Ryley Walker announced his upcoming album, Deafman Glance, back in February with “Telluride Speed,” a freewheeling and adventurous track that touches of everything from jazz to grunge in just six minutes. Now he’s back with another single, and this time, it’s a bit more straightforward of a song. “Opposite Middle” is more conventionally structured than its predecessor and has more of a forward-moving momentum, but Walker says the song wasn’t always that way:
“‘Opposite Middle’ was the last tune written for the record. At first it was slow. Like crawling pace. What a bummer that would have been, yeah? Somehow it worked itself out to become the only bona fide fast jammer on the record. I was thinking a lot about making my brain work better and the guitar playing of David Grubbs and Steve Hackett. I can’t play as well as either of them but I was thinking about it.”
Listen to “Opposite Middle” above. Walker also just announced a bunch of new tour dates, so check out his complete upcoming schedule below.
4/10 — Columbia, MO @ Cafe Berlin
4/11 — Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street Collective
4/13 — Marfa, TX @ Ballroom Marfa (Marfa Myths Fest)
4/15 — Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
4/16 — San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
4/17 — Los Angeles, CA @ Resident
4/19 — El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls *
4/21 — Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard *
4/22 — St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill *
4/23 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Line Music Café *
4/25 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
4/26 — Cincinnati, OH @ The Woodward Theater *
4/27 — Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre *
4/28 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
4/29 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
4/30 — Woodstock, NY @ Colony
5/1 — Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair *
5/2 — Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live *
5/3 — Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater *
5/4 — Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
5/5 — Raleigh, NC @ Kings
5/6 — Columbia, SC @ IF Art Gallery
5/7 — Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *
5/8 — Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge *
5/18 — Chicago, IL @ Hungry Brain (Record Release Show)
5/19 — Chicago, IL @ Hungry Brain (Record Release Show)
7/15 — Bruges, Belgium @ Cactus Festival
7/18 — Helsinki, Finland @ G Livelab
7/19-22 — Salisbury, UK @ Larmer Tree Festival
7/22 — Leeuwarden, Netherlands @ Welcome To The Village Festival
7/24 — Munich, Germany @ Milla
7/26 — Ravenna, Italy @ Hana-bi
9/12 — Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Café
9/13 — New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
9/14 — Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
9/15 — Dallas, TX @ The Foundry
9/18 — Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
9/21 — San Francisco @ The Chapel
9/22 — Big Sur, CA @ Freaks of The Festival
9/24 — Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
9/25 — Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall
9/26 — Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
9/27 — Boise, ID @ Idaho Botanical Gardens – Great Escape Series
9/28 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
9/29 — Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
9/30 — Fort Collins, CO @ Downtown Artery
10/2 — Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
10/3 — Sioux Falls, SD @ Total Drag
10/4 — Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
10/5 — Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
10/6 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Backroom @ Colectivo
11/6 — Berlin, Germany @ Frannz Club
11/7 — Aarhus, Denmark @ Atlas
11/8 — Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
11/9-10 — Wangels, Germany @ Rolling Stone Weekender
11/13 — Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique
11/14 — Köln, Germany @ Artheater
11/15 — Bern, Switzerland @ ISC Club
11/16 — Zurich, Switzerland @ Bogen F
11/16-17 — Rust, Germany @ Rolling Stone Park
11/19 — Barcelona, Spain @ Sidecar
11/20 — Madrid, Spain @ El Intruso
11/21 — Sevilla, Spain @ Sala X
11/22 — Lisbon, Portugal @ ZDB
11/24 — San Sebastian, Spain @ Badabada
11/27 — London, UK @ Scala
11/28 — Bristol, UK @ The Fleece
11/29 — Manchester, UK @ Band On The Wall
11/30 — Brighton, UK @ The Old Market
12/1 — Paris, France @ Point Ephemere
12/2 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso Noord
* with Calexico
