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I Saw the Arkansas

by Dylan Earl

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Opaque blue blob Vinyl, 140-160g, Cut at 33rpm

    Includes unlimited streaming of I Saw the Arkansas via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Black Vinyl, 140-160g, Cut at 33rpm

    Includes unlimited streaming of I Saw the Arkansas via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $22 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Digipak Packaging with One Disc

    Includes unlimited streaming of I Saw the Arkansas via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Professionally Dubbed Tape with 3-panel J-card

    Includes unlimited streaming of I Saw the Arkansas via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

1.
The birds sing to hoofbeats, I hum harmonies On the trail of a hell of a day Like yesterday, today is like the days before that Still damned if I don’t find my way So I ride and ride each dawn until dusk I’ll bury my heart if I must Or lay me by a creek for eternal sleep So I’ll finally drift on away ‘Cause each night the moon whispers to me I dream of where I’m to die I’ve been there before I saw the Arkansas from the levee again And watched myself drift on away So bury me beneath the tall pine trees On the hill where my heart is most still Amongst the monks of a hard day’s prayer That keeps me and holds me right there But still each night the moon whispers to me I dream of where I’m to die I’ve been there before I saw the Arkansas From the levee again And watched myself drift on away
2.
White painted trees Cotton in the delta breeze I may need all of these things To get me through Let the sun take my hand Hold me close and make me warm again Tell me Have I got a friend There’s no feeling quite like those Helltown River Blues There’s no telling how long they’ll Stick around So in the meantime We’ll do our best To keep these tires on the ground We’ll kick up some dirt Pop a top or two it couldn't hurt Burning spliffs, in the middle of the road In the evening sun This is how we have our fun Drink enough to make a liquor run Pop into Marvell Take Jo Carouso for a ride White painted trees Cotton in the delta breeze I may need all of these things To get me through Let the sun take my hand Hold me close and make me warm again Tell me Have I got a friend Pop into Marvell Take Jo Carouso for a ride
3.
There was a love But I couldn’t grasp it There was a heart But I wouldn’t let her have it Now she’s telling me she’s cutting loose I suppose this was long overdue I’ll face a reckoning On my own Although I’m aged a few more years She’s grown wise beyond those tears I’ve been learning What leaving really means There was a chance I didn’t take it There was a moment But I couldn’t fake it I kept my heart distant from her Like a coward I can’t take love’s hurt And just like a breathe I won’t get it back Although I’m aged a few more years She’s grown wise beyond those tears I’ve been learning What leaving really means I knew right then As I gazed upon her face once again That I was looking into her eyes For the last time I’ve been learning What leaving really means
4.
I’ve been workin Workin up to you I’ve been learning It’s all that I can do So that’s where you’ll find me Crippled in doubt Still yearning to breath a new day And put this whole world behind me Sometimes I can drink away the thought That you don’t love me Sometimes I pray to no one that I Can make it through the night Sometimes I try to convince myself That it was a blessing in disguise that you left me But I never thought I never thought that you would This place is empty Empty as my heart Except for the ashes in the alley And my future on the floor And honey it hurts worse With all that I hold in Now time don’t seem to stay still If my heart aches as silent As I know that it should It don’t mean I don’t care for you still It’s just that I never thought I never thought that I could Sometimes I can drink away the thought That you don’t love me Sometimes I pray to no one that I Can make it through the night Sometimes I try to convince myself That it was a blessing in disguise that you left me But I never thought I never thought that you would I never thought that you would
5.
Buddy 03:32
Buddy Won’t you let me take you with me I’m gonna give away all my memories I’m packing ‘em up tonight No need to leave ‘em at home When I can put ‘em in a song And we can play ‘em all night long For drinkers in another town Early in the morning When we’re back out on the highway Pushing back miles Listening to the gear shake Wheel life We’ll be lonesome We’ll be tried It’ll be hard livin A little scary when it ain’t fun Like bandits on the run from nothing In a Ford Econoline We’ll keep on honky tonkin We’re gonna push ‘em ‘round the floor Until they can’t walk out the door And sometimes neither can we Ain’t no money in it But we’ll have smiles on our faces Doing beers in our favorite places Between here and --- We’ll keep our ears to the ground For a place to sleep each night But keep you’re bags packs after our last show We’re gonna drive the whole way home Buddy We’ll be doing most things our way Living life the hard way Gets easier the further you’re from home
6.
Fever 03:36
Sometimes a fever flame Burns up a bit too fast I'm always running She's knows I'm always running to A new town a time zone over A little change of my view The further I get carried away The fewer reasons she'll find to stay And it don't take long We had a fever Pushing back the hard times with a love that could strike like a match We had a fever A think that can't last Sometimes a fever flame burns up a bit too fast I'm always going She knows I'm always going to Point my wheels in a different direction Every day or two When the sun stays on my left side When I get home I know what I'll find An empty dresser drawer We had a fever Pushing back the hard times with a love that could strike like a match We had a fever A think that can't last Sometimes a fever flame burns up a bit too fast
7.
There's a trace Of the way I used to feel about you In the place I wound up today The wind Nearly swept me off my feet I was high enough To make my way downtown You hang with me til closing time Bathe with me under neon lights You take to me just one more time I can see it in the way My feet shuffle cross the ground To the bar stools With none of my friends around The pace And the rate at which you cross my mind Well it leaves me With nowhere else to find You hang with me til closing time Bathe with me under neon lights You take to me just one more time
8.
Today when the day was through I walked to town for a drink or two Cause I can’t help but love the view From my favorite barstool If I hear my old love songs I’ll shake em off like nothings wrong I’ll cut my losses, another day of trying to move along I parked my heart at the end of the bar The few I had had done their part Just as I stood up I was slid another From a stranger in the dark We got to talkin bout love And who we’ve both been thinking of We had a laugh, We said a toast to our broken hearts I know I’m not the one her heart dwells on I know mine’s not the face all her dreams are built upon I could try to move along, or pay up and walk on home But today’s the day, this here’s the place, and now’s the time We carried on for a couple hours I couldn’t keep from staring at her face I felt my hands begin to steady As the liquor starts to take That’s when she starts to coming on And I forget that somethings wrong My broken heart was gone without a trace
9.
The name is Johnny Alabama I come from Scranton, Arkansas I'm lost and folly out in Oklahoma Searching for a truer way back home My drinking got a bit to heavy Soon my gambling followed suit I lost my money to a Cherokee man Who spent it on a woman I called mine My boots are scuffed My lips are cracked I ain't got no good intentions I ain't never going back To me now home is nothing but a memory Some say is soon to fade with time I think I'll head a bit further south See what that gulf breeze is all about The heat from Tulsa's grinning mouth Will draw you in and sweat you out Because tonight the sun is sinking in the south I'll hop a train down to New Orleans Where the coast line breaks to a dirty green I'll meet a voodoo queen who'll smile but fail to do for me Everything I need but don't desire My boots are scuffed My lips are cracked I ain't got no good intentions I ain't never going back To me now home is nothing but a memory Some say is soon to fade with time

