Rayland Baxter's New Album IMAGINARY MAN Out Today

"Mr. Rodriguez," Rayland Baxter's new song inspired by legendary Detroit musician Sixto Rodriguez, recently premiered and can now be heard below!

Of the track, Rolling Stone Country praises, "...set to instrumentation that evokes a lush folk dreamland, anchored by plucky flickers of a beating-heart melody...Baxter has a particular grasp for how even the most background of beats shape a song, and his work has the unique power of sounding unusual and familiar all at once."

The song is from Baxter's anticipated new full-length album, Imaginary Man, which is out today, August 14, on ATO Records and is now available for pre-order at iTunes and www.raylandbaxter.com. Each pre-order comes with an instant download of "Mr. Rodriguez" as well as the first single, "Yellow Eyes."

Of "Yellow Eyes," NPR Music's Ann Powers asserts, "Many musicians can craft about one-third of an excellent pop song. Some write beautiful bare melodies that drip into your head like honey into cake. Others are masters of tone, using genius arrangements and technical wizardry to craft a sound that transports, no matter the shape of the tune. Still others employ wit to craft characters that feel like friends. Rarely, a musician manages to do all three. On the new 'Yellow Eyes,' Rayland Baxter comes pretty darn close to such perfection." Additionally, the Nashville Scene praises, "Like much of Baxter's work-and really most of the best songwriting-it tells a complex story in a way that feels effortless and breezy." In celebration of the new album, Baxter will embark on a series of tour dates this summer and fall, including a series of dates supporting Grace Potter as well as headlining shows in NYC and L.A. See below for more details.

Recorded in Nashville, the 11-track album was produced by Adam Landry (Deer Tick, Diamond Rugs) and Eric Masse (Andrew Combs, Robert Ellis) and features Bucky Baxter on pedal steel as well as Jessie Baylin, Isaaca Byrd (MYZICA), Mikky Ekko, Jordan Lehning (Caitlin Rose, Steelism) and Matt Vazquez (Delta Sprit) on background vocals.

Of the album, Baxter comments, "To me, Imaginary Man is an audible record of my journey down the bright blue river of imagination. It is a multicolored dream of song, a sonic birdbath if you may. The sounds and songs are as visual as they are tactile and it shows a bit more of who I have become as an artist, as continual and never ending as that process is."

Imaginary Man follows Baxter's highly praised debut feathers & fishHooks, which was released in 2012. Since then, Baxter has toured alongside Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Kacey Musgraves, The Head and the Heart, Shakey Graves, Boz Scaggs and Tedeschi Trucks Band, among many others.

IMAGINARY MAN TRACK LISTING:

1. Mr. Rodriguez
2. Oh My Captain
3. Mother Mother
4. Yellow Eyes
5. Rugged Lovers
6. Young Man
7. All In My Head
8. Freakin Me Out
9. Memories Of Old Hickory
10. Your Love
11. Lady Of The Desert

RAYLAND BAXTER CONFIRMED TOUR DATES:

August 13 & 14-Hollywood, CA-The Fonda Theatre*

August 15-Oakland, CA-Fox Theater*

September 26-New Orleans, LA-The Landing Festival

October 2-4-Austin, TX-Austin City Limits Music Festival

January 6-11-Miami, Belize City, Cozumel-Jam Cruise

*supporting Grace Potter