South Wales’ hardest-gigging folk-rockers Rusty Shackle are back in the saddle, and this time they’re riding out into wide, open skies. The Caldicot six-piece just dropped ‘Riders Of The Purple Sage,’ a moody, expansive new single released via Get Folked Records and the second taste of their forthcoming sixth studio album, ‘Mayfield.’

If you’re expecting a straight-ahead folk stomper, think again. ‘Riders Of The Purple Sage’ is a song of two halves — a slow-burning epic that begins as an intense, ethereal acoustic movement drawing clear inspiration from prog titans Atomic Rooster and King Crimson, before shape-shifting into a riff-driven, carefree romp that tips its hat to Uriah Heep and The Groundhogs. It’s the kind of arrangement that rewards a proper listen with headphones on and the world switched off.

Lyrically, the band lean into big-sky imagery and even bigger ideas. This is a song about freedom — not the postcard version, but the kind that lives in your chest when you finally throw off the things that bind you. As the band put it, “The purple sage isn’t a place — it’s a symbol of the wild, of inner battles and wide, open skies.” It’s a meditation on the tough roads we all travel, the peaks and troughs of a life well lived, and the quiet urgency of treating every moment like it’s the last.

Since forming in 2010, Rusty Shackle have built a devoted following on the back of relentless touring and genre-blurring records that pull from folk, rock, and indie in equal measure. Their 2022 album ‘Under a Bloodshot Moon’ hit number 2 in the UK Folk Albums Chart, and in 2023 they were crowned Wales’ Folk Favourites at the Wales Folk Awards. On the evidence of this single, ‘Mayfield’ looks set to push their sonic palette even further.

The band will officially launch the album with a hometown showcase at Caldicot Castle on Saturday 29th August, joined by special guests Taff Rapids, Tom Jenkins, and Ernie Emmanuel — a fittingly grand setting for a record that trades in wide horizons. Before and after that, they’ll be criss-crossing the UK festival circuit through the summer, including stops at Priddy Folk Festival, Trowbridge Festival, Chickenstock, Bunkfest, and more.

Saddle up and stream ‘Riders Of The Purple Sage’ on Spotify now: https://open.spotify.com/album/1satlV7S9jDKNCT80R1ob0

‘Mayfield’ is coming. The frontier awaits.