Newsman: A Man Of Record

GRAMMY winner John McEuen's new album, THE NEWSMAN, is a first for theacoustic music legend who helped to define the trajectory for bluegrass andacoustic-rooted music in the mid 1970s as a member of The Nitty Gritty DirtyBand. The album's 11 tracks are all spoken word renditions of poems from the 19thand 20th century that McEuen has been collecting over the course of his 50 yearcareer. Each story is told in McEuen's engaging baritone, adorned by his uniqueinstrumental compositions informed by his many years of scoring films. From theopening title track, which is a true story about a man who sold newspapers andwas a tremendous influence on the young musician in Los Angeles, to the finalcut, "Julie's Theme," inspired by Jules Verne telling a friend, in a French cemetery,about his recently deceased young wife, McEuen presents an album of mini-storiesat once inspirational and deeply emotional.