Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

WALTER TROUT has revealed the official video for “Ride”, title track from his upcoming studio album, coming out on August 19th via Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group.

Pre-order Ride here: https://lnk.to/WalterTrout 

You can watch the video here:

Listen to the previous single Ghost Here

Arriving on the US West Coast two weeks before sessions began, Trout settled to write the Ride material in his now-deserted house in Huntington Beach, California. But even in this beachside paradise, amongst the swaying palms and ocean breeze, the past came calling. As long-standing Trout fans know, the Golden State has been the bluesman’s home for 47 years.

In time, Trout joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers lineup in ’85, before embarking on an acclaimed solo career from ’89 onwards. But before that came his chaotic, self-destructive years as a jobbing lead guitarist, whether for revered-but-tricky blues pioneers like John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton, or an unhinged tenure in an ’80s Canned Heat line-up controlled by the Hell’s Angels.

Trout’s well-documented excess in this era was darker than a young rock star cutting loose. It could all be traced back to his troubled childhood in New Jersey, he explains, where an unstable stepfather – himself the victim of shocking cruelty as a prisoner of war – was a terrifying presence. As Ride took form, such memories couldn’t help but flavour the music. “This album is obviously what I was going through mentally and emotionally,” he considers. “All I did was express it. I spent a lot of time crying, because I would dig down into my emotional core. I want my songs to have some sort of truth to them.”

Some memories that Trout examines on Ride are long-distant but eternally poignant. Try the deceptively upbeat title track, another song that began as a poem, recounting the locomotive that rattled past his childhood home each night and enticed him to freight-hop to freedom. “That song is about what it felt like to lay there in bed and dream about escaping on that train.”

The stormy Hey Mama takes inspiration from the same period, with Trout debating whether his trauma could have been averted. “I’m not pissed off with my mom and I love her memory,” he says, “but my wife says, ‘Your mom probably could have done more to protect you from your stepdad’. Yeah, maybe she could have. But it’s easy to say that looking back.”

Walter Trout is the beating heart of the modern blues rock scene. Respected by the old guard. Revered by the young guns. Adored by the fans who shake his hand after the show each night, and after five decades in the game, Trout remains a talismanic figure.

But, however fast or far a man travels, he can never truly outrun his past. On his new album he found himself eyeing the horizon and the green shoots of his triumphant late career. There was a new record deal with Mascot/Provogue. A move from California to Denmark with his beloved family. Even now, aged 70, Trout was still writing fresh chapters of his life story.

By now, Trout knows that nobody ever really leaves their old selves behind. But with Ride providing an emotional release-valve – both for its creator and his loyal listeners – perhaps this veteran artist can reconcile with his past, accept his future and live in the present as it unfolds. “I think you can interpret this album title a few different ways,” he concludes. “I mean, this album is definitely a musical ride and I certainly tried to cover a lot of ground. But, really, life is kind of a ride too, isn’t it? And I want to live mine to the fullest.”    

Track list
Ghosts
Ride
Follow You Back Home
So Many Sad Goodbyes
High Is Low
Waiting For The Dawn
Better Days Ahead
Fertile Soil
I Worry Too Much
Leave It All Behind
Hey Mama
Destiny

Tour Dates 
May
27 – Jelling Festival, DK Tickets
 
June 
4 – Ballyshannon, Ireland – Rory Gallagher Festival TICKETS
10 – Grollo, NL – Holland International Blues Festival TICKETS
11 – Sölvesborg, SE – Sweden Rock Festival TICKETS
13 – Chester, UK – Live Rooms TICKETS
14 – Buxton, UK – Pavilion Arts Centre TICKETS
16 – Brighton, UK – Concorde 2 TICKETS
17 – Islington, UK – Assembly TICKETS
18 – Holmfirth, UK – Picturedome TICKETS
19 – Edinburgh, UK – Stramash TICKETS
20 – Bury St. Edmunds, UK – The Apex Arts Centre TICKETS
21 – Frome, UK – Cheese and Grain TICKETS
22 – Southampton, UK – 1865 TICKETS
24 – Carpentras, FR – TICKETS
25 – Bilbao, ES – TICKETS

July
2 –  Near Ross-on-Wye, UK – Linton Festival TICKETS
8 – Torgau, DE – Bastion Festival TICKETS
10 – Weert, NL – Bospop Festival TICKETS
23 – Winterbach, DE – Zeltspektakel – Magic Blues Night TICKETS
28 – Duluth, MN – West Theatre TICKETS
29 – Minneapolis, MN – Dakota TICKETS
30 – Fargo, ND – Fargo Bluesfestival TICKETS
 
August
2 – Bornholm, DK – EKKODALSHUSET
3 – Bornholm, DK – EKKODALSHUSET
4 – Frederikssund Festival, DK
18 – Leverkusen, DE – Schloß Morsbroich TICKETS   
19 – Wespelaar, BE – Swing-Blues for the People Festival
20 – Waffenrod, DE – Woodstock Forever Festival TICKETS
23-28 – Athens, GR, Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea – Mediterranean TICKETS

September
2 – Norge, NO – Blues in Hell
 
October 
5 – Hamburg-Schenfeld, DE – Jucks TICKETS
6 – Hannover-Isernhagen, DE – Bluesgarage TICKETS
7 – Dillingen/Saar, DE – Lokschuppen TICKETS
8 – Köln, DE – Stollwerck, Blues Alive Festival 2 TICKETS
11 – Aschaffenburg, DE – Colos Saal TICKETS
13 – Münster, DE – Jovel
14 – Erfurt, DE – Gewerkschaftshaus TICKETS
15 – Kaiserslautern, DE – International Kammgarn Bluesfestival
16 – Berlin, DE – Kesselhaus TICKETS
19 – Karlsruhe, DE – Tollhaus TICKETS
20 – Worpswede, DE – Musichall TICKETS  
22 – Leuven, BE – Depot TICKETS
23 – St. Niklaas, BE – De Casino TICKETS
24 – Bochum, DE – Zeche TICKETS
26 – Fredericia, DK – Tøjuhuset TICKETS
27 – Esbjerg, DK – Tobakken TICKETS
28 – Odense, DK – Posten TICKETS
29 – Skive, DK – Skive Theater TICKETS
31 – Sønderborg, DK – Sønderborghus TICKETS

November
2 – Frederiksværk, DK – Gjethuset TICKETS
3 – Grenaa, DK – Pavillonen TICKETS
4 – Holbæk, DK – Sidesporet TICKETS
5 – Næstved, DK – Vershuset TICKETS
6 – København, DK – Amager Bio TICKETS
8 – Göteborg, SE – Pustervik TICKETS
9 – Oslo, NO – Vulkan TICKETS
10 – Stockholm, SE – Nalen TICKETS
11 – Karlskrona, SE – Karlskrona Bluesklubb TICKETS
12 – Uddevalla, SE TICKETS
13 – Kristianstad, SE – Kristianstad Teatern TICKETS
16 – Utrecht, NL – Tivoli TICKETS
17 – Leeuwarden, NL – Neushoorn TICKETS
18 – Enschede, NL – Metropool TICKETS
20 – Zoetermeer, NL – Boerderij TICKETS
 
2023
June
5 – Paris, FR – Cafe de la Danse TICKETS