Cory Chisel's "Born Again" With Members of the Raconteurs: Exclusive Debut

Cory Chisel was born and raised in Wisconsin, and his band the Wandering Sons' hearty folk-rock emanates the might and dust of American grit. So it makes sense a handful of bluesy vets show up on their September 29th debut Death Won't Send a Letter — My Morning Jacket's Carl Broemel as well as the Raconteurs' Jack Lawrence, Brendon Benson and Patrick Keeler. The latter pair also make appearances in the video for "Born Again," which is premiering right here (click above to watch).

Benson co-wrote "Born Again" and plays bass, while Keeler handles drums. Brian Lazzaro directed the clip, which features a bathtub baptism, a stirring organ line and a melody that's deceptively time-worn. Death Won't Send a Letter was recorded with Joe Chiccarelli (the Shins, White Stripes) at Nashville's Blackbird Studios.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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