Corb Lund Photograph by Noah Fallis
Corb Lund will return with El Viejo on February 23, 2024 via New West Records. The 11-track set was produced by Lund and recorded entirely in his living room in Lethbridge, AB with his band The Hurtin’ Albertans. El Viejo is Lund’s first album of original material since 2020’s critically acclaimed Agricultural Tragic, which was named an album of the year by the readers of No Depression. Gathering around his living room, Lund & Co. tapped into his most cherished musical influences of acoustic tone and lyrical aptitude — Marty Robbins, Kris Kristofferson, Bobbie Gentry, Jerry Reed. There is a common theme — possibly even a character thread — of the gambler, the outlaw who roams from place-to-place with no direction home.
“It’s a lot of minor keys and gambling songs, is what it is,” Lund says in a matter-of-fact tone. “It was just a few of us in my house. No studio. No outside producer. No adults in the room. No stress.” He continues, “There’s not a single electric instrument on the whole thing, just acoustic sounds and singing. In terms of having a vision, this is a record I’ve had in my sights for a while and it came out exactly how I’d hoped. We cut all the songs live in the same room with lots of bleed. A bunch of the songs we captured in one take, first time through.”
El Viejo pays tribute to Lund’s late friend and mentor, the famed Canadian singer-songwriter Ian Tyson, who passed away December 29, 2022. With the album, he has also created an ode to the notion of stripping everything down and letting the tape roll — simply capturing a moment of pure vulnerability and organic inspiration in real time.
Today, PopMatters premiered the album highlight “Out On a Win,” calling it “classic Lund: Meticulous, thoughtful, and genuine.” Lund says, “There’s a bunch of themes on my new album, El Viejo; lots of gambling songs in minor keys and one tune about accidentally getting too high on a gummy bear before a show in Colorado. And I think this newest one is the first ever country blues MMA song (somebody get it to Dana White!) It’s a sad tale about a broken down old fighter trying to get one more shot at the glory days.”
Lund also previously shared the must-see video for the album’s closing track “Old Familiar Drunken Feeling.” Filmed partially on a cannabis farm, the video depicts an all too accurate account of Lund being way too high on an edible before a show many years ago. He says, “It was all totally above board, the state had just legalized it, so it was kind of a novelty field trip for the band to visit the shiny new dispensary. Some songs are ‘based on truth’ but this happened EXACTLY as I sing it. Turns out weed ain’t my thing. And eating it’s even worse, it lasts forever. Fronting a band can occasionally be terrifying at the best of times, doing it high as a kite and super paranoid was hell on earth. When I started feeling like myself again in the second set after a bunch of cowboy whiskey, I confessed to the audience what had happened and offered them all their money back! No one took me up on it. Bottom line? If this doesn’t get me a Pendleton whisky endorsement, I don’t know what will.”
Prior to Lund launching his Canadian tour in support of El Viejo on March 5 in Vancouver (with New West labelmates 49 Winchester in tow), he will appear at National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas for two headline solo performances on December 9 and 14, as well as a show supporting Ryan Bingham at The Virgin Theatre on December 7. Lund has announced European tour dates supporting the Dead South as well. Please see tour dates (with more to be announced) below.
Much like his music, Lund is decidedly hard to define. The western Canadian singer-songwriter is an elusive artist — onstage, offstage, and in the studio — seamlessly weaving between the outlaw country, Western, and indie-folk realms with an honest curiosity and rowdy devotion to each. He was raised with the tried and true DIY sentiment of “if you want something done, you gotta do it yourself” launching his career recording in his basement, printing his own shirts, booking his own tours, being his own manager and publicist… whatever it took to get it done. He toured for years with the indie-metal band the smalls, and later turned his sights to writing Western songs, creating a unique and quirky hybrid writing style along the way. He has received multiple CCMA, JUNO, and international award nominations and wins. In 2022, Lund won his 14th career Canadian Country Music Award and made his debut at the historic Grand Ole Opry earlier in the year as well. A rural Albertan hailing from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with a long family lineage of ranchers and rodeo people, Lund is about as authentic as they come.
Corb Lund’s El Viejo will be available across digital retailers, on compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited Black & White Splatter Vinyl edition including a Corb Lund autographed postcard, as well as an autographed compact disc edition, will be at Independent Retailers and is available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.
