Everything old is new again for Corb Lund.
The Alberta singer-songwriter has just announced that he will return with a new album, El Viejo — translation: The Old — on Feb. 23, 2024 via New West Records. The 11-track set was produced by Lund and recorded entirely in his living room in Lethbridge, with his band The Hurtin’ Albertans.
El Viejo is Lund’s first album of original material since 2020’s critically acclaimed Agricultural Tragic. Gathering around his living room, Lund & co. tapped into his most cherished musical influences of acoustic tone and lyrical aptitude — Marty Robbins, Kris Kristofferson, Bobbie Gentry, Jerry Reed. There is a common theme — possibly even a character thread — of the gambler, the outlaw who roams from place-to-place with no direction home.
“It’s a lot of minor keys and gambling songs, is what it is,” Lund says in a matter-of-fact tone. “It was just a few of us in my house. No studio. No outside producer. No adults in the room. No stress.” He continues, “There’s not a single electric instrument on the whole thing, just acoustic sounds and singing. In terms of having a vision, this is a record I’ve had in my sights for a while and it came out exactly how I’d hoped. We cut all the songs live in the same room with lots of bleed. A bunch of the songs we captured in one take, first time through.”
El Viejo pays tribute to Lund’s late friend and mentor, the famed Canadian singer-songwriter Ian Tyson, who passed away Dec. 29, 2022. With the album, he has also created an ode to the notion of stripping everything down and letting the tape roll — simply capturing a moment of pure vulnerability and organic inspiration in real time.
Today, Corb premieres the must-see video for the album’s closing track Old Familiar Drunken Feeling. Filmed partially in a cannabis farm, the video depicts an all-too-accurate account of Lund being way too high on an edible before a show many years ago. He says, “It was all totally above board, the state had just legalized it, so it was kind of a novelty field trip for the band to visit the shiny new dispensary. Some songs are ‘based on truth,’ but this happened EXACTLY as I sing it. Turns out weed ain’t my thing. And eating it’s even worse, it lasts forever. Fronting a band can occasionally be terrifying at the best of times, doing it high as a kite and super paranoid was hell on earth. When I started feeling like myself again in the second set after a bunch of cowboy whiskey, I confessed to the audience what had happened and offered them all their money back! No one took me up on it. Bottom line? If this doesn’t get me a Pendleton whisky endorsement, I don’t know what will.”
Today, Lund also announced a Canadian tour, with labelmates 49 Winchester as support, launching March 5, 2024, in Vancouver. Please see all dates (with more to be added) below.
Much like his music, Lund is decidedly hard to define. The western Canadian singer-songwriter is an elusive artist — onstage, offstage, and in the studio — seamlessly weaving between the outlaw country, Western, and indie-folk realms with an honest curiosity and rowdy devotion to each. He was raised with the tried-and-true DIY sentiment of “if you want something done, you gotta do it yourself” launching his career recording in his basement, printing his own shirts, booking his own tours, being his own manager and publicist… whatever it took to get it done. He toured for years with the indie-metal band The Smalls, and later turned his sights to writing Western songs, creating a unique and quirky hybrid writing style along the way. He has received multiple CCMA, Juno and international award nominations and wins. In 2022, Lund won his 14th career Canadian Country Music Award and made his debut at the historic Grand Ole Opry earlier this year as well. A rural Albertan hailing from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with a long family lineage of ranchers and rodeo people, Lund is about as authentic as they come.
El Viejo Track List
1 | The Cardplayers
2 | I Had It All
3 | Was Fort Worth Worth It?
4 | Out On A Win
5 | Redneck Rehab
6 | El Viejo (for Ian)
7 | When the Game Gets Hot
8 | Girl With The Stratocaster
9 | It Takes Practice
10 | Insha’Allah
11 | Old Familiar Drunken Feeling
Corb Lund On Tour
Oct. 12 | Hastings County, ON | Tweed Kiwanis Pavilion
Oct. 13 | Princeton, MN, US – Truckerfest 2023
Oct. 14 | Burnstown, ON | Neat Coffee Shop (SOLD OUT)
Oct. 16 | Kingston, ON | The Broom Factory (SOLD OUT)
Oct. 17 | Hamilton, ON | Bridgeworks
Oct. 18 | St. Catharines, ON | Warehouse Concert Hall (SOLD OUT)
Oct. 19 | Cambridge, ON | Farm League Brewing (SOLD OUT)
Oct. 21 | Los Lunas, NM | Taos Muncy Invitational
Oct. 24 | Stratford, ON | Revival House (SOLD OUT)
Oct. 25 | Peterborough, ON | Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (SOLD OUT)
Oct. 27 | Windsor, ON, CA – Meteor (SOLD OUT)
Nov. 1 | Ferndale, MI | The Magic Bag
Nov. 2 | Grand Rapids, MI | Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill
Nov. 3 | Grand Rapids, MI | Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill (SOLD OUT)
Nov. 4 | Cleveland, OH | Beachland Ballroom
Nov. 5 | Columbus, OH | Woodlands Tavern
Nov. 7 | Libertyville, IL | Impact Fuel Room
Nov. 8 | Hobart, IN | Hobart Art Theater
Nov. 9 | New Berlin, IL | Danenberger Family Vineyards
Nov. 10 | Peoria, IL | Revival Music Hall
Nov. 11 | St. Louis, MO | The Golden Record
Nov. 12 | Wichita, KS | WAVE
Nov. 14 | Oklahoma City, OK | Beer City Music Hall
Nov. 15 | Tulsa, OK | Mercury Loung
Nov. 16 | Tulsa, OK | Mercury Lounge
Nov. 17 | Little Rock, AR | Stickyz Rock-n-Roll Chicken Shack
Nov. 18 | Dallas, TX | Ferris Wheelers Backyard and BBQ
Nov. 19 | Fort Worth, TX | Tulips FTW
Nov. 21 | San Antonio, TX | Sam’s Burger Joint
Nov. 22 | Austin, TX | Sagebrush
Dec. 9 | Las Vegas, NV | The Horse I Rode in On (SOLD OUT)
Dec. 14 | Las Vegas, NV | The Horse I Rode in On
2024 Dates Announced Today
March 5 | Vancouver, BC | Orpheum
March 6 | Kelowna, BC | Kelowna Community Theatre
March 7 | Calgary, AB | Grey Eagle Event Centre
March 9 | Edmonton, AB | Midway Music Hall
March 10 | Edmonton, AB | Midway Music Hall
March 11 | Saskatoon, SK | TCU Place
March 13 | Winnipeg, MB | Burton Cummings Theatre
March 14 | Thunder Bay, ON | Community Auditorium
March 16 | Ottawa, ON | Algonquin Commons Theatre
March 17 | London, ON | London Music Hall
March 20 | Toronto, ON | Danforth Music Hall
w/ 49 Winchester supporting
