Tag: Music News

New single: High Hopes and Low Expectations – JD Clayton

High Hopes and Low Expectations is the new single by JD Clayton. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

With his new single, High Hopes and Low Expectations, the Natural State’s new favorite recording artist, JD Clayton, tells the story of a young man searching for a better self and greener pastures, leaving his small town for the glamour of the big city. “This is really a song to myself,” says Clayton who co-wrote High Hopes with Nashville veteran Kendell Marvel. The song was self-produced by Clayton and he teamed up with six-time Grammy Awards winner Vance Powell to mix the track. The song’s protagonist meets an older gentleman who gives him a bit of free advice: “Live with high hopes and low expectations.” It’s not lost on Clayton that Marvel is the one who’s giving him the sage advice back in the real world. “He has become such a good friend and has been so kind to me as I’ve started my career,” says Clayton. “It felt like we were living out the song literally as we penned it.” (IV-PR, 2024)

Clayton found the inspiration for High Hopes and Low Expectations by chasing a blend of James Taylor and Elton John. Acoustically rich, the mid-tempo slow burner rides a heavy emphasis on a borderline-funky backbeat, piano, and guitars playing counterpoint to Clayton’s earnest vocal delivery. High Hopes and Low Expectations is out now and can be streamed or purchased right here. This single is the first in a number of new releases from Clayton as he gears up for a full-length follow-up to 2023’s Long Way From Home.

JD Clayton’s debut album, Long Way From Home, was released in early 2023 receiving overwhelming critical acclaim. Named one of 2023’s most anticipated Americana albums by Wide Open Country, the debut, 10-song offering has simplicity and sincerity running throughout. Earnest lyrics and lived-in vocals are delivered with a balance of warmth and resolve, and his timeless sound has an immediate appeal. Touring-wise, 2023 was spent building fans market by market, city by city while touring with Dwight Yoakam, Old Crow Medicine Show, Josh Turner, Tanner Usrey, Pat Green, Shane Smith & The Saints, Vincent Neil Emerson, Parker McCollum, Hank Williams Jr., Brent Cobb, Ashley McBryde, Cole Chaney and playing tastemaker festivals such as Bonnaroo, Rebels & Renegades, Born & Raised, and Dreamy Draw. On the heels of his debut album’s success, Clayton is putting finishing touches on his forthcoming self-produced record to be announced in spring and released later 2024. 

Clayton just wrapped up a 22 date tour with Tanner Usrey through early March and has upcoming dates with Ashley McBryde in April as well as adding additional headline and other support dates to be announced in the coming weeks.

Catch JD Clayton On Tour:
April 25 – Joliet, IL – Rialto Square Theatre *
April 26 – Chesterfield, MO – The Factory *
May 3 – Cullman, AL – Alabama Strawberry Festival 2024
May 12 – San Diego, CA – Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival
May 17 – Bentonville, AR – FreshGrass Bentonville
* With Ashley McBryde

Upcoming new album release: All is Song – Misner & Smith

Misner & Smith’s new album, All is Song, will be released April 12. Photo: Misner & Smith

Misner & Smith treasure the unpredictability of their band. Technically precise songwriting mirrored with an improvisatory spirit and soaring harmonies have made the band—consisting of Sam Misner and Megan Smith—one of the most acclaimed acts in the Americana world. Blending elements of that genre with bluegrass, traditional folk ballads, and more pop-leaning ideas, Misner & Smith make music gloriously nonconforming. The duo first met at a Shakespeare festival as professional actors in California in 2002 but began working as a musical duo two years later when Sam and Megan discovered a mutual love of roots music, Woody Guthrie, and in particular, harmony singing. Leading up to the release of their sixth LP All is Song, the duo has released five critically acclaimed records. On their new one, All is Song, they build upon that momentum and turn in their finest work to date, an album of inspired declarations to the power of music, song, and, most importantly, collaboration. (Misner & Smith, 2024)

“One thing that’s for sure / Though we never found a cure / We can ride out heartbreak like the weather,” sings Sam Misner on the group’s first single “Anthem.” Along with his longtime musical partner Megan Smith, Misner set about writing the tune that would eventually become the first single from Misner & Smith’s upcoming LP All is Song by dissecting the idea of anthemic music itself. All is Song is set for release on April 12 and can be pre-ordered or pre-saved right here.

