A. Savage was invited to spend a day recording at Wilco’s Loft Studio in Chicago. The result is the Loft Sessions, three lovingly chosen covers – of country legend Johnny Paycheck, psych guru Kevin Ayers and queer luminaries Lavender Country – as well as a reworking of an A. Savage original, “Wild Horses”. Available digitally everywhere today, the EP precedes the start of a new run of US tour dates that kicks off April 4 in Denton.

“The live band I’ve been playing with are truly some of the best musicians in the game right now. Backing me up on the road are members of Sharpie Smile, Modern Nature, White Fence and Sunwatchers. They are all fabulous musicians and people, who I love being in with, in a van, and on a stage. It became immediately apparent on my tour last fall that this band was phenomenal and should be documented, so when we made it to Chicago and received a generous invitation to spend a day recording at the Wilco Loft, I jumped at the opportunity. This studio is a seriously special place that I’ve had the good fortune to record at previously, and every visit is a joy. Spending a day off there was a no-brainer.

I’ve always enjoyed throwing a few cover songs in the setlist, and at the time we had a few in the repertoire. “(It Won’t Be Long) and I’ll Be Hating You” was a song that Dylan Hadley and I sang together one night after a recording session in Bristol for the album “Several Songs about Fire”. She had invented her own harmony line while singing along with the tape in her car. Her and I started singing together and I remember Jack Cooper very enthusiastically saying “if we go out on the road you guys have to sing this one”. And because Dylan is such a wonderful harmony singer, it seemed fitting to do “Oyster and the Flying Fish” by Kevin Ayers, as Kevin’s voice sits in a very similar place to mine, so singing his songs feels quite natural to me.

The song “I Can’t Shake the Stranger Out of You” by Lavender Country is one that I’ve had in my back pocket for a while, and would bring out from time to time playing solo acoustic, but had never done with a band before that day in the Wilco Loft. Everybody learned it pretty fast, and everybody’s part is their own contribution to the arrangement. We played it live for the first time the next night at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, and it’s been in the set ever since.

Jeff Tobias, an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist who had come up with a new clarinet-based arrangement for the song Wild, Wild, Wild Horses suggested that we capture this version while there, and that beautiful rendition is one of my favorites, which rivals the original.”

Several Songs About Fire was Produced by John Parish in Bristol, and includes contributions from Jack Cooper (Modern Nature, Ultimate Painting) and Cate Le Bon, as well as members of Kamikaze Palm Tree & caroline. to feel through vertiginous inversions of
instrumentation and lyrics.

The album was partially recorded in rural England. The intimacy of these tracks are refracted by the presence of some of Savage’s closest friends among them Cate Le Bon — who listened to Savage work on what would become the album during a US tour in 2022. Featuring additional contributions from saxophonist Euan Hinshelwood (Cate Le Bon’s
band), drummer Dylan Hadley (Kamikaze Palm Tree, White Fence), and violinist Magdalena McLean (caroline), Several Songs about Fire is a devotional study in tradition — and something all Savage’s own.

A. Savage
Loft Sessions
Tracklisting
Rough Trade Records

01) I Can’t Shake the Stranger Out of You [Lavender Country Cover]
02) Oyster and the Flying Fish [Kevin Ayers Cover]
03) (It Won’t Be Long) and I’ll Be Hating You [Johnny Paycheck Cover]
04) Wild Horses

A. SAVAGE 2024 TOUR DATES

Thu. Apr. 04, 2024 – Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
Fri. Apr 05, 2024 – Austin, TX @ The Far Out
Sun. Apr 07, 2024 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
Tue. Apr 09, 2024 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
Wed. Apr 10, 2024 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
Thu. Apr 11, 2024 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
Fri. Apr 12, 2024 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Teragram Ballroom
Sat. Apr 13, 2024 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Mon. Apr 15, 2024 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Tue. Apr 16, 2024 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
Wed. April 17, 2024 – Vancouver, CAN @ Rickshaw Theatre

Order Several Songs About Fire HERE