New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Chris Shiflett's new solo album, Hard Lessons, will be released June 14 on East Beach Records & Tapes/Thirty Tigers and is now available for pre-order. Produced by Grammy Award-winning Dave Cobb, the album features ten new songs including the lead single "Welcome To Your First Heartache," which is premiering today.
Ahead of the release, each digital pre-order comes with an immediate download of "Welcome To Your First Heartache" as well as the album track "This Ol' World," which was released earlier this month. Of the music, Rolling Stone praises, "...he fully brings the guitar-slinging pyrotechnics. A lick, a verse and a couple mean solos are all Shiflett needs to make a statement."
Recorded at Nashville's RCA Studio A, the album features Shiflett on electric guitar and Cobb on acoustic guitar as well as an all-star collection of studio musicians including Chris Powell(Brent Cobb, Jamey Johnson) on drums and percussion, Brian Allen (Jason Isbell, Jamey Johnson) on bass, Michael Webb (Ashley Monroe, Eli Young Band) on keyboards and Paul
Franklin (Vince Gill, Dire Straits) on pedal steel and Kristen Rogers (Anderson East, Lori McKenna) on harmony vocals. The album also features a duet with
Elizabeth Cook on "The One You Go Home To" and special guest guitarist Laur "Little Joe" Joamets on "This Ol' World."
Of the album, Shiflett comments, "I remember one night between
Foo Fighters gigs last year I went out for dinner with Dave Cobb to chit chat about making this record. He said he had a vision of me playing through an old Marshall JCM-800. So, when it came time to record, we found one on Craigslist, cranked it up and it was perfect. I think this record hits a little closer to mixing everywhere I've been musically into one big blender and comes out something a little different. Since it was my second time working with Cobb and Co. out there at RCA Studio A, I kind of knew what to expect as far as his process, so I intentionally didn't overthink or over-demo the songs because I didn't want to get too stuck on any ideas I brought with me. I couldn't be more excited about the results."
After recently wrapping tours with Cook,
Blackberry Smoke and Kendell Marvel, Shiflett will travel to
Europe later this month for a series of sold-out shows across the U.K., Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Additional North American spring/summer tour dates to be announced soon.
Hard Lessons is Shiflett's fourth solo album and the second in collaboration with Cobb who produced 2017's widely praised West Coast Town. Of the album, Vice's Noisey declared, "...it immediately puts you in the mood for a good-ass time," while Rolling Stone asserted, "...flawlessly blends blue-collar country punk with a catchy Bakersfield bounce. Borrowing the rowdy swagger of Prison Bound-era
Social Distortion and the SoCal sheen of Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam, Shiflett crafts a sound that is both geographically grounded and wholly his own" and No Depression lauded, "His voice is perfect for the alt-country/Americana sound and his tantalizing guitar licks provide just the right background for his storytelling lyrics."
Born in
Santa Barbara and now based in Los Angeles, Shiflett is widely known as the guitarist for the
Foo Fighters as well as for his previous work with Dead Peasants and No Use for a Name. In addition to his work as a musician, Shiflett is the creator and host of the biweekly podcast, "Walking the Floor with Chris Shiflett," which Entertainment Weekly named one of "The best podcasts of 2018" stating, "The lively, genial, and deeply knowledgeable host puts his musician guests-from critical favorites to superstars, and ranging from country to punk-at ease, allowing them to expound on everything from inspiration to gearhead talk. A must for fans actually interested in hearing about the music." Past guests include Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, Chris Stapleton, Sheryl Crow, Mike Ness, Steve Earle, John Doe, Sturgill Simpson, Lee Ann Womack,
Vince Gill and more.
HARD LESSONS TRACK LIST
1. Liar's Word
2. This Ol' World
3. Welcome To Your First Heartache
4. The Hardest Lessons
5. The One You Go Home To (feat.
Elizabeth Cook)
6. Fool's Gold
7. I Thought You'd Never Leave
8. Weak Heart
9. Marfa On My Mind
10. Leaving Again