The music—every single choice on the album, really—revolves around a single question: “What is this song about?” Every sound on All is Song is in service of the songs. The harmonies are often subtle but always pitch-perfect, a key to the album that took some time to harness. “Harmony is almost like a sculpting tool. I use it as a tool to draw out the stories and the songs and draw out the characters that we’re talking about,” explains Smith. “It’s a huge part of what we do.” Misner adds, “Serving the song became the credo, so we never included a certain line, part, or harmony for its own sake. It was always, ‘How can we best serve the song? That was our lighthouse.”

Catch Misner & Smith on tour:
May 2 – Freight & Salvage – Berkeley, CA
June 8 – McCloud River Mountain Music – McCloud, CA

Courtesy photo, used with permission.

All is Song track list:
Compose (2024)
Deep as the Water
Threadbare
Sadie’s Song
Interlude 1
Kerosene
Rising Of The Moon
Interlude 2
Tears and Ink
Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind
Silence Of The Sun
One Day (2024)
Anthem
Interlude 3
Little Light

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Upcoming new album release: Rio Bravo – Scott Ballew

Texas’ modern renaissance man Scott Ballew announces new album Rio Bravo due out March 29. Photo: Google/Viberate

Austin-born Scott Ballew’s resume is staggering, from his work as Yeti’s Head of Content, directing shorts featuring Ryan Bingham, to more recent independent ventures, including a documentary on Terry Allen and a film, All That is Sacred. A true artistic visionary, Ballew’s latest undertaking is a near-obsessive pursuit of quality songwriting. The medium has changed, but his razor-sharp ability to tell a story hasn’t. Sonically, his music–specifically Rio Bravo–is if Townes Van Zandt was produced by Ennio Morricone. Ballew’s writing is a world of contrasts–poignant but humorous, relatable but cerebral, simple but cinematic. “If you can make someone laugh and cry in the same paragraph, there’s no closer reflection to real life.” (Scott Ballew, 2024)

After an introduction to Terry Allen by mutual friend Ryan Bingham, Ballew’s approach to art (and life) was drastically altered. “[What Terry taught me is that] the audience is irrelevant. What’s important is that you wake up and you show up and you follow whatever it is that’s in your head or your heart.” The ‘showing up’ can be heard on Rio Bravo, a 9 song collection releasing March 29, 2024, via independent powerhouse, La Honda Records.

“People, they don’t change,” sings Scott Ballew on the first line of the first song of his junior album, Rio Bravo—an unexpected remark from a man whose life has been punctuated by personal evolution. A reductive synopsis would be as follows: Texas football star turned film director turned junkie turned musician.

“Writing has become a survival mechanism,” says the songwriter, musician, filmmaker and Texan. “This came to me later in life. I have four decades of experiences, anxieties, and thoughts that I am purging and have found that idle time is not healthy for me.”

Ballew recently shared “Suicide Squeeze,” the first single to be heard from Rio Bravo ahead of its March 29 release on La Honda Records. “I wrote this on a napkin inside Alamo Drafthouse Movie Theater watching ‘Licorice Pizza’ by Paul Thomas Anderson,” Ballew recalls. “Inspired by perfect running montages, I resonated with the kid who had ambitions to take a huge bite out of life.” The screening conjured up feelings from Ballew’s childhood like grandiose schemes or desires for widespread acclaim, or in his words, “the feeling that an older woman, or sports accolades, or some degree of celebrity was necessary to achieve success.”

“Suicide Squeeze” can be streamed today at this link, and Rio Bravo is available to pre-order or pre-save ahead of its March release right here.

Rio Bravo track list (Courtesy Photo)
True Love Can’t Surf
Trouble Darling
Suicide Squeeze
Can You Hear Me Smile
Rio Bravo
Impossible Smile
Mutiny
Old Fashioned
All That Is Sacred
A Funny Masterpiece

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New album release: Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom – Meatbodies

Meatbodies released ‘Billow’ single and video from new album Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom. Photo: Amanda Adam, used with permission.

