Louder Than The Music

Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release THE PSALMS, the striking new album from American country music legend Jessi Colter, on March 24, 2017. With lyrics drawn from timeless and sacred poems, these spiritually powerful and intimately personal recordings are spontaneous musical interpretations of the Old Testament songs attributed to the shepherd/poet/musician David. The Psalms are considered among the greatest works of Western literature.

THE PSALMS is the first new album of Jessi Colter studio music since the release of the artist's Out Of The Ashes in 2006.

THE PSALMS is produced by American composer/musician/writer/rock scholar Lenny Kaye, who co-authored "Waylon: An Autobiography," the life story of Jessi Colter's husband and musical collaborator Waylon Jennings.

The core tracks for THE PSALMS--featuring Jessi Colter (piano and voice) and Lenny Kaye (electric and acoustic guitar)--were recorded at Dubway studios in Manhattan during two extraordinary sessions (February 16-17, 2007 and January 4-5, 2008) nearly a decade ago.

On THE PSALMS, the original tracks have been augmented with sublime musical contributions from a variety of artists including Bobby Previte (drums, cymbals, tympani, triangle), Al Kooper (Hammond organ), Paul Dugan (arco bass), Mia Theodoratus (harp), John Jackson (mandolin, violin), Jenni Muldaur (background vocals), Jesse Lauter (mellotron), Black Sea Hotel (Willa Roberts, Sarah Small, Shelley Thomas) (background vocals).

In his enlightening liner notes and exegesis of THE PSALMS, penned especially for this release, Lenny Kaye recalls "One morning in 1995, while working with Waylon Jennings (Jessi's husband) on his autobiography in Nashville, I came into the living room to find Jessi Colter at the piano, singing the Psalms. She would place her fingers on the keys, forming simple chords and expressing melodies as they came to her. There was no forethought, no conception of composition; only the intuitive expression of the spirituality behind these most ancient of sacred poems, the divinity they wellspring within each of us. I listened transfixed while she paged through the Old Testament, choosing each Psalm, finding within them the emotive voice of the Shepherd Boy, the Warrior, ultimately the King that is David. It was one of the most beautiful expressions of belief I had ever witnessed.

"In the early months of 2007 I secured a studio with a good piano. There was no rehearsal. We would select a Psalm. She sat behind the keyboard, gathered herself, and then began to sing. There were one, perhaps two takes of each. Sometimes I accompanied her on guitar. Over the years I decorated them with chosen musicians, careful not to disturb their intimacy or their moment of improvised creation and inspiration.”

Universal in their message, the Psalms are "hymns of hallelujah, lamentation, thanksgiving, penitence, forgiveness, supplication, gratitude, transcendence." On THE PSALMS album, Jessi Colter and Lenny Kaye are sharing a timeless spiritual and musical experience reflected in these eternal "songs of praise," as ancient as they are contemporary.

"I am thrilled to work with Lenny Kaye and sing King David's Psalms, the most creative music I've ever done," says Jessi, "...and the greatest challenge!!"

Jessi Colter's eagerly-awaited autobiography, "An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith that Brought Me Home" will be released by Nelson Books on April 11, 2017.