The spaced-out guitar virtuoso Steve Gunn makes a whole lot of music. Just last month, Gunn released the instrumental album Music For Writers, and he's also made a lot of records with collaborators like David Moore, John Truscinski, and the avant-garde supergroup Beings. But now Gunn is back in singer-songwriter mode, and he's ready to announce his first proper non-side-project solo LP since 2021's Other You.
Gunn recorded his new LP Daylight Daylight with one primary collaborator. James Elkington, much like Gunn, is a languid singer-songwriter and a master of acoustic folk guitar. Gunn and Elkington are old friends, and Elkington previously produced Gunn's 2019 album The Unseen In Between. The two of them recorded Daylight Daylight at Elkington's Nada Studios in Chicago, and Elkington contributed string and woodwind arrangements, which makes for a cool new dimension on a Steve Gunn record. A press release mentions Mark Hollis, Ennio Morricone, the Fall, and Basil Kirchin as inspirations, and the album includes violins and viola from from Macie Stewart, cellos from Ben Whiteley, upright bass from Nick Macri, and woodwinds from Hunter Diamond.
Lead single "Nearly There" is a softly sweeping folk reverie. It's creaky and lived-in, and the strings and woodwinds give it some extra cinematic heft. If you've got a back porch with a rocking chair on it, this is the kind of record you should play while drinking a beer and looking out at the sunset. If you don't have a back porch with a rocking chair on it, this is the type of song that might motivate you to acquire one. Steve Gunn is playing a bunch of shows on both sides of the Atlantic in the months ahead, including some UK dates with his buddy James Elkington. Below, check out "Nearly There," the Daylight Daylight tracklist, and Gunn's upcoming tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Nearly There"
02 "Morning On K Road"
03 "Another Fade"
04 "Hadrian’s Wall"
05 "Daylight Daylight"
06 "Loon"
07 "A Walk"
TOUR DATES:
9/11 - Chicago, IL @ Sound & Gravity Festival
9/25 - Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
10/23 - London, UK @ St. Mathias *
10/24 - Glasgow, UK @ Hug and Pint *
10/25 - York, UK @ The Band Room *
10/26 - Shropshire, UK @ Firefly *
10/28 - Stockholm, Sweden @ stadsgardsterminalen
10/29 - Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pustervik
10/30 - Oslo, Norway @ Bla
10/31 - Kristiansand, Norway @ Dirty Old Town
11/01 - Stavanger, Norway @ Folken
11/02 - Bergen, Norway @ Kunsthall
11/09 - Sétubal, Portugal @ Forum Luisa Todi
11/14 - Dranouter, Belgium @ Dranouter
11/15 - Turnhout, Belgium De Warande
12/03 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
12/04 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro
12/05 - Raleigh, NC @ King’s
12/06 - Washington, DC @ DC9
12/10 - Portsmouth, NH @ The Press Room
12/11 - Portland, ME @ Space
12/17 - New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
1/01 - Sawyer, MI @ Out There
1/14 - Seattle, WA @ The Triple Door
1/15 - Vancouver, BC @ The Fox Cabaret
1/17 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
1/20 - San Francisco, CA @ Café Du Nord
1/21 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
1/22 - Ojai, CA @ Deer Lodge
1/23 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Lodge Room
1/25 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy’s & Harriet’s
* with James Elkington
Daylight Daylight is out 11/7 on No Quarter.
