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Oct 10, 2018 By Christopher Roberts Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile is releasing a new album, Bottle It In, this Friday (October 12) via Matador. Now he has stopped by SiriusXM to cover Tom Petty‘s “Learning to Fly.” He covered it solo on guitar. He also performed his own single “Bassackwards.” Watch the performance below.

Bottle It In includes “Loading Zones,” a new song Vile shared in August via an amusing video for it (it was one of our Songs of the Week). When the album was announced Vile shared the near 10-minute long “Bassackwards,” via a lyric video for the song. “Bassackwards” was our #1 Song of the Week. Then he shared another song from the album, “One Trick Ponies,” via a lyric video for the song (it was also one of our Songs of the Week).

Tom Petty, the singer/songwriter/guitarist who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with his band as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died in October 2017 at age 66. Last month saw the release of An American Treasure, a 60-track box set that includes dozens of previously unreleased songs. “Learning to Fly” was on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1991 album Into the Great Wide Open.

Bottle It In is the follow-up to 2015’s b’lieve i’m goin down…, although last fall Vile teamed up with Courtney Barnett for a collaborative album, Lotta Sea Lice. Bottle It In was recorded over the course of two years in various cities (including Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Portland), with various producers (including Rob Schnapf, Shawn Everett, and Rob Laakso, a member of his backing band The Violators). The majority of Bottle It In was recorded at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with Peter Katis (Interpol, the National) engineering and producing. The album also features Cass McCombs, Kim Gordon, Mary Lattimore, Lucius, Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa, and Farmer Dave Scher.

Vile said in a previous press release that all the travelling around influenced the album: “For a while I was terrified of flying, so I would be listening to whatever country songs I was obsessed with. I’d have George Jones blasting in my ears. Or, I would be reading something about country music. Or, I would start writing songs in that flash of being afraid, being swallowed by life. I’m up there on a plane drinking wine because like everybody else I’m afraid to die. And I wrote ‘Hysteria’ up there.”

Of the album’s emotional weight, Vile added: “It’s like that moment on the airplane, when you’re on your way somewhere and you have that burst of panic. When you’re terrified of dying, that’s when you want people to know you love them.”

Also read our 2017 interview with Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile on Lotta Sea Lice.

Kurt Vile and the Violators Tour Dates:

10/12 - Hamburg, Germany - Grünspan ^
10/13 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Pustervik ^ - SOLD OUT
10/14 - Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller #
10/15 - Stockholm, Sweden - Bern #
10/16 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega # - SOLD OUT
10/18 - Berlin, Germany - Huxleys #
10/19 - Munich, Germany - Muffathalle #
10/20 - Zurich, Switzerland - X-Tra #
10/21 - Lyon, France - Epicerie Moderne #
10/22 - Barcelona, Spain - Apolo #
10/23 - Madrid, Spain - Teatro Barceló #
10/25 - Lisbon, Spain - Lisboa Ao Vivo #
10/26 - Porto, Portugal - Hard Club #
10/27 - Bilbao, Spain - BIME Festival #
10/28 - Bordeaux, France - Theatre Barbey #
10/29 - Paris, France - La Cigale #
10/30 - Brussels, Belgium - Autumn Falls @ AB #
11/1 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso # - SOLD OUT
11/2 - Köln, Germany - Kantine #
11/3 - Groningen, Netherlands - Take Root Festival
11/5 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2 #
11/6 - London, UK - Shepherd’s Bush Empire #
11/7 - London, UK - Shepherd’s Bush Empire #
11/8 - Bristol, UK - Ansom Rooms #
11/9 - Birmingham, UK - The Crossing # - SOLD OUT
11/10 - Manchester, UK - Albert Hall #
11/11 - Leeds, UK - 02 Academy #
11/13 - Glasgow, UK - SWG3 #
11/14 - Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street #
11/15 - Belfast, UK - The Limelight #
11/24 - Boston, MA - House of Blues *
11/28 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel *
11/30 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
12/3 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
12/5 - Oklahoma City, OK - Jones Assembly *
12/6 - Austin, TX - ACL Live at The Moody Theater *
12/7 - Dallas, TX - Canton Hall *
12/9 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park *
12/11 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern *
12/12 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre *
12/14 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
12/15 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre *
12/16 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom * - SOLD OUT
12/19 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
12/20 - Madison, WI - Sylvee *
12/21 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall *
12/22 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre *
12/29 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia %
2/14 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground +
2/15 - Montreal, QUE - Mtelus +
2/16 - Toronto, ONT - Danforth Music Hall + - SOLD OUT
2/17 - Toronto, ONT - Danforth Music Hall +
2/19 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre +
2/20 - Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theatre +
2/21 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue +
2/22 - Louisville, KY - Headliners +
2/23 - Bloomington, IL - Castle Theatre +
2/24 - St. Louis, MO - Pageant +
2/26 - Omaha, NE - The Slowdown +
2/27 - Kansas City, MO - Truman +
2/28 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre +
3/1 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot +
3/2 - Phoenix, AZ - M3F Fest
3/3 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues +
3/5 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre +
3/6 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf +
3/8 - New Braunfels, TX - Gruene Hall +
3/9 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall +
3/10 - New Orleans, LA - Civic Theatre +
3/12 - Orlando, FL - The Beacham +
3/13 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution Live +
3/15 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn +
3/16 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium +
3/17 - Richmond, VA - The National +
4/11 - Aukland, NZ - Powerstation
4/13 - Wellington, NZ - Hunter Lounge
4/15 - Sydney, NSW - Enmore &
4/16 - Wallongong, NSW - Unibar &
4/17 - Canberra, NSW - ANU &
4/18 - Byron Bay, NSW - Byron Bay Bluesfest
4/20 - Byron Bay, NSW - Byron Bay Bluesfest
4/22 - Melbourne, VIC - The Forum &
4/26 - Bendigo, AUS - Bendigo Autumn Music Festival
4/27 - Adelaide, SA - The Gov &
4/28 - Perth, WA - Rosemount Hotel &

^ denotes w/ Meg Baird (solo)
# denotes w/ Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore
* denotes w/ Jessica Pratt
% denotes w/ The Feelies and Snail Mail
+ denotes w/ The Sadies
& denotes w/ RVG

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