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The Gristle & Bone Affair

by Terry Lee Hale

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    12" orange colored, vinyl limited edition, arrives in a beautiful cardboard cover & printed sleeve with artwork by Seattle artist Laura Hamje. Credits, lyrics and guitar tunings included. Stunning design by Håvard Winther Gjelseth. Digital download included. Shipping to Europe/UK & USA only!

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    Black vinyl edition arrives in a beautiful cardboard cover & printed sleeve with artwork by Seattle artist Laura Hamje. Credits, lyrics and guitar tunings included. Stunning design by Håvard Winther Gjelseth. Shipping to Europe/UK & USA only!

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Terry Lee Hale featuring Sugarfoot, Deaf Heaven, The Gristle & Bone Affair, Oh What A World, Tornado Alley, Leaving West, Old Hand, Frozen: A Selection of Live Solo Performances 1993-2000, and 8 more. , and , .

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1.
Oh Life 05:55
Oh Life Oh life, just let it Oh life, you will get it A hardship handle To carry that weight A habit the worry Cradle to grave A good place to stop now Remember why you came Why you came Oh life, just live it Oh life, you can get it Change hard to follow Skinny in the wind But most always homeward And have ever been With pleasure still to pry up If you find the place Find the place Oh life, not regret it Hold tight, just let it Dreams from the North now Silence and space Fair weather promised Not breaking away So, this now to follow You can trust the way Trust the way B♭ G B♭ G B♭ E♭ capo 1
2.
Fish 05:43
Fish Holding her in my arms before leaving her there I always wanted, was my intention But I was stunned by how much she loved me No denying, I couldn’t say it, I wanted to say it But now the only thing that’s left is the cripple And the sound of the seasons Sad as winter Fish that couldn’t swim Bird that wouldn’t fly Worm that couldn’t crawl Man that wouldn’t try I am Home she called and wanted to be An ocean and more away from me Or some sign, just try But facing back, hand to brow Skin to shed and not knowing how Floating islands and then some Fish that couldn’t swim Bird that wouldn’t fly Worm that couldn’t crawl Man that wouldn’t try I am Down in the valley below I wander Likes to do it alone but no wonder Eagle-eye glinting, picking my bits But there she comes again, how you call it A strong-box future or just falling I don’t know, can’t let go But creaking with joy, distempered laugh She begged to go and I let her pass Fish that couldn’t swim Bird that wouldn’t fly Worm that couldn’t crawl Man that wouldn’t try I am E A C G G E
3.
Alive Inside 04:43
Alive Inside Seems no one’s there, home Locked inside, alone Collecting shadows, rocking chair Connections crumbled, sitting there Still the love, open givers Reach sometimes rewards a glimmer But branches bare now winter’s come Memories all most lost to rust And just like that lives crack Wrinkles in the world And can’t get back He spoke so soft, she leaned in close A picture of sadness, pale ghost Mumbled words passed to the daughter The little man stares, dribbles water In the deepening silence comes the night She carries that weight, prays for light This is not easy, a slippery slope Where Dad has gone now, she can’t go And just like that lives crack Wrinkles in the world Try to say it puts it to death Lay a claim on leads to forget Cherry picking just out of reach Pinged directions not what home means But every morning a clean slate He remembers their songs just not her name Alive inside and what that brings A sunny smile, no words to sing And just like that lives crack Wrinkles in the world E G B G B E
4.
EADGBE
5.
Gone 04:44
Gone Away is the calling Away then you’ll be gone In the morning, with the dawning One last time, then so long Weep no more my darling Weep no more you’ll see There’s a song he’ll be singing In that place he is bound to be He’ll be across that ribbon of highway He’ll be across that raging sea Where fortune favors, pilgrims, sailors Searchers, refugees It will be good to leave that sorrow It’ll be good to let go the need All the wanting and regret The longing to be free Goodbye you lonesome stranger Goodbye my old friend Till next time I hear your laughter For surely we’ll meet again So away is the calling Away then you’ll be gone In the morning, with the dawning One last time, then so long Gone, gone, gone Gone, gone, gone B♭ G B♭ G B♭ D
6.
Curve Away 05:32
Curve Away You don’t know what you will find here Even crossed graves remain unnamed Forget the past and her calling Let them rest now unclaimed Leveled sky close to falling Winter rolls up fast here Wonders why you came Free of nothing road or river And truth here you just don’t change There is the comfort of knowing blind, stupid luck Where you pencil in futures And never have to give a fuck I too wished it could be that way An idea not unattractive But that choice never mine to make Or could ever even happen And it’s not what I wanted So, I curved away It’s a generational slowdown A twisting of the knot Not even close to a wonderful That happy chance forgot A skeletal dance of clicking bones Hot we are surely not The truth and the matter with as always The missing beat and plot It’s not what we wanted So, we curved away Now, this road is hard on dreamers With cover hard to find Too many fall away, too far behind But there’s the rub and hard to align Answers to hold and know how to survive Still, nothing lasts forever And what’s lived is never lost But surely with this fitting We will learn about the cost It’s not what we wanted So, we curve away Try to curve away Need to curve away E E B E B E capo 1
7.
Time is a River Beneath the walls you’ve come undone That itch you scratch, the wrong one Hard way to learn, maybe not fun But it got us both here and maybe that’s enough A parade of sighs, reductions due We agree about that, oh yes we do What you say you never, it fools no one Still, me just wishing never has changed much It doesn’t matter much I heard her say Time is a river now just running away Knuckling hope from empty Long at that job Oh, my all the worry Started when she called But living at the edge Thickens in the night Meets you every morning Looking to pick a fight But eyes wide, woke Should mean no pretending Even getting on Ever strong, unbending There is always something left to do Fences needing mending Always chasing after truth That work never ending Reach down deep, got to find a way Because time is a river now just running away Maybe once was could just be hid And we’d get it all back with one long kiss But summer’s gone now we’re into driving rain I try to hang on but everything’s changed Not much I can do or really even say Can’t make a change if she doesn’t want anyway Not much I can do or really say Time is a river Time is a river Time is a river just running away Beneath the walls you’ve come undone D G D G B D capo 2
8.
All Fall Down Tribal fractures, the great divide A brutal sun, the burning kind And call backs, hard to find Now fortune follows and we don’t control Grandma’s home, all alone At peace with any loss of treasure she holds Thorn filled dark, sad song Thin coin, too long And here we are now and all of it showing Knotting new rhythms of life into place The gristle and bone affair won’t wait And needs to be finished or won’t go away Scorched-earth politics, the policies of cruel Paranoia raised, the darkest of blooms And hard to get around of the elephant in the room Apprehensions grow, anxiety sure But it’s just old folks and there is no cure Time bomb and a hard wind blowing It’s hard to swallow, I don’t know how Falling ash, lazy town Sentimental is in fashion and it’s fooling around Brothers and Sisters falling And there’s the leering clown And we all fall down. D# F# B F# B D#

