Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song, Amos Lee s fifth studio album, will be released on October 8 by Blue Note Records. Lee recorded the 12-song collection in Nashville with Jay Joyce (Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Eric Church, Cage the Elephant).
I've always enjoyed it down there, so I thought I'd bring my band and see how a bunch of Philly guys fit in, says Lee. Jay brings a musicality, a different kind of ear. He definitely hears things in ways that I don t, and brings out extra dimensions in the songs.
The convenient location allowed several remarkable guests to participate in the sessions. Alison Krauss joins Lee on Chill In The Air and Patty Griffin sings harmony on Mountains of Sorrow, a song inspired by Lee s visit to Levon Helm's barn in Woodstock, where he appeared at the legendary drummer's Midnight Ramble not long before Helm's death. Instrumentalists Jerry Douglas (Alison Krauss & Union Station), Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson and Family) and Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band) also contribute to the record.