Most musicians take a while to hit their stride. They experiment and, over time, cast aside ideas and projects as they discover new paths. So, it is rare to see a concept hold a
musician on track for almost a decade as they seek to realize their vision. But Julian Primeaux has done just that.
He has been working on his “three records in one year” paean to the human heart and its ways since 2013. With his newest release, “Songs for the Heart of Sister Flute,” he is two-thirds of the way to his goal, even if he didn’t meet his original deadline.
“This latest record is the second one,” Primeaux said, talking by phone as he burned up the miles between Baton Rouge and Texas between gigs. “I didn’t give up on it. There were a lot of things that I didn’t foresee when I started working on it in 2013.”
Although the recording process started then, the songs — and the concept for the trilogy — were already written. “I had the songs before,” Primeaux said. “They were all recorded at the same time. But then I started touring in Europe. It got really busy touring out there.”
Each portion of the trilogy was set to have a different mood. The first part, “This Guilded, Swaying Heart,” encompassed the wild rock and roll spirit that Primeaux displayed best during
his years with The Howdies, a four-piece roots rock outfit that blazed across the region’s stage for five years.
With the second installment, “Songs for the Heart of Sister Flute,” Primeaux digs deeper into the rich cultural soil of the South, pulling up the gospel roots he remembers from his childhood. “There’s a lot of old gospel stuff in there,” Primeaux said.
“I still like all that stuff, too. It’s just like this part of my background that I grew up with. It’s always been there.”
Tempering the gospel flourishes, Primeaux also does more exploration of the blues, which he has been immersed in since birth as the son of local bluesman and harp player, A.J. Primeaux.
“This is kind of bluesier, more slide guitar, that whole sort of deal,” Primeaux said. “It’s somewhat in the same wheelhouse. It’s got some Americana in it, but with more of a blues angle.”