“I lived in my Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera for a while,” says Texas-based songwriter and recording artist Vincent Neil Emerson, recollecting how his new tune, “Time of the Rambler,” came to be. As the opening track from Emerson’s upcoming, Shooter Jennings-produced LP, The Golden Crystal Kingdom, “Time of the Rambler” finds the Choctaw-Apache musician watching the world fly by around him, trying to find some traction for his dream. “I wrote ‘Time of the Rambler’ in Shooter’s basement the night before we recorded it,” Emerson recalls. “I was looking out the window—the basement was on a hill—at the highway. And, for some reason, it reminded me of my early days of making music.”
Emerson’s breezy verses give way to dirty, fuzz-box guitars and a reflecting refrain: “Whatever happened to the time of the rambler? Livin’ in the big rock candy mountain days?” Commemorating a past version of himself who made his career brick by brick, lugging his gear from venue to venue and making fans the old-fashioned way, Emerson comes at “Time of the Ramber” from a better place, but is quick to acknowledge that an easy path forward is never actually the reality. “Well, it seems to be there ain’t nothin’ left for the gambler / But the game won’t ever change.”
Fans can stream or purchase “Time of the Ramber” today at this link, check out Emerson’s previously-released singles “The Golden Crystal Kingdom” and “Little Wolf’s Invincible Yellow Medicine Paint” at their respective links, and pre-order or pre-save The Golden Crystal Kingdom ahead of its November 10th release on La Honda Records/RCA Records right here. Emerson will take the stage tonight at Growlers in Memphis, Tennessee. A full list of tour dates can be found below or at vincentneilemerson.com.
The Golden Crystal Kingdom Tracklisting:
Time of the Rambler
The Golden Crystal Kingdom
Time of the Cottonwood Trees
I’ll Meet You in Montana
Hang Your Head Down Low
Cod’ine
Blackland Prairies
On the Banks of the Old Guadalupe
The Man From Uvalde
Voices (On the Spanish Isle)
Clover on the Hillside
Little Wolf’s Invincible Yellow Medicine Paint
Catch Vincent Neil Emerson On Tour:
NOV 3, 2023 - Growlers - Memphis, TN
NOV 4, 2023 - Songbirds - Chattanooga, TN
NOV 7, 2023 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
NOV 9, 2023 - Songbyrd - Washington, DC
NOV 10, 2023 - Elkton Music Hall - Elkton, MD
NOV 11, 2023 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
NOV 15, 2023 - World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA
NOV 16, 2023 - The Southern Café and Music Hall - Charlottesville, VA
NOV 17, 2023 - Motorco Music Hall - Durham, NC
NOV 18, 2023 - New Brookland Tavern - Columbia, SC
NOV 19, 2023 - Charleston Music Hall - Charleston, SC
NOV 21, 2023 - Eddie's Attic - Decatur, GA
DEC 9, 2023 - Antone's Nightclub - Austin, TX
