Willi Carlisle’s “Higher Lonesome” is the only completely true story from his upcoming album Critterland. While the other nine tracks are certainly based on real people in real places, “Higher Lonesome” is wholly Carlisle living through dark, searching times in the tail end of 2021 and into the new year. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to live, was a disaster, wandering through the country, falling in love with strangers,” remembers the folksinger whose most recent single, “When The Pills Wear Off,” raised money for Appalachian recovery charity, Hope in the Hills.
Carlisle’s first verse sets a wild mood right off the bat: “Turned around in Tidewater or all alone in Pueblo / I been drivin’ with a deathwish down mountains on my phone / Half the places I been might be laced with psilocybin / I been dreamin’ of a country I saw at the rodeo.” Cascading over a descending chord progression, each new line paints a picture both dire and adventurous; a skill few songwriters possess in the tonnage Carlisle does. The scope of “Higher Lonesome” stacks up over its nearly four and a half minutes of storytelling, but the narrator leaves listeners with light on the other side. “See I don’t want to hit rock bottom, just to see how deep it goes / Shine a light on six feet under so I ain’t afraid to go / Prove in fact the end’s as lovely as can be / When higher lonesome kills the bitter parts of me,” sings Carlisle in the song’s final refrain.
“Higher Lonesome” is the latest single from Carlisle’s upcoming, Darrell Scott-produced album, Critterland—out January 26th via Signature Sounds. Fans can stream or purchase “Higher Lonesome” today at this link, check out Carlisle’s previously released Critterland singles, “When The Pills Wear Off” and “Critterland,” at their respective links, and pre-order or pre-save the album right here.
Carlisle returns to the road with his own headlining tour in February followed by a run of shows in June supporting Tyler Childers. Tour dates can be found below or at willicarlisle.com.
More About Critterland: Rooted in the eclectic and collective world of his live shows, Carlisle’s third album, Critterland, takes up where his sophomore album, Peculiar, Missouri, left off, transforming Peculiar’s big tent into a Critterland menagerie and letting loose the weirdos he gathered together. The album is a wild romp through the backwaters of his mind and America, lingering in the odd corners of human nature to visit obscure oddballs, dark secrets, and complicated truths about the beauty and pain of life and love.
Produced by the GRAMMY Award-nominated Darrell Scott and to be released on January 26, 2024, by Signature Sounds, Critterland considers where we come from and where we are going. On the album, he takes on human suffering through stories about forbidden love, loss, generational trauma, addiction, and suicide, believing that by processing the traits and trauma we inherit, he can reach a deeper understanding of what it means to succeed and to exist.
Critterland Tracklist:
Critterland
Dry Country Dust
The Arrangements
The Great Depression
Two-Headed Lamb
Higher Lonesome
I Want No Children
Jaybird
When the Pills Wear Off
The Money Grows on Trees
Catch Willi Carlisle On Tour:
Feb. 1 - Newport, KY - The Southgate House
Feb. 2 - Columbus, OH - Rumba Cafe
Feb. 3 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe
Feb. 4 - Lakewood, OH - Mahall’s
Feb. 7 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
Feb. 8 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
Feb. 9 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern
Feb. 10 - Kalamazoo - MI - Bell’s Eccentric Café
Feb. 12 - Wisconsin Dells, WI - Showboat Saloon
Feb. 13 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
Feb. 15 - Des Moines, IA - xBK
Feb. 16 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
Feb. 17 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
Feb. 18 - Oklahoma City - OK - Resonant Head
Feb. 22 - 25 - Kansas City, MO - Folk Alliance International
Apr. 6 - Fayetteville, AR - George’s Majestic Lounge
Apr 12. - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle
Apr 13. - Nashville, TN - The Basement East
Apr. 14 - Lexington, KY - The Burl
Apr. 26 - Wilkesboro, NC - MerleFest
Apr. 28 - Tallahassee, FL - Word of South Music and Lit. Festival
May 24 - Adams, MA - Adams Theater
June 2 - Virginia Beach, VA - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater*
June 5 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre*
June 7 - Alpharetta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre*
June 8 - Alpharetta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre*
* Supporting Tyler Childers
For future dates and ticket information, please visit willicarlisle.com.
