Gruff Rhys has announced a new edition of his classic American Interior album, with bonus tracks. The original 2014 out of print version has been remastered and will be released for the first time on Rough Trade. And there’s a UK and US tour to go with it.
In 2012, Rhys embarked on a solo tour through the heart of America following the route taken by his distant relative John Evans, discovering new details as he travelled. He was ultimately looking for Evans’s lost unmarked grave.
Along with many major cities, the tour took him to play shows at the Mandan and Omaha tribe reservations, a Missouri vineyard, villages that no longer exist and lay at the bottom the Mississippi river and a New Orleans bordello.
What transpired from that ‘investigative concert tour’ was the album, plus a book, film and exhaustive tour of the same name.
‘Revisiting American Interior 11 years later, feels very prescient. In following the unusual story of explorer John Evans (1770-1799) it becomes clear that faked narratives can have profound and unpredictable consequences in real life,’ says Gruff.
‘His barely believable journey of verification in searching through continental scale wilderness for a [fictitious] Welsh speaking tribe believed to be living on the Great Plains of North America (an ancient folk tale perpetuated by the Elizabethan court following the subjugation of Wales, to make colonial claims on behalf of the British on the Americas) had a dramatic political effect on the fledgling USA and a devastating impact on himself and some of those who helped him on his way.
I wrote an album of songs inspired by his life; American Interior, which also served as a soundtrack to a documentary film based on a book that detailed his journey, intertwined with my own investigative concert tour, all three of which I worked on simultaneously during a 2-year fever 2012-14.
By far the most ambitious undertaking I’ve ever attempted.
Living with one foot in the 18th century, wearing the same clothes (for cinematic continuity) for that entire period, left me pretty exhausted. (Imagine a cold extra from The Revenant movie).
It took me a while to process the whole experience and its lessons and feel I owe it to my former self to take these songs back on the road for a couple of months and re-tell the story for a new decade.’
A single, Y Gwenan Gorn, out now on streaming services was previously only available on a vinyl EP. The visualiser for it uses clips from the original American Interior full length film.
Rumour has it the forthcoming shows will have a return of the Power Point presentation, with John Evans’ life story told via puppetry and mild historical re-enactments. Audience participation, Gruff stresses, is welcome but not at all compulsory.
American Interior (2025 Remastered Bonus Edition) is released via Rough Trade Records on 16 May. The CD and 2LP editions feature 5 extra tracks. The 3LP Deluxe version includes an additional 5 more tracks and is pressed on Apricot/Purple/Rosé Vinyl in a triple gatefold sleeve.
UK Tour Dates
7 May Belfast, UK – Black Box – American Interior Screening + Q&A
9 May Stockport, UK – Savoy Theatre – American Interior Screening + Q&A
10 May Wrexham, UK – Focus Wales
15 May London, UK – Rich Mix – American Interior full band performance
16 May Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe – American Interior full band performance
7 June Swansea, UK, Gwyl Tawe Festival
11 June Guildford, UK – The Boileroom
12 June Tunbridge Wells, UK – The Forum
14 June Ipswich, UK – Brighten The Corners festival
29 Aug Brighton, UK – Psych Fest
Photo credit: Andy Martin
