Colorado singer-songwriter Todd Adelman has perfected a mix of heartfelt roots-based musical storytelling that draws inspiration from such iconic references as Hank Williams, Gram Parsons, Jerry Jeff Walker, Townes Van Zandt and Robert Earl Keen. On his upcoming release, Time Will Tell (May 12), Adelman’s sixth full length album, he and his band The Country Mile enlisted Jeff Finlin to help produce the effort.
“Jeff is a seasoned and highly accomplished songwriter and producer in his own right, as well as a good friend,” says Adelman. “I thought his approach to record- making would be a good match for this band and this batch of material.”
As for the title, Adelman notes that Time Will Tell sums up the album’s tracks. “Though I named the album and wrote these songs a few years back, they are more pertinent than ever given the current state of affairs,” he said. “This record straddles the line of looking at the past, questioning the present, and hoping for the future.”
Indeed, as an assiduous student of the art of songwriting (he co-founded the Boulder Area Songwriter’s Exchange in 2000 after spending time with Jack Hardy), Adelman takes the lyrical side of things seriously: “When I make records, I am very aware of the narrator’s voice throughout the body of work,” he added. To that end, Time Will Tell traverses an exploratory map of subjects spanning time’s passage, ranging from concerns about the changing national climate, to the challenges (and advantages) of getting older, to even the simple love song.
Like other committed storytellers, Adelman finds inspiration as he goes about his daily life: “’Underdog was written for Bruce Springsteen after I read his biography, and ‘Wild Women Whiskey & Weed’ is an anthem I co-wrote with my dear friend Michael ‘Banker’ Bank on a road trip home from Kansas City,” he relates. “’All My Tears’ was inspired by a story I overheard; I liked the way it fit into the theme of the album.”
Adelman and his band The Country Mile, recorded the tracks live at The Mountain House, an analog and heavily vintage recording studio tucked away in the woods outside of Nederland, Colorado, where he lives and has worked on a number of other releases. Time Will Tell will be available upon release on CD, as well as a limited run of double records at 45RPM with audiophile quality.
“This is the only record that I’ve recorded completely with my band; no outside musicians aside from [our engineer] who made a cameo on guitar on the final track. I have tracked most of my records live and Time Will Tell was also recorded live with very minimal overdubs aside from the background vocals.”
Adelman’s previous five releases have garnered critical acclaim, and 2009’s Todd Adelman & The Love Handles landed at No. 4 on the National Roots Charts and No. 1 on the Colorado Roots Charts, as well as made its way into the Americana Music Charts top 100.
For more information, please visit toddadelman.com.
