Outlaw country legend Chris Gantry returned from a 35-year absence with 2015’s Gantry Rides Again. He’s kept on riding ever since. Two years ago Gantry — an associate of Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson perhaps best known for penning Glen Campbell’s hit “Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife” — finally released the album that derailed his career, 1973’s acid-fried At The House Of Cash. And now he’s got another set of new material ready to drop.

For Nashlantis, out later this month on Drag City, Gantry worked with former Black Swans leader Jerry David DeCicca, an idiosyncratic singer-songwriter fond of helping his old favorites find a new audience. (He’s also produced late-career LPs for Elyse Weinberg, Larry Jon Wilson, and Ed Askew.) Also on board for the sessions were famed engineer Rob Galbraith and players including Don Cento, Ryan Jewell, and Marina Peterson. And on a few tracks Gantry’s gently grizzled voice is joined by guests including Edith Frost and Bill Callahan.

Callahan — who is also playing two shows with Gantry, tonight in Brooklyn and tomorrow in Jersey City — shows up on “Box Of Crayons.” The song is a lovely example of Gantry’s craft, a tender folksy lope celebrating diversity. Callahan’s grave baritone undergirding Gantry’s bright, gentle diction, they sing, “Box of crayons, each color unique/ Blending them together is what makes a perfect rainbow complete.”

Listen below.

TOUR DATES:
07/11 – Brooklyn, NY @ Murmrr Theatre (w/ Bill Callahan)
07/12 – Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall (w/ Bill Callahan)

Nashlantis is out 7/26 on Drag City. Pre-order it here.