about

An album counts the miles and years. It’s a set of stories about people, about emotions and follies, and triumphs. About the changes in life. "The Gristle & Bone Affair", Terry Lee Hale’s 14th record, the second he’s made in his home of 20 years in France, and first in his recently adopted city of Marseille. This finds him considering the life he left behind in the US, his time in Europe, and at some of the things the future might hold.

It’s an album that’s taken time, three years in the writing and recording that started before the pandemic stopped the world. It also marks a vastly different approach to writing songs for Hale. Instead of the fingerpicked guitar front and centre, often his hallmark sound, now the instrument – and his voice - stand as the bedrock of all the music here; he’s become part of the ensemble.

“I’m older, content to step back and let the music speak for itself,” he explains. ‘It’s enough to contribute at a base level, to be part of a collaboration. I wanted to leave room for others to fill in their parts. We all recorded separately, no choice with the lockdowns. I had no idea what the others were going to do.”

Those collaborations bring together several strands of Hale’s life. He’s covered a lot of distance in his time, but one of the most important stops was in Seattle, a place he says was “foundational.” He was the only singer-songwriter on Sub Pop 200, the compilation that announced grunge and brought the city to the music world’s attention. It was in Seattle that he released his first LP, and came to know many of the musicians, like Jon Hyde (case/lang/veirs, Jim White) who adds steel guitar here. He also formed a close, lasting friendship was Chris Eckman of the Walkabouts, who produced "The Gristle & Bone Affair", as well as several of Hale’s earlier albums.

“He did everything from taskmaster to hand-holder. He’s been involved with so many of my records, I trust him implicitly. He keeps me focused.”

