Album Notes

This remastered re-release of the 1998 CD by acerbic, articulate singer-songwriter and self-proclaimed practitioner of "gangsta folk" John Wesley Harding is bolstered by five bonus tracks, including a live acoustic duet with Bruce Springsteen on the Boss's "Wreck on the Highway."

"Awake: the new edition" boasts a higher-tech and rockier, more electronically-influenced sound than some of Harding's earlier releases, but his songs remain melodic and catchy. Studio versions of concert favorites like "Window Seat," "Miss Fortune," "Burn," and "Something to Write Home About" are among the highlights, full of Harding's trademark wordplay and wit. "I'm Staying Here (And I'm Not Buying a Gun") is a defiant declaration of pacifism by the transplanted Englishman, who had the misfortune of moving to Brooklyn from Seattle right around the time of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.

The CD also has plenty of tender movements, including a quiet version of Springsteen's "Jackson Cage" and the exhausted, troubled love songs "Sweat Blood Tears and Come" "Poor Heart" and the self-flagellating "It's All My Fault."

Although Harding performs on a wide array of instruments here, including guitars, percussion, synthesizer, and keyboards, he also receives sympathetic instrumental contributions from the ubiquitous Robert Lloyd (keyboards), alt.country solo artist Chuck Prophet (electric guitar), power-pop maven Chris von Sneidern (bass, backing vocals, co-producer) and members of Seattle's Young Fresh Fellows.

Balancing sincerity and sarcasm is a Harding trademark well-showcased on "Awake: the new edition." It's great to have this CD back in circulation again.