Joan Shelley just revealed she’s dropping a brand-new album called Real Warmth on September 19 with No Quarter.
After her last album The Spur in 2022, she teamed up with Ben Whiteley to produce this one, and a bunch of other musicians jumped in too—like Tamara Lindeman, Doug Paisley, Nathan Salsburg, Matt Kelley, Ken Whiteley, Philippe Melanson on drums, and Karen Ng playing saxophone. The first song out is “Everybody,” and you can listen to it now.
Ben Whiteley said, “We had a few windows in mid-winter and it really felt like there was an urgency to capture a moment in time with these songs, performances, people involved, and against the political backdrop. The record really feels like a capture instead of a meticulous construction. Part of Joan’s concept was not only to go to a place but to draw on the community of musicians from that place.” Sometimes, music feels more like a snapshot than a puzzle, right?
Fans think it’s cool when artists bring their friends along for the ride.
Last year, Shelley dropped an EP called Mood Ring, and now, she’s getting ready for a short North American tour this fall. She’ll start in Toronto at the Monarch Tavern on October 16 and finish up in Louisville at the Whirling Tiger on November 2. Autumn is going to sound pretty good.
Here’s the tracklist for Real Warmth (the song names are kind of poetic, aren’t they?):
01 Here in the High and Low
02 On the Gold and Silver
03 Field Guide to the Wild Life
04 Wooden Boat
05 For When You Can’t Sleep
06 Everybody
07 New Anthem
08 Heaven Knows
09 Ever Entwine
10 Give It Up, It’s Too Much
11 The Orchard
12 Who Do You Want Checking in On You
13 The Hum
Joan Shelley’s tour dates look like this:
10-16 Toronto, Ontario – Monarch Tavern
10-18 Northampton, MA – The Parlor Room
10-19 Keene, NH – Nova Arts
10-21 Boston, MA – Passim
10-22 Brooklyn, NY – Public Records
10-23 Philadelphia, PA – Harmonie Hall
11-21 Chicago, IL – Constellation
11-23 Louisville, KY – The Whirling Tiger
Sometimes, I wonder if musicians get tired of singing the same songs every night, but maybe it’s different when you’re with friends.
