[Cover photo credit to Rebecca Sarkar]

Singer/songwriter John Calvin Abney has released new EP Shortwaving, via his own Tin Canyon Records. Shortwaving is Abney’s first release since 2022’s travelogue album Tourist.

Coming off a heavy year of touring into early 2023, a vocal injury requiring surgery lead to an extended break from touring and recording. He used the enforced hiatus to focus on writing and composing, as well working with other artists.

With his voice healed, Abney spent 2024 writing and recording multiple new projects. Shortwaving, the first to be revealed, was recorded at Columbus, Ohio’s Secret Studio with a small group of friends, including co-producer Lydia Loveless on background vocals and engineering duties.

Abney says:

It’s the first time since Safe Passage that I’ve cut my songs live with a band in the studio, and having my voice back after surgery and rest, it felt like these tracks came from an ancient part of me that I haven’t spoken to in a long time. It felt cathartic in a way I didn’t recognize until the first chord was hit.

Shortwaving focuses on “the central question of what you do when communication seems to be losing its ability to reach people.”

Abney explores what he calls “unease – or fear, even – that comes from repeatedly sending signals into the atmosphere and hearing little but static and silence in response.”

John Calvin Abney will be touring North America in 2025 in support of Shortwaving, with more new music already in the pipeline.