Country-rock Grammy-winners Reckless Kelly will mark the 20th anniversary of their acclaimed Under the Table & Above the Sun album with its first ever vinyl pressing, to be released on September 8. The band’s third studio album and first release via Sugar Hill Records, it included the fan favorites “Nobody’s Girl” and “Vancouver.”
The new LP edition has lacquers cut by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl and the album is also set to make its debut in hi-res audio (192/24). An exclusive tan-colored vinyl pressing will be available via the band’s official website.
Reckless Kelly was formed by brothers and central Idaho natives Willy and Cody Braun in 1996, who came from strong musical stock. Their grandfather Eustaceus “Mustie” Braun was a keyboard player who made his name on the casino circuit of the 1950s in Nevada and Idaho. His sons Muzzie, Gary, and Billy went on to form the Braun Brothers, and Muzzie handed down his love of music to his sons, Willy, Cody, Gary, and Micky.
Muzzie Braun & the Little Braun Brothers (later Muzzie Braun & the Boys) performed twice on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and shared the stage with Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard, among others. Vocalist and guitarist Willy and Cody (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica) then chased their own musical dreams to Austin, TX, naming their group after the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, with drummer Jay Nazz, bassist Chris Schelske, and guitarist Casey Pollock, who was later replaced by David Abeyta.
The group’s smart mix of country, pop, roots, and rock gave them a profile around Austin, as well as the endorsement of big influences and local and national heroes such as Robert Earl Keen, who became their first manager, and Joe Ely. They made their album debut with 1998’s Millican, following it with 2000’s The Day and a live album. After signing with the notable Americana label Sugar Hill Records, they convened in a Tennessee studio in December 2002 to make their their third album with producer and hit singer-songwriter, Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams).
The album’s 12 original songs were a showcase for the breadth of Reckless Kelly’s talents through 12 original songs, going from reflective, mid-tempo balladry (“Vancouver,” “Everybody,” “Desolation Angels”) via foot-stomping rockers (“Nobody’s Girl,” “Mersey Beat”) to the hook-laden, pop-oriented “Let’s Just Fall” and “I Saw It Coming.”
Reviewers lined up to praise the set, with the Austin Chronicle hailing the band’s “mature and serious” songwriting, while No Depression wrote: “It’s just good country rock without schlock and gloss.” Under the Table & Above the Sun made Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart and opened the door to a sequence of successful subsequent releases.
Recalls Willy Braun: “It was our first album with David Abeyta on lead guitar, first record for the Sugar Hill, and first collaboration with producer Ray Kennedy, who encouraged me to write at least twice as many songs as we needed. The songs were better; the band was tighter. It was our first ‘grown-up’ record. This album felt like we had learned who we were as a band. Looking back, after twenty years, there’s not much I would change about this album, and I hope it holds up in the eyes and ears of the fans as much as it does for the band and myself. I hope we all still feel the same in another twenty years.”
Reckless Kelly have released seven further studio albums since, including Wicked Twisted Road (2005), Bulletproof (2008), and the Grammy-winning Long Night Moon (2013), as well as the popular 2006 live CD/DVD, Reckless Kelly Was Here. Their latest album American Jackpot/American Girls came out in 2020, and in addition to their regular touring across the US, fans can catch Reckless Kelly at their annual Braun Brothers Reunion festival in Challis, Idaho, this year set for August 8-10.
Pre-order the vinyl edition of Under the Table & Above the Sun, which is released on September 8.
The full tracklist is:
Side A:
1. Let’s Just Fall
2. Nobody’s Girl
3. Desolation Angels
4. Everybody
5. I Saw It Coming
6. Vancouver
Side B:
1. Willamina
2. Mersey Beat
3. Set Me Free
4. Snowfall
5. You Don’t Want Me Around
6. May Peace Find You Tonight