Role Model, Debbii Dawson

×

Expand

courtesy Universal Music

Role Model and a bird on his hat.

Role Model

Role Model, born Tucker Harrington Pillsbury, is a singer/songwriter whose songs tend to the strummy and winsome, like the hummable “Scumbag” (“I’m a scumbag, I’m a setback…I’m a train wreck”) from his second album, Kansas Anymore. He’s recently been opening for Gracie Abrams; here he’s headlining, with Debbii Dawson opening. Dawson, a former contestant on America’s Got Talent, skews folk-pop, with a warm, warbly voice.

media release: Role Model will be touring the world in support of his sophomore album, Kansas Anymore (Interscope Records). The North American leg includes a stop at The Sylvee in Madison, on March 25, 2025. Role Model will be joined by special guests Matilda Mann in the UK, Medium Build in AU/NZ and Debbii Dawson on all North American dates except for Denver.

With over 60 million combined global streams to date, Kansas Anymore is a folk-tinged, lyric driven album that encapsulates the warmth and comfort Role Model was seeking while grieving the end of his last relationship. Listen HERE. 

He recently performed the single “Deeply Still In Love” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The song has amassed over 16 million combined global streams and taken the internet by storm with more than 371 million views on TikTok across 40,000+ creates. Euphoria. Magazine said, “‘[‘Deeply Still In Love’] is the kind of track that grabs you by the hand and pulls you onto the dance floor of emotions…a rollercoaster ride of love, loss, and longing…”

Awarding Kansas Anymore four stars, DIY marveled that “a record ostensibly about heartbreak and homesickness can be so overwhelmingly fun, using both genre and trope in parallel ways with just the right level of self-awareness and humour along the way…" In another four-star review, Dork observed, “Role Model’s latest is an artful deviation from his debut, ‘Rx.’ It more boldly leans into folkish roots, choosing breezy, sun-tinged melodies even when navigating the album’s subject matter feels treacherous.”

Role Model’s been in love. He was so in love he wrote his entire debut album Rx about it. But not all romances last forever, and the 27-year-old’s grieving of his last relationship is at the center of his sophomore album Kansas Anymore.

With over 45 million streams to date, Kansas Anymore is a folk-tinged, lyric driven album that encapsulates the warmth and comfort Role Model was seeking out when he wrote it. Featuring viral singles "Deeply Still in Love" and "Frances," the album was a two year writing process, and includes production from Noah Conrad, Ian Fitchuk, Scott Harris and Jonah Shy. 

Now 27, Role Model initially gained traction with a string of independent singles in 2017, receiving co-signs from Benny Blanco and the late legend Mac Miller. He unassumingly caught fire with projects such as the oh, how perfect and our little angel EPs. In 2021, “forever&more” racked up 60 million Spotify streams as OnesToWatch christened it “one of our favorite songs of the summer.” DIY pegged him among its “Class of 2022,” and he embarked on a massive world tour with stops at Coachella, Hangout Music Festival, Bonnaroo and more. After attaining hundreds of millions of streams and selling out headline shows, Role Model released his full-length debut album, Rx, in 2022, which earned acclaim from HYPEBEAST, Interview, FLAUNT, People, CLASH Magazine and more. 

With his new album Kansas Anymore, Role Model is looking forward to playing these songs live, but more than anything, he’s embracing the sense of pride — and closure — he feels about making the album, about turning a personally heavy season of life into something that might move others. As rough as it was to ride that roller coaster of heartbreak and homesickness, Role Model feels these are the greatest songs he’s made yet.