New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Grammy nominated guitar-slinger, troublemaker, raconteur, producer, and Georgia boy
Butch Walker released today the intense video for lead single "East Coast Girl" off his critically acclaimed eighth studio album Stay Gold. With the premiere of the video, Billboard described the "dark, dystopian-themed video" which sees "an 'evil dictator - played by Michael Des Barres - play out his unruly plans, in what can be perceived as a statement about the dismal and crushing nature of moving to a big city in the hopes of 'making it.'"
Released on August 26th via Dangerbird Records, Stay Gold debuted at #2 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart as well as #10 on the Rock Chart, #40 on Top Current Albums, and #143 on the Billboard Top 200. It's received broad critical acclaim, including praises from Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal, The FADER, Consequence of Sound, Paste, American Songwriter, AV Club, and Esquire among many others.
As a writer of dozens of songs with hooks that stick in your head, Walker has penned choruses you want to sing (or shout) along to from acts including Frank Turner, Brian Fallon, Taylor Swift, and many more. He is a teller of authentic stories of exploits and predicaments and romance that are filled with optimism; builder of albums with no boundaries - rock, pop, Americana, singer-songwriter�or, as he says, �I think it�s all just rock & roll.�
Walker's last album, 2015�s Ryan Adams� produced Afraid Of Ghosts, was a cathartic record that dealt with a devastating personal experience, the passing of his father. This one�s a celebration. The stories on Stay Gold are very well fleshed out, something
Butch credits to �growing up on some of those dudes -
Elton John and the (Bernie) Taupin lyrics, Springsteen and Joel." It kicks off with the title song, a straight-ahead rocker, loaded with swagger and lyrics that call out native GA locales featuring a nod to the S.E. Hinton novel (and later, a Coppola film), The Outsiders. The lead single "East Coast Girl" and "Mexican Coke" are inspired by Walker's move to Los Angeles, the former effectively combining an anthemic chorus with spoken verses, recorded conversationally on an iPhone. The writerly eye for detail is apparent in one of Stay Gold's standout tracks, "Wilder In The Heart", describing an airport meeting with a girlfriend, while the beautiful, decidedly tender duet with country singer
Ashley Monroe on "Descending" explores survival and staying on the course of love.
Overall, Stay Gold is clearly Walker's most articulate to date. When asked if the stories are real or imagined, he replies, �All the songs are half true.�
"Walker's upcoming album returns the charismatic singer-songwriter to his rock roots."- Rolling Stone
"A jubilant, celebratory record that savors nostalgia and snapshots of fearless exuberance."- Esquire
"Butch Walker makes really great rock songs. That's kind of all there is to it." - USA Today
"Imagine Patrick Swayze's character from Dirty Dancing held you by the hand and you zoomed into the sunset together on his dusty old motorcyle - that's what 'Wilder In The Heart' sounds like"- The FADER
"Stay Gold is classic, earnest rock 'n' roll, the kind of songwriter-driven pop that really doesn't have a home anymore that sits nicely beside Alejandro Escovedo, Old 97's, and Uncle Tupelo."- Consequence of Sound
Track List:
01) Stay Gold
02) East Coast Girl
03) Wilder In The Heart
04) Ludlow Expectations
05) Descending
06) Irish Exit
07) Mexican Coke
08) Can We Just Not Talk About Last Night
09)
Spark Lost
10) Record Store
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