Josh Smith announces new album, Bird of Passage, shares laid-back lead single, Brand New

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The blues ace's upcoming effort – which features Carl Carter, Calvin Turner and Larry Goldings – arrives April 8

Josh Smith
(Image credit: Harry Herd/Redferns via Getty)

After a cryptic tease on social media earlier this week, blues guitar star Josh Smith has announced his new album Bird of Passage, which is scheduled to arrive April 8.

It will be Smith’s first studio album since 2018’s Burn to Grow, which was followed by 2020’s Live at the Spud.

Accompanying the announcement is the effort’s lead single, Brand New, which employs an oversized horn section that sounds cherry-picked from a ‘50s concert hall, and a smorgasbord of Smith’s silky six-string tones.

Ever the master of harking back to old-school blues while decorating his playing with his own unique style, Smith supplies fans of the genre with just about everything they’d hope for in Brand New. There’s a bit of BB King in there, what with the sublime bends on show, as well as a boatload of tasty interlude licks.

The solo is Smith all over, though, and flexes his spellbinding navigation skills around the pentatonic scale and its neighboring areas, gliding from box to box with classy blues turnarounds and clever string-hopping motifs.

Breaking the news on social media, Smith wrote, “I've been waiting to release this for quite a while. I'm incredibly proud of the album. More than anything else I've ever released. It features my brothers [drummer] Carl Carter and [bassist] Calvin Turner and the amazing [organist] Larry Goldings. 

“I can't wait for everyone to hear the whole album,” he continued. “It was recorded and mixed impeccably by my brother Alan Hertz and mastered by my friend [The Bakery audio mastering].”

Smith concluded the post by saying he will talk more about the concept, the songs and the album “in the coming weeks”.

The tracklist for Bird of Passage can be found below.

  1. Doublecross
  2. Brand New
  3. Hopeless Quarters
  4. Fat Hair
  5. Rare Plus
  6. The Wayfarer
  7. Unauthorized Cinnamon

Though it’s the first time in a while he’s tracked his own record, Smith has seen plenty of studio action over the past 18 months. With the help of Joe Bonamassa, Smith has overseen production duties for Joanne Shaw Taylor’s The Blues Album and Joanna Connor’s 4801 South Indiana Avenue.

The pair also teamed up with Eric Gales to produce the bluesman’s latest studio effort, Crown.

Josh Smith Bird of Passage

(Image credit: Josh Smith)
Matt Owen
Matt Owen
Senior Staff Writer, GuitarWorld.com

Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.