Storied Companion

A student of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa helps readers discover new ways of facing and experiencing life, death, and impermanence.

Award-winning Northern Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance will release two unique new albums this year, ‘From Muscle Shoals’ and ‘To Memphis’, starting with ‘From Muscle Shoals’, out June 28 on Ed Sheeran’s label Gingerbread Man Records. Seeking inspiration for his fourth album, the follow-up to 2016’s acclaimed ‘The Wild Swan’, Vance was digging out old demos when he came across a handful of songs he had labelled ‘Soul’ and ‘Americana’. This discovery became the catalyst for the two new albums, with the ‘Soul’ songs providing the genesis of ‘From Muscle Shoals’ – recorded at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama – and the ‘Americana’ songs forming the basis of ‘To Memphis’, recorded at the equally storied Sam Phillips Recordings Studios in Memphis. The two albums are intended to be companion pieces and pay homage to the deeply rooted traditions that influenced Vance’s approach to songwriting.

Award-winning Northern Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance will release two unique new albums this year, ‘From Muscle Shoals’ and ‘To Memphis’, starting with ‘From Muscle Shoals’, out June 28 on Ed Sheeran’s label Gingerbread Man Records. Seeking inspiration for his fourth album, the follow-up to 2016’s acclaimed ‘The Wild Swan’, Vance was digging out old demos when he came across a handful of songs he had labelled ‘Soul’ and ‘Americana’. This discovery became the catalyst for the two new albums, with the ‘Soul’ songs providing the genesis of ‘From Muscle Shoals’ – recorded at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama – and the ‘Americana’ songs forming the basis of ‘To Memphis’, recorded at the equally storied Sam Phillips Recordings Studios in Memphis. The two albums are intended to be companion pieces and pay homage to the deeply rooted traditions that influenced Vance’s approach to songwriting.

Award-winning Northern Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance will release two unique new albums this year, ‘From Muscle Shoals’ and ‘To Memphis’, starting with ‘From Muscle Shoals’, out June 28 on Ed Sheeran’s label Gingerbread Man Records.