Article Contributed by Pitch Perfect PR
Published on 2026-10-28
photo by Horatio Baltz | Typography by Chris Acker & Kurt DeLashmet
Chris Acker returns with the new single, “Tinned Fish and Natural Wine,” via Gar Hole Records. “Tinned Fish” is Chris' second new song released this year following “Overdrafted”. Both tracks will appear on a new album out next spring on Gar Hole.
“Tinned Fish and Natural Wine” is a sleazy country-folk ballad about how money and status don’t make you a better person. Written from the POV of a once struggling musician, Chris sings about upgrading from one apathetic, dirtbag lifestyle to another. Produced by Ross Farbe (Bella White) and with baritone sax from Tuba Skinny’s Craig Flory, “Tinned Fish” shows us how gentrification tastes guilt free when you have nothing good to offer the world. On the song’s chorus, he sings, “Tin fish natural wine // I might seem different // But I'm still your guy // Said goodbye to the chicken fry // And said hello // Hello tin fish, natural wine.”
Acker reflects, “I was sitting outside of a natural wine shop in New Orleans when a houseless man I had known around the neighborhood for years asked for change and I didn’t have any. When he walked away, I could see the parking lot of a corner store I used to hang around in late at night. I’d get their 99 cent two-piece and most always had change for this guy and his compatriots.
“I set out to write a song about that and also the contradiction of when gentrification tastes pretty good. But that wasn’t working, and plus, the natural wine bar I’m thinking of is a nice community space that takes cash and doesn’t turn houseless people away.
“So I took on a character of a guy that used to be in bands, play house shows, drink 40’s, etc., and has since convinced himself that being into natural wine and polyamory is the most socially acceptable, or elevated, way to get really drunk and have lots of sex–and I guess that he also takes a sick pleasure in not giving people any of the money he has made since quitting music and getting into whatever. Unfortunately, a natural wine shop was where I saw this guy hanging out. And more unfortunately, is there a smidge of me in there?"
Video by Burt Murder ft Jonny Fritz, Creekbed Carter, and the Growing Boys band.
In a genre of tall tales and marketable lies, Chris Acker writes candid songs - weaving his wit and his woes into a body of work that exposes the stale plight of the American Songster to the honest, and sometimes hilarious, light of day. Leaving his childhood home of Seattle for an 11 year stretch among the buskers and bar bands of New Orleans, and a recent move to Nashville, Chris' songwriting is a nod to the absurd yet muted brilliance of wherever he inhabits."
Chris Acker will embark on a duo headline tour next month in support of forthcoming new music. A full list of dates are below and tickets are on sale now.
(All Dates Duo Shows)
Wed. Nov. 4 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
Fri. Nov. 6 - Los Angeles, CA @ Permanent Records
Sat. Nov. 7 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
Sun. Nov. 8 - Albany, CA @ Ivy Room
Tue. Nov. 10 - Walnut Grove, CA @ The Pearl
Wed. Nov. 11 - Roseburg, OR @ Rosebud Theatre
Thu. Nov. 12 - Coos Bay, OR @ 7 Devils
Fri. Nov. 13 - Bend, OR @ Silver Moon Brewing
Sat. Nov. 14 - Portland, OR @ The Showdown
Sun. Nov. 15 - Seattle, WA @ The Sunset Tavern
Wed. Nov. 18 - Clinton, WA @ Bailey’s Corner Store
Thu. Nov. 19 - Bellingham, WA @ Oddfellows Temple Room
Fri. Nov. 20 - Victoria, BC @ Vinyl Envy
Sat. Nov. 21 - Centralia, WA @ The Juice Box
Sun. Nov. 22 - Trout Lake, WA @ Trout Lake Hall
