Stream band version of "First World Problem" here or in Audio Player at bottom of this page, featuring past projects Texas Express, The Just Desserts, and a duet with Anaïs Mitchell
Blending the nuance of an versatile cellist, the twang of a born-and-bred Texan, and a genre-hopping career spent collaborating around the world, Michael Shay's songs exist comfortably outside any "Americana" box while evoking his primary songwriter influences: Townes Van Zandt, Suzanne Vega, Robert Hunter, Greg Brown, Peter Rowan, Leonard Cohen and Gillian Welch.
After two decades as the frontman of multiple world fusion, country, bluegrass, classical crossover and rock bands, 2023 will see Shay touring solo in support of "Motherland," a new album exploring themes of land, class, family, migration, gender, and the personal and historical mythologies emanating from his recent homes in New Mexico, Ecuador, and the Pacific Northwest.
As a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, cultural ambassador and pedagogue, Shay's projects never fail to broaden horizons and blur borders. That innovation continues, lyrically and musically, in the songs on "Motherland" - coming late 2023.
Would you, or someone you know, be curious about hosting a house concert as Shay criss-crosses the USA? No matter how casual or small you might like to keep it, drop a line...and please pass it on! Here's the tour route.