In his new full-length CD release, Tired Ghostly Town (out May 21 on Plan-It-X South), Chicago-based songwriter and instrumentalist Al Scorch and his backing band, the Country Soul Ensemble craft literate, character-driven songs with Mid-American roots and a post-punk DIY attitude.

The protagonist wishing for a pair of gold cuff links to accompany his beau to her daddy’s funeral; the deserting Civil War soldier headed across destroyed cotton fields beckoning to “Miss Rosie”; or a hearse driver bound for the cemetery accompanied by a sonorous clarinet.  Scorch doesn’t just introduce these denizens, he inhabits them delivering jubilant anthems and poignant reflections in 10 songs populated with a cast of vibrant characters that has drawn comparisons to artists like William Elliot Whitmore.

Download Working Dream here.

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