''Red Earth'' is the debut album by Canadian indie band Crash Vegas. It was released by Risque Disque, a label formed by Blue Rodeo. Greg Keelor, one of Blue Rodeo's musicians, collaborated with Michelle McAdorey and co-wrote some of the music for the album, and also provided guitar performances for the recorded version of the songs "Red Earth" and "The One That Keeps Me Running". The band toured in support of the album in 1990, and again from late 1991 to mid-1992. The second tour included opening act

Junkhouse Junkhouse is a Canadian rock band, formed during 1989 in Hamilton, Ontario. They released three albums during the 1990s, which spawned numerous charting singles in Canada. They initially disbanded in 1998, and have performed occasional shows afte ...

, which became increasingly popular as a result of this exposure. The album is typically described as melancholic and brooding

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

, with a style reminiscent of Cowboy Junkies or 10,000 Maniacs. It was primarily recorded at The Lab, a studio in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

operated by the band's then-bassist Jocelyne Lanois, formerly of Martha & The Muffins, and her partner Malcolm Burn. Songs that received notable airplay on Canadian radio included "Sky", "Smoke" and "Inside Out", which became a Top 20 hit in Canada. It also includes a cover of "Down to the Wire" from the unreleased album ''Stampede'' by

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a Canadian-American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin (musician), Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely know ...

, which first appeared on the album ''

Decade A decade (from , , ) is a period of 10 years. Decades may describe any 10-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement ...

'' by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

. Performers for the recorded album, in addition to the band members and Keelor, include Malcolm Burn, who played

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, keyboard,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

and provided backing vocals; Sammy Vegas, lead guitar on "Down to the Wire", and Anne Bourne on keyboards for "Red Earth".

Track listing

# "Red Earth" (Greg Keelor, Michelle McAdorey) – 4:06 # "Down to the Wire" (Neil Young) – 2:59 # "Sky" (Colin Cripps, Michelle McAdorey) – 3:39 # "Smoke" (Greg Keelor, Michelle McAdorey) – 4:20 # "I Gave You My Heart" (Ambrose Pottie, Greg Keelor, Jocelyne Lanois, Michelle McAdorey)– 3:15 # "The One That Keeps Me Running" (Colin Cripps) – 4:58 # "Moving Too Fast" (Greg Keelor, Michelle McAdorey) – 3:31 # "Inside Out" (Greg Keelor, Michelle McAdorey) – 3:50 # "Julia Rain" (Colin Cripps, Michelle McAdorey) – 3:17 # "It's Not Funny Anymore" (Jocelyne Lanois, Malcolm Burn) – 3:45 # "Bury Her" (Colin Cripps, Michelle McAdorey) – 4:06

References

{{Authority control Crash Vegas albums 1989 debut albums Albums produced by Malcolm Burn