Hal Ketchum s new album Awaiting Redemption comes in the wake of a prolonged series of personal traumas, including a spell in rehab and a battle with a serious illness. A much darker, more introspective work than previous outings, it has clearly been influenced by the inner demons referred to in the sleeve notes written by his old pal Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
Highlights include stark, poignant but ultimately hopeful ballads such as Days Of Wonder , Too Many Memories and the gospel-tinged Tell Me . And even though it features an appearance by honky-tonk legend Delbert McClinton the album is Ketchum s least Nashville-oriented work since his debut seven albums ago.
It s the closest I ve ever come to what I want to do musically, Ketchum says of this new direction. It s not tailored to a commercial approach and I m much happier about that. I don t care about trends anymore anyone who wants to try to follow trends is a year behind anyway. I d rather be ahead of the fashion.
Ketchum, who had a massive hit a few years back with Mick Hanly s Past The Point of Rescue , reserves no little criticism for the current state of country music, as he sees it.
It s running with one wheel in the ditch right now, he offers. The bottom line these days is money nothing else matters. Merle Haggard and I had a conversation about this recently. He said the music business is now being run by corporate people, whereas in the old days the labels were run by music people, like Chet Atkins. I would hate to be a young artist trying to break into the business today. It s all about numbers, computer sheets, not about music. The quality of the song isn t important anymore.
With Awaiting Redemption, Ketchum feels he has made an important artistic statement.
I m getting good reviews and I feel fortunate to be able to make a record like this, he says. Whether it gets played on the radio, I don t know. I haven t listened to country radio in years anyway. It has become way too formatted. It s ironic that in a culture that prides itself on independence and individuality everything has to be slotted into a category. n
SIMON & GARFUNKEL: Bookends. It had great songs on it like Mrs Robinson , America , Old Friends and Hazy Shade of Winter . I was in high school when it came out and I took four classes of art every day. They let me do what I wanted and I wasn t into anything else except music so I d play this one all the time.

VAN MORRISON: Astral Weeks. To this day he s the biggest influence on my life. The first time I heard anyone on the radio and thought that s the job I want to do was when I first heard Brown Eyed Girl . Later on when I was a cabinet maker, I had the stereo in the corner of the workshop covered with clear plastic to prevent the sawdust from getting into it! I d play Astral Weeks and Moondance all day.

ELTON JOHN: Tumbleweed Connection. I think it was his second album. A sort of homage to the Wild West with songs like Ballad Of A Well Known Gun . I was a drummer in a band back then and I ll always remember Nigel Olson s playing on this record, particularly his tom-tom technique, which influenced me a lot.

FLATT & SCRUGGS: Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Bluegrass legends This is the one with the Beverly Hillbillies theme on it. I was learning banjo at the time and it influenced my playing.

JONATHON EDWARDS: Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboys. He had a big hit record in the late sixties with a song called Sunshine and made a few albums which I liked. He came through Nashville a few years ago and I discovered him again.

JAMES GANG: Live At The Fillmore. Late 60s power trio with guitarist Joe Walsh who later joined the Eagles. This was a wonderful live record, the energy was brilliant. I don t like a lot of polish on recordings and this one certainly didn t have much of that.

BOB DYLAN: Blood On The Tracks. Without doubt one of the great songwriters and this is one of his greatest albums. Despite what many people feel I think he s a brilliant singer unique in his own way.

TOWNES VAN ZANT: At My Window. I ve been lucky to meet my heroes and Townes was one of them. He was simply a great writer and became a great friend. This one was produced by Jim Rooney who s also a good friend of mine

McCOY TYNER: The Real McCoy. Tyner is a great jazz piano player. I heard this around 1967 when I started getting into avant garde. It s real hit-the-ground-and-run stuff these guys could play. It s an album I m listening to a lot right now.

SONNY LANDRETH: South of I-Ten. Sonny s an amazing guitarist he used to play in John Hiatt s band. The record is brilliantly produced right in your face. n
Hal Ketchum appears in HQ at the Hall of Fame on 26th & 27th July.