Ray Wylie Hubbard Releases REEL 2 REEL 4 REAL, Sets Tour Dates Through December
The Texas songwriter recorded tracks with co-producer Jonathan Tyler in Austin and Mike Campbell in Los Angeles.
Ray Wylie Hubbard's latest album Reel 2 Reel 4 Real, out today via Bordello Records/Soundly Music/Thirty Tigers, is meant to be played loud. Real loud. It's not just lean and mean but snarly and downright punchy; primer grey Texas garage rock in the proud tradition of the 13th Floor Elevators, Mouse and the Traps, and the True Believers. Over the course of his long career Hubbard has written boatloads of richly poetic, hold-their-own-in-any-serious-songwriter-circle stunners like 'The Messenger,' 'Ballad of the Crimson Kings,' 'Dust of the Chase,' and 'Stone Blind Horses.' But these songs are all unabashedly for the 'Wanna Rock and Roll' set.
'You know, a lot of artists when they put out a record, they go, 'This is the best record I've done up to this point,'' Hubbard considers sagely after a pause when asked how to best sum up Reel 2 Reel 4 Real, his 20th album in a recording career stretching back to the mid-70s. 'But I'm not going to say this is the best record I've done. I'll say it's the best record I've ever heard.'
Hubbard approached the new album determined to keep things lean and mean. That was the original plan, at least. When sessions began at co-producer Jonathan Tyler's studio in Austin, the only names on the call sheet this time around were tried-and-true band members (drummer Kyle Schneider, bassist John Michael Schoepf, and of course Hubbard's electric and Resonator guitar-playing son, Lucas), and a small bench of hand-picked ringers, including organ player Bukka Allen, fiddle and mandolin ace Cody Braun of Reckless Kelly, and guitarist Tobin Dale. 'Tobin's a young rock 'n' roll guy I met up in Nashville who plays very tasty slide,' Hubbard says. 'With him and Lucas we had our own Keith Richards and Ron Wood kind of thing going.'
'Jonathan's just a really brilliant producer and a great engineer,' Hubbard continues, 'And it was such a treat to record at his place, because he's got all this really cool old gear in there. In fact, the record's called Reel 2 Reel 4 Real because I think there were three songs -- 'El Diablo Esta Ganando,' 'Dog or Wolf,' and 'Tip Your Hat to the Black Crow' -- that we did right to tape. Just hit record and play, you know? And the funny thing is, I actually went in there thinking I was just going to do a demo thing, because we had originally thought about working with some other people. But we walked in and Jonathan had three mics on the drums, and we played it, and I thought, 'Man!' I just loved that sound. So we ended up recording eight songs there.'
The final two songs on the album were recorded a world away in Los Angeles, at Mike Campbell's studio off Ventura Boulevard. As in Mike Campbell of the Dirty Knobs, not to mention of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. 'He said, 'Ray? It's Mike Campbell. I was over with Ringo, and your name came up, and I told Ringo I really liked your writing,'' explains Hubbard. 'So Ringo gave me your number and said, 'Call him!' So, what are you doing?' I said, 'Well, I'm making a record.' He said, 'Well, come out here to L.A. and cut a couple of songs with me!''
'This will probably be my last album,' he says a few months shy of his 80th birthday. 'I mean I still like writing songs, in fact I've got so many damn songs that I don't know what to do with them, including a really cool one I just wrote with Mike Campbell. But we're thinking that after putting this album out, we're just going to throw out singles as I finish them, and see what happens.'
Hubbard has tour dates through December, including two special 80th birthday shows at Gruene Hall in November.
Ray Wylie Hubbard 2026 Tour Dates
Aug 22 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
Aug 28 - Albuquerque, NM - KiMo Theatre*
Aug 29 - Santa Fe, NM - Lensic Performing Arts Center*
Aug 30 - El Prado, NM - The Mothership*
Sep 10 - Oklahoma City, OK - Tower Theatre
Sep 11 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
Sep 24 - Lake Charles, LA - Southlake Theater
Oct 1 - Tomball, TX - Main Street Crossing
Oct 2 - Tomball, TX - Main Street Crossing
Oct 3 - Tomball, TX - Main Street Crossing
Oct 23 - Labelle, TX - 7 Oaks Event Garden
Oct 24 - Temple, TX - Texas Music Series
Oct 30 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
Nov 6 - Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley
Nov 7 - Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley
Nov 13 - New Braunfels, TX - Gruene Hall
Nov 14 - New Braunfels, TX - Gruene Hall
Dec 6 - Las Vegas, NV - The Showroom at the Golden Nugget
*with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Eliza Gilkyson
