Bill Callahan Goes for the Gold

The habitually prolific Bill Callahan took an uncharacteristic five-and-a-half-year break between his 2014 album Have Fun with God and last year’s Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest, but then Shepherd ended up being a 20-song double album, so he certainly made up for it. Now, just over a year later, the singer-songwriter once known as Smog is back on his usual schedule with the Sept. 4 release of Gold Record, via longtime label home Drag City.

Most of the album was recorded live in the studio, first takes with very few overdubs, with Callahan accompanied by guitarist Matt Kinsey and bassist Jaime Zurverza, along with drums and horns on a couple songs. In the ultimate “try before you buy” approach, each of Gold Record’s ten tracks is being posted online for streaming and downloading prior to the album’s due date – one per week on all the usual digital music sources.

Photo by Hanly Banks Callahan.