Nick Shoulders Offers Timely Rallying Cry With “Won’t Fence Us In”, Announces Fall North American Tour
“I wish that every golf course became a WMA”
-Nick Shoulders, “Won’t Fence Us In”
Watch the video for “Won’t Fence Us In” here
Shoulders announces Fall North American “All Bad” tour – including shows in Brooklyn, Nashville, DC, Philadelphia, Toronto and Atlanta
New album All Bad is out September 8th via Gar Hole Records, pre-order here
“All Bad is a defiant manifesto that takes direct aim at societal failures, ecological destruction, zealot corruption and, of course, delivers breathtaking, thoughtful odes to Shoulders’ home in the mountains of Fayetteville.” -Paste
July 28, 2023 – “I wish that every golf course became a WMA” is one of the most unlikely lines you’ll hear in a country song this year. It’s one of many memorable lyrics in Nick Shoulders new song “Won’t Fence Us In,” a standout from his upcoming album All Bad (out September 8th via Gar Hole Records). Part statement of intent, part wish list and part scathing commentary on American life during late-stage capitalism, “Won’t Fence Us In” doesn’t come off as preachy or maudlin because, as Natalie Weiner describes in a recent Don’t Rock The Inbox piece, Shoulders and his band the Okay Crawdad “have distilled a kind of old-time country via New Orleans jazz, Cajun music and '50s garage rock sound into something fun, danceable and compelling.” Heck, there aren't a lot of artists who can get a packed crowd in Ft Worth to happily shout along to the line "if you were really country you would f#cking care."
“‘Won’t Fence Us In’ is a direct rebuke of country music’s reputation as the soundtrack to colonialism,” Shoulders explains. “And a plea to the listener to consider that we all share a connection and reliance on the land that predates the first kings or armies. There is no ‘country music’ without a landscape to support people, and our resilience and resistance can be found in our old songs and reclamation of rural spaces from industry and impoverishment.”
All Bad ultimately encapsulates everything that makes Shoulders’ inimitable form of country music (or “grandpa music” as he calls it) so vital: a heady balance of dazzling musicianship and punk defiance, coupled with gritty eccentricity and a generational connection to the roots of the genre. The album emerged from the chaos of the post-pandemic world, and manages to be a plea for patience as much as a call to action. With a singing style deeply rooted in his family’s musical lineage and a heartfelt reverence for his lifelong home of mountainous Arkansas, the incisive yet wildly jubilant All Bad vocally objects to the reckless destruction of the natural landscape and ever-eroding line between church and state, while still offering plenty of joy and dance-ready rhythms.
“The idea of country music as our sacred inheritance as opposed to a marketing scheme has been central to my work for a while now,” Shoulders explains. “It’s about finding collective liberation in our connection to the landscape, to ancient singing traditions, to a way of producing music that predates the industry built around it. This album came from tapping into what my band and I did as street performers and moldy little honky-tonkers: it’s continuing that dedication to making music that’s honest about the lives we’re actually living, rather than trying to create a more marketable reality.”
After writing most of the album from the front seat of a tour van, the Fayetteville, AR-based musician took a batch of demos he recorded while snowbound and recovering from Covid to his longtime band (bassist/harmony singer Grant D’Aubin, lead guitarist Jack Studer, drummer Cheech Moosekian) and collectively headed to New Orleans. Hoping to emulate the methods of their first two efforts, Shoulders and the band recorded in a home studio on the banks of the Mississippi River.
Shoulders and the Okay Crawdad have spent a good chunk of the year on the road (including stops at Stagecoach and Nelsonville Music Festival earlier this year), and today they announce their Fall North American “All Bad” tour, which includes shows in Brooklyn, NY, Nashville, TN, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA and Atlanta, GA. Tickets for new dates go on sale Friday, August 4th, with an Artist Presale beginning Tuesday, August 1st. Fans can visit NickShoulders.com for a full list of dates, information, and to sign-up for the artist pre-sale.
Next month, Shoulders and the Okay Crawdad start the final leg of their summer tour, which includes sets at Pickathon, AmericanaFest and Sisters Folk festivals.
Nick Shoulders and the Okay Crawdad 2023 Tour Dates
July 29 - Carnation, WA - Timber! Outdoor Music Festival
Aug 4-5 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon
Aug 7 - Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo
Aug 9 - Fernie, BC -The Northern Bar & Stage
Aug 10 - Calgary, AB - The Palomino
Aug 11 - Calgary, AB - The Palomino
Aug 12-13 - Edmonton, AB - Edmonton Folk Music Festival
Aug 15 - Cremona, AB - The Windmill
Aug 16 - Jasper, AB - Legion
Aug 19-20 - Grande Prairie, AB - Bear Creek Folk Music Festival
Aug 22 - Longview, AB - Twin Cities Saloon
Aug 24 - Great Falls, MT - The Newberry
Aug 25 - Billings, MT - Pub Station Taproom
Aug 26 - Spearfish, SD - Matthews Opera House & Arts Center
Aug 27 - Mills, WY - The Beacon Club
Aug 30 - Livingston, MT - Pine Creek Lodge
Sept 2 - Teton Village, WY - Mangy Moose
Sept 3 - Salt Lake City, UT - The State Room
Sept 6 - Crested Butte, CO - Public House
Sept 8 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
Sept 9 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
Sept 14 - Kansas City, MO - Knuckleheads
Sept 15 - Fayetteville, AR - George's Majestic Lounge
Sept 19-23 - Nashville, TN - AmericanaFest
Sept 29-30 - Sisters, OR - Sisters Folk Festival
Oct 13 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre
Oct 14 - Atlanta, GA - Vinyl at Center Stage
Oct 15 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle
Oct 16 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre
Oct 19 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle - Back Room
Oct 20 - Washington, DC - Union Stage
Oct 21 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
Oct 23 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right
Oct 24 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Showcase Lounge
Oct 25 - Somerville, MA - Arts At The Armory
Oct 27 - Albany, NY - Lark Hall
Oct 28 - Buffalo, NY - Buffalo Iron Works
Oct 29 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
Oct 31 - Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
Nov 1 - Columbus, Ohio - Skully's
Nov 3 - Newport, KY - The Southgate House Revival - Sanctuary
Nov 4 - Lexington, KY - The Burl
Nov 5 - Nashville, TN - The Basement East
Nov 7 - Louisville, KY - Zanzabar
Nov 8 - Indianapolis, IN - HI-FI Indianapolis
Nov 10 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
Nov 11 - Evanston, IL - SPACE
Nov 12 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
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Download new press photos here (photo credit Nick Futch)
Download All Bad album cover here
Pre-order/pre-save All Bad here
For more information on Nick Shoulders, please contact Rob Krauser at REK Room Media, rob@rekroommedia.com or 917.703.8361.
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