My Days of 58 is the mighty new album from Bill Callahan. The twelve tunes here open uncanny depths of expression as Bill continues to blaze one of the most original songwriting-and-performance trails out there. The first single, “The Man I’m Supposed to Be,” is out today.
Bill’s singular take on a folk rock confessional song with a country title, “The Man I’m Supposed to Be” goes past the point of genre boundaries, as Bill explores the feels of a life that was lived and one that's meant to be. Moods change as he goes – the guitars strike up from dreamy to gritty, as bluesy sax wails and the morphing drum arrangement moves from brooding and introspective to danceable to low-key anthemic! The opening line immediately sets the tone: "I saw that demon inside me / trying to claim my body as its own".
My Days of 58 applies the living, breathing energies of Callahan’s live shows to the studio process, while sharpening his slice-of-life portraiture. The core musicians featured on My Days of 58 are the group that toured for 2022’s YTI⅃AƎЯ: guitarist Matt Kinsey, saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi and drummer Jim White, whose synergy was evident on 2024’s live album, Resuscitate!. This touring experience showed Bill “that they could handle anything I threw at them,” as he puts it, adding:
"Improv/unpredictability/the unknown is the thing that keeps me motivated to keep making music. It’s all about listening to yourself and others. A lot of the best parts of a recording are the mistakes — making them into strengths, using them as springboards into something human."
My Days of 58 is Bill's eighth studio album, following 2022's YTI⅃AƎЯ. It features contributions from Richard Bowden (fiddle), Pat Thrasher (piano), Chris Vreeland (bass), Mike St. Clair (trombone), Bill McCullough (pedal steel), Eve Searls (backing vocals), and Jerry DeCicca (tambourine). My Days of 58 is out February 27, 2026!