Duane Eddy is still alive? Yes, that was my reaction too
when learning from NPR rock critic Ken Tucker that the rockabilly legend Eddy
plays his signature twangy guitar on Dan Auerbach's new song, "King of a
One Horse Town" (link below to Auerbach and band playing the
song on "The Late Show.")
You might know Auerbach as the singer-guitarist for The
Black Keys and, later, of The Arcs as well as a successful independent
producer. That indie-blues-rock orientation - inspired by Robert Johnson and
Howlin' Wolf - is largely absent from Auerbach's latest solo album out next
week entitled, "Waiting on a Song."
It's been replaced by an easy, breezy, laid-back vibe on
"King of a One Horse Town" and other cuts on the album. Just as
Auerbach has worked in the past with Danger Mouse, Mark Ronson and chef-rapper
Action Bronson, he collaborates with John Prine, Mark Knopfler and Eddy on the
new album.
"King of a One Horse Town" was written by
Auerbach and Nashville-based country music singer-guitarist Pat McLaughlin.
Indeed, Auerbach calls the album "a love letter to Nashville," the
town he now calls home. He recorded it in his Easy Eye Studio in town where he'd
also recorded The Black Keys' "El Camino" (2010) and "Turn
Blue" (2014) albums and where he's considered to be quite a taskmaster.
The Grammy-winning Auerbach recently told "Rolling
Stone" that "King of a One Horse Town" is about people who are
"scared of the outside world ... afraid to go beyond their own block for
fear of failure." The sentiment is captured by the chorus, "I'm the
king of a one horse town, and I barely pull my weight around."