Folk and roots singer/songwriter Edward David Anderson will be back in Bloomington-Normal this week, playing an album release concert at the Normal Theater on Friday, Sept. 20. The show also marks 30 years since EDA released his first single, Firefly, on cassette.
Anderson has maintained a regular presence in the Twin Cities, despite moving away years ago. His new record, Still the River, reflects more than three years spent living in Havana with his wife and young daughter, Ella, before moving again to the driftless region of Wisconsin this spring. He spent a lot of time on the road with Backyard Tire Fire too, and a fruitful summer in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. But Anderson knew Bloomington-Normal was the place to celebrate these dual milestones.
“This is a special place for me,” Anderson said in an interview for WGLT’s Sound Ideas. He came to Illinois State University for graduate school, getting dual educations by gigging in the local music scene and forming Brother Jed and Backyard Tire Fire in Bloomington. Anderson released his first solo album in 2013 after BTF disbanded, forming a new band, Black Dirt Revival, so-named for Central Illinois' fertile ground.
“This place was a place where I learned how to play music and write songs,” he said. “The journey that I’ve been on and the path that I’ve taken was very affected by this place. I think it probably could have happened somewhere else, but I’m glad that it happened here.”
Friday’s event includes a new short documentary called Let it Shine about Anderson’s career, followed by an on-stage Q & A before a full band playing Still the River front to back. The self-produced record, which Anderson mixed and mastered himself from a studio on their Havana homestead, was made possible with support from the Illinois Arts Council.
“We liked the idea of having some land and maybe a little more control of our environment,” he said. “We found this incredible piece of property and this old farmhouse that sat on a certified bird and butterfly sanctuary. All of that sort of seeps into this record—the birds, everything. It was a fertile time for me.”
At age 52, Anderson has scaled back his time on the road, despite a 2019 Backyard Tire Fire reunion that yielded new music and some fresh tour dates. He goes out occasionally with the Grateful Dead tribute band Alabama Getaway too, but finds himself wanting to be home more and present with his family. Still the River is not just about Havana; it’s about time and fatherhood, with traces of nostalgia coursing through the lyrics and an Americana folk sound that’s matured since Firefly. Matured, but not missing the essence of that grad student gigging in Bloomington-Normal's basements and bars.
Edward David Anderson’s 30th anniversary concert and Still the River album launch takes place Friday, Sept. 20, at the Normal Theater, 209 W. North St., Normal. Tickets are $20-$22 at the door and normaltheater.com.
