Jonathan Wilson Releases New Album 'Eat the Worm'

Jonathan Wilson’s new BMG album Eat the Worm is out now, on the heels of buzz-building singles such as “Marzipan,” “Charlie Parker” and “The Village Is Dead” from the acclaimed singer, songwriter, and producer. Additionally, Wilson has shared a new video for album highlight “Ol’ Father Time.”

“A lot of this batch of songs is a reaction to the production stuff that I do,” Wilson says of the new album. “I would be in the studio, doing long days with folks, and I’ll have some wild off-the-wall ideas and they’re like, ‘no, no, no, that sounds crazy, JW.’ So I would save them up for my album. I’m finally at a place to feel totally free to take chances and resist the urge to dumb things down. It’s got to be kind of strange.”

To that end, Wilson gave himself plenty of time to let the songs unfold over the course of the last two years. Having his own Fivestar Studios in Topanga Canyon, Ca., also allowed him to devote as much time as he wanted to fine-tuning the tracks.

“There are a lot of details to the songs. I felt like this album was also time for me to expand my sound, so there are way more strings and horns than I’ve ever done before,” he says. “I wanted to apply some of the sonic palette of some of the productions I’ve worked on to my own s. There's a lot of experimentation, and almost none of the songs started as me with a guitar. I really wanted something that sounded fresh and new.”

Wilson, a North Carolina native, moved to Los Angeles 15 years ago and became an integral part of the music community as a respected artist and producer. It was there he recorded and played most of the instruments on his celebrated albums Gentle Spirit (2011), Fanfare (2013), and Rare Birds (2018).

Just prior to the pandemic, the multi-talented artist went to Nashville to record at Cowboy Jack Clement’s legendary Sound Emporium Studio for what would become Dixie Blur (2020), a collection of songs that harkened back to his Southern roots, both musically and personally. Dixie Blur found Wilson reaching back to the musical foundation of his upbringing while simultaneously moving forward by infusing the music with modern textures and aesthetic soundscapes.

Having joined Roger Waters' touring band as a guitarist and vocalist on his epic 2017-18 US + THEM tour, Wilson continues in the same role on the current This Is Not a Drill tour. When not touring with Waters, Wilson has produced albums for Father John Misty, Margo Price, Billy Strings, Conor Oberst, Roy Harper, Dawes and Angel Olsen, to name a few.

Photo Credit: Andrea Nakhla