Sam Outlaw - Tenderheart (2017)

am Outlaw - one of Los Angeles's only modern country artists - was presented with the International Album of the Year Award for his acclaimed, Ry and Joachim Cooder produced debut album € Angeleno' at the UK Americana Awards 2017. Tenderheart, is his much anticipated sophomore LP. The 13-track collection of originals was recorded in the San Fernando Valley and co-produced by Outlaw alongside Martin Pradler. Outlaw enlisted many of the same musicians that made his first album, 2015's € Angeleno,' an undisputed breakthrough and one of the best-reviewed debuts of that year: harmony singer Molly Jenson, pedal steel pro Jeremy Long and guitarist Danny Garcia, along with Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket). In addition, € Tenderheart' features local mariachi group Erwin Vasquez and Mariachi Teocuitatlan. Outlaw offers an extraordinary refinement of the artistic identity laid out on € Angeleno'. Sonically, the album elaborates on his € SoCal Country € sound: a sun-bleached, Baja-influenced twang that deftly points to country's neo-traditionalists and LA's legendary singer-songwriters. Thematically, € Tenderheart' is a thesis on self-discovery and the power of love €"- Outlaw meditates on his own conflicted quest for peace amidst the chaos of his chosen path.