A workingman’s musician with a thorough grasp of his craft, Ted Russell Kamp comes into his own as a solo artist and songwriter of note with Poor Man’s Paradise, slated for U.S. release in February on Kamp’s Poetry of the Moment label (PoMo) and European release November 25, 2008, with distribution in those territories through Dualtone (and Proper UK in Britain and Northern Ireland). It follows on the heels of Kamp’s most recent CD, the widely praised Divisadero, which was named one of the Top 40 Americana releases of 2007 and which No Depression called “…terrific.” Poor Man’s Paradise is a juicy gumbo of country, Southern-fried rock and soul in the style of Kamp’s lifelong inspirations J.J. Cale, The Band, and Kris Kristofferson. Kamp wrote or co-wrote all 11 songs, with a storyteller’s flair for offbeat characters, interesting turns of phrase and a sense of realism that sometimes belies an uncommon circumstance. The lead track, the anthemic “Just a Yesterday Away,” sets the tone, followed by the Jerry Reed-style “Just Go South.” The disc is full of detailed story songs such as the humorous “Ballad of That Guy,” the waltzing “Player Piano” and the heartbreaking, melodic weeper “Let Love Do the Rest.” A roots-savvy crew of pals recorded basic tracks with Kamp in Los Angeles, including guitarists Tony Gilkyson and Kenny Vaughan, drummer Don Heffington, Marvin Etzioni on mandolin, Waylon Jennings/Highwaymen pedal steel player Robbie Turner, and Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash front-man Mark Stuart. Kamp’s own instrumental prowess is heard on guitar, mandolin, bass, keyboards, lap steel, accordion, trombone and trumpet. “Music is a language,” he points out, “and each instrument helps you speak it a little differently.” Kamp discovered rich source material in his travels as longtime bassist for Shooter Jennings, with whom he tours regularly. Colorful regional colloquialisms overheard at truck stops and biker festivals pop up in revealing couplets, while fans, musicians, waitresses, desk clerks and others he’s encountered along the road inspire characters like the nostalgic bartender in “Player Piano” and the “poor man” of the title track (co-written with Grammy-winner Chris Tompkins), looking for paradise in the arms of a wayward lover. “We all go through similar things in life,” he muses. “That’s one of the reasons I relate to songwriting: telling these stories can be very personal and very universal at the same time.” Kamp got into music as a shy child in a very vocal and expressive family in New York, which honed the observational gifts that sharpen his songs. He’s since become a confident entertainer on stage, but he feels most connected with the “solitary, slow process” of songwriting. He worked on the tracks for Poor Man’s Paradise on his computer in hotel rooms across the country between and after gigs on the road and likens the collection to an intimate journal. “I know I need to find a way to make it through all my tomorrows/ So when I need the strength I say you’re just a yesterday away,” he sings on the first single, the choogling “Just a Yesterday Away.” That lyric to a lost lover, like most of Kamp’s new songs, reveals more than one meaning; as much as it references the sentiments of the past, it also conveys his innate hopefulness and connection to the artists whose “intensity and heart” remain a vital creative wellspring for him. “I’m influenced by the ‘60s and ‘70s,” he acknowledges. “That’s an era I always come back to when I’m looking for inspiration.” Those influences are richly evident in the funky grooves of songs like the double entendre-laden “Long Distance Man,” the New Orleans-flavored “Old Folks Blues,” and the road-trip anthem “Just Go South,” which takes a loving page from the Leon Russell playbook on how to “tell a story and be honest but still be funky and groovy at the same time.” The late Charlie Rich would likely appreciate the elegant piano, and the taut mix of heartbreak and humor, in “Dixie,” co-written with Kamp’s Nashville buddy Trent Summar. With its tongue-in-cheek lyrics (“The thrills are getting cheaper and the hills are getting steeper/ But this high life is my life and I think it’s a keeper”) and instrumentation (banjo, Dobro, horns and a Hammond organ solo “that takes you to church a little bit”), Kamp says “Old Folks Blues” has “as much to do with Little Feat as it does with Rev. Gary Davis, and the talking-blues tunes of early Bob Dylan. “The sincerity, the old-school feel of it, music that’s new and rootsy at the same time — for me, that’s what Americana stands for. I alternate between serious songs and lighthearted songs, so you can listen to the album like you'd follow a good conversation or a movie. I wanted each song on this album to go to a different place lyrically and musically and hopefully listeners will enjoy that journey.”