New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Paul Cauthen has announced his new album 'Room 41' will be released on
September 6 via Lightning Rod Records. Co-written entirely by Cauthen at The Belmont Hotel in Dallas, TX, "one of the most fascinating, and eccentric, new voices in country music" (Rolling Stone) lived every single line of this record, and he's survived to tell the tale.
Cauthen, nicknamed "Big Velvet" for his smooth, baritone voice, credits that survival in no small part to his collaborators on the album, a wide range of writers, musicians, and producers who rallied around him. Recorded at Niles City Sound (Leon Bridges,
Nicole Atkins) and Dallas'
Modern Electric studio, the 10 tracks feature a who's-who of modern
Texas musicians, including Matt Pence(Jason Isbell,
Nikki Lane), Beau Bedford and Jason Burt.
Watch and share the lead track "Cocaine Country Dancing," available everywhere today: youtu.be/
Written during a stint spent living out of a suitcase in the artist-haven that is the Belmont, 'Room 41' chronicles Cauthen's white-knuckle journey to the brink and back, a harrowing experience that landed him in and out of the hospital as he careened between ecstasy and misery more times than he could count. Cauthen has long been a pusher of boundaries (musical and otherwise), and 'Room 41' is no exception, with electrifying performances that blend old-school country and gritty soul with 70's funk and stirring gospel. His lyrics take on biblical proportions as they tackle lust and envy, pride and despair, destruction and redemption, but these songs are no parables.
The introduction of album opener "Holy
Ghost Fire" sounds more like
Gnarls Barkley than Merle Haggard, and the ultra-funky "Cocaine Country Dancing" flirts with Prince, but the arrival of Cauthen's unmistakable voice gives each song a singular life of its own. The sweeping "Prayed For Rain" serves as a reminder to be selfless in the face of our more egotistical instincts, while the heartrending "
Slow Down" is a plea to treat ourselves with patience and kindness, and the R&B-influenced "
Freak" recognizes that, deep down, we all want and deserve the same things out of life. Cauthen ultimately comes to terms with the person behind the persona on the autobiographical "Big Velvet," grapples with his faith on the rousing "Give 'em Peace," and channels
Roy Orbison on the gorgeous "Can't Be Alone."
Cauthen first earned his reputation as a fire-breathing truth-teller with the acclaimed roots rock band Sons of Fathers, but it wasn't until the 2016 release of his solo debut, 'My Gospel,' that he truly tapped into the full depth of his prodigious talents. Vice Noisey dubbed it "a somber reminder of how lucky we are to be alive," while
Texas Monthly raved that Cauthen "sound[s] like the Highwaymen all rolled into one: he's got Willie's phrasing, Johnny's haggard quiver, Kristofferson's knack for storytelling, and Waylon's baritone." The album landed on a slew of Best-Of lists at the year's end and earned festival appearances from Austin City Limits and Pickathon to Stagecoach and Tumbleweed along with dates opening for Elle King, Margo Price, Midland, Cody Jinks,
Social Distortion and more. He followed it up two years later with 'Have Mercy,' an EP which prompted Garden & Gun to dub him one of "Americana's Next Great Voices."
For more on Paul Cauthen, visit paulcauthenmusic.com.
'ROOM 41' TRACKLIST:
1. Holy
Ghost Fire (Cauthen, Jason Burt)
2. Prayed For Rain (Cauthen, Ward Davis)
3. Cocaine Country Dancing (Cauthen, Burt)
4. Slow Down (Cauthen, Burt, Beau Bedford)
5. Big
Velvet (Cauthen,
Wesley Geiger)
6. Can't Be Alone (Cauthen)
7. Freak (Cauthen, Bedford)
8.
Angel (Cauthen, Bedford, Jonathan Tyler)
9. Give Em Peace (Cauthen)
10. Lay Me Down (Cauthen, Dan Cohen, Regan Schmidt)
PAUL CAUTHEN ON TOUR:
Sat., Jun. 15 | Södra Teatern | Sodermalm, Sweden
Mon., Jun. 17 | Broadcast | Glasgow, United Kingdom
Tues., Jun. 18 | Castle Hotel | Manchester, United Kingdom
Wed., Jun. 19 | Slaughtered Lamb | London, United Kingdom
Fri., Jun. 21 | Crofters Rights | Bristol, United Kingdom
Sun., Jun. 23 | Eridge Park | Tunbridge Wells, United Kingdom
Sat., Jun. 29 |
Whitewater Amphitheater | New Braunfels, TX*
Thurs., Jul. 11 - Fri., Jul. 12 | 7 Clans First Council Casino Hotel | Newkirk, OK^
Sat., Jul. 13 | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO^
Thurs., Aug. 22 | Tonder Festival | Wonder, Denmark
Wed., Sept. 11 - Sat., Sept. 14 | AmericanaFest | Nashville, TN
Sat., Sept. 28 | Ohana Festival | Dana Point, CA
Sat., Oct. 26 | Nutty Brown Café & Amphitheatre | Austin, TX**
Sat., Nov. 2 | Tivoli Theatre | Chattanooga, TN**
Fri., Nov. 8 | 8 Seconds Saloon | Indianapolis, IN**
Wed., Nov. 13 | Georgia Theatre | Athens, GA**
Thurs., Nov. 14 | Tennessee Theatre | Knoxville, TN**
Fri., Nov. 15 | The
National | Richmond, VA**
Sat., Nov. 16 | Jefferson Theater | Charlottesville, VA**
Thurs., Nov. 21 | House of Blues Orlando | Orlando, FL**
Fri., Nov. 22 | The Ranch Concert Hall & Saloon | Fort Myers, FL**
Wed., Dec. 11 | Webster Hall | New York, NY**
Thurs., Dec. 12 | Paradise Rock Club | Boston, MA**
*denotes opening for Midland
^denotes opening for Cody Jinks
**denotes show opening for Randy Houser
