Guitar Ace Bob Wagner Releases Debut Solo Album, ’I’ve Been Down’

For more than a decade and a half, Burlington, Vermont-based guitarist and songwriter Bob Wagner has been a secret-weapon sideman, lending his licks and leads to some of the tightest live acts in the Northeast. With the release of his debut solo album, I’ve Been Down, out today on Royal Potato Family/RPF Records, Wagner steps into the spotlight.

While the move has been a long time coming, it was something Wagner felt no need to rush. Equally at home on international tours with Josh Panda, his foundational stint with retro-soul songstress Kat Wright, or most recently as a guitarist in Phish bassist Mike Gordon’s solo band, Wagner is often approached by fans curious about where they can find his own work.

“A pretty regular thing that happens at shows is I end up doing a song or two on lead during the night,” Wagner says. “After the gigs, people were always coming up to me asking where they could hear my music.”

With the release of I’ve Been Down, Wagner now has an answer. Confidently stepping into the role of songwriter and bandleader, he recorded the album at The Studio Nashville, home to sessions by artists like The Wood Brothers, Seth Walker, and Steve Poltz. Its ten tracks reflect the influences of heroes and inspirations ranging from the country-funk of “Duende” to the Little Feat-esque, American roots music gumbo “Universe Is Calling,” while remaining rooted in Wagner’s rich storytelling. Additionally, the sessions were blessed with a bit of Nashville magic when Sturgill Simpson’s Telecaster-playing fireball, Laur Joamets, dropped by to add guitar to three of the album’s tracks. The recording also features contributions from two-thirds of The Wood Brothers, with Oliver Wood contributing vocals on the title track and Jano Rix playing keys throughout the album.

On the lead-off track, “Sad & Lonesome,” Wagner croons like a broken-hearted cowboy while the band whips into a psychedelicized funk — accentuated by a swaggering solo from Joamets — that’s more Memphis than Bakersfield.

Joamets adds glistening pedal steel to the contemporary murder ballad “Richest Man on Earth,” a song Wagner dreamed up on the drive home after buying a 100-year-old Oscar Schmidt rubber-bridge guitar.

Another standout, “Good Night & Good Luck,” inspired in part by protests in Portland, Oregon, during Donald Trump’s first presidential term, provides a meditation on an injured America, performed by a band firing hot and heaving with the fury of the fed up.

The album’s title track carries perhaps the longest history. Wagner first wrote “I’ve Been Down” more than two decades ago. At the time, it documented a dark period in his life, though as the years have passed in a blur of performances, the song has taken on new meaning, morphing into an uplifting spiritual. Recorded live in a single take with no overdubs, the track features Oliver Wood on vocals and Jano Rix on piano.

With I’ve Been Down, Wagner may be stepping forward under his own name for the first time, but the record carries the weight of experience, friendship, and musical spirit built from years of sharing the stage.

I've Been Down ​
Track Listing:

1. Sad and Lonesome
2. Good Night and Good Luck
3. Richest Man On Earth
4. Universe Is Calling
5. I’ve Been Down (featuring Oliver Wood)
6. Jesus, Coffee Etc.
7. Dear Depression
8. Daniel
9. Duende
10. Fly Away

Bob Wagner - I've Been Down is out June 12 via RPF Records/Royal Potato Family on classic black vinyl and digital formats. Available at: https://orcd.co/ivebeendown​