The Texan outlaw country singer Blaze Foley was never a big name during his lifetime, but his legend has grown since he was shot dead in 1989 at the age of 39. Foley has been the subject of tribute songs like Lucinda Williams' "Drunken Angel," and Ethan Hawke directed and starred in the 2018 biopic Blaze. On Friday, we'll get the new tribute album Sittin' With Blaze, which features Foley covers from people like Phosphorescent, John Moreland, and the aforementioned Lucinda Williams. Today, Lucy Dacus shared her own contribution.
Lucy Dacus recently joined Haley Williams at the Newport Folk Festival and played her own guest-heavy set. In the past few months, she has appeared on songs from Smidley, Madi Diaz, and her boygenius bandmate Phoebe Bridgers. For the Blaze Foley tribute comp, Dacus has covered Foley's song "Clay Pigeons," an itinerant acoustic ramble that's already been covered by people like John Prine and Michael Cera. Dacus' all-acoustic version is warm and lovely, and it's fun to hear her sing lyrics that she would've absolutely never written. In a press release, she says:
My friend Max showed me "Clay Pigeons" about six years ago when we were getting to be friends, and it just made such a huge impression on me. On first listen I was like, "This is one of the best songs ever written."
I have turned around and showed it to many people who said, "How have I not heard this yet?" So I feel like by word of mouth this song just has a life of its own, and continues to really make an impression on people. Something I like about it is you can’t tell if he’s giving up and running away from a life or if he’s trying really hard to find a new life. I guess a lot of traveling puts you in between those goals. It’s just wonderful. I hope anyone that hears my version will end up going back to the source material.
Check out her version below.
Sittin' With Blaze is out 8/7 on Lost Art Records.
