FEELING YOUNG!

WITH HIS NEW ALBUM, JESSE COLIN YOUNG GOES FROM PAST TO PRESENT AND BACK AGAIN.

- LEE ZIMMERMAN

By any definition, Jesse Colin Young is an iconic individual. One of the founders of the early essential Americana band The Youngbloods who has also enjoyed a successful solo career, the songs he’s been responsible for over the course of the past 50 years — “Darkness, Darkness,” “Sugar Babe,” “Quicksand,” and in particular, “Get Together” (a song he didn’t write) — have become an indelible part of the lexicon of popular music.

Young’s new album, Highway Troubadour — only his second effort in the past 14 years due to his bout with Lyme disease — revisits several songs from his classic catalog, beginning with “Four in the Morning,” which came from his first solo album, The Soul of a City Boy, continuing through “Quicksand,” culled from the Youngbloods album Elephant Mountain and the track written for his daughter called “Song for Juli.” The trajectory continues through the album’s leadoff tune, “Tripping on My Roots,” the theme song written for his recent series of podcasts.