Tom Brosseau's new EP, Today Is A Bright New Day, is out now on Crossbill Records! Catch him on tour with the Milk Carton Kids...

Tom Brosseau's follow up EP to his beautiful and introspective solo LP, Grass Punks, is out today. Debuting on Filter yesterday, streamToday Is A Bright New Day in its entirety!

The EP is out in advance of his tour dates with Milk Carton Kids.

Tour Dates:

05.21.14 – Hollywood, CA @ The Standard: Desert Nights curated by KCRW’s DJ Valida
05.28.14 – Austin, TX @ Stateside Theater*
05.29.14 – Houston, TX @ Mucky Duck*
05.30.14 – Austin, TX @ Stateside Theater*
05.31.14 – Dallas, TX @ Poor David’s Pub*

06.01.14 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Blue Door*
06.03.14 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater*
06.05.14 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room*
06.06.14 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux*
06.09.14 – Seattle, WA – Live performance on-air at KEXP 90.3 at 11:00 AM
06.11.14 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre*
06.12.14 – Vancouver, BC @ St. James Hall*
06.13.14 – Vancouver, BC @ St. James Hall*
06.14.14 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater*
06.15.14 – Chico, CA @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.*
06.16.14 – Napa, CA @ City Winery*
06.17.14 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Kuumbwa Jazz*
06.18.14 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall*
06.19.14 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Lobero Theater*
06.21.14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Japan America Theater*
06.22.14 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up*
06.23.14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Musical Instrument Museum*
06.24.14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Musical Instrument Museum*
*w/The Milk Carton Kids

06.27.14 – Watford City, ND @ Watford City Centennial

08.23.14 – Burlington, WI @ The Coffeehouse at Chestnut & Pine Block Party
08.29.14 – Pittsburgh, PA @ WYEP Final Friday w/ Simone Felice

Tom Brosseau is a North Dakota-born singer-songwriter, whose latest album of original music,Grass Punks, was recorded by Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) in Hollywood, California, and released in the US on Crossbill Records, 2014. Themes of the album include emptiness of a false dream, loyalty, betrayal. Here’s what some critics have been saying:

“It’s in the shadows where the sly Brosseau does his best work, transforming earthbound images into intimations of wonder, giving unremarkable everyday memories a mysterious, almost haunting poignancy.” NPR

“Stop awhile and tune him in.” Pitchfork

“North Dakota troubadour brings stark, trembling beauty to folky acoustic pop. The world is better for it.” MOJO

In promotion of the album, and in conjunction with the Tom Brosseau tour, on May 20th Crossbill Records will issue a special EP containing the second single, “Today Is A Bright New Day”, previously unissued Grass Punks track, “Running From Zombies”, and a live recording of the Gospel standard, “When The Saints Go Marching In”, which was originally penned by Luther G. Presley in the early 20th century, based on the final chapter in the New Testament, Revelations.

High praise for Grass Punks:
“His brand of country-infused folk is uplifting and unexpected.” CBC

“Tom Brosseau takes us to these places where we recognize that we’re “souls of crazy mirth.” Daytrotter

“Tom Brosseau‘s new record “Grass Punks” is a wonderful collection of songs that can be that companion at home at the end of the day. Intimate, wonderful and introspective.” Dublab

“Brosseau has spent years being a storyteller himself through his stark and honest lyricism.” WNYC

“Grass Punks, Brosseau’s seventh studio album and his first solo release in five years, is a heartfelt homage to flyover country and the souls that grow there.” UTNE Reader

“‘Tami’ is a pretty and soft track; a perfect way to get emotional about your past and remember how much you appreciate your loved ones.” FILTER

“Tom Brosseau brings folk vibes and nostalgic expressionist representations of first kiss memoirs that strum and unveil before your eyes and ears.” IMPOSE

“It’s in the shadows where the sly Brosseau does his best work, transforming earthbound images into intimations of wonder, giving unremarkable everyday memories a mysterious, almost haunting poignancy.” NPR

“Stop awhile and tune him in.” Pitchfork

“North Dakota troubadour brings stark, trembling beauty to folky acoustic pop. The world is better for it.” MOJO

Brosseau’s thoughts on Grass Punks:

The title of this album is a phrase belonging to a very talented, original San Diego female artist, who would perform her soft, low voiced poetry over cafard melodies on the piano. Her words would run through my head, and because they were so open to meaning, play on repeat.

I take the city bus, which is an experience that has plugged me back into humanity. The faces, languages, the dress, daily I am part of the mix of what is the real face of this town, and though learning the schedules has been challenging, and the temperament of some of my fellow commuters eyeopening, it feels good to be in the same boat as everyone else. People come to Los Angeles because like Frank Lloyd Wright said it’s where everything loose collects, and though I am nothing more than another pebble I am the number one observer of this place.

My first musical recordings were done so on the family dictation machine. Cassette tapes I bought for cheap at garage sales, the soundtrack to Batman, Beethoven, Enya, which I then unlocked by obstructing the write-protect tab with tape. My idea of a recording studio isn’t some climate controlled facility with cutting-edge technology but a bedroom, Radio Shack mic and tape machine, and when I think of album manufacturing

I think of Leslie Dillahunt, who still runs media production out of her home in La Mesa, California.

Enough time goes by and you can make sense of anything. Grass Punks at once brought to my mind an earthen smoldering stick, used to light a wick or ward off peskiness, but now it stands for something greater, a sort of heading for everything I believe in when it comes to my brand of folk music and DIY recording.

* BIO *

Tom Brosseau is a folksinger and songwriter from North Dakota. He comes from a working family with a musical background, though none have received formal training. His grandmother Lillian Uglem taught him the acoustic guitar while he was in grade school.

He has toured Japan, Canada, Portugal, Iceland, Australia; performed in bars, backyards, grand halls, subways, theaters, old folks homes; exchanged songs and poetry with many talented folks, including Susan Orlean, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Patrick Marber, Bonnie Raitt and the late Sam Hinton.

Mayor Mike Brown presented Brosseau the Key to the City of Grand Forks, North Dakota in 2007 for his album of original work entitled Grand Forks. The songs were based on the devastating Red RIver flood of 1997. Natalie Portman chose a track from Grand Forks, “Plaid-lined Jacket” as part of her continuing work with FINCA, an organization whose mission is to assist communities of impoverishment.

Since 2010, Brosseau has performed with Becky Stark and John C. Reilly in John Reilly & Friends, a band devoted to the current American folk music revival, whose members also include Dan Bern, Willie Watson, Greg Leisz, Jerry Roe and Sebastian Steinberg. In 2011, Reilly and Brosseau recorded a 7″ vinyl single entitled John & Tom that was produced by Jack White for Third Man Records.

Tom Brosseau has toured with John Doe, Juliana Hatfield, PJ Harvey, and his songs have been covered by such acts as Chris Thile (bluegrass), Mice Parade (shoe gaze), Silje Nes (experimental), Emily & Christy (pop). He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
 

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