Alan Lee Edwards has been a songwriter for over 30 years, and became the main singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the band Lou Ford, out of Charlotte, NC. Punks, alt. country fans, and glam rockers alike agreed there was an honesty to Lou Ford, an authenticity not built on outward style but inner substance. Their songs spoke mostly of the ebb and flow of personal relationships, and of the existence, most people of the south, of the “middle class”, immediately recognized as their own. They had critical respect, too, and from some of the best music magazines in the world — Uncut and Mojo both talked the band up breathlessly, and they shared space on British “best of” compilation CDs with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson and Paul Simon. Often lumped into the Americana catch-all, they nonetheless mined the sunnier side of the street musically, with Edwards’ biggest influences (Beach Boys, Big Star, Nick Lowe) never far from the surface. After Lou Ford, Edwards created two albums and toured with his well received band The Loudermilks.

After The Loudermilks folded, Alan did as he had famously promised in song years before and took his things and moved up to the mountains. Edwards revisited his burgeoning back catalog of songs and become something of a road warrior. That said, he has new music that represents a rebirth of sorts, one that’s manifest in not one, but two new albums, Interpreting Heart Sounds Vol. I and Interpreting Heart Sounds Vol. II. Produced by Alan Lee Edwards and mixed by the legendary John Wood (the man behind the boards for Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, John Cale, Squeeze, and Richard and Linda Thompson), the new album is a major milestone in a career that has already spawned five albums.

Recorded at the famed Echo Mountain Recording Studios in Asheville North Carolina, both albums were engineered by Kenny Harrington, mixed and mastered by the team at Well Made Music in Bristol, TN., and pressed locally at Citizen Vinyl in Asheville. Vol. 1 is a band-oriented effort, while Vol. 2 features a more stripped down sound with the addition of strings. The songs are both tender and enticing, from the decidedly down home delivery of “Caroline” and the earnest and engaging “Ride On,” to the reflective sounds of “John on the Run,” “Mom (Always Liked You)” and “How Blue.” They epitomize the approach of an artist solely in control of his craft while inspired by honesty, integrity, creativity and craft.

Come hear his new music at the Meadowlark in the SpeakEasy on December 14th.