By Stevie Connor.
Tyler Ramsey is thrilled to release his sixth studio album New Lost Ages via Soundly Music.
“This is an album of shadows and light, “ says Tyler. “It is about the calm that follows the storm and it’s about the dark clouds when they roll back in again.”
New Lost Ages was recorded at the legendary Avast! Recording Co. in Seattle, Washington, by storied producer Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, The Shins, Built to Spill). The 10-song LP is an ongoing sonic quest — meticulously wandering across the musical landscape, this undulating tone of indie, rock and folk stylings.
Ramsey’s single “These Ghosts” has been active at radio for just a few weeks and has found its way into many high-profile stations across the country including SiriusXM The Spectrum, WFUV in New York, WRLT in Nashville, WYEP in Pittsburgh and Radio Milwaukee. In addition to “These Ghosts,” New Lost Ages was heralded by singles “Flare (for Neal Casal),” and the title track “New Lost Ages.”
“These Ghosts” is the lead single off the record and is a song Ramsey says, “is for anyone who has left a bad situation behind them only to look down and realize they are still carrying it with them somehow. Letting go - even letting go of something that’s no good - can take time. The pain in your head is just the smoke from a fire that burned out a long time ago.”
“‘Flare (for Neal Casal)’ was written while I was hiding out in some cheap beach condo in Gulf Shores Alabama and trying to write songs when I heard the news about Neal Casal’s passing,” remembers Ramsey. “I was way up on a high floor of one of those giant beachfront condos and the sun had just set and I thought I saw a flare go off way out in the dark ocean. After I called to report what I thought I’d seen to the local cops I sat and watched the dark horizon for a long time. Sometimes people need help and they never ask for it- sometimes people send signals out but those of us that might see them don’t know what to do to help. I barely knew Neal but somehow I think of him often and miss what was only a potential future. Look out for each other out there.”
“New Lost Ages” is a song that is “about letting go of innocence and facing the reality of a society that is in decline,” explains Ramsey. “One that is refusing to change course or even pause itself. It’s searching for hope in all of this. It’s wanting my children to be able to experience this world with wonder and joy and not have to carry the weight of our mistakes.”
In support of his new album, Ramsey will embark on a nationwide tour that kicks off on February 20 in Washington DC. Ahead of the tour, he will be hosting a limited number of intimate in store performances and signings including the iconic Grimey’s in Nashville on release day.
TYLER RAMSEY IN STORE PERFORMANCE AND SIGNING
2/9 @ Grimey’s New and Preloved Music | Nashville, TN
2/16 @ Records in the RAD | Asheville, NC
2/17 @ Horizon Records | Greenville, SC
TYLER RAMSEY ON TOUR
2/20 @ Pearl Street Warehouse | Washington DC
2/21 @ Milkboy | Philadelphia PA
2/22 @ Mercury Lounge | New York, NY
2/23 @ Space Ballroom | Hamden, CT
2/24 @ Faces Brewing | Boston, MA
2/27 @ Beachland Tavern | Cleveland, OH
2/28 @ Rumba Cafe | Columbus, OH
2/29 @ LO-FI Indianapolis, IN
3/1 @ Shank Hall | Milwaukee, WI
3/2 @ Fitzgerald's Sidebar | Berwyn, IL
3/22 @ The Parish | Austin, TX
3/23 @ The Cicada | Fort Worth, TX
3/26 @ The Casbah | San Diego, CA
3/28 @ Gold-Diggers | Los Angeles, CA
3/29 @ The Siren | Morro Bay, CA
3/30 @ Bottom of the Hill | San Francisco, CA
4/1 @ Tractor Tavern | Seattle, WA
4/2 @ Polaris Hall | Portland, OR
4/3 @ Neurolux | Boise, ID
4/5 @ Lulu's Downstairs | Manitou Springs, CO
4/6 @ Mercury Cafe | Denver, CO
4/8 @ Knuckleheads Saloon | Kansas City, MO
4/9 @ Off Broadway | Saint Louis, MO
4/10 @ Hernando's Hide-A-Way | Memphis, TN
5/9-11 @ Spring Skunk Music Fest | Greer, SC
At the core of any great singer-songwriter lies this inherent trait of stage presence, one where an entire room, no matter the size, is pulled in by this lyrical tractor beam — all eyes, emotions, and energies aimed in one direction at a single voice. For Tyler Ramsey, it’s being able to honestly connect with the listener.
Albeit a genuinely humble soul, don’t let Ramsey fool you. When it comes to the modern-day singer-songwriter, he remains a bastion of musical talent and lyrical aptitude — a melodic voice of reason and safe haven amid a 21st-century world seemingly gone mad. The former lead guitarist of Band of Horses, Ramsey has also released four acclaimed solo albums, including “For The Morning” in 2019.
The new album is about peeling back the layers of oneself, to locate and open up the dusty boxes of your past from the back of the closet of your mind. It’s memories and mistakes, lessons and lifelines bringing the present moment into focus — the future bright with possibility and purpose, so long as you never forget the road to the here and now.
Alongside bassist Morgan Henderson (Fleet Foxes) and drummer Sean Lane (Ann Wilson), Ramsey found himself fronting a full-on rock outfit in the studio, a scenario that conjured fresh inspiration and straightforward determination within the recording process — something genuinely heard and felt in the hauntingly poignant number “These Ghosts.”
Pushing further and farther down the rabbit hole of “New Lost Ages,” the melodies are aimed at sincere connectivity through honesty and vulnerability — symbiotic realms that nurture the genuine splendor and lore of Ramsey’s recordings and stoic stage presence in a live setting.
If anything, everything Ramsey has absorbed in his travels — onstage and on the road — is continually channeled through the unique lens of his words, unique tunings and guitar chords. It’s a whirlwind of sound and scope, all radiating from one human being with guitar in-hand, a silent room of curious souls awaiting the next number of beauty and grace conjured by Ramsey with such ease.
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