About Westerns
Westerns was a landmark record for me. I'd just won the Spur Award for Best First Novel from the Western Writers of America for the Spanish Peaks, and I decided to produce a theme song for the book. It took off from there. I began to collect a few songs I'd been editing, plus a bunch of new tunes, weaving them into a near-literary 'aural library,' a recording filled with mini-westerns. I'd recorded several tunes over the pervious year or two at Studio Bear Creek in Evergreen before John Macy set up a small studio in my home, where I recorded my acoustic guitars, harmonicas and vocals for the new tunes. We started tracking players and singers at several other studios, and WESTERNS was born.
Praise for Westerns
" Chandler emerges as the best western songsmith since Ian Tyson on this incredibly diverse and accomplished set of trail tales. From tender love ballads and wistful homefire longings to wild wails of frontier dysfunction and a blisteringly personal criticism of the oft-idealized Jesse James. Chandler's lovingly crafted songs cover a wide territory of moods and subgenres."
- Los Angeles Daily News
Chandler has forged a new synthesis - music of the West, honeyed by yearnings, disappointment, and fulfillment. Songs born out of an unparalleled landscape of lonely prairies, snow-covered peaks and shattered dreams. Westerns' message announced clearly there's a new and significant interpretation of the West through music today."
- Persimmon Hill
- Los Angeles Daily News
Chandler has forged a new synthesis - music of the West, honeyed by yearnings, disappointment, and fulfillment. Songs born out of an unparalleled landscape of lonely prairies, snow-covered peaks and shattered dreams. Westerns' message announced clearly there's a new and significant interpretation of the West through music today."
- Persimmon Hill
Westerns Track Listing
1. He was No Hero
2. The Spanish Peaks
3. The Mustang Roan
4. Nancy's Eyes
5. Pineywood Mountains
6. Wagon Wheel Gap
7. Lady's Got Blues (In Her Eyes)
8. Snow Sky
9. Tiny Promises
10. The Dreams Die Hard
11. The Plain of Illium
12. A Cowboy's Christmas
13. Whisper His Name
14. Crazy Woman Creek
15. Forevermore
16. The Spanish Speaks (Reprise)
2. The Spanish Peaks
3. The Mustang Roan
4. Nancy's Eyes
5. Pineywood Mountains
6. Wagon Wheel Gap
7. Lady's Got Blues (In Her Eyes)
8. Snow Sky
9. Tiny Promises
10. The Dreams Die Hard
11. The Plain of Illium
12. A Cowboy's Christmas
13. Whisper His Name
14. Crazy Woman Creek
15. Forevermore
16. The Spanish Speaks (Reprise)