William Tyler previews new LP with trailer

William Tyler previews new LP 'Modern Country' with trailer.

Modern Country is a love letter to what we’re losing in America, to what we’ve already lost. We stand at the precipice of the twilight of empire, the decline of so many national institutions and the vanishing of certainties.” —William Tyler

William Tyler returns with Modern Country on June 3. This is the fourth full-length album by guitarist and composer Tyler, and his first recorded outside of his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. It features an ensemble backing group consisting of multi-instrumentalist Phil Cook (Hiss Golden Messenger, Blind Boys of Alabama), bassist Darin Gray (Tweedy, Jim O’Rourke), and percussionist Glenn Kotche (Wilco). The album was tracked at April Base Studios in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and finished in Nashville, recorded and mixed by Jon Ashley, and produced by Tyler and Brad Cook. William Tyler is on tour now with the Mountain Goats and will perform at the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival and shows with Wilco in August, with more dates to be announced soon.

Primarily written while Tyler was on sabbatical in Oxford, Mississippi, where he stayed at the cabin of a family friend within a stone’s throw of William Faulkner’s house, Modern Country is a collection of songs about the vanishing America that still exists on back roads, in small towns, on AM radio stations. In an election year when so many certainties and assurances have vanished, Tyler doesn’t offer optimism or pessimism but rather a calm and measured commentary in our age of anxiety.

Photos & bio are here. For more information, contact mike@mergerecords.com.

William Tyler on tour:
Apr 7 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom ^
Apr 8 Ann Arbor, MI – The Blind Pig ^
Apr 9 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue ^
Apr 11 Chicago, IL – City Winery ^
Apr 12 Chicago, IL – City Winery ^
Apr 13 Chicago, IL – City Winery ^
Apr 14 Grand Rapids, MI – Covenant Fire Arts Center ^
Apr 16 York, PA – Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center ^
Apr 17 New York, NY – City Winery ^
Apr 18 New York, NY – City Winery ^
Apr 19 New York, NY – City Winery ^
Aug 12 Eau Claire, WI – Eaux Claires Festival
Aug 16 Kansas City, MO – CrossroadsKC *
Aug 17 St. Louis, MO – The Fabulous Fox Theatre *
^ w/ The Mountain Goats
* w/ Wilco

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