Trey Anastasio Rolls Out Paper Wheels October 30th // First New Solo Album In Three Years
August 24, 2016
Phish frontman Trey Anastasio has announced the release of his long awaited new album. PAPER WHEELS – the multi-talented singer/musician/composer’s first new solo album in three years – arrives October 30th via Rubber Jungle/ATO Records.
PAPER WHEELS will be offered as a deluxe limited edition that will include 180 gram 45 RPM 2x LP splatter vinyl and a die cut gatefold package with six unique sleeves. Only 4,000 of these special packages will be manufactured. A preorder is now available at Anastasio’s official web store, treyanastasio.shop.musictoday.com.
Produced by Anastasio and longtime collaborator Bryce Goggin, PAPER WHEELS was recorded last year at The Barn, the Phish founding guitarist’s Vermont farmhouse-turned-rehearsal space/recording studio. Anastasio and the members of Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) developed the material on stage while touring and at soundcheck on the tour leading up to the sessions, allowing them to track the album in just under a week. Taking a cue from the energetic immediacy of classic Stax Studio recording sessions, TAB worked fast and loose, playing together live in The Barn and wrapping up tracks after one or two takes. Written and co-written by Anastasio alongside frequent lyric partners Tom Marshall and Steve “The Dude of Life” Pollak, songs like the funk-driven “Bounce” and the elegiac “Invisible Knife” (written solely by Anastasio) are among the legendarily diverse artist’s most infectious and inventive, alive with creative vigor, robust musicianship, and true soul power (see the complete tracklisting below).
PAPER WHEELS features the classic TAB line up of drummer Russ Lawton, bassist Tony Markellis, and keyboardist Ray Paczkowski, augmented by a full horn section (including trombonist/vocalist Natalie Cressman, multi-instrumentalist James Casey, and longtime TAB trumpeter/vocalist Jennifer Hartswick). The album was mixed by 8x GRAMMY® Award-winning sound engineer Elliot Scheiner (Van Morrison, Steely Dan, Derek & The Dominos).
Anastasio’s 10th solo album and follow-up to 2012′s acclaimed TRAVELER, PAPER WHEELS has been heralded in recent months by a series of new song premieres launched via his website featuring cover art shrouded in code, showcasing such tracks as “Bounce,” “Speak To Me,” and “Never.” “Bounce” and “Never” were both originally featured on a limited edition 7″ single, released exclusively for Record Store Day 2015.
Trey Anastasio Band will celebrate the release of PAPER WHEELS with a headline tour set to embark October 16th and then continue through November 13th (see confirmed itinerary below). Highlights include a previously announced sold-out two-night stand at Las Vegas, NV’s Brooklyn Bowl slated for Halloween weekend, October 30th and 31st, as well as a two-night stand at Brooklyn, NY’s Kings Theater, which are the only east coast dates of the tour, and a two-night stand in Denver, CO at the Fillmore Auditorium. Tickets for all shows will be available through a real-time presale beginning Thursday, August 27th at noon eastern and ending Wednesday, September 2nd at 5pm eastern at treytickets.shop.ticketstoday.com. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Thursday, September 3rd. Please visit trey.com for specific sale dates and times.
Meanwhile, Phish is set to wrap its Summer 2015 tour with a three-night run at Commerce City, CO’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, slated for September 4th – 6th, and Anastasio recently performed as part of the epic “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead” concerts in Chicago, IL, and Santa Clara, CA.