Hear Wade Bowen’s Tex-Mex Flavored New Song ‘Day of the Dead’
Wade Bowen has advertised his new LP Solid Ground as his “Texas album,” and it’s not an idea he’s taking lightly. The album, due February 9th via Thirty Tigers, will feature fellow Texans Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, and – based on the new song “Day of the Dead,” premiering today – also promises to mix sounds from all across the Lone Star State’s musical spectrum.
Most notable on “Day of the Dead” is the mariachi influence, with accordion, Spanish guitar and a horn section augmenting Bowen’s more familiar Red Dirt shuffle. Like the already released Solid Ground track “Acuña,” about a small town on the Mexican border, this song is set in a specific place in Texas – Lajitas, in the 110-degree heat of Big Bend National Park. “Now our love’s gone home to Jesus,” Bowen sings ominously during the chorus. “You’re wearing white in San Antone.”
While Bowen wrote or co-wrote the 10 other songs on Solid Ground, “Day of the Dead” was written solely by Keith Gattis, who produced the album. “He asked me to help him finish it, to which I replied, ‘Man, it’s done and so bad ass.’ I couldn’t wait to record it at that point,” Bowen tells Rolling Stone Country. “The imagery and mood that this song conjures up transport you directly to the deep West Texas desert that I’ve grown to know and love.”
Solid Ground, a title that references Bowen’s musical roots in his home state, features several guest appearances on other tracks, including “So Long 6th Street” with both Lambert and Ingram. Randall appears on another titled “Death, Dyin’ and Deviled Eggs,” while British singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas shows up on three different songs. Also notable are writing credits from fellow country singers Charlie Worsham, Angaleena Presley and Waylon Payne.
Bowen hits the road next week for a short run of shows called Tall Tales and the Truth Tour with Kip Moore and his Hold My Beer and Watch This buddy Randy Rogers. The first of four shows takes place December 7th at the Paramount Theatre in Denver. Bowen then heads out on a solo tour starting December 31st at Southern Junction in Royse City, Texas.
Here’s the full tracklist for Solid Ground:
1. “Couldn’t Make You Love Me” (Wade Bowen, Keith Gattis, Audley Freed)
2. “Day of the Dead” (Keith Gattis)
3. “So Long 6th Street” (Feat. Jack Ingram and Miranda Lambert) (Bowen, Gattis)
4. “Broken Glass” (Feat. Lucie Silvas) (Bowen)
5. “Death, Dyin’ and Deviled Eggs” (Feat. Jon Randall) (Bowen, Randall)
6. “7:30” (Bowen, Angaleena Presley, Waylon Payne)
7. “Acuña” (Feat. Lucie Silvas) (Bowen, Gattis, Freed)
8. “Compass Rose” (Bowen and Andrew Combs)
9. “Anchor” (Feat. Lucie Silvas) (Bowen and Jeremy Spillman)
10. “Fell in Love on Whiskey” (Bowen and Charlie Worsham)
11. “Calling All Demons” (Bowen and Seth James)