EVERY KIND OF UH-OH—celebrated producer Charlie Peacock taken by surprise.
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An eclectic artist whose 50-year career includes Grammy Awards, solo albums, chart-topping productions, and everything in between, Peacock measures the long, winding road from past to present with his upcoming memoir Roots & Rhythm: A Life In Music (2.4.25). It's the autobiographical story of an artist-dreamer born at the intersection of rock 'n' roll, jazz, and the nascent singer-songwriter movement.
The back half of 2024 was meant to be preparing for the book's unveiling—you know, podcasts, interviews, marketing meetings. Then it happened—again. Music, that is.
"In less than two weeks I had written 10 songs—artist songs, the kind only I could write and sing."
Peacock's son, Sam Ashworth, (the Oscar- and Grammy-nominated songwriter known for H.E.R. and Leslie Odom, Jr.), begged his father not to "just put the music out to streamers on a Friday, buy some ads on social media, and call it a day."
What he said was, "This music feels too important. You gotta take it seriously."
Peacock responded: "I heard him—all Sam was doing was lovingly asking me to steward my own art with the care I'd given other artists for years. But I didn't want to do it alone. Sam graciously jumped in, helped me finish three songs and co-produced the album."
There will be the inevitable push toward the release of the memoir, Roots & Rhythm: A Life In Music. But not before the artist experiences, once again, the goodness of making music and offering it to the world. Peacock's life in music is far from over. He proves it beyond all doubt with EVERY KIND OF UH-OH, a masterclass in songwriting, only made possible through the lens of his deep experience, musical and otherwise.
From his pioneering contributions to gospel rock and the Americana/Folk movement of the 2000s to his jazz explorations with legendary bassist John Patitucci, Peacock is more than a connoisseur of American music; he's part of its DNA, leaving his unique mark while earning Top 40 pop hits across three consecutive decades. The new album EVERY KIND OF UH-OH is one more chapter in this long story of contributing to the American music canon. This time out, Peacock chose to lean into his earliest singer-songwriter influences, with his patented six degrees over from the norm imagination.
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"I wanted the record to feel classic and dynamic with Nashville-centric, mostly acoustic instrumentation. Lyric-wise, I hoped to write in such a way that it felt like some wild combination of literary and poetic icons meets Old Testament prophets meets American plainspeak."
Peacock may have achieved his goal. Will any other recordings released in 2024 include the legendary harmonica player Charlie McCoy (Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel) on a love song about Peacock's first date with his wife Andi titled "Turtle in a Chinese Food Box"? Will any other tunes namecheck the poet Mary Oliver, Shakespeare, astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, and former San Francisco Giants pitcher Gaylord Perry, while alluding to writer Flannery O'Connor and Amos, the minor OT prophet?
In his upcoming memoir Peacock includes a loving, respectful story about a note T Bone Burnett sent to him. The enormously popular duo, The Civil Wars, had just broken up and Peacock was enlisted to finish their second album. T Bone had advised them to "go back to Charlie." Charlie finished the record, and when he did, T Bone was ecstatic about the results. "Just heard eleven songs. Man, did I have it right about who should produce it. Post Coltrane Rockabilly Acid Chamber Music. You have unleashed something totally new on the world."
Maybe this time with his own music, without even trying, Peacock has achieved a similar outcome. Familiar but entirely new. A feeling almost every human loves.
Helping Peacock get the feels just right is a righteously, creative cast of characters: Sam Ashworth and Bryan Sutton (acoustic guitar), Aaron Sterling (drums), Brent Milligan, Scott Mulvahill, and Tommy Sims (electric bass, with Scott on upright bass too), Jerry McPherson (electric guitar), Andy Leftwich (fiddle), Charlie McCoy (harmonica), Dan Dugmore (pedal and lap steel), and Eric Darken (percussion). Joining Peacock on vocals are his daughter-in-law, the singer-songwriter Ruby Amanfu, granddaughter Bridget Ashworth, Sara Groves, Sam Ashworth, Vicki Hampton, and Darwin Hobbs.
The recording was mixed by the Grammy-rich crew of Craig Alvin, Brandon Bell, and Richie Biggs, with Chuck Ainlay handling the Atmos/Immersive mixes. The record was mastered by Eric Conn at Independent Mastering, while the Atmos/Immersive chores were handled by Michael Romanowski at Coast Mastering.
EVERY KIND OF UH-OH by Charlie Peacock will be released August 30, 2024, on It's Time To Art, distributed by Re:Think/Universal Music Group. UTR Media is offering a limited release of Vinyl and CDs.