Buck Meek says that love songs are the hardest songs to write. “Not break-up songs, but an actual
love song written in earnest. That is taboo now,” he says. “Sometimes it can feel like all the great
love songs have already been written.”

Haunted Mountain is about love and... something other. Something bigger than love, something
that doesn’t challenge love exactly but stands in contrast to it. A soulfulness, or a soul seeking
fullness. The songs were written in mountains; by cold springs in the Serra da Estrela of Portugal, on the
submerged volcano of Milos in the Cyclades, Valle Onsernone in the Swiss Alps (where the cover
photo was taken, by his wife, Germain Dunes), and the Santa Monica range where Buck now calls
home. 560 miles from Buck’s hometown of Wimberley, Texas, the Franklin Mountains (or more reverently
named, Sierras de los Mansos) rise over the tops of the endless acres of pecan trees that surround
Sonic Ranch in the border town of Tornillo, where Haunted Mountain was recorded.
Mat Davidson (producer, pedal steel) writes: “One thing I find remarkable about Buck is that he
hasn’t lost touch with his sense of home, in spite of carrying a deep worldliness. It’s a rare quality,
and an important part of the way Buck does music. Embracing the earnestness in his care for home
is important to understanding this record. There is not much reprieve for the cynic here. The songs
are about discovering a new home, rather than returning.”