Gregory Alan Isakov Shares New Song 'Before the Sun'

GRAMMY-nominated singer, songwriter and musician Gregory Alan Isakov’s new song, “Before the Sun,” is debuting today.

Of the song, Isakov shares, “I think I wrote parts of ‘Before the Sun’ when I was twenty-two, just as something for me. I’ve always played the banjo, but I’m not a trained banjo player or anything, and it’s something I felt a little bit shy about for a long time. But the song reminds me of working outside, and being outside, and I would play it on breaks from working.”  

“Before the Sun” is the second song unveiled from Isakov’s anticipated new album, Appaloosa Bones, which will be released August 18 via Dualtone Records and Isakov’s own label, Suitcase Town Music (pre-order/pre-save here).

Ahead of the release, new song, “The Fall,” recently debuted, of which Atwood Magazine praises, “An intimate, breathtakingly beautiful folk song…there’s passion and pain in Isakov’s voice as he evokes the intensity of a single moment,” while Glide declares, “terrific…features a whispering guitar melody that accents Isakov’s elastic vocal delivery perfectly.”

Produced by Isakov and Andrew Berlin (Descendents, Rise Against) and recorded at Isakov’s studio outside of Boulder, Appaloosa Bones is his first new album in five years and is filled with his signature “emotionally evocative songwriting style” (NPR Music). With these eleven tracks, Isakov creates an atmospheric collection, infusing lush harmonies with layered instrumental textures of guitars, banjos and piano, many of which Isakov played himself.  

In celebration of the new music, Isakov will tour through this fall including newly confirmed shows at Seattle’s The Showbox and Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre, after Isakov’s first dates in Seattle (Paramount Theatre, Aug 18) and New York (Beacon Theatre, Oct 23) quickly sold out.

Additional stops on the tour include San Francisco’s The Masonic, Los Angeles’ Theatre at Ace Hotel (two nights, both sold out), Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre (sold out), Chicago’s Chicago Theatre, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium (two nights), Atlanta’s Tabernacle (two nights), Washington DC’s The Anthem, Philadelphia’s Franklin Music Hall and Boston’s Roadrunner (two nights) among many others.

Special guests for the tour include Shovels & Rope, Damien Jurado, Lucius, The Milk Carton Kids, and Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers (playing Piano Piano). See below for complete itinerary. 

Reflecting on the album, Isakov shares, “I set out to make a folky, small lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll record. And then the songs kind of told me, ‘No, this is what it’s going to be.’ And so I said, ‘OK,’ and after a while, I was just holding onto the reins, waiting to see where it was going and how the material worked.

What I found was a collection of songs that brought me back to when I was starting out playing with the band—traveling a lot in the van, playing throughout the Southwest and West. These wide open landscapes had this quietness and expansive deepness that grounded me and evoked a lot of the curiosities I was drawn to when I started writing songs.” 

Beloved by his devoted community of fans and critics alike, Isakov has garnered over 1 billion streams and released five full-length albums to date, including 2018’s Evening Machines, which was nominated for Best Folk Album at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards.

Of the record, NPR Music praised, “rich in narrative detail and beautifully contemplative,” while Billboard asserted, “characteristically ruminative…blending a gentle spaciousness with dusky atmospheres and carefully nuanced textures” and Rolling Stone declared, “beautiful collisions of acoustic instruments, Isakov’s soothing vocals and otherworldly noise.”

Additionally, Isakov’s music has been featured in hit shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Big Sky, A Million Little Things, The Haunting of Hill House, Virgin River, The Blacklist, This is Us and many more. 

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and raised in Philadelphia, Isakov now calls Colorado home. When he isn’t on the road, he spends much of his time writing and recording songs in his barn studio, as well as running Starling Farm (his farm in Boulder County), which provides produce to the farm’s CSA members, local restaurants, and Community Food Share (a Boulder County food bank). 

GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV CONFIRMED TOUR DATES

June 15—Santa Fe, NM—The Bridge* (SOLD OUT)
June 16—Santa Fe, NM—The Bridge* (SOLD OUT)
June 18—Telluride, CO—Telluride Bluegrass Festival (SOLD OUT)
July 27—Portland, ME—Thompson’s Point+
July 28—Burlington, VT—Waterfront Park Concert Series+
July 30—Newport, RI—Newport Folk Festival (SOLD OUT)
August 2—Boulder, CO—Triple A SummitFest
August 10-13—Edmonton, Canada—Edmonton Folk Festival
                                                                    August 11—Omaha, NE—Outlandia Music Festival
August 14—Saskatoon, SK—Coors Event Centre
August 15—Calgary, AB—MacEwan Hall
August 17—Vancouver, BC—The Orpheum†
August 18—Seattle, WA—Paramount Theatre† (SOLD OUT)
August 19—Seattle, WA—The Showbox†
August 20—Troutdale, OR—Edgefield†
August 22—Jacksonville, OR—Britt Pavilion†
August 23—San Francisco, CA—The Masonic†
August 25—Los Angeles, CA—The Theatre at Ace Hotel† (SOLD OUT)
August 26—Los Angeles, CA—The Theatre at Ace Hotel† (SOLD OUT)
August 27—Phoenix, AZ—The Van Buren† (SOLD OUT)
August 29—Salt Lake City, UT—Delta Hall at The Eccles† (SOLD OUT)
August 30—Salt Lake City, UT—Delta Hall at The Eccles†
September 2—Denver, CO—Mission Ballroom† (SOLD OUT)
September 3—Dillon, CO—Dillon Amphitheater† (SOLD OUT)
September 4—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre‡ (SOLD OUT)
September 29—Kansas City, MO—The Midland^
September 30—St. Paul, MN—Palace Theatre^ (SOLD OUT)
October 1—Chicago, IL—The Chicago Theatre
October 3—Durham, NC—Durham Performing Arts Center^
October 5—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium^
October 6—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium#
October 7—Atlanta, GA—Tabernacle#
October 8—Atlanta, GA—Tabernacle#
October 10—Asheville, NC—Rabbit Rabbit#
October 11—Charleston, SC—Firefly Distillery#
October 13—Washington, DC—The Anthem
October 14—Philadelphia, PA—Franklin Music Hall#
October 16—Toronto, ON—Massey Hall**
October 17—Montreal, QC—MTELUS**
October 18—Kingston, NY—Ulster Performing Arts Center**
October 20—Brooklyn, NY—Kings Theatre
October 21—Boston, MA—Roadrunner**
October 22—Boston, MA—Roadrunner**
October 23—New York, NY—Beacon Theatre** (SOLD OUT)
November 21—Glasgow, UK—SWG3 Galvanizers Yard
November 22—Dublin, Ireland—National Stadium
November 23—Manchester, UK—Albert Hall
November 25—London, UK—Roundhouse
November 27—Winterhur, Switzerland—Salzhaus
November 29—Amsterdam, Netherlands—Paradiso
November 30—Eindhoven, Netherlands—Muziekgebouw
December 1—Groningen, Netherlands—De Oosterport
December 2—Antwerp, Belgium—De Roma
December 4—Cologne, Germany—Kantine
December 5—Hamburg, Germany—Uebel & Gefaehrilch
December 7—Copenhagen, Denmark—Pumpehuset
December 8—Oslo, Norway—Vulkan Arena
December 10—Stockholm, Sweden—Cirkus
*with special guest Joe Purdy
+with special guest Josh Ritter
†with special guest Shovels & Ropes
‡with special guest Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers (playing Piano Piano)
^with special guest Damien Jurado
#with special guest Lucius
**with special guest The Milk Carton Kids

photo credit: Glenn Ross

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