Portland-based artist AC Sapphire will release her debut full-length album Desert Car on May 8 (pre-order). The album follows up AC Sapphire's acclaimed EP, Omni Present which is out now. Today she has shared the album's title track with American Songwriter and the track will be available on all streaming services this Friday.
About the song AC Sapphire says:
"I wrote 'Desert Car' while I was on a big Tom Petty bender. We actually did a version that we didn't end up using on the record, where I tried a talking bit at the end of the song...I felt inspired by how Tom Petty is so well-spoken and yet eloquently cool at the same time.
On my way driving across the country to move to Joshua tree from Philadelphia, my Toyota Dolphin RV broke down in a heap of smoke with most of my earthly possessions inside, with in the first three days of being in the desert I bought my 1992 Buick Roadmaster station Wagon from someone named Rocky off of Craigslist. That car became iconic in my own life - I knew it was marking a transformative time and it just felt song worthy. I thought about how there are a lot of songs written about pick up trucks but I had never heard the one about a Buick Roadmaster Station Wagon! To be honest this song kind of started off as a joke with my friends, until suddenly they started requesting it often and I decided to take it more seriously and let my wild romantic side take the song to its destination. I wrote "Desert Car" to bring the listener into my real world, and yet also have a sense of the wonder that desert brought to me, and allow me to live in my imagination and fantasy world.AC Sapphire is currently on tour supporting Lauren Ruth Ward and Valley Queen. The tour will include shows in Minneapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia and more. All upcoming shows are listed below.
The Mojave is a desolate dreamscape, a vista of mind-bending scenery that seems to transform with every sand-swept step. There's something exquisitely wild about it, tinged with a hint of danger. The same can be said for the music of longtime desert denizen AC Sapphire. It has the same surreal qualities, the same sense of constant metamorphosis, the same expansiveness and emotional evocation, the same sense of wonder and revelation, and the same wild and perilous spirit. Her cosmic sound blends disparate elements into an ethereal folk rock while her strong voice shakes listeners awake as she spins her passionate, dust-blasted tales. All these qualities can be heard on Omni Present out now and Desert Car.
AC Sapphire Tour Dates:
03.12 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriets +
03.13 - San Diego CA @ Casbah *
03.23 - Vancouver, WA @ Biltmore *
03.24 - Portland OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *
03.27 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
03.29 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
03.31 - Kansas City. MO @ The Riot Room *
04.01 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
04.02 - Milwaukee, WI @ Back Room Collectiveo *
04.03 - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen *
04.05 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Heaths Cottage.
04.08 - New York, NY @ Pianos
04.10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
04.12 - Asheville, NC @ One World Brewing
04.14 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement
04.16 - Shreveport LA @ Ki Mexico
04.17 - Houston, TX @ The Rustic *
04.18 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk *
04.19 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links *
04.22 - Albuquerque NM @, Launchpad *
04.23 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel *
04.24 - Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse Saloon *
04.30 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Lille Aeske
05.02 - Bodega Bay, CA @ Bodega Day festival
05.07 - Portland, OR @ The Laurelthirst Public House
Photo credit: Carly Valentine
Videos