Grammy nominated guitar-slinger, troublemaker, raconteur, producer, and Georgia boy Butch Walker will release his 8th studio album Stay Gold, on August 26 via Lojinx in Europe.

As a writer of dozens of songs with hooks that stick in your head, Rolling Stone has called Walker, “one of America’s best singer-songwriters,” as he has penned choruses you want to sing (or shout) along to from acts including Frank Turner, Brian Fallon, Taylor Swift, and many more. He is a teller of authentic stories of exploits and predicaments and romance that are filled with optimism; builder of albums with no boundaries – rock, pop, Americana, singer-songwriter…or, as he says, “I think it’s all just rock & roll.”

Walker’s last album, 2015’s Ryan Adams’ produced Afraid Of Ghosts, was a cathartic record that dealt with a devastating personal experience, the passing of his father. This one’s a celebration. In Butch’s words, “After coming out of the AOG album cycle and tour where, at the risk of sounding ridiculous, I spent a lot of time on stage bawling my eyes out, I felt a very calm sense of peace. Like I’d done what I needed to do to get it outta my system. Every song that came after that was almost a nostalgic, celebratory…for lack of a better word – ‘jam.’ And the songs just kept coming to me, which was good because that’s not always the case!”

The stories on Stay Gold are very well fleshed out, something Butch credits to “growing up on some of those dudes – Elton John and the (Bernie) Taupin lyrics, Springsteen and Joel.” It kicks off with the title song, a straight-ahead rocker, loaded with swagger and lyrics that call out native GA locales featuring a nod to the S.E. Hinton novel (and later, a Coppola film), The Outsiders. The lead single “East Coast Girl” and “Mexican Coke” are inspired by Walker’s move to Los Angeles, the former effectively combining an anthemic chorus with spoken verses, recorded conversationally on an iPhone. The writerly eye for detail is apparent in one of Stay Gold‘s standout tracks, “Wilder In The Heart”, describing an airport meeting with a girlfriend.

The album also includes “Descending”, a beautiful, decidedly tender duet with country singer Ashley Monroe about survival and staying on the course of love. Overall, Stay Gold is clearly Walker’s most articulate to date. When asked if the stories are real or imagined, he replies, “All the songs are half true.”

Stay Gold will be available on a limited edition of 500 gatefold heavyweight gold vinyl LP, in addition to CD & digital. Lojinx direct pre-orders can also opt for an exclusive metallic-gold printed t-shirt bundle. Lojinx, iTunes and Amazon MP3 pre-orders include instant grat downloads of “Stay Gold”, “East Coast Girl”, “Descending” and “Ludlow Expectations”*.

Lojinx direct: https://www.lojinx.com/releases/butch-walker/stay-gold

Amazon CD: http://ljx.cc/StayGoldAmazonCD

Amazon LP: http://ljx.cc/StayGoldAmazonLP

Amazon MP3: http://ljx.cc/StayGoldAmazonMP3

iTunes: http://ljx.cc/StayGoldITunes

Alternatively, support your local record store and request Lojinx LJX107LP or LJX107CD.

(*updated 29/7/2016)