Closer to the Bone is the twentieth studio album by Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...

. The album was released on September 29, 2009 on the New West record label.

Kristofferson has said: 'Closer to the Bone is a reflective album. It's about making sense of life at this end of the game." It was originally entitled Starlight and Stone, but Kristofferson changed it to Closer to the Bone as he felt like it was more descriptive of the meaning of the album: "...the closer to the bone you are and the closer to the truth."

The song, "Good Morning John" was written in the 1970s and is about Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

. Kristofferson wrote "Sister Sinead" as a tribute to Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....

. The album is dedicated to Stephen Bruton

Stephen Bruton

-Background:Born in Wilmington, Delaware as Turner Stephen Bruton, he moved with his family to Texas at the age of two. He fell into the Fort Worth music scene after graduating from Texas Christian University when he joined Kris Kristofferson's band as the latter's career was about to take off;...

.

Track listing

(All songs by Kris Kristofferson, except as noted)

1. "Closer to the Bone"
2. "From Here to Forever" (Kristofferson, Stephen Bruton
   Stephen Bruton
   -Background:Born in Wilmington, Delaware as Turner Stephen Bruton, he moved with his family to Texas at the age of two. He fell into the Fort Worth music scene after graduating from Texas Christian University when he joined Kris Kristofferson's band as the latter's career was about to take off;...
   
   , Glen Clark)
3. "Holy Woman"
4. "Starlight and Stone"
5. "Sister Sinead"
6. "Hall of Angels"
7. "Love Don't Live Here Anymore"
8. "Good Morning John"
9. "Tell Me One More Time"
10. "Let the Walls Come Down"
11. "The Wonder"
12. "I Hate Your Ugly Face" (hidden track
    Hidden track
    In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
    
    )

Musicians

• Kris Kristofferson
  Kris Kristofferson
  Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
  
   - vocal
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  , harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  
• Rami Jaffee
  Rami Jaffee
  Rami Jaffee, born March 11, 1969, in Los Angeles, is best known as the keyboardist of The Wallflowers and work for several bands and artists, including Foo Fighters, Pete Yorn, Soul Asylum, Pearl Jam, Stone Sour, Joseph Arthur and Coheed and Cambria....
  
   - keyboard
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  s
• Stephen Bruton
  Stephen Bruton
  -Background:Born in Wilmington, Delaware as Turner Stephen Bruton, he moved with his family to Texas at the age of two. He fell into the Fort Worth music scene after graduating from Texas Christian University when he joined Kris Kristofferson's band as the latter's career was about to take off;...
  
   - guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
• Don Was
  Don Was
  Don Was is an American musician, bassist and record producer.-Life and career:Was was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Oak Park High School in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, then attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor but dropped out after the first year...
  
   - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Jim Keltner
  Jim Keltner
  James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

Chart performance

Chart (2009)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	29
U.S. Billboard 200	167
U.S. Billboard Top Independent Albums	28
Canadian Top Country Albums	19

External links

• Kris Kristofferson|New West Records