John Carter Cash has assembled an array of all-star artists and musicians for his latest album, We Must Believe in Magic, a collection of songs he has recorded over the last decade. The two-disc LP will be released on Saturday, April 21st, for Record Store Day.
Bluegrass stars Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush and Ronnie and Rob McCoury all appear on the project, along with Ana Cristina Cash, John Cowan, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Dave Roe, the Daeger Brothers, Bob Moore, Etta Britt, Charlie McCoy, Jamie Hartford and Ira Dean. The eye-catching cover-art design by Roberto Parada features the faces of many of the participants in the recordings.
The album consists of Cash's original tunes, some co-written with Bill Miller, Shawn Camp and Wesley Orbison, as well as covers of songs by Trent Reznor ("Hurt," the now-classic tune previously released by Cash's father, Johnny Cash), Charlie Rich ("Feel Like Going Home") and John Prine ("Paradise"). The title cut, penned by Bob McDill and Allen Reynolds and previously recorded by Crystal Gayle, conveys the album's central message.
"I remember believing in magic," Cash says in a statement. "I recall the wind in itself being alive and with a voice... It smelled awake, purposeful and spoke in a resounding tongue I perfectly understood. All was vast, open, dazzling and wondrous. I believe this to be the truth of the world ... the magic is inside us all. And though it may be forgotten, it can be remembered once again ... It is only up to us to do one single thing, and do it purely ... believe."
Cash will also release Johnny Cash: Forever Words, a collection of his father's poems set to music and sung by Chris Cornell, Kris Kristofferson and others, on April 6th.
Here's the track list for We Must Believe in Magic:
"We Must Believe in Magic"
"Feel Like Going Home"
"Brave Young Man"
"Dragon Song"
"Runaway Train"
"Prayers for St. Regis"
"The Dungeon"
"Heaven's Song"
"Holy Train"
"Dance With Me"
"Awake Sweet Dreamer"
"Jayne Hill"
"Hurt"
"Let the Lower Lights Be Burning"
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"Poor Boy & the Captain's Daughter"
"Into the Blue"