About

Born and bred in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley, Ted Nunes has been writing and performing his music for the past twenty-five years. After releasing the EP High Fences (2014) with his band Richfield, Nunes spent the next six years writing and recording his debut solo album, San Joaquin. With his own distinct voice and style, his music draws from the stew of great singer-songwriters such as John Prine and Townes Van Zandt, but with the communal concerns and larger sonic landscape of the Grateful Dead. As he explains, “As a teenager I got into the Grateful Dead and picked up a guitar at 17. When I started writing I was trying to create songs that could be found on the albums American Beauty or Workingman’s Dead. It was through the Grateful Dead that I discovered Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan. Through Dylan I discovered Woody Guthrie and the folk scene. I’ve always described my songs as Americana. I’m too country for indie acts and too indie for country.” As to the Inspiration behind his debut release, Nunes admits, “This album is a chronological story about letting go and finding yourself again. Something I’ve had to do many times in my life.”

 

San Joaquin was recorded in Visalia, California, with the collaboration of producer Joe Costa (Nashville) using Costa’s family farm as a studio, and including longtime bandmates, Allan Benton on bass, Daniel Burt on drums, and Jordan Rosen on pedal steel.