cj-boyd

CJ Boyd preps new 4-disc set recorded in every state of U.S. (listen to Chelsea Wolfe cover)

Bassist, composer, loop pedal master CJ Boyd, who you may know from his bands Desert Center, Kurva Choir, Rhonya, and Move, has spent the last 10 years touring and has stopped in every state of the U.S. Ruminating on that gave Boyd the idea for his new high-concept album, titled Kin Ships, which will be out February 8 via Joyful Noise. “First, each song is recorded in a different state, and in that state alone,” Boyd explains. “Secondly, each song is a cover of a person or band from that state with whom I have played shows. That means I recorded 51 songs, each one in a different state (plus DC). Every song is a cover, and I only covered songs of people with whom I have actually shared a stage.”

Kin Ships features 80 guest vocalists, and 175 guest musicians, including Thor Harris, Karl Blau, John McCauley (Deer Tick), Victor Villarreal, and Kyle Fields (Little Wings), and features covers of songs by Sharon Van Etten, Deer Tick, Angel Olsen, WHY?, Chelsea Wolfe, Dirty Projectors, Circuits des Yeux, and obviously a lot more. We’ve got the premiere of the dark, orchestral and lush “People / Halfsleeper,” which is combined cover of “People” by Dilute and “Halfsleeper” by Chelsea Wolfe, and was recorded in California. Listen to that and check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Kin Ships will be released as 52 track (including songs for DC and U.S. Outlying Territories), four-disc CD box set. You can preorder that now.

kin ships cj boyd

CJ Boyd – KinShips tracklist
Little Warrior – from Washington (Eleanor Murray Cover)
Lessons From What’s Poor – from Kentucky (Bonnie “Prince” Billy Cover)
Sink Or Swim – from Idaho (Bijouxx Cover)
Shelly – from Massachusetts (Aisha Burns Cover)
Silver Silk – from North Carolina (Nelly Kate Cover)
Eloise – from Arkansas (Des Ark Cover)
Dark Before Light – from Florida (Cross Record Cover)
Give Out – from New Jersey (Sharon Van Etten Cover)
Ride Blind – from Indiana (Circuit des Yeux Cover)
Borrowed Time, Borrowed Eyes – from Utah (SubRosa Cover)
Long Time – from Rhode Island (Deer Tick Cover)
Enemy – from Missouri (Angel Olsen Cover)
Catalyst / Philosophize In It! Chemicalize In It! – from Georgia (Nerdkween Cover / Kishi Bashi Cover)
Uncanny – from Colorado (Sister Grotto Cover)
Not At Home – from Oregon (Peter Broderick Cover)
St. Joseph’s – from Pennsylvania (A Stick and A Stone Cover)
Boulevards – from Tennessee (Dixie Dirt Cover)
The Hell-bent And Heaven Sent – from Iowa (Tree branch Twig Cover)
Pharaoh – from Arizona (Paleo Cover)
Wake Up It’s Time To Rise – from New Mexico (Nat Baldwin Cover)
Dropout Generation – from Nebraska (Hana Zara Cover)
How Small – from Kansas (Claire Adams Cover)
Distance – from Ohio (WHY? Cover)
Choir – from Maine (Blood Warrior Cover)
Bodies – from Montana (Ratbath Cover)
So Long You – from Louisiana (Meander Cover)
Circumnavigation / The Highway – from Texas (Balmorhea Cover / Peter and the Wolf Cover)
Empires – from Hawaii (Sam Humans Cover)
The Ballad Of Paper Ships – from Maryland (Odessa Chen Cover)
Horses – from Wisconsin (Chris Coleslaw Cover)
Ships – from Illinois (Pillars and Tongues Cover)
Slow Passage – from South Carolina (Plundershop Cover)
Car Wreck – from Minnesota (Haley Cover)
Resident – from New Mexico (Bigawatt Cover)
Ash Into The Sky – from Michigan (Benoit Pioulard Cover)
There’s No Invisible Disguise That Lasts All Day – from Alabama (Little Wings Cover)
Drinking Isn’t Fun Anymore – from Delaware (Sarah Koon Cover)
River Babies – from Alaska (Harm Cover)
Not Having Found – from New York (Dirty Projectors Cover)
People / Halfsleeper – from California (Dilute Cover / Chelsea Wolfe Cover)
Leave Here – from Nevada (Fil Corbitt Cover)
Lonesome Guitar – from South Dakota (Dylan Lewis Cover)
Formidable Design – from Wyoming (Hoi Ann Cover)
Severance – from North Dakota (Bartholomew Goop Cover)
Bent – from Mississippi (Katie Fortenberry Cover)
Violent Lavender – from West Virginia (Hermit Teeth Cover)
Paint – from Oklahoma (Samantha Jo Crain Cover)
Song For Ferguson – from Connecticut (An Historic Cover)
Universe – from Vermont (Libby Kirkpatrick Cover)
Rolling Home – from Virginia (Nathan Moore Cover)
Desert – from District of Columbia (Liz Janes Cover)
[Bonus Track] Outlying Territories of the US Empire