Futurebirds Announce New Double Album 'Far Out Country'
(MPG) After nearly two decades in flight, the Athens, GA-born Futurebirds announced their first double album Far Out Country, set for release on June 5 via Dualtone Records.
Produced by GRAMMY-winner Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman), the record is split into two distinct worlds of Far Out Country I & II -a restless, sunlit "day" and a deeper, more interior "night" that blends psychedelic country-rock, indie, and something that feels less like a genre than a place.
In a rare physical-first approach, the band will release the full project as a double vinyl on June 5, with the second half of the album arriving on streaming platforms months later, making vinyl the only way to experience the complete record early. Today, the group released the Sienna Life EP featuring three songs from Far Out Country I - "Sienna Life," "Sleepless in the Cage," and "Ghost Moon."
Fronted by three distinct singer-songwriters - Daniel "Womz" Womack, Carter King, and Thomas "Tojo" Johnson - the band writes in conversation, their voices shaped by a shared history but diverging perspectives. Across 18 songs, Far Out Country unfolds like an honest dialogue about their transition to fathers and family men navigating the tension between the road that made them and their lives back home.
About the double album, King explains: "We're really excited to be releasing our first double record in the truest sense. Far Out Country I & II are the two different lenses of the 3D movie glasses. Our three different songwriting perspectives speaking with each other about a shared life, experienced unbelievably close together, and also far apart. It's a daytime talk, and another one deeper in the night. Far Out Country is a place, not a sound. It's a place outside ourselves that hopefully helps us see inside the house a little more clearly. New terrain is always best explored with friends. Always use the buddy system, and be safe out there. The full double album will be available on vinyl out of the gates, but digitally, I & II will live and breathe on their own, unfolding one-at-a-time. Come on out and find us."
Far Out Country arrives two years after the release of their critically-acclaimed Easy Company and reunites the band with producer Brad Cook. Half of the album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in the Texas borderlands, where they tracked live to tape, channeling the energy of their wild live shows that led Rolling Stone to call them "one of the most fascinating and captivating rock acts touring today." The other nine songs were recorded piece-by-piece in much smaller studios, four of which were produced by the band's own Tom Myers, requiring the bandmates to be methodical and deliberate with each layer of sound they added.
"We wanted to complete the story with Brad," King explains. "There was unfinished business, so it felt right to work with him again. It was a continuation of what we'd been doing, and a bit of starting from scratch, too." On previous albums, each of the three songwriters would typically sing lead vocals on his own material. This time, the guys bent those self-imposed rules. "Carter wrote the title track," Womack notes, "but I wound up singing it. We've never really done that before, and it opened us up, creatively."
Next month, Futurebirds will kick off an extensive nationwide summer tour that kicks off on May 22 in Savannah, GA. Find a full list of tour dates below or visit their website. Futurebirds v6.0 is: Brannen Miles (bass), Carter King (vocals, guitar), Daniel Womack (vocals, guitar), Thomas Johnson (vocals, guitar), and Tom Myers (drums).
Far Out Country I tracklist:
1) Sienna Life
2) Sleepless in the Cage
3) Marco Polo I
4) Nervous Ground
5) Ghost Moon
6) Fly On
7) Gsus Take the Wheel
8) Wishin'
9) Featherbed
Far Out Country II:
10) I'm Yr Mane
11) Sober Somewhere
12) Pretty Eyes
13) Far Out Country
14) Talk About the Band
15) Laugh in Your Sleep
16) Marco Polo II
17) All I Want
18) Long Time Gone
Futurebirds Tour Dates:
04/30 - Myrtle Beach, SC - The Boathouse
05/22 - Savannah, GA - The Park At Eastern Wharf
05/23-05/24 - Isle of Palms, SC - The Windjammer
06/05 - Greensboro, NC - The Pyrle
06/06 - Richmond, VA - The National
06/08 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
06/09 - Ardmore, PA - Ardmore Music Hall
06/11 - Boston, MA - Royale
06/12 - Woodstock, NY - Levon Helm Studios
06/13 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
06/16 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom & Tavern
06/18 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
06/19 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
06/20 - Winnetka, IL - Winnetka Music Festival
07/08 - Kansas City, MO - recordBar
07/10 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
07/11 - Beaver Creek, CO - Vilar Performing Arts Center
07/14 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom
07/15 - San Diego, CA - Music Box
07/17 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom
07/18 - San Francisco, CA - August Hall
07/19 - Camino, CA - Delfino Farms
07/22 - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
07/23 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
07/24 - Bend, OR - Volcanic Theatre Courtyard
07/25 - Boise, ID - Shrine Social Club Ballroom
07/28 - Teton Village, WY - Mangy Moose
07/30 - Lander, WY - Lander Presents: Summer Concert Series
07/31-08/01 - Livingston, MT - Pine Creek Lodge
09/02 - Nantucket, MA - The Muse
09/06 - Portland, ME - Ghostland
11/14 - Wilmington, NC - BAD Day Music & Arts Festival
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]