Domestic Blues

Domestic Blues
Studio album by Bap Kennedy
Released	1998
Genre	Country / Blues
Label	E-squared
Producer	Steve Earle & Ray Kennedy
Bap Kennedy chronology
Orchardville (with Energy Orchard) (1996) Domestic Blues (1998) Hillbilly Shakespeare (1999)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
cluas.com	[2]

Domestic Blues was the first solo album from Northern Ireland based singer-songwriter, Bap Kennedy, and was released in 1998.^[1] The album was generally well-received, with allmusic calling it "an exceptionally intelligent recording"^[1] and Uncut saying that "[Domestic Blues is] a fine collection of songs"^[2] and reached number 8 in the billboard Americana chart^[3]

Recording

The album was recorded in Nashville, TN.^[3] Kennedy had received a phone call from country music legend Steve Earle inviting him to come to Nashville and record an album,^[3] to be released on Earle's short-lived record label E-squared.^[1] The album was produced by Earle and Ray Kennedy,^[1] and featured several renowned session musicians, such as Peter Rowan and Jerry Douglas.

Track listing

1. "Long Time A Comin'" - 2:38
2. "The Way I Love Her" - 3:30
3. "Unforgiven" - 3:37
4. "Domestic Blues" - 2:57
5. "I've Fallen In Love" - 3:21
6. "Vampire" - 2:36
7. "Angel Is The Devil" - Steve Earle - 2:50
8. "The Backroom" - 3:20
9. "Mostly Water" - 3:20
10. "The Ghosts of Belfast" - 2:51
11. "My Money" - 3:15
12. "The Shankill and the Falls" - 2:46

UK Special Edition version

The album was re-released in a "special edition" form in the UK in 2000. The special edition had a different album cover, featuring a photograph of Kennedy's mother as a child, and contained 2 extra tracks, Lowlife and Dream of You.^[2] The latter included Kennedy playing the Ewan MacColl song Dirty Old Town as a hidden track.

Personnel

Musicians

• Bap Kennedy - acoustic guitar, nipple rubbing and vocals on all tracks
• Roy Huskey, Jr. - upright bass on all tracks
• Peter Rowan - mandolin on all tracks except 2, 4, 5 and 14 backing vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 10 and 11, mandola on track 2, classical guitar on tracks 3, 5 and 14
• Jerry Douglas - dobro on all tracks except 4, 10 and 13, lap steel on tracks 4, 10, 12 and 13
• Steve Earle - acoustic guitar on all tracks except 3, 8 and 10, High-string guitar on track 2, archtop guitar, on track 2, 12-string guitar on tracks 3, 8 and 10, backing vocals on tracks 4 and 6
• Larry Atamanuik - drums/percussion on all tracks except 4, 8, 9 and 12, hammond on track 9
• Michael Smotherman - hammond on track 3, drums on track 8
• Nancy Blake - cello on tracks 5 and 12, fiddle on track 7
• Ray Kennedy - backing vocals on track 5
• Nanci Griffith - backing vocals on track2 10 and 12
• Keith Weir - piano on tracks 6, 7 and 11
• Dan Gillis - tin whistle on track 10
• Paul Guerin - lead guitar on tracks 13 and 14

Production

• Steve Earle - Production and engineering
• Ray Kennedy - production, engineering and recording
• Patrick Earle - assistant engineering
• Hank Williams - mastering

(Please note that this Hank Williams is of no relation to the singer-songwriter Hank Williams)

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Pendragon, Jana, Domestic Blues – Overview, allmusic.com, retrieved 2010-04-02 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://www.bapkennedy.com/shop/_domestic_blues_by_bap_kennedy__special_edition_cd_7557.asp
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://www.bapkennedy.com/main/biography.asp