Meatbodies is an American psychedelic rock band formed in 2011 in Los Angeles by Chad Ubovich. The band recently shared the new single/video Billow from their new album Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, due out March 8. (Meatbodies, 2024)

Billow plays like a long-lost single from the Creation Records heyday with a space-y Stone Roses-type groove that is immediate and unforgettable. It’s nothing short of an instant classic built on harmonizing vocals and tons of tambourine—blossoming from darkness into a hopeful groove bathed in sunlight and lysergic acid. The track is just one of thirteen expertly crafted tracks to appear on Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, due in just one month via In The Red.

Flora is the pinnacle of the Meatbodies’ catalog thus far and an effort bound to be on the tip of the tongue of their fans and in-the-know heads the world over. The borderline lost album is their most realized work to date on which frontman/lead guitarist Chad Ubovich faces the trials of sobriety, redemption, reinvention – all while literally learning to walk and play again.

“The last record was more of a cartoon version of who we were– simple and fun without delving into heavy concept. The whole thing before with Meatbodies was never sit down, next part, next part, but I wanted to make something with more depth. After everything that had happened, and my personal life, I was left with this feeling of emptiness and loss. So I wanted to make music that was absent from things– songs that were more about conveying feeling.”- Chad Ubovich

And so here we are, with Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, an album completed by an ironclad will and steely determination. A massive step forward, both by conventional standards and considering its tumultuous path toward completion. Fan can pre-save/pre-order the album here.

Come Spring, Meatbodies hit the road on a North American run that kicks off with a hometown release show at LA’s Lodge Room. See below for a full list of dates:

Mar 23: Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
Apr 03: San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
Apr 04: San Luis Obispo, CA – SLO BREW
Apr 05: Santa Cruz, CA – Crepe Place
Apr 06: Reno, NV – Lo Bar
Apr 11: Seattle, WA – Barboza
Apr 12: Portland, OR – Lollipop Shoppe
Apr 13: Vancouver, BC – The Pearl
Apr 15: Boise, ID – Neurolux
Apr 16: Salt Lake City, UT – International Artists Lounge
Apr 17: Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
Apr 19: Minneapolis, MN – 7th St. Entry
Apr 21: Chicago, IL – Schubas
Apr 22: Detroit, MI – Lager House
Apr 23: Toronto, ON – The Garrison
Apr 24: Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
Apr 25: Troy, NY – No Fun
Apr 26: Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMoca
Apr 27: Brooklyn, NY – Market Hotel
Apr 29: Charlotte, NC – Snug Harbor
Apr 30: Asheville, NC – Different Wrld
May 01: Atlanta, GA – 529
May 02: Louisville, KY – The Whirling Tiger
May 03: Nashville, TN – Third Man Records at The Blue Room
May 04: New Orleans, LA – Siberia
May 07: Denton, TX – Rubber Gloves
May 09: San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
May 10: Austin, TX – The 13th Floor
May 12: Albuquerque, NM – Sister
May 13: Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
May 14: Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge
May 16: San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
May 18: Costa Mesa, CA – The Wayfarer

Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom Track Listing:

  1. The Assignment
  2. HOLE
  3. Silly Cybin
  4. Billow
  5. They Came Down
  6. Trapped?
  7. Move
  8. I believe in pink (interlude)
  9. Criminal Minds
  10. ICNNVR2
  11. Psychic Garden
  12. (Return of) Ecstasy
  13. Gate
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New album release: Portraits – Quarters of Change

Quarters of Change recently released their exposed-nerve second album Portraits. Photo: Anna Henderson, used with permission.

One of the fastest rising rock bands coming out of New York City, Quarters of Change, recently released their album Portraits via 300 Entertainment. After retreating to Woodstock, NY, for two weeks, the band left with their most collaborative, exposed-nerve writing to date; something with a piece of each of them etched into it. Where their last album Into The Rift was staring into the dark tunnel ahead, Portraits is close to the other side, with the band surfacing for some light. (Big Hassle, 2024)

“The album is made up of individualized fragments that provide different perspectives and create their own little vignettes. I think of each fragment as a portrait, reflecting a separate emotion or moment. Overall, it dives into themes of addiction, isolation and exploration.” – frontman Ben Roter.

