Paul Cauthen Brings "Texas Swagger" to "The Kelly Clarkson Show"

To celebrate the release of his latest album Book of Paul, available now via Velvet Rose Records/Thirty Tigers, country iconoclast Paul Cauthen performed “Texas Swagger” on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” on Friday, April 3. Watch his performance Below and listen to Book of Paul HERE.
 
With Book of Paul, Cauthen continues both his streak of against-the-grain attitude, and his genuine fascination with spiritual truth. But at this point in his career, he’s less interested in the wild-eyed abandon of revival, and more in his own path. A path of utterly authentic country music; fearless, proud, and with two middle fingers in the air. “I wanted to take it back to my roots and where it all began in East Texas,” he says.
 
And “Texas Swagger,” with its bronc-bucking beat, dark twang and barely contained sense of danger, serves as a mission statement:
 
“If all else fails, just remember where you came from,” Cauthen proclaims, noting he co-wrote the track with Rob Ragosta and Sam Martinez, who also produced. “We got it hot and cooking, put a little drumbeat on it, built that son of a bitch in 30 minutes. I was like ‘Alright, last time I felt like this was ‘Cocaine Country Dancing.’ It’s got a really fierce feel to it. It’s danceable as shit.”
 
With his nearly sold-out Tonkin’ ‘N Tejas Tour, Cauthen has added stops at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 11 and Denver’s The Mission Ballroom on Oct. 9. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit paulcauthenmusic.com.

Paul Cauthen Tour Dates:
April 18  |  Kalispell, MT  | Majestic Valley Arena
July 11 | Saint Paul, MN | Minnesota Country Club Festival
July 16  |  Jackson, WY  |  Snow King Mountain
Sept. 11  |  Nashville, TN  |  Ryman Auditorium
Sept. 19 | Pryor, OK | Born & Raised Festival
Oct. 9  |  Denver, CO  |  The Mission Ballroom
 
About Paul Cauthen
Whether he knows it or not, every man lives by a code. And for country provocateur Paul Cauthen, that code is simple. Always bet on yourself. A singer-songwriter with a well-documented distaste for playing by anyone else’s rules, the East Texas native spent two decades clawing his way through the country underground, embodying the independent spirit with a monolithic Big Velvet vocal. Fusing classic-country grit, gospel power and a rhinestoned rock edge, four previous albums proclaimed his singular style with a booming baritone and near-biblical swagger. Taught to sing by his grandfather in a Church of Christ, Cauthen hit the scene with the duo Sons of Fathers in 2009, before My Gospel, Room 41, Country Coming Down and Black on Black unveiled a vulnerable, fire-and-brimstone songwriter with brazen Texas attitude – craving deliverance, yet possessed by a “bird dog” instinct for theatrical rapture. Cauthen has toured the world, collaborating with Margo Price, Orville Peck, Cody Jinks and Lana Del Rey. With favorites like “Cocaine Country Dancing,” “Fuck You Money” and his GOLD-certified collab with Shaboozey on “Last Of My Kind,” he counts over 442 million global streams. Cauthen’s fifth album, Book of Paul, takes him further down his path of utterly authentic country music; fearless, proud and with two middle fingers in the air. Co-writing 12 of 13 tracks, the troubadour confesses to his wild side and wrestles with the sin. He spares no detail – and makes no compromise. For more information, visit paulcauthenmusic.com.

Paul Cauthen Delivers Unfiltered 13-Track Album BOOK OF PAUL

With four albums and 442 million streams to-date, country iconoclast Paul Cauthen propels into a new chapter with Book of Paul, out now on Velvet Rose Records/Thirty Tigers. Fusing classic country grit, gospel power and a rhinestone rock-and-roll edge, Cauthen delivers 13 tracks filled with a booming baritone and personal truth. 
 
Listen to Cauthen’s Book of Paul Below.

With a well-documented distaste for playing by anyone else’s rules, the singer-songwriter known as “Big Velvet” returns to his East Texas roots, writing his own creative code in permanent ink with Book of Paul.
 
“It’s just being who you are – unapologetically yourself – and that’s every one of my records,” Cauthen says. “Does it dance? Does it make you cry? Does it make you feel? As far as I’m concerned I’ve made it already. I can already do whatever I want musically. And when you get to this point you look back. I have built my whole career going against the grain, and that’s what this record is. The freaking trials and tribulations of Paul. It’s everything I wanted on an album.” 
 
