Today, Pieta Brown releases a 10th Anniversary reissue of her acclaimed album Paradise Outlaw through Righteous Babe Records. The reissue includes a first time pressing on limited edition vinyl, along with merchandise offerings which are available now. The digital includes six additional “Drifters” outtake tracks that were recorded during the original album sessions. Among these previously unreleased songs is a remix of “Little Swainson” by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and BJ Burton. Stream Paradise Outlaw (10th Anniversary Edition) HERE.
Paradise Outlaw was recorded in four days at Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon’s April Base Studio in Wisconsin with a supporting cast that includes Vernon, Amos Lee, Brown’s father Greg Brown, Iris Dement, Bo Ramsey, and various members of an experimental group of players she called the Sawdust Collective. The album boasts some of Pieta’s most emotionally resonant compositions, and some of her most expressive performances to date. Upon its release in 2014, Paradise Outlaw was met with critical acclaim from NPR, American Songwriter, Uncut, Bust Magazine, No Depression, All Music Guide, and Chicago Reader among many others. It reached #1 on the Roots Music Report Top 50 Americana Country Album chart and remained in the Top 5 for several months. Vernon would also go on to call the album “probably my favorite record ever made at our studio.”
“These songs were recorded live in one big room at April Base Studio in Wisconsin,” said Brown. “Fourteen songs became the album, and the other six songs became these outtakes - these drifters - all held aside for one reason or another. I questioned the mixes on ‘Goin’ Up The Country’ and ‘Drifter.’
"And I just questioned ‘Parataxis Blues’ and ‘Why Now’ - both experiments in form and both sparked by my ongoing fascination with beat poetry and old folk songs. The remix of ‘Little Swainson’ by BJ Burton and Justin Vernon didn’t make it onto Paradise Outlaw because the album didn’t end up being a double album, as I had originally imagined. And ‘Just Slip Away’ was written in the studio, and recorded as it was coming in. It was the last thing we recorded on the last day. Another experiment that has gone on to become a song I still sing.
"After many sweet inquiries at shows from fans about ‘Goin’ Up The Country’ and ‘Drifter,’ I decided to go back and listen to these outtakes. In spite of many rough edges, I heard and felt the openness and the music made. Offered now with love and hope for more musical experiments everywhere.”