On the ten-year anniversary of Athens power-pop trio The Whigs’ landmark album Mission Control, vocalist Parker Gispert has just announced his debut solo, the Emery Dobyns (Patti Smith, Antony & the Johnsons)-produced Sunlight Tonight. “Life in the Goldilocks Zone,” the record’s first single, bears more in common with the mountain-dwelling chamber-falsetto of Justin Vernon or Black Mountain’s Stephen McBean than the Strokes-derivative brand of college radio-friendly sing-a-longs like “Right Hand on My Heart.” In addition to the track’s atmospheric lyrical themes, the track’s recording happened to coincide with a loss on our own planet:
“The morning we had booked the studio to record the harp for Goldilocks, we awoke to the news that Stephen Hawking had died,” Gispert recalls. “It was truly eerie and gorgeous to listen to Timbre Cierpke pluck an angelic harp on this cosmic song about outer space and ‘life’ in the immediate wake of Stephen’s passing.”
Sunlight Tonight touches down on this planet November 16 via Normaltown Records. Check out his US tour dates below.
October 4th – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
October 5th – Brevard, NC @ Ecusta Brewing
October 11th – Chattanooga, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia
October 12th – Savannah, GA @ El Rocko
October 19th – Bristol, VA @ Bloom Cafe
October 26th – Charlotte, NC @ Recover Brands
October 27th – Whitesburg, KY @ Listening Room
November 15th – Atlanta, GA @ Smith’s Olde Bar
November 16th – Birmingham, AL @ Mom’s Basement
November 17th – Athens, GA @ Nowhere Bar
November 19th – Nashville, TN @ The Basement
November 29th – Raleigh, NC @ Neptunes
November 30th – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall
December 1st – Norfolk, VA @ Toast
December 2nd – Washington DC @ DC9
December 4th – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle
December 6th – New York, NY @ Rockwood Music Hall
December 7th – Boston, MA @ O’Briens
December 8th – Portsmouth, NH @ Press Room
December 11th – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk
December 12th – Lancaster, PA @ Lizard Lounge
December 13th – Cleveland, OH @ Now That’s Class
December 14th – Detroit, MI @ Outer Space
December 15th – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
December 20th – Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
January 10th – Charleston, SC @ Royal American
January 11th – Bluffton, SC @ Roasting Room
January 12th – Greenville, SC @ Radio Room
January 22th – New Orleans, LA @ Cosmic Evenings House Show
January 23rd – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
January 25th – Austin, TX @ Mohwak
January 26th – Dallas, TX @ Double Wide
January 30th – Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room
January 31st – Las Vegas, NV @ Beauty Bar
February 1st – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar
February 6th – San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah
February 7th – Santa Cruz, CA @ Crepe Place
February 8th – Reno, NV @ House Concert
February 14th – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
February 15th – Spokane, WA @ Bartlett
February 21st – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
