Various Artists (from the album Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney

Various Artists (from the album Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney

Various Artists (from the album Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney available on New West Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
Growing up in Rhode Island, David Olney landed in Nashville in the early 1970’s. He was part of a new crop of Nashville songwriters that included Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, and Guy Clark. Over the decades David Olney released top-shelf albums, with songs covered by artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Steve Earle, and Del McCoury. Emmylou Harris covered a few of David’s songs, including “Deeper Well” from her Grammy winning release, Wrecking Ball. Emmylou shared that ‘David Olney tells marvelous stories, with characters who cling to the hope of enduring love, all the while crossing the deep divide into that long, dark night of the soul’. New West Records gathered friends and fans for the recently released Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney. Dave Alvin is joined by the Rick Holmstrom Trio on the “Steal My Thunder” title (ish) track while Lucinda Williams takes on “Deeper Well”.
 
Marquee names fill out the song roster for Can’t Steal My Fire. Townes Van Zandt wrote the liner notes for an earlier release Roses, and he covers “Illegal Cargo” on the tribute album. Townes is famously quoted as saying ‘anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard - and that’s true. I mean that from the heart’. Mary Gauthier (“1917”), Buddy Miller (“Jerusalem Tomorrow”), Greg Brown (“That’s My Story”), Steve Earle (“Sister Angelina”), Jimmie Dale Gilmore (“If It Wasn’t for the Wind”), Afton Wolfe (“Titanic”), Jim Lauderdale (“Delta Blue”), and Janis Ian (“She’s Alone Tonight”) are among the singers joining in for David Olney songs. David Olney passed away on January 18, 2020, leaving the world the same way he spent his life, far from home and singing a song onstage. Passing in Santa Rosa, FLA, David stopped in the middle of a song at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, paused, said ‘I’m sorry’, and was gone.  Fellow singer-songwriter Scott Miller, who was performing with David Olney stated ‘he never dropped his guitar or fell (off) his stool. It was as easy and gentle as he was’. (by Danny McCloskey) 
 
Listen and buy the music of Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney from AMAZON
 
Head over to New West Records David Olney website for more information