about

“I Saw the Arkansas” is the third full-length album by the illustrious, itinerant, and idiosyncratic country-boy balladeer, Dylan Earl. It is his first release on the independent “Y’allternative” label Gar Hole Records (Fayetteville, AR).

People’s most interesting aspects often arise from their contradictions, the parts of us which would seem dissonant but in truth create the fantastic harmony of our personas. This is certainly the case with Dylan Earl. At first glance, he is the spitting image of your classic ramblin’ man - ripping doobies outside the truckstop, singing his sad songs in a different dive every night, riding off into every sunset and pissing in the wind. However, if you look a little closer, listen a little deeper, you might uncover more delicate and thoughtful selves - the philosopher, the poet, and the gooey hearted dreamer. This duality is highlighted in the lore of “I Saw The Arkansas,” the tale of a homesick road dog howling for the rolling hills of his natural habitat, yet dazzled by the siren call of the American touring circuit’s beautiful chaos.

Originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana but “naturalized by the Natural State” as a teenager, Dylan Earl (or “Dearl” as he’s come to be known) has been active in the Arkansas underground country scene for over a decade, first as a founding member of the alt-country band Swampbird and then as a solo performer and songwriter. Alongside his friends and contemporaries Willi Carlisle and Nick Shoulders, Dylan has been heavily involved in carving out space for socially conscious Country Music in the Mid-south region and beyond.

On “I Saw the Arkansas,” Dearl guides us through the many wacky stories, close encounters with the law, dizzying romances, and endless highways from this chapter of his life. Juxtaposed, but perhaps not entirely in opposition, he describes the calm yet wild beauty of the Natural State and the inspiration and contemplation he draws from his home. Longtime fans of Dylan’s work will recognize the trademark blend of honky tonk, southern rock, and traditional country which has defined his sound for years: rowdy rambling tunes like “Buddy” and up-beat two-steps like “Fever,” full of energy and swagger. On this latest recorded effort, Dearl blazes new sonic trails, like the laid-back, psychedelic romp of “White Painted Trees” and the meditative and somber title track, a dreamy waltz which paints a picture of the spirits of the narrator, the Arkansas Traveller, and beloved Southern poet Frank Stanford, watching their bodies float by from atop a levee on the Arkansas river. Across the record’s nine tracks, Earl’s baritone vocal stylings are, in moments, reminiscent of iconic country forebears Randy Travis, Waylon Jennings and Conway Twitty. He uses it to tell his story earnestly, and not without laughing at himself a little bit along the way. It's timeless in its unique combination of elements, forging "I Saw The Arkansas" into a tender, rambunctious, and ultimately classic listening experience.

The album artwork features pictures taken by Little Rock photographer Matt White, as well as an illustrated text designed by San Antonio comic artist and illustrator Shelby Criswell (“The Bones of Cody”, “Queer as All Get Out”). Dylan sits in his ‘93 electric blue Ford Ranger, sunshine and a half smile across his face, the face of a man who saw the Arkansas a hundred ways and lived to tell the tale.

credits

released March 10, 2023

All songs written by Dylan Earl
Dylan Earl - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Dick Darden - drums
Chris Wood - bass
Lee Zodrow - keys
Hamilton Belk - pedal steel
Grady Phillip Drugg - lead guitar, vocal
harmonies
Bonnie Montgomery - vocal harmonies
Meredith Kimbrough - vocal harmonies

Recorded at Subiaco Academy in Logan County, Arkansas. Vocals recorded by Eric Witthans at Homestead Studio in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Mixed by Hamilton Beck of Roughly Nowhere Studio
Mastered by Justin Douglas from King Electric Recording Company in Austin, TX.

Album photography by Matt White. Cover logo by Shelby Criswell. Layout work by Sam Williams of Doggone Design.

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about

Dylan Earl Fayetteville, Arkansas

I’m from where I woke up this morning. I write the songs that come to mind and struggle with the ones that don’t. I find humor in misconceptions and solace in laughter, love in the street and fire in the eyes of the marginalized. I prefer facts over alternate facts.
I’m here to shoot you straight, although sometimes I fire from the hip.
I’ll always love you.
~Dearl
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