“My friend, who is a junior high gym/health teacher, came up with the name while we were riding in his truck. He said, “ya know… there are a lot of wolf bands but you, you’re the Actual Wolf,” says Eric Pollard (Actual Wolf) about how his artistic name came to be. Yes, there are probably more Wolf bands than “The” bands these days, but thisActual Wolf has made a realized neo-classic on his full-length debut Faded Days (Red House Records) that will see a limited edition cassette release June 2nd and a full LP out in the fall.
Written over two years in a spectrum of locations that the artist has called home at one point or another– Duluth (Minnesota, not Georgia), Brooklyn, Nashville and currently Oakland; the album is subtly informed by that breadth of different atmospheres as much as it is richly colored his array of collaborators (Al Church, Steve Garrington, Jake Hanson and Jeremy Hanson) in a year-long distillation by engineer Brad Bivens in Minneapolis. Pollard did full demos of the entire record on GarageBand before going into the studio and played/programmed all the instruments & played all the solos. This really gave himself and the band a clear vision when they went into record Faded Days. Previously. Pollard spent a few years playing drums/keys with folks like Retribution Gospel Choir (Alan Sparhawk of Low), Nikki Lane and recorded and toured with Mark Kozelek/Sun Kil Moon.
Self-described as a mix between the spirit of the Rolling Thunder Revue & Thunder Road era Springsteen w/ a little nod to solo Gene Clark & CSNY thrown in, Faded Days encapsulates an echoey brooding open-heartedness over twangy sensibility and 70’s folk purism. However, the album reflects a period of time for Pollard that wasn’t all smooth sailing from the get-go.
“It definitely sums up the struggle to regain my footing following my fulfillment of my probation obligations. When you experience a setback in life, things change… relationships change, approaches to daily life change. It can be a lot emotionally & the goal is to make changes for the better and learn from your mistakes,” describes Pollard.
Glide is proud to premiere “Baby Please” off Faded Days (below), a big rocker that fills with silvery harmonies and Zuma-era Neil Young. ‘”Baby Please” is about what happens when you don’t want to explain yourself anymore,” says Pollard. “The conversation that takes place and the emotions/misunderstanding wrapped up in that conversation. “
Pollard describes his sound as “American Music for Worldwide Ears” which certainly the bill, as this big-hearted effort reflects the best of singer-songwriter rock both past and present.
Actual Wolf preorder links.
