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After four years, but plenty of musical side quests along the way, Kevin Morby has finally announced his eighth solo album. Little Wide Open is due out May 15th via Dead Oceans.
The 13-track record is described as “the third in an unintentional trilogy of releases, following 2020’s Sundowner and 2022’s This Is a Photograph,” per a press release In addition to production from The National’s Aaron Dessner, the album features a bevy of guest stars and collaborators, including Justin Vernon, Amelia Meath (of Sylvan Esso), Lucinda Williams, Andrew Barr, and Tim Carr.
With Dessner’s dutiful support, Little Wide Open emphasizes a “newfound confidence and clarity in both Morby’s writing…that recalls Tom Petty’s 1994 classic Wildflowers.” In that vein, the LP is also said to have captured the “feeling of restlessly hurtling towards something new. A future unseen and untested, but inevitable.” Morby, meanwhile, has a slightly more folksy encapsulation to offer up.
“Little Wide Open is set to a backdrop of tangled highways, towns with populations less than 100,000, roadside crosses, a rock and roll romance, coupling butterflies, being an American entertainer, Econoline vans, and more,” Morby said in a statement. “This is, without a doubt, the most personal and vulnerable album I’ve ever made. Aaron did a heroic job of holding me back from throwing too many tricks at the songs, and letting my stories stand a bit naked. Despite its title this album is, in fact, very wide open.”
Our first taste of Little Wide Open comes with “Javelin,” which features vocals from the aforementioned Meath. Morby said the song is about “falling in love with someone you keep circling around the globe, relentlessly traveling through the air and down highways, and then returning home alone to middle America.” Check out the music video below, in which Morby and Caleb Hearon (with a cameo from Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield) cruise around the Missouri backroads on ATVs.
In addition to the album announcement, Morby has unveiled a world tour in support of Little Wide Open. That jaunt zig-zags the U.S./North America in May and June before heading to Europe in July. Tickets via Ticketmaster.
Pre-orders for Little Wide Open are available now. And for even more supplemental material, Morby’s friend, award-winning writer Rachel Kushner, has penned a corresponding essay titled “Field Guide to the North American Troubadour.”
Little Wide Open Artwork:
Little Wide Open Tracklist:
01. Badlands
02. Die Young
03. Javelin
04. All Sinners
05. Natural Disaster
06. 100,000
07. Little Wide Open
08. Cowtown
09. Bible Belt
10. I Ride Passenger
11. Junebug
12. Dandelion
13. Field Guide for the Butterflies
Kevin Morby 2026 Tour Dates:
03/14 – Austin, TX @ The Long Time
05/08 – Woodstock, NY @ Levon Helm Studios *
05/13 – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen *
05/14 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre *
05/15 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
05/17 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom *
05/18 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre *
05/19 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall *
05/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
05/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern *
05/23 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s *
05/24 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box *
05/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *
05/27 – Santa Fe, NM @ The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing *
05/29 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater *
05/30 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall *
06/02 – Chicago, IL @ Metro *
06/0 4 – Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall *
06/05 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY *
06/06 – Montréal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield *
06/07 – Boston, MA @ Royale *
06/09 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
06/10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
06/12 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre *
06/13 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground *
06/14 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
06/16 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s
06/18 – Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater
06/19 – Fort Worth, TX @ Tannahill’s Tavern and Music Hall
06/20 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
07/02 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *
07/03 – Beuningen, NL @ Down the Rabbit Hole
07/04 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef *
07/05 – Hérouville-Saint-Clair, FR @ Festival Beauregard
07/06 – Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel *
07/08 – London, UK @ Troxy *
07/09 – Manchester, UK @ The Ritz *
07/10 – Brighton, UK @ CHALK *
07/ 11 – Brugge, BE @ Cactusfestival
07/12 – Köln, DE @ Even Flow Festival
07/14 – Zurich, CH @ Rote Fabrik *
07/15 – Galzignano Terme, IT @ Anfiteatro del Venda *
07/16 – Feldkirch, AU @ Poolbar Festival *
07/17 – Vienna, AU @ Simm City *
07/18 – Munich, DE @ Technikum *
* = w/ Liam Kazar
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