For those not in the know, today, the iconic blues-rock guitarist Walter Trout has revealed the official video for Ride, the title track of his 30th solo album, out August 19th, 2022 via Provogue/Mascot Label Group.

Arriving on the West Coast two weeks before album sessions began, Trout settled down to write the material on Ride in his now-deserted house in Huntington Beach, California.

But even in this beach side paradise, among the swaying palms and ocean breeze, the past came calling. As long-standing Trout fans know, the Golden State has been the blues man’s home for 47 years.

Fully realizing that nobody ever really leaves their old selves behind, here on Ride, Trout provides an emotional release valve – both for its creator and his loyal listeners – perhaps this veteran artist can reconcile with his past, accept his future and live in the present as it unfolds.

“I think you can interpret this album title a few different ways,” he concludes. “I mean, this album is definitely a musical ride and I certainly tried to cover a lot of ground. But, really, life is kind of a ride too, isn’t it? And I want to live mine to the fullest.”

1. Ghosts
2. Ride
3. Follow You Back Home
4. So Many Sad Goodbyes
5. High Is Low
6. Waiting For The Dawn
7. Better Days Ahead
8. Fertile Soil
9. I Worry Too Much
10. Leave It All Behind
11. Hey Mama
12. Destiny

The album opens on the laid back, blues roll of Ghosts and then the deceptively upbeat, harmonica-led title track Ride (a track that recounts a locomotive that rattled past his childhood home each night) and they are backed by the wonderfully emotive balladry within Follow You Back Home, the mid-tempo, Hammond-inspired blues So Many Sad Goodbyes, and the comes the vast splendor of another harmonica-driven track, High Is Low and the drum and guitar-led stylings within Waiting For The Dawn.

Next up is the layered, beautifully crafted Better Days Ahead and the swinging blues of Fertile Soil and they are in turn followed seamlessly by the veritably shimmering I Worry Too Much, the soulful, yearning thrill within Leave It All Behind, this vibrantly authentic, heartfelt and wholly embracing new album rounding out on the old school, soul-filled blues within Hey Mama, coming to a close on the rolling blues ebb and flow of Destiny.

Trout joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers lineup in ’85, before embarking on an acclaimed solo career from ’89 onwards. But before that came his chaotic, self-destructive years as a jobbing lead guitarist, whether for revered-but-tricky blues pioneers like John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton, or an unhinged tenure in an ’80s Canned Heat line-up controlled by the Hell’s Angels.

Trout’s well-documented excess in this era was darker than a young rock star cutting loose. It could all be traced back to his troubled childhood in New Jersey, he explains, where an unstable stepfather – himself the victim of shocking cruelty as a prisoner of war – was a terrifying presence.

As Ride took form, such memories couldn’t help but flavor the music. “This album is obviously what I was going through mentally and emotionally,” Trout considers. “All I did was express it. I spent a lot of time crying, because I would dig down into my emotional core. I want my songs to have some sort of truth to them.”

Walter Trout is the beating heart of the modern blues rock scene. Respected by the old guard, revered by the young guns. Adored by the fans who shake his hand after the show each night, and after five decades in the game, Trout remains a talismanic figure.

But, however fast or far a man travels, he can never truly outrun his past. On the new album Walter Trout found himself eyeing the horizon and the green shoots of his triumphant late career. There was a new record deal with Mascot/Provogue. A move from California to Denmark with his beloved family. Even now, aged 70, Trout was still writing fresh chapters of his life story.

Walter Trout - Ride (Official Music Video)

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