Today, acclaimed singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly releases Weakness, Etc, a collection of seven songs recorded in tandem with Kelly’s critically lauded third studio album, 2023’s The Weakness. The collection includes three previously unreleased tracks, including new single “The Watcher.”
Kelly drew on a rather unlikely source of inspiration for new single “The Watcher.” As he explains, “I’ve always been fascinated with Jewish and Christian apocrypha. The lost book of Enoch tells the story of the Watchers, a group of angels sent to the Garden of Eden to watch over the first humans. This song is written from the perspective of one of those angels, who against celestial ordinance, falls in love with a human being.”
Now I understand what Adam did
Traded heaven for love
They call that the fall of man
Traded heaven for love
And I’d trade it all again
Listen to “The Watcher” HERE.
Kelly reflects, “Some of my favorite tracks from my favorite albums are usually the deep cuts. A lot of times those songs help pave the way for the story of the record even though they don’t end up on the official sequence.” He continues, “The three fully produced tracks on this EP are those songs. The other acoustic versions are meant to show how we got from my typical songwriting-focused approach to the sonic atmosphere we ended with.”
The set includes three previously released singles: “Mending Song (Piano Version),” “Belly of the Beast,” and “Heaven Made the Darkness,” as well as a stripped-down version of plaintive album track “Cold Black Mile” (dubbed the “Hotel Version”) and the quietly devastating “Nothing Out There” and “The Wreckage.” These songs illuminate Kelly’s abundant gifts as a songwriter whose never-ending exploration of what it means to be alive offer profound reflections on love, loss, and healing.
Kelly’s solo acoustic tour will kick off March 27 at Columbus, OH’s A&R Music Bar and will continue throughout North America before concluding on May 2 with a hometown show in Nashville. Highlights include shows at such legendary venues as Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY (April 17) and Nashville, TN’s historic Ryman Auditorium (May 2).
RUSTON KELLY – SOLO ACOUSTIC TOUR 2024
MARCH
27 – Columbus, OH – A&R Music Bar
28 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Stache
29 – Detroit, MI – The Shelter
30 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue Theatre
APRIL
1 – Columbia, MO – Rose Music Hall
3 – Boulder, CO – The Fox Theatre
4 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
5 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
7 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
8 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
10 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
13 – Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace
14 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
16 – Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
17 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
20 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
21 – Washington, DC – Sixth & I
23 – Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theater
25 – Charleston, SC – Music Farm
26 – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre
27 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle Music Hall & Pub
28 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
30 – Birmingham, AL – WORKPLAY
MAY
2 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
NOVEMBER
9 – Miami, FL – Holiday From Real Cruise 2024
Hailed by PEOPLE as “expansive…a testament to keeping your feet on the ground when your life is turned upside down,” The Weakness found Ruston Kelly collaborating with producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Nate Mercereau (Sharon Van Etten, Leon Bridges, Maggie Rogers) to craft a blisteringly honest but profoundly hopeful work which ultimately reveals our vast potential to create strength and beauty from the most painful of experiences. Kelly’s third studio LP following 2018’s Dying Star and 2020’s Shape & Destroy, the album saw the Tennessee-based artist pushing his sound into cathartic new directions on such tracks as “Mending Song“ and the electrifying title track, earning him applause from such high profile outlets as the New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, NPR, Relix, and many more. Known as a gifted and compelling live performer, Kelly marked The Weakness with a wide-ranging live schedule that included the acclaimed “Weakness Tour” headline run as well as a sold-out tour alongside longtime friend Noah Kahan.
