Steve Gunn wanders down abandoned train tracks in new NPR Field Recording

This past June, Steve Gunn released Eyes On The Lines, an album featuring frequent references to travel and lonesomeness. In his new Field Recording with NPR, Gunn performs stripped-down selections from that album on top of abandoned train tracks in Queens. It’s intimate and serene, and you’d be hard-pressed to think of a more on-the-nose space for these songs to exist.The often electrified folk rock explorations on Eyes On The Lines are thrown out here in favor of simple acoustic guitar and vocals, illuminating the gorgeous finger-picked melodies at the core of these songs.

Gunn kicks things off with the intricate, descending figures of “Full Moon Tide” as blotches of sunlight hemorrhage through the trees. Then, he travels deeper into the woods for “Night Wander”, which details a dream he had about wandering the streets at night with a stray cat. if you don’t think that’s adorable, then close this browser window right now and go back to your unlit fireplace, because you’re literally Ebeneezer Scrooge, but if you do, then you’ll be equally as smitten with the plaintive closer, “Ark”. This may have been recorded over the summer, but it’s pastoral beauty is a perfect companion for the well-deserved fall weather we’re finally getting. Stream the session below.