On the title track of his acclaimed third album, Critterland (which landed at #39 on our year-end list in 2024) Willi Carlisle proclaimed, “I’m here for all the love that I can stand!” If that isn’t his artistic mission statement, I don’t know what is. The Kansas-born, Missouri-based singer-songwriter’s songbook is a hymnal of folk gospels so full of heart they nearly pop at the seams; weeping with wisdom and brimming with radical empathy, they’re like arms you could fall into at your weakest, your worst. They are fiercely, fervently life-affirming in a world increasingly undone by hate—songs that we need now more than ever.
Time to rejoice: Today, Willi Carlisle has announced Critterland’s follow-up, Winged Victory, forthcoming on June 27 via Signature Sound, along with North American and European tour dates in support of the release. The troubadour’s first self-produced effort compiles covers of traditional folk staples and original compositions, one among them the raucous lead single “Work is Work.” Over a wayward banjo run, Carlisle delivers an incisive critique of capitalism—“Cash and heaven are inbred friends” is a particularly deep-cutting line—but refuses to let the man get him down. As the landscape around him crumbles into disrepair, he erects a monument of hope to the downtrodden, extending encouragement and compassion: “Haul the ashes, fire the clay / Love grew 10 feet tall in the time you were away,” he sings in a warm, weathered lilt on the chorus. “Work is Work” is a paean to resilience and a prayer that we each may reap the fruits of our labor, however dispiriting it can be—as Carlisle assures, “Work is work, or it wouldn’t pay.” If that ain’t the truth.
“With ‘Work is Work,’ I wanted to write a bluegrass tune, and I wanted to try to make a direct address of my own [à la the album’s opening cover of ‘We Have Fed You All For 1000 Years’ written by an anonymous Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) worker],” Carlisle says. “I believe that after a certain point of creature comfort and stability, money doesn’t make you happier. So what are we doing with our precious time? I wrote it in a motel room along the Mississippi River. The room was full of bedbugs, and I’d just left New Orleans, a city that seems to be thriving even as it falls into the ocean. I finished the song in about an hour. I want people to know that they aren’t free from the terrible things that work does to people, from the awful transmutation of labor into money, but that the sacrifice isn’t meaningless.”
Check out “Work is Work,” the Winged Victory artwork and tracklist, and see Carlisle’s upcoming tour dates below.
Winged Victory Artwork:
Winged Victory Tracklist: We Have Fed You All for 1000 Years Wildflowers Growin’ Winged Victory The Cottonwood Tree Cryin’ these Cocksucking Tears The Cottonwood Polka Work is Work Sound and Fury Beeswing Big Butt Billy Old Bill Pickett
Willi Carlisle’s Upcoming Tour Dates: April 3 — Norfolk, VA @ The Annex April 4 — Charlotte, NC @ The Evening Muse April 5 — Charleston, SC @ The Charleston Pour House April 8 — Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic April 9 — Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic April 11-13 — Saint Augustine Shores, FL @ Gamble Rogers Folk Festival April 13 — Tampa, FL @ New World Music Hall May 16 — Bentonville, AR @ FreshGrass May 31 — Thetford, UK @ Red Rooster Festival June 1 — Forest Row, UK @ Hop Yard Brewing Co. June 2 — Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana June 3 — Manchester, UK @ Night & Day Cafe June 4 — Chester, UK @ St. Mary’s Creative Space June 5 — Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ The Cluny June 6 — Brighton and Hove, UK @ Alphabet June 7 — London, UK @ The Lexington June 8 — Arnhem, Netherlands @ Luxor Live June 11 — Haarlem, Netherlands @ Patronaat June 12 — Middelburg, Netherlands @ De Spot June 13 — Groningen, Netherlands @ Aa June 14 — Utrecht, Netherlands @ TivoliVredenburg June 28 — Eau Claire, WI @ Blue Ox Music Festival July 5-6 — Orillia, ON, Canada @ Mariposa Folk Festival July 10-13 — Winnipeg, MB, Canada @ Winnipeg Folk Festival July 18-20 — Vancouver, BC, Canada @ Vancouver Folk Fest July 22 — Edmonton, AB, Canada @ Winspear Centre* July 24-27 — Calgary, AB, Canada @ Calgary Folk Music Festival July 27 — Salmon Arm, BC, Canada @ Salmon Arm ROOTSandBLUES Festival August 2-4 — Canmore, AB, Canada @ Canmore Folk Fest August 9-10 — Edmonton, AB, Canada @ Edmonton Folk Music Festival August 23 — La Crosse, WI @ Great River Folk Festival September 4 — Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard September 5 — Little Rock, AR @ The White Water Tavern September 6 — Little Rock, AR @ The White Water Tavern September 12 — Washington, DC @ Union Stage September 13 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry at The Fillmore September 15 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom September 17 — Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair September 18 — South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge September 19 — Portland, ME @ SPACE Gallery September 20 — Saratoga Springs, NY @ Caffe Lena September 22 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Café and Music Hall September 23 — Rochester, NY @ Flour City Station September 24 — Toronto, ON, Canada @ Horseshoe Tavern September 26 — Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s September 27 — Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark September 28 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall September 29 — Wisconsin Dells, WI @ Showboat Saloon September 30 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line October 2 — Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads October 3 — St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall October 16 — Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater October 17 — Laramie, WY @ Gryphon Theatre October 18 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room October 21 — Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club October 23 — Spokane, WA @ District Bar October 24 — Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern October 25 — Vancouver, BC, Canada @ Fox Cabaret October 28 — Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater October 30 — San Francisco, CA @ The Independent October 31 — Mariposa, CA @ The Grove House November 1 — West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour November 2 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s November 3 — Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar November 5 — Arenas Valley, NM @ Whiskey Creek Zocalo November 6 — Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad November 8 — Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips November 9 — Austin, TX @ Antone’s Nightclub November 18 — Birmingham, AL @ Saturn November 19 — Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre November 20 — Nashville, TN @ The Basement East November 21 — Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Music Hall November 22 — Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *with Sierra Ferrell
