Photo credit: Andrew White
Andrew Combs is set to release his anticipated New West Records debut, Canyons Of My Mind, on April 7th, 2017. The 11-song set was co-produced by Skylar Wilson (Justin Townes Earle, Caitlin Rose) & Jordan Lehning (Rodney Crowell, Caitlin Rose) and recorded at Battle Tapes Studio in East Nashville, TN. Rolling Stone Country premiered the video for the new single “Blood Hunters” today, which can be seen Here. The Ry Cox directed film is cinematic in scope with nods to sci-fi and horror. Of the song, Rolling Stone Country said “The song opens with Combs’ soothingly gorgeous vocals on haunting echo and spare electric guitar that crescendos into a fierce, Seattle-riffed fury. The musical gambit removes it even further away from the constraints of traditional country to forge a more experimental, rock-forward take on folk in the vein of Kevin Morby, Angel Olsen, Cass McCombs or even their forefather, Leonard Cohen.” Combs added, “This one is about losing your mind. It came out in a haze of post tour blues; this being the 24-72 hours after you get home from tour in which you find yourself restless and somewhat deranged. The 180 degree flip in movement, conditions, and sleep patterns does this to me every time. Anyways, I lost it during one of these episodes. I thought everyone and their mother was out to get me, including myself.” Of the ambitious clip, Andrew Combs offered, “I loved where Ry’s head was at with this. When I first read his treatment, I knew he was spot on. I dug his plot idea – putting together a story of the hunter and its prey. The premise could have very easily become a sloppy mess of intertwined stories. Instead I think we got a nice, concise video that keeps you on your toes. That is very hard to do, in my opinion. I really appreciated Ry’s attitude – a mixture of professionalism and laid back. His easy going demeanor was key, especially when we were slogging through the cold river to get some daybreak shots.”
NPR Music previously premiered the video for the album track “Dirty Rain,” which can be seen Here. Calling him “one of Nashville’s most poetically gifted young singer-songwriters,” they state “The subtle dissent Combs expresses in ‘Dirty Rain,’ and which surfaces throughout Canyons Of My Mind next to elegant love songs and mood pieces, speaks to his maturation as a songwriter. Andrew Combs possesses a voice that always provides a thrill; here, he makes sure it offers relevant substance, too.” Combs has also announced the initial U.S. and U.K. tour dates in support of the album with an appearance at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX this month. Please see tour dates below, with more to be announced. Canyons Of My Mind will be available digitally, on compact disc, and 150g vinyl. There is also an extremely limited edition to 100 LP copies available on Butter Cream vinyl with the album available via PledgeMusic now.
A Dallas native now living near the same Nashville airport immortalised in the opening sequence of Robert Altman’s country music odyssey, Andrew Combs is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and heir to that 1975 film’s idea of the Nashville troubadour as a kind of musical monk. As a songwriter, Combs relies on meditative restraint rather than showy insistence to paint his canvases, a technique commensurate with his idea of nature as an overflowing spiritual wellspring. Combs refines the vulnerable vagabond persona he mastered on All These Dreams while pushing it beyond those boundaries, into a more pastoral realm aligned with artists like Nick Drake and Tim Buckley. The idea of the artist’s creative life as an ecosystem – one just as in need of cultivation and care as our own imperiled world – informs much of Canyons Of My Mind.
Canyons Of My Mind Track Listing:
1. Heart of Wonder
2. Sleepwalker
3. Dirty Rain
4. Hazel
5. Rose Colored Blues
6. Better Way
7. Lauralee
8. Blood Hunters
9. Silk Flowers
10. Bourgeois King
11. What It Means To You
Andrew Combs Tour Dates (More To Be Announced)
March 11 – Athens, GA Hendershot’s
March 12 – Atlanta, GA Grocery On Home
March 13 – Mobile, AL Callaghans
March 15 – Dallas, TX City Tavern
March 16 – Luck, TX Luck Reunion
March 17 – Austin, TX SXSW
March 30 – Lexington, KY The Burl
March 31 – Charlotte, NC The Evening Muse
April 1 – Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
April 2 – Charlottesville, VA Southern
April 4 – Washington, DC Gypsy Sallys
April 5 – Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live
April 6 – New York, NY Rough Trade
April 7 – Manchester, VT Billsville
April 8 – South Burlington, VT Higher Ground
April 9 – Boston, MA Atwoods
April 10 – York, PA Sign of the Wagon
April 11 – Columbus, OH
April 29 & 30 – Kilkenny, Ireland Kilkenny Roots Festival
May 2 – Manchester, UK Night and Day Cafe
May 4 – Birmingham, UK Glee Club
May 6 – Edinburgh, UK The Caves
May 7 – Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
May 8 – Nottingham, UK The Maze
May 9 – London, UK Borderline
May 26 – Nashville, TN 3rd & Lindsley
