Steve Gunn has shared the second single ‘Stonehurst Cowboy’ from his upcoming album The Unseen In Between, out January 18. The accompanying acoustic video was shot in London and directed by Craig McNeil. Watch below!
The song is the emotional centrepiece of the album, a duet between Gunn’s raw acoustic guitar and spare basslines by Bob Dylan’s musical director Tony Garnier who is featured throughout the album. The lyrics distill the lessons Gunn learned from his father and is a solemn but tender remembrance, a tribute to his father’s reputation as a tough, wise, and witty guy from far west Philadelphia.
“Stonehurst Cowboy is a tribute to my late father, who passed away in 2016. Stonehurst is an area in Southwest Philadelphia where both my parents grew up,” says Gunn, adding, “Heavily affected by the Vietnam War, he became an adult at hyperspeed after high school when he was drafted — though he didn’t end up actually fighting in Vietnam. He was too young to know what the hell was going on when the war broke, and it wasn’t until he, his brothers, and friends came back to make any sense of it.”
Known for telling other people’s stories, but on his breakthrough fourth album, The Unseen In Between, Gunn explores his own emotional landscapes with his most complex, fully realised songs to date. Produced by frequent collaborator James Elkington and engineered by Daniel Schlett, the immaculately recorded Unseen forces a reassessment of Gunn’s standing in the pantheon of the era’s great songwriters. Pre-order the album here.
Listen / purchase ‘Stonehurst Cowboy’ here.
