Rusty Young, longtime member of Poco, is about to release his debut solo album.
Young formed Poco with Richie Furay and Jim Messina in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield and was with them until 2014 when he retired from the band. That didn’t mean he was retiring from music.
Rusty has since done a number of guest appearance and worked with Jack Sundrud as the Session Cats providing parts for other artist’s recordings and recording music for children’s projects. Plus, on September 15, he will release his first ever solo album, Waitin’ For the Sun, on Blue Elan Records.
Young wrote much of the album in the early morning hours. “I live in a cabin that overlooks the Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri, and got in the habit of waking early to watch the sun come up. Just sitting there with my guitar, loving where I live and thinking about how far I’ve come and how lucky I’ve been. After a while, the songs just poured out of me.”
For recording, Rusty went to Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, TN formerly owned by June and Johnny Cash. “June’s old piano is all over the record and I got to play Johnny’s ’57 Les Paul.”
Rusty also played steel and acoustic guitars, dobro, mandolin and banjo, with the current configuration of Poco – Sundrud, keyboardist Michael Webb, and former Flying Burrito Brothers drummer Rick Lonow – filling in the rest. “They are, quite simply, the best musicians I know. You can’t separate me from the sound of Poco, but I wanted to take the Poco sound – the songwriting, the vocals and the playing – to the next level. The goal of this album was to go one step beyond.”
Waitin’ For the Sun was produced by Furry, Sundrud and Bill Halverson and mixed by Joe Hardy. Rusty expects to tour in support of the album.
The track list:
Waitin’ For The Sun
My Friend
Honey Bee
Sara’s Song
Heaven Tonight
Hey There
Seasons
Innocent Moon
Down Home
Gonna Let The Rain
