Ruston Kelly, Donovan Woods

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Alexa King

Ruston Kelly

$17 ($15 adv.).

press release: Acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician Ruston Kelly will release his new project, Dirt Emo Vol. 1, October 11 via Rounder Records. The 8-track release consists of Kelly’s favorite emo songs including a rendition of Dashboard Confessional’s “Screaming Infidelities,” featuring the band’s lead singer Chris Carrabba.

Of the project, Kelly shares, “I don’t play country, this stuff is dirt emo. It’s like crying in a barn or angsting in your room with a banjo.”

In addition to “Screaming Infidelities,” the project also includes Kelly’s previously released versions of The Carter Family’s “Weeping Willow” and Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well.” Originally released as an Amazon Original, Kelly’s “All Too Well” received widespread critical praise as well as attention from Swift herself. Of the song, Billboard declares, “Kelly puts his own haunting spin on the track with yearning vocals, delicate percussion and soaring instrumentation,” while UPROXX praises, “…his rendition is a beautiful tribute to the raw emotionality of the original. He makes the song his own with atmospheric instrumentals, replacing Swift’s driving percussion with drums that sound more soft and searching.”

In celebration of the release, Kelly will continue his extensive “Brightly Burst” headline tour this fall including stops at Atlanta’s Terminal West, Austin’s Scoot Inn, Los Angeles’ Troubadour (two nights), Seattle’s Tractor Tavern, New York’s Bowery Ballroom, Boston’s Brighton Music Hall and Washington D.C.’s U Street Music Hall among several others. See below for complete details.

The release of Dirt Emo Vol.1 adds to a landmark year for Kelly, whose full-length debut album, Dying Star, was released last fall on Rounder Records. Co-produced by Kelly and Jarrad K, Dying Star landed on several “Best of 2018” lists including Rolling Stone, Paste, UPROXX, American Songwriter and NPR Music, who praises, “Kelly digs down deep on Dying Star to fearlessly put forth a set of songs steeped in emotional twists, turns and complications…This here is powerful stuff.” Additionally, album track “Mockingbird” is nominated for Song of the Year at the 2019 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards. 

With the release of his latest album The Other Way, Donovan Woods’ momentum is unstoppable. Arranged and produced by Todd Lombardo (Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Niall Horan), ‘The Other Way’ has already accrued over 300k streams, since its May 3 release, and the acoustic re-release has topped iTunes’ Canada singer-songwriter chart, landed at #33 on iTunes’ US singer-songwriter chart, and earned praise from Rolling Stone.

Serving as an acoustic re-imagining of his 2018 JUNO-winning LP Both Ways (that respectively has over 15 million streams itself), The Other Way strips down Donovan’s expertly-written musical narratives to their nuanced, heartbreakingly real essences.

Donovan Woods will also join Ruston Kelly this fall for 20+ dates throughout the US, bringing his award-winning catalog to New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, D.C., Houston and more.