Country star Hal Ketchum plays the hits and some songs from his new album Father Time (out 9/9) at the Iron Horse this Wednesday night at 7PM

Hal Ketchum recorded his new album, Father Time, without a net. He amassed more than a dozen new original songs plus a dream team of musicians and entered the studio to record the album live to two-track. There were no overdubs and only a few second takes. 'When I went into this project, my mentality was that this is either going to work or not,' Ketchum says. But at the end of the first day, with nine songs finished, he knew the experiment was a success.

The album contains 13 Ketchum-penned songs plus a cover of Tom Waits' 'Jersey Girl,' and hits stores on September 9. It's the album that Ketchum's talents have promised since he burst onto the country music scene in 1991 claiming the #1 spot with his very first single, 'Small Town Saturday Night.'

Reared in upstate New York in a musical family, Ketchum played drums in R&B bar bands at a young age, but discovered his real calling upon his move to New Braunfels, Texas - just a stone's throw from the legendary Gruene Hall, the old dance hall that has become the mother church of the Texas music scene. He didn't know about the venue at the time, but one day followed the sounds of live music up a hill. 'And there,' he says, 'was Gruene Hall in all its glory, with Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel playing.' Ketchum became a mainstay of the hall and later released an indie album (Threadbare Alibis) that brought him to the attention of Curb Records. Since his first Curb release, 1991's Past the Point of Rescue, he has distinguished himself as a bona fide hitmaker, with 15 Top 10 singles to his credit and five million albums sold.

'It's a coming of age,' he says of the new album. 'This is what I do. I have a desire to be remembered as an artist, and whether somebody discovers this record today or 25 or 30 years from now, I want them to listen to this album and go ‘Yeah, I understand.' The motivation here was to leave a little trail all my own.'

Ketchum's friend Neil Diamond wrote in the liner notes, 'I find it impossible to listen to it without smiling at the sheer exuberance of these tracks.'

Some tickets are left for this show but they won't last and I'm not hyping you here. It's this Wednesday, August 20th (damn! is summer done?) Doors and dinner from 5:30. Show starts at 7PM with the always wonderful Tracy Grammer.

Music for me is a language like no other; it is my channel of authenticity. I know I'd only be telling half the truth without it..”
- Tracy Grammer