The New Mexico-based musician, painter, and conceptual artist Terry Allen will release his LP/3xCD set Pedal Steal + Four Corners on March 22nd via Paradise of Bachelors. Since 1975, with the release of his landmark debut album Juarez, Allen has resided on the outlaw fringes of country music and his songs have been covered by artists like David Byrne, Lucinda Williams, and Guy Clark. Combining a gritty literary take that might draw comparisons to writers from the Beat Generation or Charles Bukowski, as well as the playwrite Sam Shepard, Allen’s experimental musical approach often combines a country concrčte style with guitar playing from master pedal steel player and producer Lloyd Maines.
Look for Pedal Steal + Four Corners to collect together Allen’s pivotal long-form pieces from the 1980-90’s: 1985’s Pedal Steal, 1986’s Torso Hell, 1990’s Bleeder, 1992’s Reunion (a Return to Juarez), as well as 1993’s Dugout. Pedal Steal was originally a Bessie Award-winning soundtrack to a dance piece by the Margaret Jenkins Dance Co., while the four other pieces were originally radio plays broadcast on NPR and have never been released before. The Pedal Steal + Four Corners release will include a first ever vinyl pressing of Pedal Steal, a 3xCD collection of the radio works, as well as a 28-page color booklet that includes an in-depth essay, dozens of images of Allen’s related visual art, and full scripts and credits for all five pieces.
For those not familiar with Terry Allen, “Pedal Steal: Chapter 1” is a great introduction to the artist’s singular style. Combining the music of his Panhandle Mystery Band with a channel changing aesthetic that includes B-movie dialogue and Navajo chants, Allen and his wife Jo Harvey Allen narrate a Southwestern tale of dead-end towns and burnt out characters on the fringes of American life.
