Colter Wall Partners with RCA, Plots New Album “Little Songs”
Cowboy & Western revivalist, and Canadian-based baritone singer Colter Wall is getting ready to release a new album. And if you need any further validation that it is a new day in Western music among a strong resurgence of interest in the genre, appreciate that apparently RCA Records came a-calling, and have partnered with Colter and his long-established La Honda Records for the release. When you take a peek at Colter Wall’s streaming numbers and the views on his videos, you understand why.
Called Little Songs and out on July 14th, the new album finds Colter Wall continuing to mature into his role as a force for the revitalization of Western music by paying tribute to past greats and the compositions they’ve left behind, while attempting to contribute to the canon of Western songs with his own expressions, taken expressly from his personal experiences.
Instead of spending time on a tour bus and eating catering backstage, Colter Wall has instead chosen to spend his time out on the range punching cattle and performing other cowboy duties, which puts him in touch with the lineage of Western music. This is one of the reasons he currently only has two live appearances on his schedule—Dusty Boots Festival in Denver on July 1st, and Under The Big Sky Fest on July 14th—when he could be selling out venues coast to coast.
Ahead of the album, Colter Wall has released his version of the Hoyt Axton song “Evangelina” (listen below). The album also has a version of Ian Tyson’s “The Coyote & The Cowboy.” Tyson passed away in late 2022. One of the knocks on Colter Wall in the past is that he’s relied too much on traditional material as opposed to his own. But that won’t be the case with Little Songs.
Eight of the ten tracks of the new album were written by Colter Wall himself. “These songs were written over the last three years. I penned most of them from home and I think the songs reflect that,” Colter Wall says—“home” being Battle Creek, Saskatchewan in the middle of the Canadian plains, close to the Alberta border. As Colter says in the title track, “You might not see a soul for days on them high and lonesome plains. You got to fill the big empty with little songs.”
Similar to his 2020 album Western Swing & Waltzes, Colter Wall headed south of the border to Wimberly, Texas and the Yellow Dog Studios to record the new album, and co-produced the sessions with Patrick Lyons. Similar to country artists like Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers, Colter Wall’s embrace of Western music has inspired a host of other artists to do the same, helping to save this vital and elemental expression of North American roots music.
Little Songs is now available for pre-save/pre-order.
Track List:
Prairie Evening/Sagebrush Waltz (Colter Wall)
Standing Here (Colter Wall)
Corralling The Blues (Colter Wall)
The Coyote & The Cowboy (Ian Tyson)
Honky Tonk Nighthawk (Colter Wall)
For a Long While (Colter Wall)
Cow/Calf Blue Yodel (Colter Wall)
Little Songs (Colter Wall)
Evangelina (Hoyt Axton)
The Last Loving Words (Colter Wall)
April 27, 2023 @ 11:57 am
Huge Colter fan but I honestly have a hard time getting too excited for what is essentially “Western Swings and Waltzes” part 2…I didn’t really care when he went away from the gritty dark style that got him big and “Plain to See Plainsman” and “Western Swings and Waltzes” came out because exploring new styles sonically and lyrically is what the best do. However, it seems now that he’s deciding to settle in to the cowboy tunes (which I personally believe was the worst of the three styles) in a relatively permanent manner. I’d be lying if that wasn’t a little bit disappointing. At the same time I am not mad at him for it, and I fully understand why he’s doing it, it does better represent his life now. Besides, there’s a good chance that the fact that he’s moving away from the deeper sadder songs is because he’s in a better place as a person than he was when he wrote those old songs. As somebody who’s been pretty damn down before, and as somebody who has gotten a lot out of his music, I feel very happy for him if that’s truly the case. Still going to give the album a listen, and with his talent I’ll still probably enjoy it, maybe not as much as the old stuff but that’s not the important thing. Keep Ropin and Ridin Colter.
April 27, 2023 @ 1:10 pm
I won’t knock anyone’s preference. As for myself, I hear more honesty and soul in his cowboy and westerns songs, and I love it.
April 27, 2023 @ 1:29 pm
The Coyote and the Cowboy is one of my favorite Ian Tyson songs ever. Excited for a new generation to hear it!
April 27, 2023 @ 2:50 pm
Whatever Colter does is gold to me. I love every original AND cover he has ever done! (Yes, some more than others), but I can’t wait for all his future recordings😊🤗🥰 .
April 27, 2023 @ 3:02 pm
Not often I see new articles on the same artist on both Stereogum and SCM. He’s certainly on everyone’s radar.
April 27, 2023 @ 5:46 pm
This is great! Not only is it refreshing to hear so much buzz about a traditional artist let alone someone who does Western music, and to also revive a Hoyt Axton song. In my opinion, Hoyt was severely underrated and had some really awesome songs like “Boney Fingers” and “Della and the Dealer”. Those of my generation best remember him as the father of Billy from the movie Gremlins. But for me personally, it was his music that was always what I remember him for. One of the best songs he did was a duet with Linda Ronstadt called “Lion in the Winter”.
Getting back to Colter Wall, I believe he has the potential to be the next big underdog in country. A lot of our cowboy singers are passing. It will be a sad day when Michael Martin Murphy leaves us. But between Colter and Corb Lund I believe that Western music will endure.
Finally, for some fun, listen to your favorite song on YouTube either at 1.25x speed or at 0.75x for a surreal experience.
April 27, 2023 @ 7:05 pm
I remember the first time falling in love with Colter’s cover of “Evangelina”. Psyched that it’s available today.
Can’t wait for the album! Colter is on another level.
April 28, 2023 @ 6:29 am
Hey Trigger, is everyone on La Honda Records going to be distributed by RCA now? That seems like a big deal for some of the other folks on the label
April 28, 2023 @ 9:01 am
This is a good question and I do not have a definitive answer at the moment. Taking the template of Tyler Childers’ Hickman Holler Records, my guess is the other La Honda artists are not partnering with RCA.
April 28, 2023 @ 1:01 pm
If anyone wants to know these answers they could ask rather than speculate. The label has social media and a website.
April 28, 2023 @ 1:04 pm
There was also a full press release from RCA.
https://conta.cc/3Nk8r8G
April 28, 2023 @ 1:17 pm
The press release is from IVPR, and that is what I received Thursday morning, and used to compose this article. When the commenter asked the question, I referred back to the press release, and unfortunately, it did not have an answer. My intent was to reach back out to IVPR as the press contact and ask the question my self when I had time. If you happen to know that answer in all of your divine knowledge and would be so gracious to share it with us for the benefit of everyone, that would be appreciated.
April 28, 2023 @ 7:00 am
Colter has such a unique voice. Regardless of the direction he takes his music I will always give his records a bunch of spins.