Kevin Morby has shared a second song, "Rock Bottom," from his upcoming album This is a Photograph (preorder on gold nugget vinyl). It features backing vocals by Cassandra Jenkins, and "laugh tracks" from Tim Heidecker and Alia Shawkat. The video also stars Heidecker, with Morby hitting proverbial rock bottom and a nunchuck battle with artist Ariel Kellogg. (You may recall Kevin's nunchuck skills from his lockdown livestreams.) You can watch that below.
Says Kevin: “I'd often pass a mural of the late James Lee Lindsey Jr. on Main Street (in Memphis) which eventually lead me down a rabbit hole to revisiting his body of work including watching the 2009 documentary filmed during his last days, Better Than Something. I was taken by how similar his story was to that of many other American icons that were ahead of their time and too-quickly rose from the bottom to the top, inevitably burning out. I read that his stage name, Jay Reatard, was worn as a badge of honor after years of being picked on in grade school - which may or may not be why on the cover of his seminal album Blood Visions he's covered in blood as a nod to Sissy Spacek's character in Carrie. Because of this I chose to begin the song by repeating ‘they're all gonna laugh at you!’ When in the studio I pointed at the last Reatard's album, Grown Up, Fucked Up as a reference for what I was trying to achieve sonically."
He continues: "For the video, director Johnny Eastlund and I decided we wanted to make an Ice Cream themed Nunchucking Western so I tagged in one of my instagram nunchuck idols Ariel Kellogg to help me battle an evil talent show judge, played by Tim Heidecker, who is taunting his contestants, most notably a little girl in a bumble bee costume. The video also features comedian Caleb Heron, my bandmate Cyrus Gengras, Azniv Korkejian (aka Bedouine), Jess Wolfe (who is 1/2 of Lucius), and more.”
Kevin has also launched a Substack around This is a Photograph where he'll write about “all the puzzle pieces that go into eventually, somehow, magically creating an album of music that I don't usually share with the public. As one who loves to share their experiences and creations with others while here on planet earth, I'm looking forward to having this newsletter to help do just that.”
You can catch Kevin on tour this fall, including a NYC stop at Webster Hall on October 26 with Coco. All dates are listed below.
This is a Photograph is out May 13 and you can preorder the album on gold nugget vinyl in our shop.
KEVIN MORBY - 2022 TOUR DATES Fri. May 20 - Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas Sat. May 21 - Biarritz, FR @ L’Atabal Sun. May 22 - Montpellier, FR @ Le Rockstore Mon. May 23 - Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey Tue. May 24 - Paris, FR @ Le Bataclan Wed. May 25 - Köln, DE @ Kulturekirche Thu. May 26 - Antwerpen, BE @ De Roma Sat. May 28 - London, UK @ Wide Awake at Brockwell Park Sun. May 29 - Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg Mon. May 30 - Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich Tue. May 31 - Berlin, DE @ Metropol Wed. Jun. 1 - Schorndorf, DE @ Manufaktur Fri. Jun. 3- Angers, FR @ Levitation Sat. Jun. 4 - Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ La Cooperative de Mai Mon. Jun. 5 - Lille, FR @ Aéronef Sun. Jul. 3 - Bologna, IT @ Covo Summer Mon. Jul. 4 - Terni, IT @ Anfifteatro Romano Wed. Jul. 6 - Zagreb, HR @ Mochvara Thu. Jul. 7 - Budapest, HU @ Akvárium Klub Fri. Jul. 8 - Trencin, Slovakia @ Pohoda Festival Sat. Jul. 9 - Zittau, DE @ Lonesome Lake Festival Mon. Jul. 11 - Vienna, AT @ WUK Tue. Jul. 12 - Munich, DE @ Ampere Wed. Jul. 13 - Bern, CH @ Gurtenfestival Fri. Jul. 15 - Lisbon, PT @ Super Bock Super Rock Sun. Aug. 21 - Erlanger, DE @ Ewerk Mon. Aug. 22 - Hannover, DE @ Café Glocksee Wed. Aug. 24 - Copenhagen, DK @ Punpehuset Sat. Aug. 27 - Prague, CZ @ Meetfactory Mon. Aug. 28 - Darmstadt, DE @ Golden Leaves Festival Wed. Aug. 31 - Brighton, UK @ Chalk Sat. Sept. 3 - Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival Sun. Sept. 4 - Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall Mon. Sept. 5 - Glasgow, UK @ Classic Grand Tue. Sept. 6 - Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club Wed. Sept. 7 - Dublin, IE @ Academy Wed. Sept. 28 - Sonoma, CA @ Historic Redwood Barn * Thu. Sept. 29 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore * Sat. Oct. 1 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco * Mon. Oct. 3 - Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole * Wed. Oct. 5 - Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf * Mon. Oct. 10 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall * Tue. Oct. 11 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Nightclub * Wed. Oct. 12 - Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley Theater * Fri. Oct. 14 - Memphis, TN @ The Bluff * Sat. Oct. 15 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement East * Sun. Oct. 16 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West * Tue. Oct. 18 - Jacksonville, FL @ Intuition Ale Works * Thu. Oct. 20 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel * Fri. Oct. 21 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall * Sat. Oct. 22 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club % Mon. Oct. 24 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair % Tue. Oct. 25 - Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall % Wed. Oct. 26 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall % Fri. Oct. 28 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall % Sat. Oct. 29 - Ferndale, MI @ The Magic Bag % Mon. Oct. 31 - Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre % Tue. Nov. 1 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom % Wed. Nov. 2 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe % Thu. Nov. 3 - Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads Saloon % Sat. Nov. 5 - Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre % Sun. Nov. 6 - Fort Collins, CO @ Washington’s % Tue. Nov. 8 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The CommonWealth Room % Thu. Nov. 10 - Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall % Fri. Nov. 11 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox % Sat. Nov. 12 - Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre %
