Holy Camaro

Austin Lucas has come home.Its been over two decades since the songwriter packed his bags and left Bloomington, Indiana, theMidwestern town where he spent his childhood years falling in love with rock & roll, embracing his punkroots, and standing his ground whenever intolerant locals didnt understand his way of life. He returns tothat placeboth creatively and physicallywith his seventh studio album, Immortal Americans. Writtenafter a tumultuous period that found Lucas getting sober, supporting his partner through a battle withcancer, and breaking up with his longtime record label, Immortal Americans is a clear-eyed album formurkier times, rooted in stripped-down heartland rock songs that find the artist reflecting upon thechanges in both his hometown and himself.Co-produced by Lucas and Will Johnson (Centro-matic) and recorded/engineered by Steve Albini andcaptured in a series of live, full-band performances, Immortal Americans was written after Lucas resettledin Bloomington. Hed been away for years, touring the world as an independent solo artist before signinga record deal with New West in 2013. In many ways, the albums he released during that period werereflections of the music hed grown up with, from the mountain music of his father (bluegrass musicianBob Lucas) to the punk records that soundtracked his teenage years. Appropriately, Lucas earned afanbase as a folksinger with punk rootsor was it the other way around?while touring the country withartists who represented both ends of that spectrum, sharing shows with Willie Nelson one minute andChuck Ragan the next.Somewhere along the way, his vices began to get the best of him. He started drinking too much. Hegained weight. His marriage crumbled. Albums like 2013s cowpunk-inspired Stay Reckless and 2016sBetween the Moon and the Midwest shone a light on those challenges, tackling everything from divorce todepression. When Lucas hit rock bottom though, he stopped writing about his temptations and instead,left them behind for good. He headed back to southern Indiana, resettling himself in a town that hadchanged considerably since he left.There, in a region suffering from an opioid epidemic, an HIV crisis, and a homelessness problem, Lucasfocused on rebuilding his career and his body. He got sober, shedding more than 100 pounds. Herecounted the stories of his youth, where, as an outsider in a small town, he dodged beer cans hurled bypassing drivers. As he once more walked the Bloomington streets, he learned to embrace his own fightingspirit again. The albums title track, Immortal Americans, emerged from that period of self-discovery