7 April 2026
The now 48-year-old electric folk star KURT VILE was born in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania,
and lives now in Philly. He’s so happy about his state that he named his upcoming new,
10th LP Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me. It’ll appear on May 29th.
Lead single CHANCE TO BLEED is Vile, alright. Lazy, feel-good, and sparkling guitar play.
North American Tour 2026
Significant longplayers from yesteryear
8 March 2026
Along with Adam Granduciel Philly based singer-songwriter/guitarist KURT VILE
formed The War On Drugs in 2005. After their 2008 debut LP Wagonwheel Blues
Vile left to pursue his own journey.
He has released his 4th solo album, titled
SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO on 8 March 2011,
today 15 years ago.
Pitchfork said: “Kurt Vile’s fourth full-length may also be his best, as it distills classic
American guitar music into one singular and sublime vision. He’s still cycling between strummers and fingerpicked mazework, but the battery of pedal effects is mostly gone.
Vile has acknowledged limits in length for the sake of depth. It makes for a full-blown
journey.”
The LP got to #8 on the US Independent Albums Charts.
SINGLE
ALBUM
13 March 2025
Cool!
10 September 2024
Brand-new Apple TV series Bad Monkey, a black comedy crime drama featuring
Vince Vaughn as the private eye has a soundtrack containing 8 Tom Petty songs
covered by artists such as Jason Isbell, Eddie Vedder, Jamie Jackson and The War
Of Drugs.
Kurt Vile is also part of this project. He picked Sins Of My Youth
from Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers‘ 2014 album Hypnotic Eye.
A melancholic musing that fits Vile like a glove.
Tom Petty: Story
19 November 2023
Former War On Drugs emo slacker KURT VILE has a
new 9-track EP out, named BACK TO MOON BEACH.
“It’s is an EP by no one’s definition but Kurt Vile’s. Clocking in at just shy of an hour, this would be a long full-length record by most any other artist’s yardstick, but for Kurt, the collection is an expression of just how deep his well of non-album material runs.”
Far Out Mag: “Vile invites us to join him on his beach on the moon. Although Back to Moon Beach sounds warm and familiar, particularly to pre-existing fans, Vile does keep that one toe firmly pointed towards the future. Compiling album rejects and covers recorded across the last four years, the record is also a demonstration of his growth and influences.”
TUTV: This new Vile record is for Vile fanatics. I usual love his drift away vibe, but here
I almost fell asleep midway. After the pretty lovely opener/single ‘Another Good Year For
The Roses‘ it’s downhill. Half of the songs are too lazy, too relaxing, too whiny.
My advice: sit down, dim the lights, relax and have a nap in la-la land.
SINGLE
EP
.
KURT VILE: Facebook – Instagram
3 July 2023
Does it hurt, Kurt?
9 April 2023
Artist: KURT VILE (Philadelphia)
Album: WAKING ON A PRETTY DAZE
Released: 10 years ago today, on 9 April 2013.
Artwork: The album’s cover photograph features a mural
by Philadelphia-based street artist Steve Powers. The mural
is located on the side of W.M. Mulherin’s Sons restaurant on
Front Street in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Vile: “Everybody who rides the elevated train line sees it. It’s so colourful.
It’s so cool to have my own mural, let alone one by a great artist.”
Wakin On A Pretty Daze
.
KURT VILE: All Albums – Instagram
22 November 2022
Laidback country pop singer-songwriter KURT VILE was invited by Spotify to cover
a Xmas song exclusively for the giant stream platform’s new Christmas compilation playlist.
Vile: I thought it was nice of them to invite me, but I didn’t know if I could pull off a Christmas song! Then my mind jumped to when John Agnello showed me the Bob Dylan version of “Must Be Santa” while we were making the Smoke Ring For My Halo record. Bob Dylan has a wig on, and someone goes flying through a window. All this time, I thought it was Bob Dylan’s song. It’s really catchy, and he makes it his own, as he usually does. I figured if I can do Dylan’s “Must Be Santa,” if that’s not taken, it’s a sign. I gotta be the next chapter in this version of a Bob Dylan song. Then I realized it was actually a classic Christmas song, and was written however long ago, but I still wanted to do it justice the way Bob did. I wanted to be the guy who attempted to pull it off.”
“It feels like a perfect circle, really. I thought I’d do an acoustic version and have my daughters sing backup, but then it turned into more of a weird synth version with their vocals, which is really the hook. I figured Bob wouldn’t hear it, but I still wanted to do it justice, and once I got my daughters singing with me I hoped he would at least like it. Now I know… he loves it. Merry Christmas, Bob Dylan!
Yes, it is Santa, folks.
.
That crazy Bob Dylan version (2009)
The original version.
Written by Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks.
First recorded/released by New York
artist Mitch Miller in 1960.
2 October 2022
The 7th day is one to be lazy, to relax, to walk in slow-mo
from your bed to your couch, to have a glass of wine and
to listen to musings/reveries/ballads that massage your
ears and mind gently.
Turn Up The Volume picked 10 to create the fitting
atmosphere to lose yourself in a blissful trance.
Old and new.
This Sunday’s musers
The Big Moon
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Bergamot
Subatomic Strangers
Interpol
Beck
Kurt Vile
Cory Singer
Matthew Connor
Start dreamin’…
.
Reveries for lazy Sundays
Country slacker songsmith KURT VILE launched
his 9th album (watch my moves) last April.
NME said: “On this spacey and sprawling dream-pop adventure, the great modern
American songwriter exudes the wholesome, easy charm he’s always held. Vile has
always been the epitome of someone comfortable in their own skin, but he displays
that more than ever on this spacey and sprawling adventure.” Score: 4/5.
To promote his new work Vile performed 2 songs off the
LP on American TV on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
– MOUNT AIRY HILL (WAY GONE) –
– HOW LUCKY –
New tour dates here