“Has this ol’ world lost its goddamned mind?” Chris Shiflett asks in his soaring new country jam “This Ol’ World,” which he released in conjunction with a slate of solo European tour dates.
The Foo Fighters guitarist doesn’t need a lot more than a verse and a lick to create a barn-burner of a track, letting his six-string do most of the talking here. But while he questions the sanity of daily life, he’s not all gloom and doom — he makes sure to repeat some words of encouragement: “Hope you’re doing alright,” Shiflett sings. The first taste of an upcoming solo album, “This Ol’ World” features a flurry of guitar-playing pyrotechnics, including some back-and-forth with a pedal steel that keeps Shiflett grounded in the country-rock of his native California.
Shiflett, who also hosts the Walking the Floor country-music podcast, released the Dave Cobb-produced LP West Coast Town in 2017. Later this month he’ll launch an overseas spring tour that hits Ireland, the U.K., Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
Chris Shiflett’s upcoming tour dates:
March 30 — Dublin, Ireland @ The Grand Social
March 31 — Brighton, England @ The Haunt
April 1 — London, England @ Omeara
April 2 — Bristol, England @ Fleece
April 4 — Manchester, England @ Night & Day
April 5 — Glasgow, Scotland @ Classic Grand
April 6 — Edinburgh, Scotland @ La Belle Angle
April 8 — Oslo, Norway @ John Dee Club
April 9 — Copenhagen, Denmark @ Pumphuest
April 10 — Stockholm, Sweden @ Nalen Klubb