[Cover photo credit to Hugh Stewart]

Gerry Beckley has released his new solo album, Merciful, via Blue Élan Records. Produced by Beckley with frequent collaborator and lyricist Jeff Larson, the 13-song collection “finds the America co-founder looking at where he’s been and where he is now.” The track and official video for “All the Wounded Cowboys” are also out now.

The song grew out of a story told to Beckley by his longtime friend, veteran Rock photographer Henry Diltz. While caring for his terminally ill partner Joan, Diltz would sit with her as she watched the old westerns she loved. The story stayed with Beckley and eventually became “All the Wounded Cowboys.”

Recorded largely in Beckley’s home studios in Sydney, Australia and Venice, California, Merciful brings together new songs, material rediscovered in his archives, and more. Beckley plays virtually all the instruments, with contributions from Jason Scheff, Nate Strasser, Matt Combs, Steve Fekete, Dave Rosser, Nick Lane, James Valentine, Jeff Larson, Ryland Steen, Luke Davison and Brian Young.

On the album, Beckley also returns to his own past with a new recording of “Monster,” a song he first released with America on 1977’s Harbor. Nearly 50 years later, its look at the “dangers of fame” carries a different perspective.

Beckley says:

I consider that mix of light and dark my signature sound. So much of rock is based on youth and rebellion, but as songwriters, we get to move those boundaries around as we age.

Since stepping away from touring with America in 2023, Beckley has had no intention of stepping away from music. He continues to write and record and, when he’s in Sydney, can still be found playing bass with local musicians at a neighborhood pub. He also recently joined The Killers onstage at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena for “Sister Golden Hair.”