Changing Horses is the fourth studio album by Ben Kweller

Ben Kweller

Ben Kweller is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.-Early life:Ben Kweller was born in San Francisco, CA in 1981. In 1982, his family relocated to Emory, Texas, where his father, Howard Kweller, became the town's first doctor. In 1986, the Kwellers moved to a much larger city,...

, which was expected for release in September 2008 but was eventually released on February 2, 2009 in Europe and February 3 2009 in the United States. Kweller has described the new album as being more Country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 in style than his previous releases. The album features his rhythm section Chris Morrissey (bass) and Mark Stepro (drums). It also debuts the talents of Kitt Kitterman, Kweller's manager, who plays pedal steel guitar

Pedal steel guitar

The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...

 and Dobro

Dobro

Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...

. On November 23, 2008, the full album leaked onto the Internet. In a statement, ATO Records

ATO Records

According to Our Records was founded in early 2000 by Dave Matthews , Coran Capshaw, Chris Tetzeli, and Michael McDonald as a division of RCA Records...

 said the leak was not the final version of the album. The song "Hurtin' You" was debuted on Stereogum

Stereogum

Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...

. The whole album was made available to stream exclusively on Last.fm

Last.fm

Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....

.

Track listing

1. "Gypsy Rose" – 4:56
2. "Old Hat" – 4:12
3. "Fight" – 2:54
4. "Hurtin' You" – 2:47
5. "Ballad of Wendy Baker" – 3:58
6. "Sawdust Man" – 4:12
7. "Wantin' Her Again" – 2:42
8. "Things I Like to Do" – 2:09
9. "On Her Own" – 4:01
10. "Homeward Bound" – 3:50

Personnel

• Ben Kweller - Lead Vocal, Guitar, & Piano
• Kitt Kitterman - Pedal Steel & Dobro
• Mark Stepro - Drums & Backing Vocal
• Chris Morrissey - Bass & Backing Vocal

• "Fight" piano by Riley Osbourn
• "On Her Own" electric guitar by Greg Combs
• "Hurtin' You" bass/backing vocals by Josh Lattanzi,drums by Ben Kweller, and backing vocals by The Pierces
• "Ballad of Wendy Baker" strings by The Tosca String Quartet, arr. by Ben Kweller
• "Sawdust Man" claps by Steve Mazur, Rob Niederpruem, and Ben Kweller; percussion by Ben Kweller and Fred Remmert

Production Notes

• Produced by Ben Kweller
• Recorded by Steve Mazur
• Mixed by Ben Kweller and Steve Mazur
• Mastered by Fred Kavorkian