Ryley Walker Releases First Single from Forthcoming Dave Matthews Band Covers Album

Ryley Walker has released a cover of Dave Matthews Band’s “Busted Stuff” from his forthcoming re-imagining of DMB’s lost album The Lillywhite Sessions, out Nov. 16 through Dead Oceans.

Walker’s unabashed love of bands considered “uncool” by the indie-rock tastemakers has long been part of his mystique. Since Walker is a post-rock-influenced, instrumentally intricate indie-folk songwriter, one would expect him to hide away those parts of his musical upbringing that the cool music kids might make fun of. But he’s worn his influences on his sleeve—and on his social media accounts—since the start, and this project finds him reimagining what it means for a band to be “uncool.” The album is “for anyone who didn’t enter this world with fully formed musical tastes,” according to a press release.

With that in mind, it was prescient of Walker to choose DMB’s “coolest” album to put his spin on. The original Lillywhite Sessions was a “lost album” of sorts, one that the band scrapped midway through recording. It was also one of the first albums to gain notoriety for being shared on Napster, back when the music industry was just catching on to that sort of thing. Most of the songs were eventually released on the album Busted Stuff, but the unmastered quality, as well as the forbidden-fruit aspect of The Lillywhite Sessions, made it a fan favorite for years.

Walker’s take on “Busted Stuff” finds him navigating the common ground between the goofy playground jazz of the original and his own jazz-tinged post-rock vamps. The result is something more complicated, if less breezily feel-good than the original. It’s almost shocking how similar Walker’s vocal delivery is to Matthews’ at times, and the instrumental interplay is what Matthews’ band would sound like if they came up playing at underground jazz clubs instead of East Coast college campuses. It’s a song that would feel right at home on Walker’s latest release, May’s Deafman Glance, which is a testament to the sincerity of Walker’s intentions with the project on the whole.

Walker will be touring for the remainder of the year. His tour dates can be found below, along with the tracklist and artwork for The Lillywhite Sessions. You can preorder the album here.

Listen to “Busted Stuff” below.

The Lillywhite Sessions Tracklist:
01. Busted Stuff
02. Grey Street
03. Diggin’ A Ditch
04. Sweet Up And Down
05. JTR
06. Big Eyed Fish
07. Grace Is Gone
08. Captain
09. Bartender
10. Monkey Man
11. Kit Kat Jam
12. Raven

The Lillywhite Sessions Album Art:

Ryley Walker Tour Dates:

September
24 – Portland, Ore. @ Bunk Bar +
25 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Wise Hall +
26 – Seattle, Wash. @ Sunset Tavern +
27 – Boise, Idaho @ Idaho Botanical Gardens – Great Escape Series
28 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Kilby Court +
29 – Denver, Colo. @ Globe Hall +
30 – Fort Collins, Colo. @ Downtown Artery +

October
02 – Omaha, Neb. @ Slowdown +
03 – Sioux Falls, S.D. @ Total Drag +
04 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ 7th St. Entry +
05 – Madison, Wis. @ High Noon Saloon +
06 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ The Backroom @ Colectivo +

November
06 – Berlin, Germany @ Frannz Club
07 – Aarhus, Denmark @ Atlas
08 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
09 – Wangels, Germany @ Rolling Stone Weekender
10 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Le Guess Who? **
10 – Groningen, Netherlands @ ROCKIT Festival
11 – Kortrijk, Belgium @ Sonic City Festival
12 – Middelburg, Netherlands @ Kloveniersdoelen
13 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique *
14 – Köln, Germany @ Artheater *
15 – Bern, Switzerland @ ISC Club *
16 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Bogen F *
17 – Rust, Germany @ Rolling Stone Park
19 – Barcelona, Spain @ Sidecar *
20 – Madrid, Spain @ El Intruso *
21 – Sevilla, Spain @ Sala X *
22 – Lisbon, Portugal @ ZDB *
24 – San Sebastian, Spain @ Badabada *
25 – Limoges, France @ Le Phare
26 – Lille, France @ Le Bar Bulle de la Maison Folie Moulins
27 – London, UK @ Scala *
28 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece *
29 – Manchester, UK @ Band On The Wall *
30 – Brighton, UK @ The Old Market *

December
01 – Paris, France @ Point Ephemere *
02 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso Noord *
05 – Grand Rapids, Mich. @ Calvin College Recital Hall ++
06 – Detroit, Mich. @ El Club ++
07 – Toronto, Ont. @ Baby G ++
08 – Montreal, Que. @ L’Esco ++
09 – Portland, Maine @ SPACE Gallery ++
10 – Greenfield, Mass. @ Root Cellar ++
11 – Boston, Mass. @ Great Scott ++
12 – Providence, R.I. @ Columbus Theatre ++
13 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Boot & Saddle ++
14 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Baby’s All Right ++
15 – Montclair, N.J. @ Outpost In The Burbs ++
16 – Washington, D.C. @ Songbyrd ++
17 – Charlottesville, Va. – Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
18 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Pilot Light ++
19 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Drunken Unicorn ++
20 – Nashville, Tenn. @ The Basement ++
21 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ White Rabbit Cabaret ++
28 – Chicago, Ill. @ Empty Bottle ***

(+ with Health&Beauty)
(* with Andrew Tuttle)
(** collaborative set with Kikagaku Moyo)
(++ with Mute Duo)
(*** with Ohmme and Ben Lamar Gay)