It’s a disc that features his voice, which has developed with age into something weathered and filled with gentle insights. He’s never sounded better than he does here. Listen to the opening track, “Oh Life,” where Žiga Golob’s (Chris Eckman, Steve Wynn) warm, plucked notes on the contrabass makes an introduction for Hale’s crisp yearning falsetto calls, an evocation of an American West that’s all but vanished.

This time around, there’s only one track where Hale’s guitar stands out alone, the sole instrumental on the album, “Doesn’t Matter Anymore.” It’s a simple piece, one that was “older,” Hale says. “It’s been lying around for a long time. It gives a breathing space between the songs, very evocative of bars, and I’ve played many of those. It’s a basic chord progression, but one that sounds quite universal.”

As producer, Eckman suggested some artists Hale had never worked with, like Catherine Graindorge (Iggy Pop, Nick Cave), whose violin work haunts “Oh Life” like a beautiful ghost, adding a deep resonance to the song. The Seattle that’s developed since Hale left is there in the sympathetic, clear backing vocals of Claire Tucker, bringing everything full circle.

He didn’t know what people could put into his songs, and “I gave very little direction on purpose. I’d send them their tracks and a week or so later I’d receive their parts. I hold my friends close, but it was wonderful to work with people like Catherine and Chris Cacavas, (Dream Syndicate, Green on Red) who played keyboards on both “Curve Away” and “Time Is A River”. “I’ve known him years, but we’ve never done a recording together before.”

But the collaboration extended beyond the spread of musicians. The sound and claustrophobic feel of “Alive Inside,” a loving, sympathetic song about the interior world of a man with Alzheimer’s is mostly due to the work and imagination of Matt Emerson Brown, the mixing engineer, who had as much of a free hand as the instrumentalists.

“It surprised me when I heard it,” Hale says. “I wasn’t sure what he was going to deliver. Matt had said he wouldn’t let me hear it until the whole album was mixed. This song was the furthest from my overall vision. It felt like someone trapped inside, gradually revealing himself. Brown has been the secret elixir on this album. He had that sound in his head. I couldn’t be happier with what he’s done.”

There’s a very close, pressing beauty to it, and the sharp, compassionate observations make it a standout in Hale’s large catalogue of material: “Collecting shadows, rocking chair/ Connections crumbled, sitting there/ Still the love, open givers/ Reach sometimes rewards a glimmer”

It’s heartfelt poetry, tender and aching and caught in a small space, so different to the sweep of road and distant horizons that echo through “Curve Away.”

“I’d been reading a lot of Richard Hugo’s work when I wrote that. He was from the American Pacific Northwest and has long been one of my favourite poets.”

It’s a testament to a life filled with journeys, looking back over the distance covered and its cost: “Now, this road is hard on dreamers/ With cover hard to find/ Too many fall away, too far behind”. The words could almost stand as a summary of "The Gristle & Bone Affair".

But this isn’t the end of the road, by any means. It’s a turn, the start of another part of the journey. The result of three years of thinking, writing, listening, and recording.

It’s a journey below the flesh, going down deep, all the way to the gristle and bone.

credits

released September 2, 2022

Produced by Chris Eckman

TLH -vocals, guitars, harmonica
Žiga Golob - contrabass (1,2,3,5,6)
Catherine Graindorge – violins (1)
Jon Hyde – pedal steel (2)
Chris Cacavas – keyboards (6,7)
Claire Tucker – vocals (2,5)
 
Mixed by Matt Emerson Brown @ Space Ranch Studios, Seattle
Mastered by Levi Seitz @ Black Belt Mastering, Seattle
Recorded @ Denger Studio, Marseille 
Engineer  – Gerald Kuentz
Assistant – Mathew Lavenu
“All Fall Down” Recorded @ Studio Tchaman, Roquevaire
Engineer – Christophe Khatchik Hovikian
Assistant – Massimo Bologna
Additional recording by the participating musicians.
 
Cover artwork: “Heat” by Laura Hamje
TLH photo: Robert Hale
Cover design: Håvard Winther Gjelseth

Side A
Oh Life
Fish
Alive Inside
Doesn’t Matter Anymore

Side B
Gone
Curve Away
Time is a River
All Fall Down

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Terry Lee Hale Marseille, France

Currently a resident in Marseille, Hale has been releasing albums for more than three decades. Hale’s work is stubborn and transcendent of genres and deeply evocative in a way that only a true original can be.

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