Tapping the strengths of longtime family friend and chart-topping co-writer Ryan Tyndell, Steve Rusch (Jessie Murph, Koe Wetzel), Sam Martinez (Tyler Braden, Carrie Underwood), Fustin (Priscilla Block) plus Nate Ferraro (Beyoncé) for production, they captured Cauthen’s unruly essence with all the charm of a rattlesnake (and the vocal venom to match). 
 
Cauthen co-write 12 of the 13 tracks while also playing bass and drums on select tracks, making sure each song had the twisted backbone he craved. “It’s a nitty gritty, swampy, East-Texas-muddy-roots kind of feel,” Cauthen says with pride. “My claws are deep in it.”
 
Cauthen wastes no time getting to his point. Led by his burly, vibrato-laden baritone, “Book of Paul” opens the album on a minimalist mix of acoustic guitar and snare, as the troubadour confesses to his wild side, while wrestling with the sin. He spares no detail – and makes no compromise. 
 
“If you look at the Bible, there is no book of Paul,” he explains. “I just wanted to write something that embodies me, because I’m sick of hearing records catered to what’s hot and what’s working. Me, I’ve always been this country boy, East Texas guy. Roots, rock and roll, Texas gospel. If you look back at all my albums, I’m proud to say I meant everything I’ve said.” 

Tracks like “Texas Swagger,” which Cauthen will perform on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” today (check local listings HERE), serve as a mission statement, with its bronc-bucking beat, dark twang, and barely contained sense of danger. Cauthen started off with a frenetic guitar riff and some eerie “yee haw” background vocals, then added a strong dose of Big Velvet attitude.
 
Meanwhile, Cauthen puts his code to the test on “Dark Horse,” a cosmic-Western ballad fueled by epiphany he calls “a long ride on the back of a mule on a bunch of mushrooms.” The lonesome “Road Dog” recalls the bleak resignation of Johnny Cash’s “Hurt,” with coyote yips and an acoustic-industrial vibe. And with the warm, relaxing shimmer of ‘70s rock, “Cigarettes & Billy Graham” burns with an easy self acceptance – an anthem for those preachers of the open road. 
 
Elsewhere, Cauthen enters a kind of voluntary lockup with the hypnotic, outlaw-country romance of “Ain’t No Crime,” and taps a “Chattahoochee” groove for the hazy, summertime twang of “Tossin’ Back Time” (feat. Jake Worthington). 
 
Soul pop and gospel twang reach a slow-rolling confluence on the East Texas love story “Bayou By You,” and Cauthen teams with Delaney Ramsdell for the aching barstool ballad, “Chain Smoking.” “Breakaway” saunters into the sunset with a supremely casual indie-roots strut. And a colorful, character-driven country throwback unfolds on “Blue Denim & Black Gold” (the album’s only outside cut, written by Tyndell and Jeff Hyde). 
 
Meanwhile, “Texas Gravel Road” unleashes every weapon in Cauthen’s creative arsenal. Built off a slowed-down latin beat, it’s a bellowing tribute to the blood, sweat and tears behind the star’s pockmarked path – a grungy gutter rocker draped in distorted dark twang. And with the album ending on “The Voice Inside (Silence),” Cauthen enters a state of acoustic prayer. With that velvet vocal at its most raw, an anguished internal battle between dark and light unfolds. … Yet those voices may be something else entirely. Knowing them is the key to Cauthen’s code, and the driving force behind his country music. 
 
“That’s what God is. That’s the spirit. That’s you. The un-talked about. That’s the good shit,” he explains. “This record is the Book of Paul, but I would say everybody needs their own book, and the chapters in life create that. What I mean is, bet on your own. Everybody pointing fingers at you because you’re the black sheep, or because you have this trait or that, that’s what actually makes you different. So bet on that.” 
 
Cauthen was taught to sing by his grandfather in a Church of Christ, and Cauthen hit the scene with the duo Sons of Fathers in 2009, before My Gospel, Room 41, Country Coming Down and Black on Black unveiled a vulnerable, fire-and-brimstone songwriter with brazen attitude – craving deliverance, yet possessed by a “bird dog” instinct for theatrical rapture. Cauthen has toured the world, collaborating with Margo Price, Orville Peck, Cody Jinks and Lana Del Rey. Fan favorites include “Cocaine Country Dancing,” “Fuck You Money” and his GOLD-certified collab with Shaboozey,“Last Of My Kind.” 
 
