Trucking tunes

The new album, “Songs From a Truck,” is exactly that.

OOIDA member “Long Haul” Paul Marhoefer teamed up on the 11-track album with longtime collaborator James “Tex” Crowley, who engineered the in-cab recording.

In a Fort Worth, Texas, parking lot on a warm February afternoon, the cab of a Moeller Trucking Peterbilt became Marhoefer’s recording studio.

“We wanted people to have the sense that they were hanging out at the truck,” Marhoefer said. “Like back in the day when you were laid up somewhere and you sit there and listen to music. The tracks are definitely field recordings, but we cleaned them up for people to enjoy.”

The three-hour recording session also featured a video as Marhoefer has made a practice of providing a visual component to his music in the digital age.

While satisfied with the result, the outdoor venture presented unique challenges, mainly the weather.

“It didn’t take long to record, but since it was so warm that day, we had to run the A/C in the truck,” Marhoefer said.

Not only was the process different, but the music, which features a guitar, harmonica and Marhoefer’s vocals, is also a departure from the “Americana” sound his fans are used to hearing.

“The songs are really raw and stripped down,” Marhoefer said. “This music is more about my relationship with my wife and the hardships of life. When you’ve been married to someone for almost 40 years, there comes a time when you cherish the hardships of your early years together. We even cherish the arguments.”

Fittingly, Marhoefer’s wife, Denise, was there in person to hear the recordings.

A documentary Marhoefer watched about songwriter Bob Frank was also a catalyst for the release of a new sound.

“Bob Frank is known as the greatest songwriter you never heard,” Marhoefer said. “He had a problem with timing. He waited to release all the music he wrote for his wife until after she died,” Marhoefer said. “I have all these songs that may never be released, and I didn’t want to have the same problem.”

Of the 11 tracks on the album, Marhoefer said “She Never Was Nothin” was a favorite of his.

“I think that song came out the best and just really looks back on a lot of years,” he said. LL