Eleven Coming Back (2001)

Eleven Coming Back encompasses a century of folk influences from Blind Lemon Jefferson and Clarence Ashley to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly to Kurt Cobain and the Beastie Boys. The album takes its name from the standard “St. James Infirmary” and convincingly mixes American traditional music, original work and recent material from the pop zeitgeist. Produced by antifolk favorite Spencer Chakedis, this album expresses a more earnest soul than Rob’s first, exploring universal themes like lost love, folk infamy and wanderlust. Spencer provides overdubs of lap steel, harmonica, mandolin and bouzouki, and a spare rhythmic track on “The Coo-Coo Bird” is furnished by Matthias Carlson. Recording took place over two dates at Spencer’s original Balloon Heaven studio in Jersey City, providing a quietly haunted atmosphere on tracks like “Polly”, “Buck And A Quarter” and “Stagnate Water”.

Track listing