With his nearly sold-out Tonkin’ ‘N Tejas Tour, Cauthen continues to hit the Texas touring scene while adding stops at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 11 and Denver’s The Mission Ballroom on Oct. 9. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit paulcauthenmusic.com.

Paul Cauthen Tour Dates:
April 3  |  Helotes, TX  |  Floore’s Country Store
April 18  |  Kalispell, MT  | Majestic Valley Arena
July 11 | Saint Paul, MN | Minnesota Country Club Festival
July 16  |  Jackson, WY  |  Snow King Mountain
Sept. 11  |  Nashville, TN  |  Ryman Auditorium
Sept. 19 | Pryor, OK | Born & Raised Festival
Oct. 9  |  Denver, CO  |  The Mission Ballroom

Avatar's New Album "DANCE DEVIL DANCE" Out Today + Band Touring The U.S. This Spring

AVATAR RELEASE NEW ALBUM DANCE DEVIL DANCE TODAY, FEBRUARY 17, VIA BLACK WALTZ RECORDS, DISTRIBUTED BY THIRTY TIGERS

BAND TO EMBARK ON HEADLINE U.S. TOUR THIS SPRING

The heavy metal 'n' roll, dark, madcap visionaries collectively known as AVATAR — vocalist Johannes Eckerström, guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin, and drummer John Alfredsson — released their magnum opus and ninth album Dance Devil Dance, today, February 17, via Black Waltz Records, distributed by Thirty Tigers. Get it here.

"Dance Devil Dance is the culmination of the most intense artistic journey of our lives," the band says. "We haven't been this excited about putting out new music since our first demo, way back when. We have made a point out of treating every album like our last, never taking what we get to do for granted. This holds true for this one as well. That being said, in more ways than one, this feels like our first. We have fallen in love with the noise, the chaos, and the creation all over again. It's hard to find words for it. It's just so very special to us. It's good that the day has finally come."

The almighty Avatar will also return to the road this spring on a headline tour that kicks off April 28 in Omaha and runs through May 28 in Pittsburgh. Veil of Maya and Orbit Culture will support. All dates are below, including key spring festival appearances. Get tickets here.

AVATAR ON TOUR:
WITH VEIL OF MAYA + ORBIT CULTURE:
4/28 — Omaha, NE — The Admiral
4/29 — Denver, CO — Ogden
4/30 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Depot
5/1 — Boise, ID — Revolution
5/3 — San Diego. CA — Observatory
5/4 — Los Angeles, CA — Belasco
5/5 — San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore
5/6 — Las Vegas, NV — House of Blues
5/7 — Phoenix, AZ — Van Buren
5/9 — Austin, TX — Emo's
5/10 — Dallas, TX — The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
5/12 — Minneapolis, MN — Skyway Theater
5/13 — Green Bay, WI — Epic Events Center
5/14 — Moline, IL — The Rust Belt
5/15 — Chicago, IL — House of Blues
5/16 — Detroit, MI — Royal Oak Theatre
5/18 — Daytona Beach, FL — Welcome to Rockville+
5/19 — St. Petersburg, FL — Jannus Live
5/20 — Atlanta, GA — Buckhead Theater
5/21 — Lexington, KY — Manchester Music Hall
5/23 — New York, NY — Webster Hall
5/24 — Boston, MA — Paradise
5/25 — Silver Springs, MD — The Fillmore
5/26 — Philadelphia, PA — TLA
5/27 — Columbus, OH — Sonic Temple+
5/28 — Pittsburgh, PA — Roxian Theater
+Festival date

 AVATAR ARE:
Johannes Eckerström — Vocals
John Alfredsson — Drums
Jonas Jarlsby — Guitar
Henrik Sandelin — Bass
Tim Öhrström — Guitar

Wade Bowen Releases Vince Gill Duet “A Guitar, A Singer And A Song;” New Album ‘Somewhere Between The Secret And The Truth’ Out August 12

A renowned singer-songwriter in his own right, Wade Bowen teams up with the incomparable Vince Gill for his latest release, “A Guitar, A Singer and A Song,” available everywhere now. The release follows lead single “Everything Has Your Memory” as a further preview of the Waco, Texas native’s forthcoming album Somewhere Between The Secret And The Truth, scheduled for release on August 12 via Thirty Tigers and available for pre-order HERE.

