Clovis People Vol. 3, Otis Taylor's new recording on Telarc, revisits songs from various points along his 10-year catalog and reinvents them with new arrangements. The set also includes a few previously unrecorded pieces. The guitarist, vocalist and songwriter borrowed the album title from the findings of a recent archeological dig near his property -- a cache of implements belonging to an ancient civilization known as the Clovis people, who briefly walked the earth some 13 millennia ago and then vanished.

The tracks uncover a range of incidents, emotional shades and profound moments for all to see. "Little Willy" is a fictional tale of a school shooting -- a song that Taylor wrote in the '90s, but shelved in the aftermath of Columbine. The deep groove of "Harry Turn The Music Up" plumbs his fond memories of the Denver Folklore Center, a favorite childhood hangout. "Think I Won't" captures a confrontation between a defiant African-American mother and a drug dealer in a schoolyard. Taylor explained, "There are some moms who'll kick your ass in a half-second if you threaten their children."

Clovis People Vol. 3 (there is no Vol. 1 or 2) is an archeological dig of a different kind. "I went back to musical past with these songs, all the way back to my first album," said Taylor. "I like finding different ways to retell old stories. They continue to mean something -- to me, to the people who hear them, to the musicians who pay with me -- many years after I first told them."

• 

  Little Willie

  Otis Taylor, from Clovis People, Vol. 3
• 

  Hey Liza Jane

  Otis Taylor, from Recapturing the Banjo
• 

  Country Girl Boy

  Otis Taylor, from Pentatonic Wars and ...

PERMALINK • • RSS