Havana is John Stewart’s first new CD of studio recordings in five years, a cornucopia of ebullient rockers and bone-deep ballads that have been road-tested and honed before rabid audiences of “Bloodliners,” as John’s fans are known, across the country and in overseas Stewart strongholds such as the United Kingdom.

Since his apprenticeship in the “college folk” group the Kingston Trio, Stewart has created his own distinctive style of Americana, a mixture of folk, rock, hints of country and bluegrass, and a repertoire of memorable original songs that have provided hits for such diverse artists as The Monkees, Anne Murray, Rosanne Cash, and even a Top 5 single and Top 10 album for John himself (1979’s “Gold” and Bombs Away Dream Babies, respectively).

Havana features fourteen memorable Stewart originals that ponder modern life and materialism (“Davey on the Internet,” “Who Stole the Soul of Johnny Dreams”), mortality and existentialism (“Dogs in the Bed,” “Starman”), personal and public heroes (“I Want to Be Elvis,” “Turn of the Century [Diana],” about the late Princess of Wales), love (“Miracle Girl,” about wife and singing partner Buffy Ford Stewart, “Cowboy in the Distance”), and the mysteries of existence (“Star in the Black Sky Shining,” “Rally Down the Night”). John tackles these emotions with unquenched wonder and hard-won experience, a wry cynicism forged by reality but tempered with optimism based on faith in the individual. The one non-original composition on the CD is John’s interpretation of the standard “Lucky Old Sun,” a hit in 1949 for Frankie Laine that has since been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Pat Boone, Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Nelson and many more.

Havana (the title refers to the CD’s last song, “Waiting for Castro to Die,” expressing John’s fascination for forbidden Cuba) was produced and mixed by John, who also plays most of the instruments (guitars, banjo, bass, harmonica, keyboards, percussion). His accompanists include wife Buffy Stewart Ford on harmonies and percussion (her backing vocals on “Turn of the Century” make the ear hunger for the song’s chorus) and longtime sideman John Hoke on drums and percussion. Rich, bright layers of ringing guitars, propulsive rhythms (check out the rollicking “Davey on the Internet,” for example), dollops of banjo, lyrics ranging from thoughtful to playful, and John’s wise, seasoned vocals add up to another great CD from a frequently overlooked but major musical talent.

other releases:

..The Day the River Sang

....................UnderUWires From the Bunker

Darwin's Army

also appears on:

The Songs of Pete Seeger Vol 1 Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Sowing the Seeds - The 10th Anniversary