Bonnie "Prince" Billy announces new album 'The Purple Bird' for January 31st

Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Announces new album The Purple Bird for January 31st
Shares new song “Our Home” – watch video here

Photo credit: David Kasnic
 
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – the persona/stage-name of musician Will Oldham - will release a new studio record titled The Purple Bird on January 31st. Made in Nashville with producer David “Ferg” Ferguson and an ensemble of A-list session musicians, The Purple Bird could be called “a proper Nashville record”, made up of a collection of songs primarily written around Ferg’s kitchen table. You can watch the video for “Our Home” today. The song, and video, features Grammy-winning mandolinist Tim O’Brien, who also serves as a co-writer on the track.
 
Watch the video for “Our Home” here.
Stream “Our Home” here.
 
The Purple Bird finds Bonnie "Prince" Billy working with a "producer" for only the second time in his illustrious career. His relationship with Ferg dates back more than two decades to the sessions for the Johnny Cash album American III with Rick Rubin, where Ferg served as engineer and where Cash performed a cover of the BPB track “I See A Darkness”. The pair have worked together on numerous projects over the years but none as deeply as The Purple Bird (which takes its name from a drawing Ferg made as a second-grader). He is credited as a co-writer on 7 of the 12 tracks. Oldham says of the relationship:

“I’ve made records with friends, collaborative records like The Brave and the Bold with Tortoise; the two Superwolf records with Matt Sweeney; The Wonder Show of the World with Emmett Kelly; Get on Jolly with Mick Turner.  These collaborators get top billing because that’s how this business works.  This record, The Purple Bird, is similarly a collaborative effort but the collaborator is the producer, David Ferguson.  He’s a giant of a man, an epic musical force, a dear friend.  Our work together on this record was the result of years of sharing hard times and great joys, songs and stories, of making music together and apart.  There’s a lot of trust in this record on Ferg’s part and on mine, and the trust was hard- and well-earned.  When I listen to the record, oftentimes I can’t help but laugh in wonder that life allowed me to participate in such a thing.”
 
In addition to Ferg and Tim O’Brien, the country-singer John Anderson, Ronnie Bowman, Pat McLaughlin, Tommy Prine and Roger Cook also contribute to the songwriting. Anderson sings on the track “Downstream.” The sessions featured: Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Russ Pahl (electric guitar), Pat McLaughlin (mandolin), Steve Mackey (bass) and Fred Eltringham (drums/percussion) with none of the tracks needing more than 4 takes, most were completed in under an hour.  Brit Taylor and Adam Chaffin contributed backing vocals.
 
What does “a proper Nashville” record mean for the enigmatic Bonnie “Prince” Billy? It may be a shifting idea for some. At the start of the sessions Ferg had told Oldham: “I don’t wanna do a country record, just do your shit, Will.”
 
And indeed, the pair of Oldham and Ferg – along with their collaborators – emerged with a stunning entry in the BPB catalog, and perhaps a new peak.  

Tracklisting:
1. Turned to Dust (Rolling On)
2. London May
3. Tonight With the Dogs I’m Sleeping
4. Boise, Idaho
5. The Water’s Fine
6. Sometimes It’s Hard to Breathe
7. New Water
8. Guns Are For Cowards
9. Downstream
10. One of These Days (I’m Gonna Spend the Whole Night With You)
11. Is My Living In Vain?
12. Our Home
 
The Purple Bird will be released on Domino/No Quarter and is available to pre-order on purple vinyl, standard vinyl, CD and digitally. Pre-order: DomMart | Digital
 
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