Jason Boland & The Stragglers: The Light Saw Me
Photo by Rico Studios
Before Shooter Jennings began producing Grammy-winning records for Brandi Carlisle and Tanya Tucker, he was producing albums for American Aquarium, Jaime Wyatt, Duff McKagan (of Guns n Roses), and shock rocker Marilyn Manson among others. But, the first artist to hire Jennings as a record producer was Jason Boland for the Dark and Dirty Mile album in 2013. Shooter returns to the controls for the new release from Jason Boland and the Stragglers titled The Light Saw Me.
For this 10th studio album, Boland has created a concept album much like Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger or Shooter’s own Black Ribbons project. In its simplest form, the songs are inspired by the story of a UFO crash in Texas and supposed to tell the story of a Texas cowboy in the late 1890s who is abducted by aliens then returned to Texas in the late 1990s. On a deeper level, according to a press release, the songs explore the “concepts of love, existential threats to humanity such as climate change, and the purpose of mankind.” I don’t know about all of that but the record is a thing of beauty.
Boland had the songs ready to work out with the band in 2019, just before the pandemic shut everything down, and it wasn’t until early 2021 before he decided the time was right to move forward with the project. The tracks were given solid support by the backing band consisting of long time Straggler, Grant Tracy on bass, Boland band alumni Noah Jeffries on fiddle and mandolin, Roger Ray on pedal steel, Jake Lynn on drums, and Hellbound Glory’s John Schreffler (who has a history with Jennings) on lead guitar. Ken Layne’s narration at the beginning and in the middle of the record help to propel the “aliens” theme of the project but the songs stand on their own as some of the best Boland has given us in a while. The highlight of the album is the Bob Childers classic, “Restless Spirits,” centering Boland in his Red Dirt roots. The originals all have the feel of the best of Jason’s songs; honest, introspective and laced with metaphors that keep the listener thinking about what the song is really trying to say. Big credit to Shooter Jennings for keeping the songs at the forefront allowing them to be the star of the album and not getting carried away with the concept of the project.
With The Light Saw Me, Jason Boland has given us a collection of superb songs that you can take at face value or get into on a deeper level in a format that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. This is going to make a lot of “Best of 2021” lists. It’s already on mine.
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