 11.
It was premiered yesterday (September 20) by Rock and Roll Globe stating “A true Americana power duo has risen from the wildflowers of Los Angeles in Long Ryders lead guitarist Stephen McCarthy and the acclaimed singer / songwriter / producer Carla Olson. And Rock & Roll Globe is beyond honored to have the opportunity to premiere the video for the album’s title cut.”
The two singers, songwriters and guitarists have lengthy careers that have intersected a few times, and NIGHT COMES FALLING brings them together again in exciting ways on this 11-song album of stirring and rocking Americana music (the track listing is below). It will be released via CARLA’s production company Have Harmony, Will Travel, with distribution and marketing by Bob Frank Entertainment via the Orchard. Pre-order the album HERE and read the bio for the album HERE.
“Night Comes Falling” is a moving song that emerged after a conversation STEPHEN had with CARLA who was having dreams about her former singing partner, Gene Clark of the Byrds. It was on 1987’s classic So Rebellious A Lover, CARLA’s album with Gene, that STEPHEN and CARLA first recorded together when he contributed lap steel to “The Drifter” and dobro on “Deportee.” Below are quotes from both artists about the song, which will officially be released September 23, and video, directed by Tim Roth and including footage from two performances in CA: at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica and the Alex Theatre in Glendale.
NIGHT COMES FALLING comes on the heels of McCARTHY and OLSON’s two songs on the 2022 BMG multi-artist album Americana Railroad where they offered a new version of STEPHEN’s “Here Comes That Train Again” as well as Gene Clark’s “I Remember The Railroad.” (CARLA produced seven additional tracks on the album including those by Dave Alvin, Rocky Burnette, Robert Rex Waller Jr. and John York.) NIGHT COMES FALLING is a testament to their individual and combined talents and was recorded at Robbie Krieger’s studio, Horse Latitudes, in Glendale, CA, It was produced by CARLA, STEPHEN and Mikal Reid.
The album’s musician credits are Stephen McCarthy (guitars, pedal steel guitar, mandolin, mellotron), Carla Olson (guitars), Paul Marshall (bass) and drummers Mitch Marine and Benjamin Lecourt. The album’s other players are Skip Edwards (keyboards, plus the string arrangement for “Long Way Back To Seventeen”), Jeff Lewis (flugelhorn on “Broken Lullaby”) and Jesse Owens Wells (fiddle on “I Remember The Railroad”).
STEPHEN: “The idea for the song ‘Night Comes Falling’ came about at a band rehearsal in LA when I met up with Carla to sing a duet for a benefit. I asked her if she ever thought of her old singing partner Gene Clark. She mentioned that she’d seen him in a few dreams but that he never spoke a word. I returned to the East Coast and wrote the song based on that experience & Carla added lyrics as well. The contemplative thoughts of friends who’ve made a profound impact in our lives doesn’t come in the clear light of day but instead when shadows start to fall. The song is also meaningful because it was the initial inspiration for this collaborative album.”
CARLA: “In the 1980’s I performed live with Gene Clark and we recorded an album, So Rebellious A Lover. After he passed away in 1991, I found it difficult to listen to his songs without tears. He has appeared in my dreams for these past 30 years untouched by time and silent. Smiling but never speaking. When Stephen and I were rehearsing for a benefit concert in 2018,’ I told him about these dreams. ‘Night Comes Falling,’ both the song and the album, are the result of this conversation.”
STEPHEN: “I’ve known and respected Carla for a long time and was honored to record with her and Gene Clark on So Rebellious A Lover. Carla’s husband Saul Davis has always been very supportive, and it was he and my wife Liz who planted the idea of a duet album after we sang together at a benefit concert a few years ago.”
CARLA: Stephen and I have always appreciated each other’s talents and after we recorded the two songs that appeared on Americana Railroad, we said, ‘Let’s do more. Let’s record an album.’ We agreed that we should give writing together a try. The results of that idea can be heard on the five co-written songs that appear on the album. We also thought it would be fun to include a few covers. “One That Got Away’ has long been my favorite Desert Rose Band tune as is ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’ by the Beau Brummels. I also wrote a few songs with the late George Green in the 80s including one that Percy Sledge recorded, ‘The Grand Blvd.’ I still have a few sets of words he’d given me, and his family gave Stephen and I permission to write music to one, ‘The Bell Hotel Is Burning.’ It’s an emotional and evocative lyric that will hopefully move the listener as it did Stephen and I.”
The NIGHT COMES FALLING track listing is as follows:
01 We Gotta Split This Town (McCarthy)
02 Night Comes Falling (McCarthy, Olson)
03 Broken Lullaby (McCarthy, Olson)
04 The Bell Hotel Is Burning (George Green, Olson, McCarthy)
05 Brink Of The Blues (McCarthy, Olson)
06 One That Got Away (McCarthy, Olson)
07 Don’t Talk To Strangers (Bob Durand, Ron Elliott)
08 Long Way Back To Seventeen (McCarthy, Olson)
09 Just To Get To You (McCarthy)
10 Timber (Kosta Lazarides)
11 I Remember The Railroad (Gene Clark)
