Contraband Love

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Larry Campbell and singer/guitarist Teresa Williams had long provided musical firepower for some of the most influential artists in American roots music, including Levon Helm, Bob Dylan, Mavis Staples, Little Feat, Phil Lesh and Friends, and Rosanne Cash. When the duo stepped into the spotlight in 2015 with their Red House Records debut, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, the response was immediate. The album reached the top of the Americana radio charts, while MOJO called them “The first couple of Americana” and Uncut awarded it 9/10 stars, praising its “regal harmonies” and comparisons to Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons.

In January 2017, Campbell and Williams returned to the studio with a new collection of Campbell originals to begin work on their follow-up, Contraband Love. Once again working with longtime collaborator, drummer, and engineer Justin Guip, they brought bassist Jesse Murphy into the lineup, expanding the rhythmic foundation of the band while preserving the intimate, roots-driven chemistry that had defined their debut.

Recorded as a close-knit ensemble, Contraband Love captures the spontaneity and musical trust that comes from years of performing together. Rather than building the songs entirely through layers of overdubs, Campbell and Williams relied on the natural interaction between the musicians, allowing the arrangements to develop organically around Campbell’s guitar work and Williams’ expressive vocals. Guip’s engineering helps preserve the warmth and immediacy of the performances, giving the album both the polish of a carefully crafted studio recording and the feeling of musicians responding to one another in real time.

The new album represents a significant leap forward for Campbell and Williams as they delve even more deeply into their shared musical and life experience. Williams delivers stunning performances on Campbell originals including “Contraband Love” and “Save Me From Myself,” while her interpretive gifts shine on two unexpected covers: Carl Perkins’ “Turn Around,” featuring drumming by Levon Helm from one of his final recording sessions, and “My Sweetie Went Away,” a song written in 1923 and later popularized by Bessie Smith.

Campbell gets plenty of opportunities to display both his extraordinary guitar playing and commanding vocals. High-octane originals such as “Hit & Run Driver” and “The Wishing Well” showcase his instrumental firepower, while the soulful ballad “When I Stop Loving You,” co-written with Stax Records songwriting legend and Grammy winner William Bell, reveals a more vulnerable side of his writing and performance.

Building on the foundation of their debut, Contraband Love is an album of adventurous songwriting, powerful interpretations of blues and gospel traditions, and extraordinary musicianship. At its heart are the voices of Teresa Williams and Larry Campbell—sometimes tender, sometimes raw, and often achingly vulnerable—as they explore the emotional turbulence of love, betrayal, desire, and redemption.