[Cover photo credit to Thomas Crabtree]
Choctaw-Apache artist Vincent Neil Emerson has announced his new Shooter Jennings-produced record, The Golden Crystal Kingdom, out on November 10th, 2023 via Emerson’s longtime label home La Honda Records and new partner, RCA Records. With The Golden Crystal Kingdom, Emerson expands his sound, tapping into the influence of electrified Folk artists like Leon Russell and Link Wray.
Emerson has released the single “Little Wolf’s Invincible Yellow Medicine Paint,” a meeting of Western comic book influences and Neil Young guitar tuning.
Emerson shares:
The story was, basically, that a medicine man was tasked with motivating warriors to go into battle—they were going up against a bunch of white men with guns, and they knew they were going to die if they went into battle—and he came up with this special paint, this yellow medicine paint, and said, ‘If you wear this into battle, you’ll be invincible. No arrow can pierce you. No bullet can pierce you. It’s an old-West-themed song, it’s not a modern-day story for sure. They are indigenous stories, whether or not that old West comic was true.
Of the sound, he adds:
I wanted to make this song more than just a country song or a singer-songwriter type of song. I wanted this to be a rock and roll song. I wanted it to be loud and big. Shooter got the idea right off the bat. He knew exactly what I was thinking.
To accompany “Little Wolf’s Invincible Yellow Medicine Paint,” Emerson enlisted the help of Native American bareback horse race champion, Sharmaine Weed, to star in a music video. The music video, directed by Mike Vanata, was filmed in Wyoming near the Wind River reservation. Weed hails from the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes, and was also the focus of 2021 documentary Pure Grit.
Catch Vincent Neil Emerson On Tour:
SEP 23, 2023- Dog & Pony Grill – Boerne, TX
SEP 30, 2023 – Aspencade Festival – Red River, NM
OCT 4, 2023- Cypress – Reno, NV
OCT 5, 2023 – Temblor Brewing Company – Bakersfield, CA
OCT 7, 2023 – Rebels & Renegades Festival – Monterey, CA
OCT 11, 2023 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
OCT 12, 2023 – Volcanic Theatre Pub – Bend, OR
OCT 13, 2023 – Trout Lake Hall – Trout Lake, WA
OCT 14, 2023 – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
OCT 16, 2023 – district bar – Spokane, WA
OCT 18, 2023 – Top Hat Lounge – Missoula, MT
OCT 19, 2023 – The Coop – Columbia Falls, MT
OCT 20, 2023 – The Rialto – Bozeman, MT
OCT 21, 2023 – Mangy Moose Steakhouse and Saloon – Teton Village, WY
OCT 25, 2023 – Aggie Theatre – Fort Collins, CO
OCT 27, 2023 – Globe Hall – Denver, CO
OCT 28, 2023 – Globe Hall – Denver, CO
NOV 1, 2023 – Saturn – Birmingham, AL
NOV 2, 2023 – Exit/In – Nashville, TN
NOV 3, 2023 – Growlers – Memphis, TN
NOV 4, 2023 – Songbirds – Chattanooga, TN
NOV 7, 2023 – The Grey Eagle – Asheville, NC
NOV 9, 2023 – Songbyrd – Washington, DC
NOV 10, 2023 – Elkton Music Hall – Elkton, MD
NOV 11, 2023 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
NOV 15, 2023 – World Cafe Live – Philadelphia, PA
NOV 16, 2023 – The Southern Café and Music Hall – Charlottesville, VA
NOV 17, 2023 – Motorco Music Hall – Durham, NC
NOV 18, 2023 – New Brookland Tavern – Columbia, SC
NOV 19, 2023 – Charleston Music Hall – Charleston, SC
NOV 21, 2023 – Eddie’s Attic – Decatur, GA
DEC 9, 2023 – Antone’s Nightclub – Austin, TX
