With his brand new album, Critterland, folksinger Willi Carlisle invites his listeners to reckon with the inevitability of human suffering and grow in love; all through joining together in song. And Carlisle’s songs are ripe for a singalong. Out today via Signature Sounds, Critterland has already earned praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Associated Press, SPIN, and more, and garnered fans in fellow songwriters BJ Barham and Tyler Childers.
Produced by the GRAMMY Award-nominated Darrell Scott, Critterland considers where we come from and where we are going. On the album, Carlisle 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.
Fans can stream or purchase Critterland today at this link and be sure to check out the official “Critterland” music video here. For more information, please visit willicarlisle.com.
Carlisle—who was recently named on the National Independent Venue Association’s “The Live List” of favorite up-and-coming touring acts—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.
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. 5 - Little Rock, AR - Revolution Room
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.
