The Arkansas country-folk singer-songwriter Willi Carlisle became a Stereogum Artist To Watch on the strength of his 2024 album Critterland, and he followed it with last year’s Winged Victory. This year, the prolific Carlisle will drop a new double album with the delightful title The Universal Bubba. It promises to be a big moment for Carlisle, thanks in part to the participation of producer Tyler Childers, one of the biggest stars in the Americana world.
Carlisle recorded all 17 songs of The Universal Bubba at a New Orleans home studio over the course of two weeks, with Childers’ touring band backing Carlisle up. Carlisle says that the new record explores a bunch of different musical modes. Here’s his press-release quote about the album:
I think this one goes to outer space. I think this is the widest range of influences that I’ve ever had. It touches on funk, it touches on Americana, Cajun, oldtime, and experimental music. It feels like getting drunk at the Civil War reenactment, or cruising at the cattle auction, or doing molly at the square dance. It’s the first time I’ve ever used synthesizers and double electric guitars. There’s also more fretless 19th century style banjo on it than any record I’ve ever made…
The universal bubba is somebody who can fix anything, somebody who is good for just about anything. Everywhere I go I meet these giant people — and what I mean is these men and women and folks who can do it all themselves. Something that’s really struck me about traveling around the world is that everywhere you go there are people who are tirelessly working to make things a little bit better without succumbing to modernity’s pitfalls. They’re somebody who has enough, and if it wasn’t enough they would make it enough.
Lead single and album opener “Mason Jar At The Center Of The World” is an old-timey reel that Willi Carlisle wrote while touring Australia with Tyler Childers. Below, check out that song, the tracklist for The Universal Bubba, and Carlisle’s tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Mason Jar At The Center Of The World”
02 “Gas Station”
03 “Use Me Up”
04 “Good Morning, Midnight”
05 “Marlboro Vinyasa”
06 “The Master’s Hammer”
07 “Contact High”
08 “The Universal Bubba”
09 “The Universal Bubba, Part Two
10 “She Only Loves Horses
11 “Ditchdigger’s Song (Dust And The Devil)”
12 “Sadly Enormous”
13 “I Ain’t Crazy”
14 “Red Leather, Yellow Leather”
15 “Old Milwaukee Onestep”
16 “Bigger’n Dallas”
17 “Golden Dragon Buffet”
TOUR DATES:
9/26 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar
9/27 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
9/28 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
10/01 – Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall
10/02 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
10/03 – Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s
10/04 – Charleston, WV @ Mountain Stage
10/06 – Lexington, KY @ The Burl
10/07 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
10/08 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
10/09 – Cape Girardeau, MO @ Scout Hall
10/10 – Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads
10/28 – Indianapolis, IN @ Turntable
10/29 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Diner
11/01 – Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
11/02 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
11/03 – Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom
11/04 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse
11/06 – Portland, ME @ First Parish Church
11/07 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
11/08 – Kingston, NY @ Assembly
11/10 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird
11/12 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
11/13 – Carrboro, NC @ Stanczyks
11/14 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
12/03 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
12/05 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
12/06 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social
12/09 – Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl
12/10 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
12/11 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
12/12 – Trout Lake, WA @ Trout Lake Hall
12/14 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
12/15 – Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall
12/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sid The Cat Auditorium
12/18 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
12/19 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s
12/20 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
The Universal Bubba is out 11/6 on Signature Sounds. Pre-order it here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stereogum.com ’
