Eagle Rock Entertainment will reissue Mark Collie & His Reckless Companions: Alive At Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary on Oct. 14. The project will be released on CD, vinyl and digital formats.
Collie will support the release with a signing and appearance on the Grand Ole Opry that day. The album was originally issued by an independent label in 2012, after more than a decade of being in the vault at MCA Nashville.
Collie recorded the album in 2001 at the Tennessee prison with guests Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Shawn Camp and Kelly Willis. The Brushy Mountain Prison Choir appears on the final track, “Gospel Train.” The prison closed in 2009.
Collie’s band on the project includes guitarist Dave Grissom, keyboardist Mike Utley, guitarist-mandolinst Tommy Burroughs, accordionist Hassle Tekkle, bassist Willie Weeks, and drummer Chad Cromwell. Camp playes guitar and fiddle on the album in addition to taking lead vocals on two tracks.
“God gave me the opportunity to get in there and share something that might make a difference,” Collie said. “I believed the songs could matter. I wanted to make something that people could find hope in, or redemption, or restoration, or forgiveness.”
Collie has penned songs for Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Aaron Tippin, George Jones, and Alabama. In the early 1990s, he enjoyed Top 10 country hits on MCA Nashville with “Even the Man in the Moon Is Cryin’” and “Born to Love You.” He appears as bar owner Frankie Gray on the series Nashville.
Alive At Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary Track List
1. “I Could’ve Gone Right”
2. “Maybe Mexico”
3. “Heaven Bound” (featuring Kelly Willis)
4. “Got A Feelin’ For Ya” (featuring Kelly Willis)
5. “On The Day I Die”
6. “Dead Man Runs Before He Walks” (featuring Shawn Camp)
7. “Rose Covered Garden”
8. “Why Me Lord” (featuring Kelly Willis)
9. “Do As I Say”
10. “Someday My Luck Will Change” (featuring Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown)
11. “Folsom Prison Blues”
12. “Reckless Companions”
13. “Gospel Train” (featuring Brushy Mountain Prison Choir)
