Gritty, incisive, story-songs filled with the details of rough lives hardened on the wrong side of the tracks. The songs reveal Bell as a lyricist worthy of ranking alongside such modern-day heroes as Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell.

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, COUNTRY: Alt-Country



Details:
Songwriter-singer/guitarist Nathan Bell toured the US and Canada throughout the '80s, playing at clubs, concert halls, and (as a member of the duo, Bell and Shore) most of the premier North American acoustic music festivals, including the Walnut Valley Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the Mariposa Folk Festival. His work on acoustic, National steel-bodied, and electric guitars was often overshadowed by his songwriting, which is an amalgamation of ideas inspired by writers ranging from Jack London, William Faulkner, and the poet Marvin Bell to Townes Van Zandt and southern short-story master Larry Brown.

He stopped touring in 1992 and with the arrival of his first child in 1995 left the business altogether to concentrate on raising a growing family.

During the '80s Bell shared the stage with Emmylou Harris, Eddie and Martha Adcock, Stompin' Tom Connors, Townes Van Zandt, Kathy Mattea, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Ricky Skaggs, and a whole cast of scofflaws and gypsies from the folk and bluegrass archipelago. During the early '90s he was a staff writer for Ten Ten Music in Nashville and was regularly featured at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe, often as part of the "writers in the round" series with many notable songwriters, including Grammy-Award winner Don Henry, Craig Bickhardt, and CMA award nominee Angela Kaset.

In 1991, he recorded an album of songs with producer/guitarist Richard Bennett (Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Marty Stuart) that was never released.


"He plays in tune and he always shows up on time."
-- Keith Dempster (owner of The Mill, Iowa City, Iowa)

Previous Work

"L-Ranko Motel could very well be the best country record this year. And the songs -- polaroids of real moments, of people with nails cracked from hard work -- show that passion comes in many forms"

Pulse Magazine- 1989

""L-Ranko Motel," the second effort by the Iowa husband and wife team of Nathan Bell and Susan Shore, is one of those increasingly rare finds: an unpretentious, unified set of literate and witty songs, impeccably performed. It's fairly bursting with soulful country rock worthy of comparison to such classic pairings as Richard and Linda Thompson or Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.

Bell's songs rove all over the prairie, ranging from wistful ballads like "Blue Is the Color of Regret" to triple-speed toe tappers like "The Day Crazy Bobby Ran the Dirt Track in the Nude." Peopled with drinkers and fighters, lovers and flings, these carefully drawn tales are united by a strong sense of character, story and emotion...

Rolling Stone-Magazine 1989