Anchored by a mutual predisposition for unpredictability, Quarters of Change fuse together a signature hybrid of nineties-style alternative hooks, crunchy space rock soundscapes, and strutting seventies grooves. After piling up millions of streams, selling out shows, and inciting critical applause, the New York City quartet — Ben Acker (guitar, bass, synths), Attila Anrather (drums), Jasper Harris (guitars, bass, synths), and Ben Roter (vocals, guitar)— released Portraits. 

Leaning on an unspoken musical language of their own, forged by years of cutting their teeth together, sneaking into shows they were once too young to play, and practicing in the basement of their old high school, Quarters of Change very clearly have a lifelong bond that has created their own breed of alternative rock with stadium scope. 

Quarters of Change simultaneously emerged as a live force, supporting Bad Suns and selling out their first-ever US headline tour. Doubling down on amplifying the energy, and turning up the distortion, Quarters of Change have quietly emerged as a phenomenon, and maintain this momentum with the release of their new album, available everywhere now. In the coming months, the band will continue rolling out more content from Portraits. They’ll be joining the festival lineups of Governors Ball and Shaky Knees, with more to be announced soon.

Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Portraits track list:
“What I Wanted”
“Depression II”
“Heaven Bound”
“Turn It Away”
“Tightrope”
“Cherry Tree”
“Do or Die”
“Time Before Mourning”
“Hollywood Baby”
“Illogical Decisions”
“Keep My Blood”

Upcoming new album release: Playing Favorites – Sheer Mag

Sheer Mag releases new single/video for ‘Moonstruck’ from their new album Playing Favorites. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Sheer Mag is a rock band from Philadelphia that combines 1970s rock and punk elements and has worked hard to carve out a clear singular position within the canon of contemporary rock. Effortlessly switching between the refined flourishes of a “connoisseur’s band” and the ecstatic colloquialism of populist songwriting—yet displaying no strict loyalty to either camp—their sound, while often referenced, is unmistakably and immediately recognizable as theirs alone. On Playing Favorites, Sheer Mag’s third full-length and first with Third Man Records, the band capitalize on a decade’s worth of devotion to their own collective spirit—a spirit refined in both the sweaty trenches of punk warehouses and the larger-than-life glamour of concert halls—emerging with a dense work of gripping emotions, massive hooks, and masterfully constructed power-pop anthems. This is the record the Philadelphian rock and roll four-piece has always been destined to make. (Another Side, 2024)

Playing Favorites elevates their signature approach to rock and roll to lushly cinematic new heights. Their latest single “Moonstruck” lives up to its titular reference of Hollywood-sized surprise romance and spools out a charming story of desire. Fans can pre-order/pre-save Playing Favorites here.

“‘Moonstruck’ is about how invigorating it is to have a new crush. After too long lost in the wilderness, it’s gratifying to find a beacon of tenderness to help reorient yourself in the maze of love. Written in 2021 and originally intended for a disco EP, ‘Moonstruck’ has been reworked as a more expansive and lush arrangement and features some of our favorite guitar work on the new record.” – Matt Palmer, guitarist and lyricist

The album burns with a sweetened gratitude for the lot one has been given in life: the luck of coming up punk; the luck of living an unalienated life; the luck of feeling love, and losing love. It is undoubtedly a record by the same Sheer Mag that audiences have spent the last decade falling in love with. In fact, for all of its sonic departures and evolutions, this record is perhaps the most “Sheer Mag” release yet. Not so much a return to form, but rather a realization of those greatest promises that the band has up until now only hinted at. With Playing Favorites, Sheer Mag cater to their tastes and their tastes alone: so long as they continue to do so, the future of rock and roll, that great human tradition, is in the best of hands.

Sheer Mag will embark on an extensive headlining tour this spring that will kick off in D.C. late March and will take them coast to coast through early May. They have confirmed performances at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom, a hometown show at Philadelphia’s First Unitarian Church and more. Tickets and updates are available online. 

