Daily Dose: Ian Ferguson, “State of Gold”

Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.

Ian Ferguson can do it all. No, really—the Nashville musician played all the instruments and did all the engineering for his song “State of Gold,” the first single off his forthcoming debut album of the same name.

Ferguson is part of a troupe of retro raconteurs with a taste for the strange sonics of the ‘70s, young punks who grew up digging Bowie, Wire and Bolan in equal measure. Artists like The Lemon Twigs, The Nude Party, and Ferguson’s tour-mate Ron Gallo are amongst Ferguson’s contemporaries, and “State of Gold” is proof of that. Underneath the dust and grit is a sinewy glam track that wouldn’t feel out of place on, say, Electric Warrior. The devil is in the details here—the background vocals that sound like a room full of heads humming with the great over-spirit, that faint acoustic guitar sidewinding through the dirty-blues leads—and it makes Ferguson’s track more than the sum of its collective inspirations.

See the “State of Gold” video (dir. Jeff Gentner) below. Ferguson will be touring alongside Gallo for the month of November—find a full list of those dates further down, along with Ferguson’s State of Gold album art.

State of Gold Album Art:

Ian Ferguson Tour Dates:

November
01 – Columbus, Ohio @ Ace of Cups
02 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ White Rabbit Cabaret
03 – Davenport, Iowa @ Triple Crown Whiskey Bar & Raccoon Motel
04 – Chicago, Ill @ Lincoln Hall
06 – Toronto, Ont. @ The Garrison
07 – Montreal, Que. @ Le ministère
08 – Burlington, Vt. @ ArtsRiot
10 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ First Unitarian Church
11 – Allston, Mass. @ Brighton Music Hall
12 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
13 – Washington, D.C. @ DC9 Nightclub
14 – Raleigh, N.C. @ Kings
15 – Charleston, S.C. @ The Royal American
16 – East Atlanta, Ga. @ The Earl
17 – East Nashville, Tenn. @ The Basement East