Don’t call Willi Carlisle a poet, he’s a folk singer for the people. Like his hero Utah Phillips, Carlisle’s extraordinary gift for turning a phrase isn’t about high falutin’ pontificatin’; it’s about looking out for one another and connecting through our shared human condition. On his anticipated second album, the magnum opus Peculiar, Missouri, Carlisle makes the case across twelve epic tracks that love truly can conquer all. Born and raised on the Midwestern plains, Carlisle is a product of the punk to folk music pipeline that’s long fueled frustrated young men looking to resist. After falling for the rich ballads and tunes of the Ozarks, where he now lives, he began examining the full spectrum of American musical history. This insatiable stylistic diversity is obvious on Peculiar, Missouri which was produced by Grammy-winning engineer and Cajun musician Joel Savoy in rural Louisiana. The songs range from sardonic honky-tonk barnburners like “Vanlife” to the heartbreaking queer waltz “Life on the Fence.” The album also imbues class consciousness in songs like “Este Mundo,” a cowboy border ballad about water rights, and the title track’s existential talkin’ blues about a surreal panic attack in Walmart’s aisle five. Though Carlisle’s poetic words evoke the mystical American storytelling of Whitman, Sandburg, and cummings, ultimately this is bonafide populist folk music. Carlisle recognizes that the only thing holding us back from greatness is each other. With Peculiar, Missouri, he brings us one step closer to breaking down our divides.
1Your Heart's A Big Tent03:38
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: Willi Carlisle
2Life On The Fence03:26
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: Willi Carlisle
3Tulsa's Last Magician04:55
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: Willi Carlisle
4Vanlife04:46
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: Willi Carlisle
5Este Mundo03:56
Music: Steve Thomas CormierLyrics: Antonio Lopez
6I Won't Be Afraid03:57
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: Willi Carlisle
7Buffalo Bill01:47
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: E E Cummings
8The Down And Back01:45
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: Willi Carlisle
9Peculiar, Missouri06:44
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: Willi Carlisle
10The Grand Design03:45
Music: Willi CarlisleLyrics: Willi Carlisle
11Goodnight Loving Trail03:57
Music: U Utah PhillipsLyrics: U Utah Phillips
12Rainbow Mid Life's Willow03:25
Music: TraditionalLyrics: Traditional