Chris Shiflett has announced the release of his new album Lost At Sea, which will drop on 20th October via Snakefarm in the UK & Ireland.
Chris Shiflett @ Scala
To coincide with the announcement, he has released the sultry summer anthem Damage Control, which comes with a video of fan filmed footage from his triumphant sold-out UK headline tour earlier this year. Check out the video below:
Most of the new album was recorded in Nashville, working with his producer and collaborator Jaren Johnston, frontman of The Cadillac Three, as well as the songwriter behind nearly a dozen Number 1 country hits.
“We wrote a lot of these songs during the lockdown,” recalls Shiflett, who spent much of the pandemic at home in Southern California. “Then I began making trips to Nashville to work with Jaren. He and I have a lot of overlap, in terms of the music we like. We made a guitar-centric record that encapsulates everything I’ve been listening to over the years, from the most country songs I’ve ever recorded to punk rock and even songs that sound like a California version of The Clash.”
Damage Control is the track he’s referencing, which strays further from the country influence than most of the album. It’s also the only ‘old’ tune that Johnston and Shiflett included on Lost at Sea.
“All the other tunes were written in the months leading up to recording, but when Jaren and I were sorting out which songs to do he mentioned something about The Clash and I remembered this old one I’d demoed about 15 years prior,” recalls Shiflett.
With its layers of reverb, pulsing percussion and Echoplex tape delay, Damage Control went through a number of versions before reaching its final form in the studio with Johnston. “I love that the musical inspiration on this one was late-stage Clash, but we wound up layering it with banjos and what-not. Definitely takes it somewhere else. Ska-mericana?” Shiflett laughs. “There’s nothing better than when influences converge taking you places you never expected.”
Caught halfway between the honky-tonk saloon and the punk rock dive bar, Lost at Seais both eclectic and electric, making room for alt-country crunch, guitar-driven grit and sharp songwriting. Tying that mix together is Shiflett himself, a musical Renaissance Man whose influences are every bit as wide-ranging as his resumé.
The new album also features a stellar cast of Americana all-stars. Among them are fellow guitar slingers Charlie Worsham, Tom Bukovac, and Nathan Keeterle, all three of whom laced the record with fiery fretwork. Shiflett also teamed up with several co-writers, partnering with Kendell Marvel, Cody Jinks, and others to fill Lost at Sea with storylines that pack as hefty a punch as the music itself.
The Churnups @ Glastonbury Festival 2023
The new single follows the release of the two-steppin’ fuzz-fuelled Dead And Gone and the southern rockin’ Black Top White Lines, both setting the flavour of the album with its signature honky-tonk-meets-rock-and-roll sound and blending the lines between his previous albums – 2017’s honky-tonk homage West Coast Town and 2019’s gritty Americana fuelled Hard Lessons.
In addition to the announcement of Lost at Sea, Shred With Shifty, a new vodcast focused on guitar solos from Volume.com, Double Elvis, and Premier Guitar, was announced last month. It will see Shiflett speak and play with the biggest names in the guitar world, delving into their most iconic solos and the art of playing guitar with exclusive video on Volume.com.
From Rush’s Alex Lifeson talking about how the Limelight solo was pieced together in the studio to Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo discussing why his go-to ‘guitar store’ lick is a classic from super shredder Yngwie Malmsteen. Fans will also find out how Richie Sambora put together the Bon Jovi classic Wanted Dead Or Alive solo, and understand the nuances of the chords to Diana Ross’ I’m Coming Out from the man himself, Nile Rodgers.
Photography of Chris Shiflett by Kalpesh Patel
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