Punching The Clown

On Lambchop's seventeenth album "Punching the Clown", Kurt Wagner returns to the origins. Inspired by a late-night radio encounter with an unknown gospel recording, Wagner delved deep into the world of "lined-out singing" - a centuries-old Scottish-Appalachian call-and-response tradition in which a single lead singer leads a choir through hymns word for word and without embellishment. This spirit of raw, communal voices informs every moment of "Punching the Clown": Wagner spent years studying great songwriters and learning his craft from the ground up, whittling dozens of songs down to twelve.

Produced by Ryan Olson and recorded August 25-27, 2025 at April Base, Wisconsin with guitarist Andrew Broder, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) on banjo, and a six-voice choir assembled by Blake Morgan and engineered by Lambchop veteran Mark Nevers, the album is graceful, ironic, and quietly harrowing.

The record features Kurt Wagner (vocals), Andrew Broder (guitar), Justin Vernon (banjo) and a six-piece vocal ensemble, complemented by additional choir recordings in London and Minneapolis.