Amos Lee, ‘Johnson Blvd’ – Exclusive Song Preview

Amos Lee is preparing to release his fifth studio album in a week, but he's letting readers of The Boot hear another new song early.

'Johnson Blvd' is the lead track from 'Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song,' which is set for release on Oct. 8 via Blue Note Records. Lee's acclaimed 2011 album 'Mission Bell' debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Rock Albums charts, and featured the No. 1 hit single ‘Windows Are Rolled Down.' He approached the new album differently, working with producer Jay Joyce and his road band at Joyce's Nashville studio.

"We started with 'Johnson Blvd.' It was the first song we cut," Lee says. "It was a tune that I felt was real necessary for the album, 'cause I like the way it's written, I like the way we approach it as a band."

The song is a prime example of Joyce's influence on the record. "It came out beautiful. I mean, I'm really happy with it," Lee states. "It's one of the better teamwork effort things between me, the band and Jay, because everybody played their parts really beautifully, and then he went in afterwards, he and Jason went in and really sculpted things and made movements out of the parts that weren't as poignant."

'Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song' is currently available for pre-order at iTunes.