Embracing the theme of every songwriter’s quest for an enduring legacy, Bowen notes that the closing verse sung by Gill offers the crux of the ballad’s concept; “The whole point of doing what we do is to not be forgotten, to try to leave a mark on the world with a guitar and with your songs and with your voice. We don’t think about it until we get a couple decades into our career: ‘Have I done enough that people will remember me?’”

So I’ll write you a thousand songs
And I’ll play you a thousand shows
It’ll feel like a thousand years
Some will remember me and some won’t
But I know why I do what I do
And I’m in ‘til the day that I’m gone
And I pray when they speak my name that I live on
In a guitar, a singer and a song

“I love that this song got written because it seemed for a second there that it was not meant to be,” adds Bowen of the writing process with his GRAMMY Award-winning co-writer Lori McKenna, who also features as a duet partner on another track on the album. “When I brought the idea to Lori, of course she’s the kind of person that was just like, ‘oh yeah, I see what you’re talking about there.’ I’m so thankful for her friendship that helped turned this idea into the right lyrics.”

“Wade is a great artist and this is a great singer, singing a great song,” adds Gill. “That never goes out of style. I'm grateful to be a part of it.”

Fans of Bowen’s heartfelt lyrics and star-studded collaborations can look forward to the August 12 release of all 12 songs on Somewhere Between The Secret And The Truth and can catch Bowen performing these new songs as well as his extensive catalog of hits two decades in the making at shows across the country this summer.

For more information and to purchase tickets to upcoming tour dates, visit WadeBowen.com and follow on Facebook@TheWadeBowen and Twitter / Instagram @WadeBowen.

Somewhere Between The Secret And The Truth Track List
Produced by Wade Bowen; Songwriters in Parentheses
Lyrics + Liner Notes Available HERE
Track x Track Available HERE

1. Everything Has Your Memory (Wade Bowen, Eric Paslay, Heather Morgan)

2. Burnin’ Both Ends of the Bar (Wade Bowen, Randy Montana)

3. Honky Tonk Roll (Wade Bowen, Randy Montana)

4. The Secret To This Town (Wade Bowen, Heather Morgan)

5. If You Don’t Miss Me (Wade Bowen, Ray Fulcher)

6. A Beautiful World featuring Lori McKenna (Wade Bowen, Lori McKenna)

7. She’s Driving Me Crazy (Wade Bowen, Eric Paslay, Heather Morgan)

8. Knowing Me Like I Do (Wade Bowen, Clint Ingersoll)

9. It’s Gonna Hurt (Wade Bowen, Drew Kennedy)

10. Say Goodbye (Wade Bowen, Eric Paslay, Heather Morgan)

11. A Guitar, A Singer and A Song featuring Vince Gill (Wade Bowen, Lori McKenna)

12. Somewhere Between The Secret and The Truth (Wade Bowen, Lori McKenna)

About Wade Bowen
Twenty years and some 4,000 shows into his career, the name Wade Bowen has become synonymous with authentic Country music – and for good reason. An artistic descendant of American icons like Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen and more, Bowen is a contemporary link in a Texan chain of roots-rock poets stretching back more than 50 years – yet his ambition never ended at the state line.

Seen as one of the genre’s finest and most genuine modern voices, Bowen’s approach stays rooted in tradition, but also stands on the creative cutting edge. His focus remains on writing unique songs with a literary quality and shifting his sonic territory to match his life, as evidenced by uplifting lead single “Everything Has Your Memory” and new release “A Guitar, A Singer and A Song” (featuring Vince Gill) off his forthcoming album, Somewhere Between The Secret And The Truth, set for release August 12 via Thirty Tigers.

Wielding a knack for direct, poetic songwriting that never panders, Bowen matches his gravel-road growl to an organic sound spanning the whole of Texas and beyond, tapping both country and rock influences. A dozen albums have shown his sonic diversity – including six studio sets, two live collections, a gospel album and an ongoing series of buddy-country hits with fellow Texan Randy Rogers. Along the way, he’s scored hits and accolades based on quality, not quantity, and continues to perform around 200 nationwide shows each year – including multiple appearances on the venerated Grand Ole Opry stage.