DEATH VALLEY

BUTCH BASTARD ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT/FATHER JOHN MISTY TOUR

My word, it has been awhile, hasn’t it? I hope to find you all in ebullient spirit and vigorous health. I have returned to your inbox with some very exciting news. My third album, Death Valley, is finished, off to the presses, and will be available on vinyl and to stream in April of 2025. The first song will be released on January 7, 2025.

These songs are an attestation to the fragility of the human mind. They are songs about humanity, connection, people, loss, fear, hatred, anger, mania, etc. These are songs about staring into the void. But there is hope in these songs, and a backbone of optimism and love holding it all together.

My last record, Las Vegas Salvation, mused on the idea of a hellhole oasis of indulgence and veneer masquerading as paradise in the middle of a barren desert. Death Valley finds us further out in that expanse. But as always, despite these conditions, nothing can suppress the beauty.

I am tremendously proud of this record. I took big swings with the production and I enlisted the help of deeply talented collaborators. I am proud of the writing as I believe it is a big level up from the last record, and I am so amazed by the people who jumped in to contribute to this music.

I’ll talk about each of these contributors in more detail as the songs start to come out, but in broad strokes: Peter Murray aka Jean Chalant aka my big bro wrote the brilliant string arrangements and Laena Myers performed them, overdubbing each part multiple times and creating the orchestral sound that you can hear highlighted in the video above. Bill Patton came by my studio and laid down the heart-rending pedal steel guitar. In an unprecedented move, I brought in the incredible Tony Barba to play SAXOPHONE on a few songs. That’s him wailing in the background of the above video. For drums, I yet again went with the absolute best, Richard Gowen, who played on a number of songs on the last record. I will talk about this more when I release the first single, but for the first time on a Butch Bastard record I collaborated with the man who introduced me to this whole game, my spiritual brother Casey Wescott of Fleet Foxes.

Finally, I am forever indebted to Ryan Nasci and Dave Cerminara who mixed the record. These dudes are as good as ANYONE in the biz, and they took on this project for little more than a couple Zankou and Tender Greens Postmates orders (Ryan likes the Zankou chicken tarna wrap, as he should, and Dave is a big advocate for Tender Greens Chipotle BBQ Chicken Salad). The difference in the songs from before I sent them the sessions to after is night and day.

In addition to all this, I am thrilled to add that I will be taking this record and music on my first EU/UK tour as Butch Bastard this April in support of the great Father John Misty. I am so very grateful to Misty and co. for entrusting me with such heavy lifting, and I cannot wait to meet all of the people out there.

Ok, Folks, much more from me to come in the near future. I am happy to be back, and I love you all to death.

xoxo

BB