Robbie Fulks appears on Mountain Stage, recorded live at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, W.V. As one of the pioneers of the alt-country movement, Fulks broke through with songs that are witty, sophisticated and poignant, often at the same time.
A longtime resident of Chicago, Fulks spent his early days touring as a guitarist with bluegrass bands like Special Consensus. Often defying classification, Fulks' catalog contains traditional country weepers, college rock reminiscent of The Replacements and an entire album of Michael Jackson covers. Fulks also famously covered ABBA's "Dancing Queen" during an episode of Fresh Air.
He describes his latest project, Gone Away Backwards, as a "meditative, bluegrass-inflected song cycle." He's backed here by his own band, which includes Shad Cobb on fiddle, Ron Spears on upright bass and guitarist Robbie Gjersoe, who recently appeared on Mountain Stage backing The Flatlanders.
Set List
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.