On his debut album, Yellow Peril, Nat Myers carries on the traditions of the blues while simultaneously shattering every stereotype that comes with them. A Korean-American poet raised on hardcore and hip-hop, Myers found his calling early in the hundred-year-old sounds of artists like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton. Drawing from his heroes, he uses the blues to shine a light on the injustice he sees around him, and specifically the dark wave of Asian hate that accompanied the global pandemic. Produced by Dan Auerbach, who oversaw sessions for the first time in his own Nashville home (which acts as another instrument on the record), Yellow Perilarrives June 23rd via Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound / Concord.
“Yellow Peril” featuring Myers backed by Auerbach and Grammy-winning songwriting luminary Pat McLaughlin (John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal), with an accompanying visual by Andy M. Hawkes.
Myers on “Yellow Peril”: “I knew they were going to blame us yellow folks for the virus. I’d felt it already. ‘Yellow Peril’ is a very evocative term, and I liked the idea of putting that concept into a blues song. I want this record to raise my folks up.”
Myers’ ten-song debut stems from a passion for the blues that began while the Northern Kentucky musician was immersing himself in the world of American poetry: “it dawned on me that the real epics were being told by these itinerant musicians from the ’30s and ’40s, even before recorded sound. That’s when I did my deep dive into the blues, so I could write my own epic,” Nat recalls. Yellow Peril finds Myers pulling from a wide range of historical threads while remaining thoroughly modern – using fleet riffs, complex rhythms, and quick tempos to tell tales full of intelligence, soul, contradiction and nuance. Working with Auerbach and McLaughlin – as well as blues giant Alvin Youngblood Hart – Yellow Peril leans on its creator’s idiosyncrasies to deliver nothing short of an American epic for the post-pandemic age.
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NAT MYERS TOUR DATES:
Mar. 15 ~ Wed ~ Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA*
Mar. 16 ~ Thu ~ Arcata Theatre Lounge, Arcata, CA*
Mar. 17 ~ Fri ~ McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom*, Portland, OR
Mar. 18 ~ Sat ~ The Showbox @ The Market, Seattle, WA*
Mar. 23 ~ Thu ~ 10 Mile Music Hall, Frisco, CO*
Mar. 24 ~ Fri ~ Agave, Avon, CO*
Mar. 25 ~ Sat ~ Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO*
Mar. 26 ~ Sun ~ Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO*
Mar. 30 ~ Thu ~ House of Blues, New Orleans, LA*
Mar. 31 ~ Fri ~ The Echo Lounge & Music Hall, Dallas, TX*
Apr. 1 ~ Sat ~ Stubb’s Waller Creek Ampthitheater, Austin, TX*
Apr. 2 ~ Sun ~ White Oak Music Hall Downstairs, Houston, TX*
Apr. 5 ~ Wed ~ The Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix, AZ*
Apr. 6 ~ Thu ~ Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA*
Apr. 7 ~ Fri ~ The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA*
Apr. 8 ~ Sat ~ Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA*
Jul. 13-15 ~ Thu-Sat ~ Masters Musicians Festival, Somerset, KY
* with G. Love & Special Sauce
