MASSIVE SUMMER/FALL HEADLINING TOUR WITH TORONTO DATE JULY 24
TORONTO, ON – July 2, 2018 – Less than two weeks before the release of his album Wide Awake (July 13/ATO), Rayland Baxter has offered a new song from the Butch Walker-produced project. “79 Shiny Revolvers” was the first song Rayland wrote during his three-month long isolation quest at Franklin, Kentucky’s secluded Thunder Sound Studios. He composed fifty songs there, ten of which eventually became Wide Awake.
“79 Shiny Revolvers” is, in Rayland’s own estimation, one of the most important songs he’s ever written. Its lyrics burst with irony and cutting humor to interrogate our nation’s fixation on guns: “You really wanna save the world, man / well, I wanna save it too / we can blow em away / the American way.”
Says Rayland, “’79 Shiny Revolvers’ is a satirical and sensitive song about the shortcomings of our human race. I watch and I write, not only as an onlooker but as a participant. As the world continues to swing around the sun, I cannot help but notice that we are good people. However, our shortcomings have been highlighted by a long line of imperfect decisions. Leonard Cohen died the day I wrote this song.”
Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6VKdDcDCBY
The previous two songs from Wide Awake have been earning praise, with the Nashville Scene raving, “if you don’t know Baxter, you’re in for a treat.” “Casanova” was named one of GQ’s Songs of the Summer 2018 and has been the #1 most added Americana single at radio for the past two weeks. “Strange American Dream” was heralded by NPR Music/World Café as “a piano driven ear worm of a song that sounds like a distant cousin to The Beatles’ ‘Lady Madonna.'”
Listen to “Casanova” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_jbTR-1Sqc
And “Strange American Dream” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD9LNH3xNgU
Wide Awake was produced by Butch Walker (Weezer, Pink, Pete Yorn) and features Walker himself on bass, Cage the Elephant’s Nick Bockrath on guitar, Dr. Dog’s Erick Slick on drums, and piano wizard Aaron Embry (Elliott Smith, Brian Eno) on keys. Rayland’s father Bucky Baxter contributes pedal steel, as does original Nashville Cat Lloyd Green.
On July 12, Rayland heads out on a national headlining tour including a stop in Toronto on July 24 at Adelaide Hall. He is also opening some of the shows on Shakey Graves’ tour this summer and performing with him at Red Rocks in August (Rayland also co-wrote some of the songs on Shakey’s new record). Full dates below.
Pre-order Wide Awake on all platforms: http://wideawake.raylandbaxter.com/
TOUR DATES:
WIDE AWAKE TOUR – LEG 1
12-Jul- Washington, DC – Union Stage
13-Jul- New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
14-Jul- Philadelphia, PA – World Café Live
15-Jul- Richmond, VA – Broadberry
18-Jul- Nashville, TN – Basement East
20-Jul- Birmingham, AL – Saturn
21-Jul- Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
24-Jul- Toronto, ON – Adelaide Hall
25-Jul- Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern
26-Jul- Detroit, MI – Otus Supply
27-Jul- Grand Rapids, MI – The Stache
28-Jul- Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
1-Aug- Indianapolis, IN – Hifi
2-Aug- Davenport, IA – Triple Crown Whiskey Bar
3-Aug- St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
4-Aug- Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck
5-Aug- Omaha, NE – Slowdown
9-Aug- Denver, CO – Bluebird
SHAKEY GRAVES DATES
24-Aug- Salt Lake City, UT – Red Butte Garden w/ Shakey Graves
25-Aug- Missoula, MT – Big Sky Amphitheatre w/ Shakey Graves
26-Aug- Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory w/ Shakey Graves
27-Aug- Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory w/ Shakey Graves
28-Aug- Boise, ID – Knitting Factory w/ Shakey Graves
30-Aug- Morrison, CO – Red Rocks w/ Shakey Graves
WIDE AWAKE TOUR – LEG 2
5-Sep- Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
6-Sep- Bellingham, WA – Wild Buffalo
7-Sep- Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
9-Sep- Portland, OR – Doug Fir
14-Sep- San Diego, CA – Belly Up
15-Sep- Los Angeles, CA – Moroccan Lounge
16-Sep- Templeton, CA – Whale Rock Festival
20-Sep- Crystal Bay, NV – Red Room at Crystal Bay
21-Sep- Santa Cruz, CA – Catalyst
23-Sep- Sonoma, CA – Harvest Music Festival
28-Sep- Roseland, VA – Devil’s Backbone Hoopla
30-Sep- Asbury Park, NJ – Sea Hear Now Festival
ALBUM ART: DOWNLOAD