Photo: Alix Lambert

In preparation for the January 16, 2026, release of Turn A Midnight Corner, Mike Mattison and his Trash Magic band share a new single, “Going Down the Alley.” Premiering today via Relix, the track demonstrates the lighter side of the bandleader’s range as a songwriter. Gone are the seismic descriptions of the Big Apple borough lit by something bigger than the stars; here, Mattison summons an upbeat ditty with a subtle cowboy undertone that might inspire the listener to dance through the streets rather than saunter. 

Running 3:27, “Going Down the Alley” is lively, so much so that it bounces like a balloon floating through a packed venue, rhythmically descending and elevating with the current of gravity and the helping hands of listeners. On the track, Mattison embraces humor, integrating lines with not only a sense of playfulness, but also sharp wit when transmuting a feeling we all know: “Going down the alley with a toothache in my heart.”

Elsewhere on the track, Mattison, the veteran voice lent to Tedeschi Trucks Band and the Derek Trucks Band for over two decades, embraces an increasingly absurd throughline: “Going down the alley/ Baby, I’ve got ice cream in my face.” Speaking about the repeated phrase, Mattison tells us, “In this context, the phrase ‘Going Down the Alley’ is kind of like announcing you’re going to go crazy after the fact. I thought there was a lot of comedic potential there. When Mona Lisa’s smirk is the soul of mercy.”

“Going Down the Alley” arrives on Mattison’s forthcoming third solo album, Turn A Midnight Corner, due out early next year on Landslide Records. In tandem with the impending release, Mattison will support the record on the road this winter, turning in stops from Charleston, S.C. (Jan. 15) to Brooklyn, N.Y. (Feb. 14). Providing the backstory behind the set, Mattison says, “I’d been lucky enough to co-author an academic book [with Professor Ernest Suarez of Catholic University, ‘Poetic Song Verse: Blues-based Music and Poetry,’ University Press of Mississippi, 2021]. So, I had an idea to write a novella about a country blues duo from the 1930s, ‘Ted ‘n’ Turk,’ who are ‘rediscovered’ in the early 1970s by a music critic.”

He continues: “They’re brought together as aging men and are poised to re-record their old 78 rpm sides. However, the ‘rediscovery’ turns into a bit of a media circus when rockstars come sniffing around, money muddies the waters, race stuff encroaches, resentments emerge, and the whole thing falls to pieces.”

Working toward the record while on the road with Tedeschi Trucks Band, he says, “I wrote whenever I had a spare moment on the bus or backstage. One of the most entertaining parts was making up titles for songs that didn’t exist. And then it occurred to me, ‘Why don’t you just write the songs for Ted ‘n’ Turk’s legendary lost album?’ So, I did. Now their songs are out in the world, and I have to find time to finish this [expletive] book.”

Pre-save Turn A Midnight Corner. 

Listen to “Going Down the Alley” below.

Live Dates:

Jan. 8  – Athens, Ga.– Hotel Indigo (w/ Randall Bramblett)

Jan. 15 – Charleston, S.C.– Pour House

Jan. 16 – Atlanta – The Garden Club

Jan. 17 – Asheville, N.C. – Asheville Music Hall

Jan. 21 – Austin, Texas – Antone’s

Jan. 22 – San Antonio, Texas – Sam’s Burger Joint

Jan. 23 – Dallas – Ferris Wheeler’s Backyard

Jan. 24 – Tulsa, Okla. – Cain’s Ballroom

Jan. 27 – Nashville – Exit/In

Jan. 29 – Boca Raton, Fla. – Funky Biscuit

Jan. 30 – Jacksonville, Fla. – The Albatross

Feb. 12 – Bridgeport, Conn. – Park City Music Hall

Feb. 13 – Pembroke, Mass. – Soundcheck Studio

Feb. 14 – Brooklyn, N.Y.– Brooklyn Bowl