Playing Favorites track listing:
01 – Playing Favorites
02 – Eat It and Beat It
03 – All Lined Up
04 – Don’t Come Lookin’
05 – I Gotta Go
06 – Moonstruck
07 – Mechanical Garden (Featuring Mdou Moctar)
08 – Golden Hour
09 – Tea On The Kettle
10 – Paper Time
11 – When You Get Back

Sheer Mag tour dates:
Mar 29: Washington, DC – Songbyrd
Mar 30: Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle – Back Room
Mar 31: Asheville, NC – Eulogy
Apr 01: Nashville, TN – The Blue Room at Third Man Records
Apr 02: Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade, Purgatory
Apr 04: New Orleans, LA – Siberia
Apr 05: Houston, TX – The End
Apr 06: Austin, TX – Far Out Lounge
Apr 07: Dallas, TX – Double Wide
Apr 09: Mesa, AZ – The Underground
Apr 10: Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
Apr 11: San Diego, CA – The Casbah
Apr 12: Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
Apr 13: Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
Apr 15: San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
Apr 17: Portland, OR – Star Theater
Apr 18: Seattle, WA – The Vera Project
Apr 19: Boise, ID – The Shredder
Apr 20: Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
Apr 22: Denver, CO – Hi Dive
Apr 24: Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge
Apr 25: Minneapolis, MN – 7th St. Entry
Apr 26: Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
Apr 27: Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village
Apr 29: Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
May 05: Somerville, MA – Crystal Ballroom
May 06: East Haven, CT – Beeracks
May 08: New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
May 10: Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
May 01: Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground
May 03: Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place
May 04: Troy, NY – No Fun
May 31 – Jun 02: Northampton, MA – Field Day Music Festival

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New album release: The Carousel – Backstrom

The Carousel is Backstrom’s debut album. It is available now on Spotify. Photo: Backstrom, used with permission.

When it comes to music, I love all types of music. Well, almost all of them, but my favorite genre is rock. With the new year comes the release of new music by artists everywhere. Today I am pleased to announce a new release this month from Backstrom.

Backstrom is a Swedish songwriter in the genres of Folk, Country, and Rock. His debut album The Carousel (feat. Bart Topher) was released today. If you enjoy this type of music or just enjoy discovering new artists, consider this new release. Backstrom’s music is available on Spotify and you can follow the artist on Instagram. (Backstrom, 2024)

Get to know a little bit about Backstrom in this Q & A:

Question: Who are the band members and what do they play?
Backstrom: Backstrom was initially the only “band member” or the songwriter. But I worked with a lot of great session musicians who played a huge role in this project and more or less became band members in the end. For this album, Bart Topher does vocals on eight songs and has also written three lyrics. Tommy Jones wrote three lyrics as well. Fransisco Paz plays all drums and percussion and helped out with a lot of instrumental production. Luca Giannotti plays a lot of guitars on the folk songs and also some bass. Kimberly Faith does harmonies on 6 songs. Hernan Ian plays guitars on the country songs. Maciek Szczyciński play most bass. And there’s a lot more who deserves credit in this project.

Q: Can you tell us anything about the recording process?
B: I wrote the ground material in the winter season and started out by doing a simple demo myself of the songs during the spring – then I spent the rest of the year hiring different session musicians to improve the sound and instrumental quality of the songs. So the whole album is more or less done online and I’ve been sending files back and forth around the world. Gabe Wolf made a great contribution mixing and mastering the songs in the end.

Q: How and where did you get together?
B: I hired all musicians through Fiverr.

Q: Have you played any notable gigs, festivals or other events?
B: No, this is mostly about songwriting and not live performance.

Q: What are the band’s main influences?
B: In general Leonard Cohen, Mark Lanegan but it stretches all the way from Townes Van Zandt to the Rolling Stones and beyond in some songs.

Q: Can you briefly describe what the song/each song is about?
A: It’s not always a deep thought behind every line, it needs to sound good as well, and I prefer to leave the underlying interpretation to the listener!

Q: What are you most happy about with the record?
A: I think we managed to get a quite unique sound, it doesn’t sound so much like anything else out there.

Sponsored Post

Music community app connects artists everywhere

Touring musician Brandon Taj Hanick founded Indie Town and invites bands and artists to book better tours and strengthen their DIY communities at home and across the world. Photo: Google

After two decades of releasing albums and touring in the U.S. and Europe with bands King of Prussia, Future Lives, and more, Athens, Ga. songwriter Brandon Taj Hanick has co-founded Indie Town, the completely free, invite-only app that lets independent bands and artists easily find, connect and share with one another. (Indie Town, 2023)

Calling it “the first international DIY artist community,” Hanick co-founded the app to help bands and artists connect, book shows and tours together, and share their creations without the burden of repressive algorithms or pay-for-play schemes. 

