Stampede
Orville Peck rounds up more than a few of his most talented friends on *Stampede*, a collaborative collection with one hell of a guest list. The enigmatic, masked country singer opens the record with a Willie Nelson-assisted cover of Ned Sublette’s clever, queer 1981 song “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other,” which Nelson famously recorded in 2006. Elton John joins Peck for a spirited take on the former’s 1973 hit “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting),” with Peck’s Roy Orbison-esque croon a dramatic counterpoint to John’s masterful belt. Peck and Allison Russell make formidable partners on “Chemical Sunset,” with a loose, jazzy arrangement that’s one of the project’s better grooves. Bluegrass virtuoso Molly Tuttle and her band Golden Highway get things loose and rootsy on “Papa Was a Rodeo,” a cover of the winking Magnetic Fields song off the band’s seminal *69 Love Songs*. Margo Price assists Peck on the impeccably titled “You’re an Asshole, I Can’t Stand You (And I Want a Divorce),” an original song that manages to be both funny and wrenching. And Peck closes the project with an extra-special cover of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” performing the song with three other out, gay country artists: TJ Osborne, Fancy Hagood, and Waylon Payne.
Mining the American songbook and myriad styles, Peck proves a generous duettist, with Willie Nelson and Allison Russell his standout partners
Stampede by Orville Peck album review by David Saxum for Northern Transmissions. The artist's album is now available via Warner and DSPs