Listen To BAD RELIGION Frontman's 'Backroads Of My Mind' Song From 'Millport' Solo Album

Greg Graffin, frontman of the iconic Los Angeles punk band BAD RELIGION as well as a renowned author, will release a brand new solo album titled "Millport" on March 10 via Anti-.

The "Millport" song "Backroads Of My Mind" can be streamed below. The track is described in a press release as an "energized and uplifting country rock song with exquisite vocal choruses and some crisp guitar from SOCIAL DISTORTION guitarist Jonny 'Two Bags' Wickersham."

Graffin says of the song: "Those old roads, like my memories, have... long been neglected and lately are in decline. Inspired by the country-rock classics of early '70s California, such as Linda Rondstadt's 'Silver Threads And Golden Needles' and the hard-time living songs of Clarence Ashley, I wanted to paint an upbeat acceptance of ageing and wisdom."

"Millport" delivers a stirring though perhaps unexpected reinterpretation of the classic Laurel Canyon country-rock sound alongside Graffin's insightful lyricism, all propelled by some esteemed colleagues from the L.A. punk scene, including SOCIAL DISTORTION members Jonny "Two Bags" Wickersham, Brent Harding and David Hidalgo Jr., with BAD RELIGION co-founder Brett Gurewitz producing. The resulting record is less a reinvention then a creative liberation — a group of Los Angeles musicians at the peak of their game, playing a brand of music they genuinely love.

As Graffin explains: "This feels as exciting to me as when we made the BAD RELIGION record 'Suffer'. Like everything had been leading up to the songs and they just happened totally organically in this short intense burst. I'm really just doing what I did back then, which is write songs that mean something to me and deliver them in a way that is completely honest."

Gurewitz adds: "It's the two songwriters from BAD RELIGION and the rhythm section of SOCIAL DISTORTION, two influential L.A. punk bands, getting together to do an authentic country rock album, a genre most would think is the absolute antithesis of punk rock. But I think it sounds great. Both are iconic Southern California genres. It's like the Laurel Canyon sound played by the kids who were smashing up the clubs a few years later."

"Millport" track listing:

01. Backroads Of My Mind
02. Too Many Virtues
03. Lincoln's Funeral Train
04. Millport
05. Time Of Need
06. Making Time
07. Shotgun
08. Echo On The Hill
09. Sawmill
10. Waxwings

"Millport" is available for pre-order from Amazon, iTunes and Google. You will receive the tracks "Making Time" and "Lincoln's Funeral Train" instantly upon ordering.

Photo credit: Svenski - St. James