Unlike existing social media platforms, Indie Town is exclusively built for musicians and artists. Featuring easy-to-create music and video players on profiles, the app lets artists search for community members by genre, location or name, listen to members’ music, check out photos and videos, send messages, and become friends.

“After touring and making albums for years, my friends and I knew there was something missing for DIY bands and artists: An easy way to meaningfully connect the people we’d meet on tour who are creating thriving, interesting music scenes,” said Hanick.

“Community is important to artists, but there wasn’t a digital indie town square,” he continued. “So we built a place to reflect the DIY spirit that drives creativity and creation through collaboration.”

Since Indie Town’s soft launch in November 2023, artists and music community members from all over the U.S. and 13 countries, including The U.K., Brazil, Sweden, Canada, Spain, Portugal, South Africa and Czech Republic, have joined the community.

Indie Town streamlines community-building by integrating music and video players from Bandcamp, Spotify, YouTube and Soundcloud, so bands can easily create their profiles – which serve as mini-websites – in about 90 seconds.

Bands choose from genres like lo-fi, hip hop, glam or bedroom, plus 50 more. “Artist community” users include DIY venues, small labels, zines, videographers and studios, among others. 

What early members are saying:

“Indie Town will be transformative in helping bands alleviate some of the headaches of booking. It’s something we’ve needed for a long time and I’m stoked about what it will mean for touring musicians!” – Athens, Ga. songwriter/musician Annie Leeth

“Independent bands make our world more beautiful and weird, so we shouldn’t be forced to use artless, celebrity-obsessed platforms to connect with other artists. Indie Town is built for DIY artists, by DIY artists.” – Porto, Portugal songwriter/singer Vasco Batista (Big Summer)

Indie Town is available on the App Store, Android Store, and web. Interested artists can request an invite. 

 

 

Upcoming new album release: Your Very Own Dream – Clay Parker and Jodi James

Your Very Own Dream is set for a January 19 release. Photo: Clay Parker and Jodi James

Before their artistic paths converged in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in late 2014, Clay Parker and Jodi James roamed the musical landscape as lone troubadours, each nurturing their own raw and genuine sound. Now, almost a decade after their first long-distance co-writing collaborations, the duo’s distinct sound has maintained a minimalist yet unpredictable quality—in part by reflecting the ways the artists themselves have changed both together and as individuals. Following their self-titled debut EP in 2016 and 2018’s The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound, the duo who jokingly refers to themselves as a “band without a name” are returning with a brand new LP in 2024: Your Very Own Dream will be released on January 19, 2024. (IV-PR, 2023)

Parker and James have gained a fanbase by creating worlds within their records, populating each song with points of view that are archetypical yet unique. With Your Very Own Dream, the pair hones this technique to a razor’s edge; equal parts plaintive folk existentialism, blue-note bluster, prairie-fire idealism, and fever-dream ballad with which fans of Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, and Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings will feel right at home. Parker and James consistently present music that carves a most-direct, excess-free path to its listeners and patiently displays the duo’s true nature as creators of a primitive kind of beauty—stark yet expressive, accessible yet deep, shadowy yet real.

The duo recently released the first single from Your Very Own Dream, the James-led, slow-burner, “Nothing At All.” Fooling very little with the trivial and getting to the heart of the matter quickly, “Nothing At All” rides a mellow, mid-tempo arrangement akin to late 90s alt-country acts like Whiskeytown or Uncle Tupelo; a heartbeat of Americana music in the modern age where the song comes first and everything else is lagniappe.

Fans can stream or purchase “Nothing At All” and pre-order or pre-save Your Very Own Dream ahead of its January 19 release.

