Former Hey Rosetta! frontman Tim Baker is back with a new single, “Year of the Dog.” The track comes from his forthcoming album, The Festival, out October 7th via End Times Music.
“It’s about living through, and actually being thankful for, difficulty and pain,” Baker explains of the album, “for how they make you grow and appreciate beauty you couldn’t otherwise.”
You can really hear that sound on this new preview, “Year Of The Dog.” With slowly building, anthemic vocal lines and heartwarming melodies, the track is definitely a must-listen. Lyrically, Tim Baker delivers lines like, “Was it the fools I grew up with, the trash that we talked?/ Whatever carved me as a hand to your glove,/ That’s what I love.”
Listen to “Year Of The Dog” below.
“Writing The Festival saved my life,” Baker adds. “I could immerse myself in a different world. It gave me a reason to go on, something to hold on to.”
During the pandemic, Baker headed to Newfoundland and Labrador where he reflected on his life pre-COVID.
“Deflated, troubled and sheltered in place on a far-flung island in the North Atlantic, he recalled the blur of stage lights, thousands and thousands of people, colours and urban cacophony coursing through his veins from years of touring,” a press release explains. “He also meditated on trauma and the ongoing climate change crisis. Admittedly, he felt pretty existential, depressed and defeated at first.”
Then, Baker leaned on music to get him through and wrote The Festival.
In addition to “Year Of The Dog,” The Festival likely features his recent singles, “Some Day” and “Lucky Few.”
Tim Baker is headed out on tour. Check out the dates below.
Tim Baker Tour Dates:
JULY
22-23 – Calgary, AB @ Calgary Folk Fest
AUGUST
04 – Sydney, NS @ Makin’ Waves Music Festival
SEPTEMBER
09 – Saint John, NB @ Area 506 Music Festival
10 – Hamilton, ON @ Supercrawl
17 – Nashville, TN @ Americanafest
NOVEMBER
10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Peppermint Club
11 – San Francisco, CA @ Café du Nord
12 – Sacramento, CA @ Old Iron Sides
15 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
16 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
26 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street
27 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
29 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
DECEMBER
01 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement
02 – Asheville, NC @ French Broad River Brewery
03 – Charlotte, NC @ Evening Muse
04 – Washington, DC @ Jammin Java
06 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
08 – London, ON @ London Music Hall
09 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
10 – Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre
11 – Montreal, QC @ Le Studie TD