If Beyoncé's going country, Swamp Dogg had to go bluegrass!

Swamp Dogg is joined by Margo Price and Jenny Lewis on Blackgrass: From West Virginia To 125th St is out May 31.

Here's the scoop from Swamp Dogg...

"Not a lot of people talk about the true origins of bluegrass music, but it came from Black people. The banjo, the washtub, all that stuff started with African Americans. We were playing it before it even had a name. I’m trying to touch on every kind of music I grew up loving and listening to. This is my way of letting people know that I’m not just a soul singer or whatever they think I am. I’m so much more.

"I'm proud to announce Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St, my first record with Oh Boy Records that will be released on May 31. Check out the album’s first single and opening track 'Mess Under That Dress.'" 

Pre-order/save here: https://orcd.co/blackgrass. Have a listen below. 

Blackgrass: From West Virginia To 125th St 

 

Produced by Ryan Olson (Bon Iver, Poliça) and recorded with an all-star band including Noam Pikelny, Sierra Hull, Jerry Douglas, Chris Scruggs, Billy Contreras, and Kenny Vaughan, the collection is a riotous blend of past and present, mixing the sacred and the profane in typical Swamp Dogg fashion as it blurs the lines between folk, roots, country, blues, and soul. The tracklist is an eclectic one—brand new originals and vintage Swamp Dogg classics sit side by side with reimaginings of ’70s R&B hits and timeless ’50s pop tunes—but the performances here are thoroughly cohesive, filtering everything through a progressive Appalachian lens that nods to tradition without ever being bound by it. Special guests like Margo Price, Vernon Reid, Jenny Lewis, Justin Vernon, and The Cactus Blossoms all add to the excitement, but it’s ultimately the 81-year-old Swamp Dogg’s delivery—sly and playful and full of genuine joy and ache—that steals the show. The result is a record that’s as reverent as it is raunchy, a collection that challenges conventional notions of genre and race while at the same time celebrating the music that helped make Swamp Dogg the beloved iconoclast he’s known as today.

SIDE A

1. MESS UNDER THAT DRESS

2. UGLY MANS WIFE

3. CURTAINS ON THE WINDOW

4. HAVE A GOOD TIME

5. THE OTHER WOMAN

6. SONGS TO SING

SIDE B

7. COUNT THE DAYS

8. GOTTA HAVE MY BABY BACK

9. YOUR BEST FRIEND

10. THIS IS MY DREAM

11. RISE UP

12. MURDER BALLAD