Kris Kristofferson
This Old Road (New West)
Of all the roads Kris Kristofferson has traveled, he’s always been best as a songwriter. With the title of This Old Road, conventional wisdom is to assume that he’s talking about himself, and perhaps the fact that he recently reached a milestone: 70. One thing’s for sure either way: This is Kristofferson’s most emotionally direct work in years, dealing as it does with his legacy and mortality. Produced by Don Was, with longtime local compatriot Stephen Bruton adding occasional guitar and mandolin, and legendary Jim Keltner on drums, This Old Road can only be described as intimate. Kristofferson invites you into his living room for a private listening session, and what a listen it is. He hasn’t just written new songs, he’s evoked undeniable feelings about love and family, war and American heroes, and he presents them viscerally, stripped to the raw bone. From the haunting title track that opens the disc and brutally honest anti-war statement “In the News” to the Willie Nelson-inspired “Final Attraction,” an ode to the old troubadours, Kristofferson feels all the bumps in this Road, and in the end the listener can only conclude it’s all been more than worth it.
This article appears in February 24 • 2006.