Bonnie "Prince" Billy announces forthcoming album, The Purple Bird

The Purple Bird finds Bonnie "Prince" Billy working with a "producer" for only the second time in his illustrious career. His relationship with David “Ferg” Ferguson dates back more than two decades to the sessions for the Johnny Cash album American III with Rick Rubin, where Ferg served as engineer and where Cash performed a cover of the Bonnie "Prince" Billy track, “I See A Darkness”.

“I’ve made records with friends, collaborative records like The Brave and the Bold with Tortoise; the two Superwolf records with Matt Sweeney; The Wonder Show of the World with Emmett Kelly; Get on Jolly with Mick Turner. These collaborators get top billing because that’s how this business works," Billy says of their collaboration.

"This record, The Purple Bird, is similarly a collaborative effort but the collaborator is the producer, David Ferguson. He’s a giant of a man, an epic musical force, a dear friend. Our work together on this record was the result of years of sharing hard times and great joys, songs and stories, of making music together and apart. There’s a lot of trust in this record on Ferg’s part and on mine, and the trust was hard- and well-earned. When I listen to the record, oftentimes I can’t help but laugh in wonder that life allowed me to participate in such a thing.”

In addition to Ferg and Tim O’Brien, the country-singer John Anderson, Ronnie Bowman, Pat McLaughlin, Tommy Prine and Roger Cook also contribute to the songwriting.

Tracklist:

1. Turned to Dust (Rolling On)
2. London May
3. Tonight With the Dogs I’m Sleeping
4. Boise, Idaho
5. The Water’s Fine
6. Sometimes It’s Hard to Breathe
7. New Water
8. Guns Are For Cowards
9. Downstream
10. One of These Days (I’m Gonna Spend the Whole Night With You)
11. Is My Living In Vain?
12. Our Home