After crisscrossing the nation for the last half-decade looking for a home,PokeyLaFargefound himself in Mid-Coast Maine. Upon arriving, the Illinois-born singer/songwriter/actor pursued a major life change, working 12-hour days on a local farm—aturn of events that catalyzed an extraordinary burst of creativity and redefined hissense of purpose as an artist.Rhumba Countrywas initially shaped from materialthat emerged while LaFarge was deep in work on the farm. “I’d be pushing a plowor scattering seeds, and the songs would just come to me,” he recalls. “It wastremendously inspirational and made me realize that apart from singing, farming isperhaps the oldest human art form.” While farming, LaFarge began dreaming up akaleidoscopic sound informed by his love of music from far-ranging eras and cornersof the globe, including mambo, tropicália, rocksteady, and mid-century Americanrock-and-roll. “The songs that naturally come to me are upbeat and make you wannadance or at least bop your head—they’re all very colorful,” says LaFarge. “I used tothink of my music in dark blue, but now I see it in technicolor.” Co-produced alongwith Chris Seefried and Elliot Bergman and recorded in L.A., the resulting RhumbaCountry is an invitation to come together to celebrate life and love.