The Lil Smokies’ high-energy acoustic music has evolved into its own distinctive sound. Since their last album, Tornillo (2020), the band returns with two new members, bassist Jean Luc Davis and banjo player, Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose, adding to the core trio of dobro player Andy Dunnigan, lead guitarist the Reverend Matthew Rieger, and fiddler Jake Simpson. To showcase the new sound and augmented quintet lineup, the band will release a brand new album Break of the Tide, available via Americana Vibes on April 4, 2025. The band's rejuvenated sound and current era is reflected in their latest single "Ocean," out today. Listen HERE.
Mulling over the vast ebbs and flows of life's natural progressions, "Ocean" was penned by Andy Dunnigan in a letter to himself. "'Ocean' is about grieving the old world; a younger hungrier era. The “you” in ocean is me. A song written from me to myself," he reflects.
Comeback I was ready to Comeback
Retrace the steps and tethered webs; unbury my mind.
Ocean Another cold ocean
The tide of hope and weathered tropes
Retreated tonight.
I want to get back to you
These Days my willingness lays awake
My youthful yearn and unconcern has dulled like a blade.
But oh dear, I felt the pull all year.
To uproot everything I've known and leave it behind.
I want to get back to you
Wear the face that I wore long ago
See the weight of the morning wash over me
And feel the evening let me go
In line with the album's overarching sentiments, "Ocean" is contemplative, leaning into the band's more vulnerable and solemn side. "At the heart of this record is perseverance and a willingness to forge a different path inside a new world—it’s about buoyancy in the most tumultuous of times. I’m beyond proud of this record and I’m so glad it actually made it to shore," muses Dunnigan.
Returning to Texas (where they recorded Tornillo), The Lil Smokies cut Break of the Tide at a Dallas-Fort Worth studio with local producer Robert Ellis, the album title representing, according to Andy, “a turning point, a pivot… the old world vs. the new world. It’s like a bug set in amber, an artifact from that period of time. We didn’t drown under the tide.”
“One of the biggest differences between this album and Tornillo is we hadn’t played these songs live before we recorded them,” added Jake. “These tracks really took shape in the studio. For the most part, we used whole takes, rather than overdubs and edits. It’s a vibey record.”
The album finds the band expanding beyond the bluegrass genre with a spacious, airy, contemplative set of “more introspective, nuanced” songs which slow down to reflect the wide-open spaces and natural beauty of the state where they first took shape.
Break of the Tide marks a turning point for The Lil Smokies, who are ready to hit the road running this year, reinventing themselves for the long haul. The band recently announced an extensive national tour to celebrate the new album kicking off with a Colorado run and continuing at key venues across the midwest and East Coast.
A complete list of tour dates is here:
Apr-3, Frisco, CO, 10 Mile Music Hall
Apr-4, Denver, CO, Ogden Theatre
Apr-5, Ft Collins, CO, Washington's
Apr-8, Kansas City, MO, Bottleneck
Apr-9, Minneapolis, MN, Turf Club
Apr-10, Stoughton, WI, Stoughton Opera House
Apr-11, Indianapolis, IN, HIFI
Apr-12, Evanston, IL, SPACE
Apr-15, New York, NY, Mercury Lounge
Apr-16, Northampton, MA, Iron Horse
Apr-17, Cambridge, MA, The Sinclair
Apr-18, Burlington, VT, Higher Ground
Apr-19, Portsmouth, NH, 3D Art Space
Apr-23, Pittsburgh, PA, Thunderbird
Apr-24, Wayne, PA, 118 North
Apr-25, Charlottesville, VA, The Southern
Apr-26, Washington, DC, Pearl Street Warehouse
Apr-27, Wilkesboro, NC, Merlefest
From their humble beginnings playing the “holy trinity” of Missoula, Whitefish and Bozeman in Montana, The Lil Smokies have toured all over the U.S. and abroad in Iceland, Mexico and Canada, performing at such prestigious venues as Red Rocks and festivals like Telluride, High Sierra, LOCKN’, Freshgrass and FloydFest. The group earned top prize at the Northwest String Summit outside of Portland in 2013 and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado in 2015, which proved the catalyst for more touring success through the end of the decade.
For more information and to purchase tickets to all shows, please visit: thelilsmokies.net.
