After a year-long hiatus, bluegrass group Trampled By Turtles, who blend bluegrass and other genres of music so well, continue to do so with their new song “The Middle,” the second single off of their newly announced album Life Is Good On The Open Road. Out May 4th, the LP is the band’s first album in four years and will consist of 12 tracks.

According to Rolling Stone, frontman Dave Simonett describes the album like the name of their new song, in the middle. He states, “We’re doing that as a way to represent the entire record. This one fits, ironically enough, right in the middle as far as vibe goes.” Simonett goes onto to discuss the process for making this album. “Going into the studio, we really had a vision for this album, which is something we haven’t always had,” Simonett says. He also described the new single “The Middle” as “more poppy” compared to their lead single “Kelly’s Bar,” which he described as “a faster bluegrass song.” Listen to “The Middle” below:

The Minnesota based group will also be going on tour this summer with many guests joining them throughout the duration of the tour including Deer Tick, The Pines Actual Wolf, The Oh Hellos + Dead Horses and Frankie Lee. The tour will kick off with a two-night stint starting on the release date of their album May 4 in their stomping grounds of Minnesota at The Palace Theatre in St. Paul. The tour will hit other major cities and venues including the Playstation Theater in New York, Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club, Oakland’s Fox Theater and Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, before concluding in Bozeman, Montana at the Bridger Brewing. Check out the rest of their upcoming tour dates below:

Trampled By Turtles tour dates

05/04 – St. Paul, MN – The Palace Theatre ^^
05/05 – St. Paul, MN – The Palace Theatre ++
05/06 – Madison, WI – Capitol Theater $$
05/08 – Boston, MA – House of Blues **
05/09 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer **
05/11 – New York, NY – Playstation Theater **
05/12+13 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club **
05/15 – Raleigh, NC – Ritz **
05/17 – Asheville, NC – Highland Brewing Company **
05/18 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium **
05/19+20 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall ##
06/21 – Tahoe, NV – Montbleau @@
06/22 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre @@
06/23 – San Diego, CA – Humphreys Concerts By The Bay @@
06/27 – Seattle, WA – Woodland Park Zoo @@
06/29 – Portland, OR – Oregon Zoo Amphitheater @@
06/30 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom @@
07/19 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre &&
07/21 – Missoula, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater XX
07/22 – Bozeman, MT – Bridger Brewing XX

More to come
^^ – The Pines
++ – Frankie Lee
$$ – Dead Horses
** – Hiss Golden Messenger
## – Actual Wolf
@@ – Deer Tick
&& – The Oh Hellos + Dead Horses
XX – The Lil Smokies

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna