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Okkervil River Celebrate Maxfield Parrish in ‘It Was My Season’ Video

Okkervil River 'It Was My Season' Video Maxfield Parrish The Silver Gymnasium

When last we checked in with Okkervil River’s Will Sheff, the Austin singer-songwriter was hanging out with the legendary Steve Earle after releasing 2011’s delightfully knotty I Am Very Far. He’s finally got a seventh album on deck — The Silver Gymnasium, due September 3 via ATO — and now we have the first song to sample. “It Was My Season” is strikingly forward, powered by big piano-play and Sheff’s cracking, aching voice. “Step out of your trailer and into this dark,” he sings as the drums pick up to support an almost Ben Folds-y lilt, offset by a little Americana shade, of course.

For the lyric video above, Okkervil highlight a local landmark from Sheff’s New Hampshire childhood. As he explains on the project’s website, in 1919, artist Maxfield Parrish painted a stage set at a Plainfield playhouse that’s since been moved to the burg’s town hall. In 1990, librarian Nancy Norwalk initiated a campaign to restore the thing to its original glory. One of the set’s key features is its ability to, through lighting, represent the entire span of a day. In the clip above, we see Norwalk herself simulating the rising and setting of the sun. It’s a rather beautiful experience.

Okkervil River tour dates:

August 24-25 – Monterey, CA @ First City Festival
September 07 – Boston, MA @ Boston Calling
September 19 – Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box
September 20 – Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder
September 21 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
September 23-24 – Washington, DC @ 09:30 Club
September 26 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
September 27 – Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
September 28 – Toronto, Ontario @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
September 29 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
October 01 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
October 02 – Little Rock, AR @ Revolution
October 04-13 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
October 18 – El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls
October 19 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
October 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
October 24 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
October 25 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
October 26 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Rickshaw Theatre
November 01 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
November 02 – Chicago, IL @ Metro