Red Earth (Crash Vegas album)

Red Earth
Studio album by Crash Vegas
Released	1989
Studio	E.S.P., New Orleans, Louisiana The Lab, Hamilton, Ontario
Genre	Indie/Folk rock
Length	42:29
Label	Risque Disque
Producer	Malcolm Burn
Crash Vegas chronology
Red Earth (1989) Stone (1993)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Red Earth is the debut album by Canadian indie band Crash Vegas. It was released by Risque Disque, a label formed by Blue Rodeo. Greg Keelor, one of Blue Rodeo's musicians, collaborated with Michelle McAdorey and co-wrote some of the music for the album, and also provided guitar performances for the recorded version of the songs "Red Earth" and "The One That Keeps Me Running".^[2] The band toured in support of the album in 1990, and again from late 1991 to mid-1992. The second tour included opening act Junkhouse, which became increasingly popular as a result of this exposure.

The album is typically described as melancholic and brooding folk rock, with a style reminiscent of Cowboy Junkies or 10,000 Maniacs.^[3] It was primarily recorded at The Lab, a studio in Hamilton operated by the band's then-bassist Jocelyne Lanois, formerly of Martha & The Muffins,^[2] and her partner Malcolm Burn.^[4]

Songs that received notable airplay on Canadian radio included "Sky", "Smoke" and "Inside Out", which became a Top 20 hit in Canada.^[5] It also includes a cover of "Down to the Wire" from the unreleased album Stampede by Buffalo Springfield, which first appeared on the album Decade by Neil Young.^[3][5]

Performers for the recorded album, in addition to the band members and Keelor, include Malcolm Burn, who played piano, keyboard, percussion and provided backing vocals; Sammy Vegas, lead guitar on "Down to the Wire", and Anne Bourne on keyboards for "Red Earth".