Parker Gispert Photo by Alysse Gafkjen
Parker Gispert, frontman of the acclaimed rock and roll band The Whigs, is set to release Golden Years on September 2nd via Normaltown/New West Records. The 9-song set was co-produced by Gispert and Roger Moutenot (Lou Reed, Yo La Tengo) and mastered by John Baldwin at RCA Studio A in Nashville, TN. Golden Years follows his 2018 solo debut which arrived to tastemaker applause with Flood Magazine declaring “Parker Gispert shines on Sunlight Tonight.” While Sunlight Tonight was an atmospheric, largely acoustic affair, Golden Years finds Gispert returning to his roots and delivering a collection of introspective, yet gruff rock and roll anthems with the amps cranked up. “It felt really great to bust out the electric guitars, plug into the amps, and hit the pedals,” he says.
Throughout the first wave of the pandemic, Gispert experienced a revelation. “I decided what I really wanted to do was to make a rock record. It was a response to being quarantined and not being able to go to shows or hang out at rock clubs. I was trying to visualize what I would want to see if I was able to get out. For me, that was electric guitars and solos. Lyrically, it was vague, but still inspired by what was happening in the world. Musically, I got back to what initially inspired me as a child of the nineties.” Under the influence of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Built to Spill, he entered the studio with producer Roger Moutenot. He would be joined by drummer John Kent (Ben Kweller), Rob Crowell (Deer Tick, Midland) on bass, longtime guitarist Evan Penza on lead, and Thayer Sarrano on keys and backing vocals. Matt Stoessel (Faye Webster) is also featured on pedal steel. “In the Whigs, we never had lead guitar or really any keyboards,” Gispert adds. “This is the fully realized rock dream for me.”
Today, Under the Radar premiered the video for the album’s title track. Gispert says, “I was looking through old photos when I got the idea for this song. I’d see photos of myself as a child, in high school, college, up till present day and remember that while these photos were being taken, I was probably preoccupied with the stresses of the moment and not present enough to realize that even many of these seemingly mundane moments were some of the best times of my life.”
SHARE PARKER GISPERT’S “GOLDEN YEARS” VIDEO
Gispert has also announced his initial full band appearances in support of Golden Years, launching on August 26th in Athens, GA at the legendary 40 Watt Club. Please see tour dates, with many more to be added, below.
Parker Gispert was still in college when he formed The Whigs in the early 2000s in Athens, GA. After five critically acclaimed albums, hundreds of tour dates all over the world with the likes of Kings of Leon, The Black Keys, Drive-By Truckers, among others, as well as television appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the band decided to pull back on activity in 2017. Which left Gispert, who had spent the majority of his adult life either in the studio or on the road with the band, at a crossroads. “It occurred to me that if I wanted to record and tour that I was going to need to do it solo,” Gispert says. “I’d always thought about it in the back of my mind as something that I wanted to do one day, but ‘one day’ had never really come.” His debut solo album Sunlight Tonight was released to critical acclaim and was supported by headline touring in addition to hitting the road with Valerie June, SUSTO, RNDM, and the Futurebirds. In between, Gispert co-wrote “Private Public Breakdown” for Alice Cooper’s Paranormal with Cooper and Bob Ezrin as well.
Parker Gispert’s Golden Years will be available across digital retailers, signed compact disc, as well as a Gold color vinyl edition autographed by Gispert as well. Parkert Gispert’s Golden Years is available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.
Parker Gispert Golden Years Track Listing:
1. Golden Years
2. All The Rage
3. You And I Forever
4. Evil Euphoria
5. Do You Wanna Get Wild?
6. Rock And Roll
7. Stuck Inside Someone Else’s Dream
8. Moving On
9. Come Together Now
Parker Gispert (Full Band) On Tour:
August 26 – Athens, Georgia – 40 Watt Club
August 27 – Charleston, South Carolina – Royal American
September 16 – Atlanta, Georgia – The Earl
ParkerGispert.com
NewWestRecords.com
