Nashville singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter has set July 13th as the release date for his upcoming third studio album Wide Awake and shared the new song "Casanova."
Describing the project as "an album about decision making," Baxter veers between introspective examination and wide-angle lens extrapolation over 10 new tracks which take modern society to task – including the reaction to the 2016 presidential election ("Strange American Dream") and U.S. gun culture ("79 Shiny Revolvers"). In the muscular, jangling "Casanova," Baxter uses an allegory to present student-loan debt as an overbearing girlfriend he's never met.
Written over the course of three months while the acclaimed singer-songwriter was living in an abandoned rubber-band factory in Franklin, Kentucky, Wide Awake was produced by Butch Walker (Weezer, Pink, Keith Urban). Featured musicians include Walker on bass, Cage the Elephant's Nick Bockrath on guitar, Dr. Dog's Erick Slick on drums and Aaron Embry (Elliott Smith, Brian Eno) on keys. Rayland's father Bucky Baxter (Steve Earle, R.E.M., Ryan Adams) is featured on pedal steel, and so is Lloyd Green, the iconic session-steel player who contributed to famous recordings by Johnny Cash, the Byrds, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and more.
On July 12th, Baxter will embark on his headlining Wide Awake Tour with a show in Washington, D.C., along with opening select shows for Shakey Graves (on whose new album Can't Wake Up he appears). Baxter first made waves as a duet partner on singer-songwriter Caitlin Rose's "Shanghai Cigarettes" in 2010, and has gone on to release the albums Feathers & Fishhooks (2012) and Imaginary Man (2015).
Track list for Rayland Baxter's Wide Awake:
1. "Strange American Dream"
2. "Casanova"
3. "Angeline"
4. "79 Shiny Revolvers"
5. "Amelia Baker"
6. "Without Me"
7. "Hey Larocco"
8. "Sandra Monica"
9. "Everything to Me"
10. "Let It All Go, Man"
Dates for the Wide Awake Tour:
July 12 – Washington, D.C. @ Union Stage
July 13 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
July 14 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
July 15 – Richmond, VA @ Broadberry
July 18 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
July 20 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
July 21 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
July 24 – Toronto, ON @ Adelaide Hall
July 25 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
July 26 – Detroit, MI @ Otus Supply
July 27 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Stache
July 28 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
August 1 – Indianapolis, IN @ Hifi
August 2 – Davenport, IA @ Triple Crown Whiskey Bar
August 3 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
August 4 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck
August 5 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
August 9 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird
September 5 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
September 6 – Bellingham, WA @ Wild Buffalo
September 7 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
September 9 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
September 14 – San Diego, CA @ Belly Up
September 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
September 16 – Templeton, CA @ Whale Rock Festival
September 20 – Crystal Bay, NV @ Red Room at Crystal Bay
September 21 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
September 23 – Sonoma, CA @ Harvest Music Festival
September 28 – Roseland, VA @ Devil's Backbone Hoopla
September 30 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Sea Hear Now Festival