“He wrings poetry from commonplace words and wisdom from dusty Midwestern country rock, chronicling tangled relationships and dead-end small towns." - Uncut (8/10)

Ahead of his first album with 4AD, Oklahoma troubadour John Moreland has shared a new song, Big Bad Luv Americana opener ‘Sallisaw Blue’, which was premiered earlier by The FADER.

Moreland’s upcoming album, Big Bad Luv, is an honest, bruising experience.  A record about love, faith and the human condition, it’s his debut for 4AD and the first full-length released to worldwide anticipation on May 5th 2017.

Big Bad Luv is released 5th May 2017, on 4AD.
You can pre-order from the 4AD Store on LP and CD here.  
You can pre-order from John Moreland's store and all digital platforms here.

Moving from Kentucky to Tulsa when he was ten years old, John fronted hardcore and punk bands throughout high school years before feeling the pull of the lyricism he heard in folk and country music.  A prolific songwriter, he has released largely self-produced albums every other year since 2011.  His fourth album, Big Bad Luv was recorded in Little Rock, AK, with a band of Tulsa friends, later mixed by GRAMMY winning Tchad Blake, who has worked with Al Green and Tom Waits.

'Sallisaw Blue'
Arkansas River, Sallisaw blue
This town never seen nothin’ like you
They got silver spoons for American gods
I wanna be stoned, thrown American rods
I don’t know anything, you don’t know shit
With your bloodshot eyes giving my black heart fits
There’s a neon sign that says ‘big bad love’
And a noose hanging down from the heavens above

It’s no use, God bless these blues
Let’s get wrecked and bruised and battered
I need you, come on, burn right through
Honey, show me I’m not shattered
Down for the count, along for the ride
Sipping cold medicine, ruining our lives
Slumming I-40 with American songs
They can bury our bodies in American wrongs

John Moreland will be playing full-band shows in the UK during the release week of Big Bad Luv.  Starting on 6th May, he visits Glasgow, Leeds and headlines two nights at London’s Union Chapel.  See below for a full list of tour dates.

April
22nd - Amplify Decatur Music Festival, Decatur GA, US
23rd - High Water Festival, North Charleston SC, US
28th - Stagecoach Country Music Festival, Indio CA, US

May
6th - Oran Mor, Glasgow, UK [SOLD OUT]
7th - Left Bank, Leeds, UK
8th - Union Chapel, London, UK [SOLD OUT]
9th - Union Chapel, London, UK
11th - Les Étoiles, Paris, France
13th - Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany
14th - Passionkirche Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
16th - Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [SOLD OUT]

June
1st - Off Broadway, Saint Louis MO, US
2nd - White Rabbit Cabaret, Indianapolis IN, US
3rd - Beachland Tavern, Cleveland OH, US
4th - Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington DC, US
7th - Bowery Ballroom, New York NY, US
8th - The Sinclair, Boston MA, US
9th - Le Ritz, Montreal QC, Canada
10th - Velvet Underground, Toronto ON, Canada
13th - The Ark, Ann Arbor MI, US
14th - Thalia Hall, Chicago IL, US
16th - Turf Club, Minneapolis MN, US
17th - Codfish Hollow Barnstormers, Maquoketa IA, US
24th - Wheat State Whine Company, Winfield KA, US

July
11th - George's Majestic Lounge, Fayetteville AR, US
12th - 1884 Lounge at Minglewood Hall, Memphis TN, US
14th - 16th - Forecastle Festival, Louisville KY, US
15th - 16th - Sloss Festival, Birmingham AL, US
18th - Grey Eagle, Asheville NC, US
19th - Cat's Cradle, Carrboro NC, US
20th - Visulite Theatre, Charlotte NC, US
22nd - Proud Larry's, Oxford MS, US

August
2nd - Barleycorns, Wichita KS, US 
5th - Larimer Lounge, Denver CO, US 
6th - State Room, Salt Lake City UT, US 
8th - Tractor Tavern, Seattle WA, US
9th - The Cobalt, Vancouver BC, US
10th - Aladdin Theater, Portland OR, US
11th - 13th -Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco CA, US
13th - Barrelhouse Brewing, San Luis Obispo CA, US 
18th - 20th - Lowlands Festival, Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands
22nd - Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
23rd - St. Stevenskerk, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
24th - 27th - Tønder Festival, Tønder, Norway
27th - Norway Café Mono, Oslo, Norway
31st - Openluchttheater Riviernhof, Antwerp, Belgium

September
1st - Moseley Folk Festival, Moseley
1st - 3rd - End of the Road Festival, Larmer Tree, UK
29th - Stifel Theatre, Salina KS, US