"This album is dedicated to the great Mississippi Big Blues Mane - RL Boyce - a friend and mentor. May he rest in peace.

These (Pandora) Sessions were modeled after our time down in Bentonia playing with Jimmy Duck Holmes & RL Boyce - you set up, start playing & the songs come. Sure there’s covers & traditionals but the magical part of those nights are the grooves that show up that weren’t written yet. That’s what this album is, all unwritten / unrehearsed material that originated from us just sitting down to play. We are very interested in capturing the song at its point of origin.

We didn't have much, some vintage mics / amps - we did the best we could with what we had at the time. This ain't no big time studio / record label / lots of money kind of album. This is a show up at the juke joint, plug the fuck in and get to work kind of album

Gratitude to Jay Bundy Johnson for literally making this happen - he set up, tracked & mixed the whole thing. Jay was a critical part of the legendary Canadian alt country outfit The Blue Shadows & worked with Billy Cowsill for over a decade. He’s been with Canadian legends like Herald Nix & the late Mac Pontiac for the last 20 years & he’s been with me for 15. This new album Pandora Sessions is all him - from conception to the final product - even the cover photo. He’s always been a critical part of what we do & a huge encouragement for me to follow my heart.” 

credits

released November 19, 2023

Produced: Jay Bundy Johnson
Recorded & Mixed: Jay Bundy Johnson & Robert Connely Farr
Recorded at our private studio in Vancouver BC

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all rights reserved

Robert Connely Farr is a songwriter from Bolton Mississippi, hometown of musical legends Charley Patton, Sam Chatmon, Bo Carter & Walter Vinson. In Bentonia (just up the road from Bolton) bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes has mentored Farr in a particular form of Delta Blues called the Bentonia Blues. Holmes learned this regional style directly from Henry Stuckey, who also mentored the renowned bluesman “Skip” James.

In 2018, entranced by the obscure tuning and haunting melodies of Jimmy’s teachings, Robert recorded and released his full length “Dirty South Blues” to immediate critical acclaim. KEXP named it one of their top albums of the year and Farr was nominated for both Songwriter of the Year & New Artist of the Year by Canada’s prestigious Maple Blues Awards.

In 2019, Farr took his band down to play Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ Bentonia Blues Festival; it proved to be a seminal experience for the group. High off the vibe of the festival, they came back to Vancouver to start recording; it was then Robert received an unexpected cancer diagnosis & emergency surgery. 

After recovery from surgery Farr hit the ground running, rapidly releasing 3 albums culminating in his fantastic sixteen track brainchild, “Country Supper”. With a sustained buzz from critics and fans alike, “Country Supper” went on to garner scores of glowing reviews and by the end of the year, receive numerous placements on 'Best of 2020' lists.

“Shake It” is Robert Connely Farr’s ninth studio album. With the help of his band, “The Dirty Dirty” (drummer Jay Bundy Johnson, and bassist Tom Hillifer) Farr delivers compelling sonic landscapes; his gravelly voice and howling guitar tell of swamps packed with catfish while spirits dance in the sky.

Over nine blistering tracks (clocking in at a tight 30 minutes), “Shake It” opens with two covers from Farr’s mentors – Charley Patton’s ‘Screaming & Hollering’ & Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ ‘Going Away To Leave You’. Six originals by Farr & Co hint at love and suffering in the aftermath of a cancer diagnosis while ‘Lefty’ and the title track rock with all the grit and fire of a man that’s dodged more than a few bullets.

BOLTON, Miss. — Casting a hypnotic spell rooted in the bedrock of Mississippi’s Delta and Hill Country blues, Robert Connely Farr’s new 16-song Country Supper transcends the borders of genres by transforming them into his own distinctive, deeply rooted Americana style.

Following his heralded 2019 album Dirty South Blues, which earned comparisons to John Prine and Gregg Allman, the just-released collection is a display of sonic and songwriting shamanism that thrives on driving, laconic grooves in support of the casual command of Farr’s dust-dappled voice and the sting of his grumbling, rock-of-ages guitar.

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Album Credits:

Produced by Leeroy Stagger

Engineered by Michael Ayotte

Recorded at The Rebeltone Ranch in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Mastered by Jon Wood (Flophouse JR) in Vancouver, BC

The Rebeltone Boys are:
Evan Ushenko - Lead Guitar
Tyson Maiko - Bass
Kyle Harmon - Drums
Michael Ayotte - Keys

released October 2018

All songs written by Robert Connely Farr except :
Just Jive - written by Jimmy "Duck" Holmes & Robert Connely Farr
Hard Time Killin Floor Blues - written by Nehemiah “Skip” James