Rodney Crowell brings new acoustic work, and maybe a little Christmas, to Frankfort

This time last year, Rodney Crowell was, by his own admission, “in a bad way.” A then-undisclosed illness caused the cancellation of his entire fall touring schedule, forcing the veteran country/Americana songsmith on a full regimen of rest. The condition was later revealed to be dysautonomia, a malfunction of the nervous system that can affect heart rate, blood pressure and even breathing.

Luckily, 2018 has been a year of renewal. With his condition under control, Crowell released an album called “Acoustic Classics” that revisits compositions from his 40-plus year recording career in a way that approximates the unplugged setting he will perform in Friday at the Grand Theatre in Frankfort. On top of that is the release – on this very day, no less – of a holiday album called “Christmas Everywhere” that is definitely not your everyday seasonal recording.

“I’m working on yet another record right now that I’m actually going to have to delay releasing for awhile because I’ve been putting out so much stuff,” Crowell said. “But it just seems that in my particular life, even while I was dealing with a complex health issue, I was writing songs and expressing myself. So, yeah, this is a good time for me creatively because I don’t feel like I’m shooting in the dark anymore. I feel like I’m able to accomplish what I want to accomplish within the process of writing, the process of recording and the process of performing.

“I am, dare I say, better at it than I ever was before.”

The “Acoustic Classics” record is exactly that – a sampler of 12 Crowell favorites that include “Earthbound,” “She’s Crazy for Leaving” and “I Ain’t Living Long Like This” – with trimmed arrangements that freshen the songs’ lyrical and instrumental vitality. Two of the album’s players, guitarist Joe Robinson and violinist Eamon McLoughlin, will accompany Crowell at the Grand.

“The idea wasn’t mine,” he said. “My management company wanted me to do acoustic versions of some of my more famous songs. Well, famous may not be the best word – maybe recognizable or memorable or whatever. I thought, ‘Hmm. OK. That I could do.’ If I did it all acoustically, it would not involve trying to reinvent something I have already done. The other part of it was we could do it live in the studio. I did that record with the guys in two days. It was good fun. That’s mainly what I’m looking for at this stage of the game – things that are fun for me.”

Fun, in sometimes bittersweet and even twisted ways, sits squarely at the heart of “Christmas Everywhere,” a record that eschews traditional carols and well worn holiday tunes in favor of 12 new Crowell works that view the holidays in often sobering terms, from the roadhouse rumble of “Let’s Skip Christmas This Year” to the stark displacement but steadfast romance of “Christmas in New York.”

“First and foremost, there is no reason for me to make a Christmas album of the standard classic Christmas songs. In my case, it was about accentuating your strength and my strength has always been writing songs. So my goal was, ‘I’m going to write 12 original Christmas songs, make a Christmas album and enjoy the process.’ The real impetus was not going to go for sentimentality. I was going to try to get as real as I could. I was going to write about the sadness and loneliness at Christmas, but also about the sweetness of it, too. Sometimes I’m irreverent. At other times, I’m very reverent about it. And sometimes, the record is just plain egg nog fun.”

Despite their seeming differences, “Acoustic Classics” and “Christmas Everywhere” are snapshots of the present day Crowell. The former may sport older compositions but with arrangements and performance that reflect his concert profile today. “Christmas Everywhere” deviates completely from tradition, enforcing a perspective on the holiday season, warts and all, that is entirely distinct.

“Whoever the audience is, whatever they perceive, whether they are fixated on me in 1989 or 2003 or 2006, it’s 2018 for me. I’m the only one that’s been there the whole time, so I know what it’s like for me now. My skills and my ability to accomplish what I want to accomplish consciously – and, sometimes, unconsciously — are just easier to access. So therefore, I have never had any more fun doing what I do. If I maintain my health, then I can go on with this for awhile.”

If you go:

Rodney Crowell

When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2

Where: Grand Theatre, 308 St Clair St. in Frankfort

Tickets: $25-$40

Call: 502-352-7469 online: grandtheatrefrankfort.org, rodneycrowell.com