Kevin Bronson on January 29th, 2019

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Words, who needs ’em? That’s what you thought last summer during William Tyler’s residency at Zebulon, where only the occasional clink of a glass could be heard over his rapturous acoustic guitar. And that’s what you think throughout his new album “Goes West,” an instrumental album with its boots firmly in the dust of the American West but with its eyes cast hopefully toward the horizon.

“Goes West,” which came out last week on Merge Records, is informed by the songwriter’s move from Nashville to California. Guitarists Meg Duffy and Bill Frisell guest, along with keyboardist James Wallace and drummer Griffin Goldsmith, as Tyler, a former member of Lambchop who is revered for his work with the electric guitar, draws vignettes seemingly sprung from the wanderlust that beckons a man to open country.

The video for “Fail Safe” was made by filmmaker Elise Tyler, William’s sister, in Bakersfield. “I joked to him that when I’m homesick for Nashville, I can just drive to Bakersfield,” Elise says. “The country music legacy that is alive in this oil town is like stepping into a Nashville honky-tonk or Texas roadhouse. ‘Goes West’ may mark William’s transition from America’s South to West, but his native roots are alive and well. The visuals for this video are just that as well — here we are in California, but each scene is down home and seemingly Southern, from the line dancing to the semi-truck to the landscapes to the lite beer to the ‘Stone Fox’ shoutout at the end.

“It could have been shot in Nashville, but I’m thankful that the magic of Bakersfield brought this to life. This video is a like a letter sent back home, letting everyone know that we haven’t forgotten where we came from.

||| Watch: The video for “Fail Safe”

||| Also: Stream “Goes West” in its entirety

||| Live: William Tyler appears at Aquarium Drunkard’s “Talk Show” tonight at Gold Diggers. The evening features a conversation with and a performance by the artist ..