Originally Recorded On September 11, 2001
Today, Austin, TX -based country rock band Reckless Kelly have released their new album The 9/11 Demos. Twenty years ago, on September 11th, 2001, the band was scheduled to record at Arlyn Studios in Austin, TX. The band recorded sixteen songs that day, in-between hours spent glued to the television. Many of the songs would eventually be re-recorded and find their way onto other records, but the original demos were never released and sat untouched for twenty years, including some tracks that have never before been released. Now, with the help of friend and former bandmate David Abeyta, Reckless Kelly have dusted off the tapes, digitized them, and are releasing them two decades later.
Listen to The 9/11 Demos Here.
Listen to “May Peace Find You Tonight” via YouTube Here.
“Everyone knows exactly where they were that morning,” says Willy Braun, who co-founded Reckless Kelly with his brother Cody Braun and drummer Jay Nazz in 1996. “Reckless Kelly was at Arlyn Studios in Austin, TX as the news came trickling in, little by little on the old TV in the backroom. Like everyone else, we felt helpless, lost, and unsure of what to do. At first we thought we’d call off the sessions and go home, but for some unknown reason we felt like the right thing to do was to do what we had come to do, record demos of sixteen new songs.
“The term, ‘otherwise they win’ hadn’t become popularized yet, but somehow we just feel like the thing to do was to do what we do best- make music; If for no other reason than to keep our minds off of the horrific events of the day. So we did. We’d record a song, and then head back to the little TV to get an update, continuing this cycle until the job was done.
“Over the next two days we recorded basic tracks to all sixteen songs, that aside from a few overdubs are exactly what they sound like- a young band playing together and laying it all down, live on 2” tape. For the average listener, they’ll hear some familiar RK songs, albeit, different in structure and in their infant stage, as well as several previously unreleased songs that never found a home, but maybe should have. For us, we hear the songs but also relive the turmoil, heartbreak, and confusion of that awful day, but yet are somehow comforted by knowing that the band played on, and that no- they most certainly did not win.”
“It was a constant back and forth from the TV to the tracking room,” says Jay Nazz. “Watching with so much worry and uncertainty while finding a comfort playing music together. Recording ‘May Peace Find You Tonight’ that day was one of the most emotional moments I’ve had making music. I think you can hear that in everyone’s performance.”
“We’ve traveled so far as a band in 20-plus years, it was interesting and incredibly moving to have the opportunity to mix and listen to these recordings from September 11, 2001,” says David Abeyta. “It’s a document of us dealing with incredibly heavy circumstances in the only way we know how – by making music together.”
For nearly 25 years, Reckless Kelly has graced the musical landscape with a high-powered form of Americana, equally rooted in raw passion, refined musicianship, and gritty authenticity. The 9/11 Tapes follows Reckless Kelly’s dual albums American Girls and American Jackpot, on which the band presented a beautifully detailed portrait of their beloved country, turning their nuanced songwriting to its many glories and tragedies. Released in May of 2020, songs from the albums were praised by Billboard, Taste of Country, The Boot, All Music Guide, No Depression, Saving Country Music, American Songwriter, and many more.
The 9/11 Demos Tracklist:
01) Snowfall
02) Set Me Free
03) Willamina
04) Buckaroo
05) You Don’t Want Me Around
06) By The End Of The Night
07) I Saw It Coming
08) Broken Heart
09) Me & My Baby
10) May Peace Find You Tonight
11) Desolation Angels
12) Motel Cowboy Show
13) Million Reasons
14) Nobody Baby
15) I Hate That Guy
16) Wicked Twisted Road
For a full list of upcoming tour dates visit https://recklesskelly.com/#