Your Very Own Dream track list:
Fire For The Water
Hey Hey Hey
Nothing At All
In The Cool Of The Evening
Flatfoot
How High Would I Have To Fly
A Matchbook Song
Your Very Own Dream

Catch Clay Parker and Jodi James on tour:
January 19 – Baton Rouge, LA – MidCity Ballroom – Album Release Show
February 16 – Galveston, TX – Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe
February 17 – Austin, TX – House Show
February 18 – Austin, TX – NeWorlDeli
February 19 – Oklahoma City, OK – House Show
February 21–25 – Kansas City, MO – Folk Alliance International
February 28 – Nashville, TN – 5 Spot
February 29 – Dunlap, TN – House Show
March 1 – Chattanooga, TN – The Woodshop
March 2 – LaGrange, GA – Pure Life House of Music

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Upcoming new album release: Critterland – Willi Carlisle

Critterland will be release January 26, 2024. Proceeds from the new single ‘When The Pills Wear Off’ will be donated to Appalachian Recovery Non-Profit Hope In The Hills. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

For folksinger Willi Carlisle, singing is healing and by singing together, he believes we can begin to reckon with the inevitability of human suffering and grow in love. Rooted in the eclectic and collective world of his live shows, Carlisle’s third album, Critterland, takes up where his sophomore album, Peculiar, Missouri, left off, transforming Peculiar’s big tent into a Critterland menagerie and letting loose the weirdos he gathered together. The album is a wild romp through the backwaters of his mind and America, lingering in the odd corners of human nature to visit obscure oddballs, dark secrets, and complicated truths about the beauty and pain of life and love. (IV-PR, 2023)

Produced by the GRAMMY Award-nominated Darrell Scott and to be released on January 26, 2024, by Signature Sounds, Critterland considers where we come from and where we are going. On the album, he takes on human suffering through stories about forbidden love, loss, generational trauma, addiction, and suicide, believing that by processing the traits and trauma we inherit, he can reach a deeper understanding of what it means to succeed and to exist.

“It’s kind of about getting a little older, moving from hard drugs and hookups to bedroom sex and pharmaceuticals,” says Willi Carlisle of his latest single “When The Pills Wear Off.” “It’s an amalgam of queer stories that I’ve heard, lived, and seen.” Devastating and gorgeous, Carlisle’s fingerpicked ballad serves as the penultimate tune from his upcoming album Critterland—and a flawless example of the songcraft that’s garnered fans like Tyler Childers and BJ Barham.

Carlisle is donating a portion of the proceeds from streams and purchases of “When the Pills Wear Off” to Hope in the Hills, a West Virginia-based charity focused on recovery and wellness in Appalachia. “After losing friends to overdoses, after witnessing the stress that hidden lives and quiet desperation causes people, I decided I wanted to sing about addiction,” says Carlisle. “So, I’m partnering with Hope in the Hills to raise awareness and funding to help those in need. Too much of country music glorifies abuse, murder, and poverty in the name of shock and sales, and I want to fight the stereotypes. Let’s share music about our struggle and triumph! Let’s celebrate love and mourn the dead. ‘When the Pills Wear Off’ is a really sad song, I know, but I hope it brings some joy into the world.”

The funds raised by this single will specifically go to Hope in the Hills’ music therapy program, which conducts regular sessions at recovery houses in East Tennessee, Eastern Kentucky, and West Virginia, and additionally supports music therapy through WVU Medicine’s Opioid Unit, Troublesome Creek Stringed Instruments, which employs folks in recovery to build musical instruments in EKY, and a recovery-to-work stagehands program through Recovery Point West Virginia.

Fans can hear “When the Pills Wear Off” today and pre-order or pre-save Critterland ahead of its January 26 release.

Critterland track list:
Critterland
Dry Country Dust
The Arrangements
The Great Depression
Two-Headed Lamb
A Higher Lonesome
I Want No Children
Jaybird
When the Pills Wear Off
The Money Grows on Trees

Catch Willi Carlisle on tour:
February 1 – Newport, KY – The Southgate House
February 2 – Columbus, OH – Rumba Cafe
February 3 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
February 4 – Lakewood, OH – Mahall’s
February 7 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
February 9 – Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
February 10 – Kalamazoo – MI – Bell’s Eccentric Café
February 12 – Wisconsin Dells, WI – Showboat Saloon
February 13 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
February 15 – Des Moines, IA – xBK
February 16 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown
February 17 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
February 18 – Oklahoma City – OK – Resonant Head
June 2 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater*
June 5 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre*
June 7 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre*
June 8 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre*

* Supporting Tyler Childers

Willi Carlisle. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
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Critterland release date