Rob Baird “Wrong Side of the River” Album Release Show

Rob Baird is done looking in the rearview. The Memphis-born musician had enough of being conceptualized, packed a bag and said no thanks. "I had no interest in competing with the country-pop stars and trying to dance around," says Baird, who left Nashville in the dust, booked a one-way-ticket to Austin and rediscovered his passion for intimate, no-frills songwriting. Working alongside producer Brian Phillips (David Ramirez, Penny + Sparrow), he’s crafted his most accomplished work yet: Wrong Side of The River, a 10-track gut punch of blues-drenched, storyteller-crisp autobiography derived from chasing miles of dreams.

Read what Rolling Stone Magazine has to say-

"Memphis-born musician Rob Baird’s "Wrong Side of the River," the title cut of his upcoming LP, crackles with gritty desperation. . . and with good reason.

Stepping outside his comfort zone by working with inexpensive mics and no mixing board, Baird cut the material, produced by Brian Douglas Phillips, in a garage, leaving behind a record deal and an entire state in the process.

"This is all about being in the wrong place and knowing that you need to figure out a way to get to the other side," Baird tells Rolling Stone Country of the powerful title track. "I moved to Tennessee after living in Texas for eight years, and after about a year, I knew it was time to go back to Texas. These feelings became the basis for this song, but after putting pen to paper I think this song is about fighting through the darkness to find the light. Sometimes you got to fight tooth and nail."

Walking away from a deal with Nashville’s Carnival Music, Baird bought a one-way ticket out of Tennessee and made his way back to Austin, assembling a tight group of musicians to make the record, and detailing that "tooth-and-nail" struggle within the songs that form the basis of Wrong Side of the River. The result is a bold, hungry statement that follows 2012’s I Swear It’s the Truth with soulful melodies and blues-battered lyrics that reflect the westward journey to rediscovering his music and redefining himself.