Craft Recordings Relaunches HighTone Records With Vinyl Of ‘Tulare Dust’

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Craft Recordings is relaunching HighTone Records and reimagining the genre-spanning label as a curated home for standout releases from the American roots music landscape.

Originally founded in 1983, HighTone’s legacy was built on championing voices across the spectrum of American Roots music through blues, country, rockabilly, gospel and beyond, and the relaunched imprint will offer curated physical and digital releases, playlists, and original editorial content from the original HighTone catalog as well as from labels Rounder, Sugar Hill, Vanguard and more.

The first projects under the new label are the new HighTone Highlights playlist (available to stream now) and the first-ever vinyl pressing of Tulare Dust: A Songwriter’s Tribute to Merle Haggard, arriving Nov. 7. The 1994 album honors Haggard through the lens of Americana’s finest, including Lucinda Williams, Joe Ely, Dwight Yoakam, Dave Alvin and more.

Russell and Alvin not only served as executive producers on the project but were also featured artists on the 15-track set. Russell kicks off the album with a dustbowl medley of “Tulare Dust/They’re Tearin’ the Labor Camps Down.” Alvin, who was a founding member of the Blasters, with stints in X and the Knitters, closes with a moving rendition of the 1985 Top 10 country hit, “Kern River.” In between are 13 inspired performances, including Lucinda Williams on 1964’s “You Don’t Have Very Far to Go,” Dwight Yoakam on a cover of 1974’s “Holding Things Together,” country rocker Steve Young on the plaintive “Shopping for Dresses” (1982), Joe Ely on the trucker anthem, “White Line Fever” (1969), and more.

Tulare Dust also highlights artists outside of the country sphere, including R&B singer Barrence Whitfield, who performs 1972’s “Irma Jackson,” which was controversial at the time of its release and explores themes of interracial romance. Singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw gives 1969’s “Silver Wings” a modern twist, while X’s John Doe performs the bluesy 1969 track, “I Can’t Hold Myself in Line.” Rocker Peter Case (The Nerves, The Plimsouls) also delivers a rendition of the 1977 Top 20 country hit “A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today” on the acclaimed project.

Lorie Hollabaugh
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