Suburban Cowboy by Nick Gamer

Painted using the colors of midnight truck stops and neon signs, Nick Gamer's Suburban Cowboy is a paean to the ashes of youth and the grim smile of moving on. It's the kind of nod to Gram and Emmylou you wished you heard more of, combining the best instincts of classic Americana while digging its heels firmly in the present.

Written during the peak of 2020’s west coast wildfire season, Gamer conjures the time's feelings of isolation and dark nostalgic yearning without ever addressing the headlines directly. "I'm a lifer, a cipher...a moonshiner... a pale horse rider..." Gamer declares on Pale Horse, the album's opener- a swaying, country-tinged anthem that manages to sound hopeful while "watching the flames grow higher." From there the album moves comfortably between dark rockers (Riverbed & Tennessee) and polished gems (Sedona) that sound equally at home in the Western cosmos of Lucinda Williams and the Byrd's Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

All crafted by a gifted ensemble of Portland-area musicians, featuring standout vocalist Lauren Hay and background washes of heat-wrenching guitar and pedal steel (Bryan Woolen and Rick Pedrosa), Suburban Cowboy is what it sounds like when a gambler throws his last chips on a big dream: "But who the hell am I? Just some bastard of buckaroo/ Who never left his hometown, who’s dreams are long overdue/ You can find me at a tavern chasin’ bourbon with beer/ In some strip mall sprawl at the edge of the western frontier..."

Portland-based songwriter. New album out Sept 6.

nickgamermusic.com
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