Americana veteran, writer and painter Tom Russell is rarely short of a word or six, though in fairness his rich past has generated great stories. They range from memories of New York's bohemian Chelsea Hotel, to El Paso and border lore, to meeting JFK before crossing the Atlantic, to songs citing Dylan Thomas, Belfast, Dublin and Copenhagen.

And when Russell writes about contemporary issues, such as American white working class anxiety in Harlan Clancy, he does so with empathy and understanding. He borrows occasionally – Ralph McTell might wonder about The Sparrow of Swansea – and tends to overdramatise, but there is an evocative sense of time and place in his theatrical word pictures.

There are 14 tracks, blues and folk, none better than Scars on His Ankles, Russell's nine-minute-long tale of the time writer Grover Lewis and bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins shared "trouble in mind". tomrussell.com