Boy Golden nominated Emerging Act of the Year at Americana Honors & Awards
VISIONARY SINGER-SONGWRITER
BOY GOLDEN
NOMINATED 2026 EMERGING ACT OF THE YEAR AT AMERICANA HONORS & AWARDS
RELEASES ACOUSTIC VERSION OF HIT SINGLE
“SUFFER” TODAY
LISTEN HERE
PREMIERED BY MELODIC MAGAZINE
UPCOMING FESTIVAL APPEARANCES INCLUDE MINNESOTA COUNTRY CLUB, HIGH SIERRA, PICKATHON & MORE
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED NEW ALBUM
BEST OF OUR POSSIBLE LIVES
OUT NOW VIA SIX SHOOTER RECORDS
LISTEN HERE
Today, visionary singer-songwriter Boy Golden released a new acoustic version of his hit single “Suffer,” off his critically-acclaimed album Best of Our Possible Lives, released February 13, 2026 via Six Shooter Records.
Listen to “Suffer (Acoustic)” HERE
Listen to Best of Our Possible Lives HERE
The stripped back single showcases beautiful harmonies that compliment the acoustic guitar and harmonica while placing an emphasis on the lyrics exploring the Buddhist philosophy that the one thing that unifies us all is our human capacity to suffer.
This new single follows the recent announce of Boy Golden’s nomination as 2026 Emerging Act of the Year by the Americana Honors & Awards.
On the nomination and single release, Boy Golden shared, “I am truly honored to be considered for the Emerging Artist award at this year's Americana Music Awards. To be an international artist considered for this award is an accomplishment I am proud of. This album was born of many years on the road across North America, years of absorbing experiences, struggles, and stories - both experienced and witnessed - and turning them into song. It feels timely to release this acoustic version of Suffer, a song I feel speaks to the moment. This song may have had a hard time getting traction in America due to the rise of the fascist government there, but I believe it has power and I believe this record has power and I believe music has power.”
Melodic Magazine premiered the single, stating, “The combination of organic vocals with exquisite guitar acoustics and a warm-toned harmonica in this rendition will make listeners fall in love with the song all over again.”
The original version of “Suffer” has topped the Billboard Canada Modern Rock Chart, spent 9 weeks (and running) at the top of the Alternative radio charts and has landed the attention of everyone from Rolling Stone to Billboard.
Read Boy Golden’s statement on “Suffer”:
From the moment I wrote “Suffer”, I knew it had power. When I heard the rough mix, I knew it should be the first song on my new record Best of Our Possible Lives, and the first single we released.
I also knew that this song had the potential to be controversial, largely because of the line “I want a new fucking president”. I was right. Now that the song has been out for half a year, I want to talk about some of the conversations I’ve had around this song, and how the political climate has affected them.
In my record label’s boardroom, I was making the case for “Suffer” as the first single. The first single is important. It sets the tone.
Right away, there were flags. The radio team in the US and my label felt that the song couldn’t be pitched to American radio. At the time of this discussion, Trump and his DOGE goons were slashing funds for programs they didn’t like, and public radio was on the chopping block. The Trump administration was cultivating an atmosphere of fear, and stations rightly worried that playing “Suffer” could draw the ire of the administration and further impact their funding.
There were also concerns that I would come off as smug sounding, being a Canadian commenting on American politics. Various options were tabled, from choosing a different song as a single, to changing the offending line.
In the end, the label agreed that the song had power and it was the right time for it to come out. In Canada, it ended up at #1 on alternative radio for nine weeks, and remains in the top ten. In America, we didn’t take it to radio, but we still pitched the song to DSPs.
The culture of fear around art and entertainment persists. These are the conversations that fascistic governments force artists and the people around them to have; is it safe to say this? Am I putting my own, or other people’s livelihoods at risk?
At live shows, the song rarely fails to hit home. I’ve played this song at dozens and dozens of shows and whether I’m playing in Canada or America, the song grabs people and resonates with them.
For many people, the line ‘I want a new fucking president” strikes a chord, because people are suffering under this administration and many people want change.
The preceding line “I wanna know where my money went” also strikes a chord. Trump and his family have been grifting the public to the tune of billions from the moment he took office. The public’s money is being spent on a war that nobody wants, and which is driving up gas prices around the world, which is in turn driving up the prices of everything.
Many working people who were already struggling to make ends meet are now struggling even more. Seeing the public cruelty on the streets of Minneapolis and New York, LA, Chicago, watching a genocide unfold in Gaza, watching multi-million dollar bombs destroy a school is enough to make people wonder “where is my money going?”.
I had a conversation with a fan in Bend, Oregon - she noted that while the song resonated with her for the same reasons it resonates with me, she felt her more conservative family would resonate with the song for different reasons entirely. A commenter on YouTube put it like this: “This guy looks like a lib but he’s saying conservative stuff… I don’t get it.”
Ironically, the line “I want a new fucking president” was not written about my literal feelings at the time. Joe Biden was the president at the time. He was fine, in comparison.
The song reflects what I am seeing in the world. What I see in the world is working people being squeezed by inflation. I see the rich getting richer, and everyone else suffering. When writing it, I was noticing the tendency to direct suffering straight to the top - because everyone always wants a new fucking president, or prime minister, or whatever. If you vote one person into office, there are millions who voted the other way. Either way, we all suffer.
That said, I really do want a new fucking president. The suffering of so many, particularly that of the working class of all races and creeds, has worsened dramatically. The song felt strong and timeless from the moment I wrote it, but it feels timelier than ever.
Today, I am presenting an acoustic demo of “Suffer”. I don’t think this song is done working in the world, and now, with a little more wind at my back, I’m giving it a second look.
We all suffer, and I stand with you.
This year, Golden released his album Best of Our Possible Lives, a smooth and disarming album is best considered as roots music from a galaxy far away, produced by Robbie Lackritz (Feist, Bahamas, The Weather Station) and featuring legendary bassist Pino Palladino, renowned for his work with D’Angelo, Adele, The Who and Elton John, among others.
Best of Our Possible Lives is twelve songs of self-discovery that solidify Boy Golden as one of roots music’s most singular singer songwriters. Uniting the distant universes of 80s folk pop and 90s country, Boy Golden collides influences including edgy modern indie rock, a swaggering slice of sonic exploration.
Best of Our Possible Lives has gained support tastemakers including Atwood Magazine who published an essay with by Boy Golden, alongside rave reviews from PopMatters describing the sound as “a chameleonic delight, gliding from dusty folk and gut-bucket blues to shimmering indie rock.” No Depression praised how the “dirty, cosmic guitars swirl around similarly muddy drums that emit a transcendent throb.” Twangville exclaimed the album is “Magnetic and engaging,” and Lavender Sound astutely surmised, “to experience emotional rollercoasters, he suggests, is inevitable. It’s how we choose to move through them that makes us human.”
Boy Golden just wrapped his headline tour with dates including Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and more as well as his tour supporting Cat Clyde (featured on Best of Our Possible Lives). He has upcoming performances at festivals including Minnesota Country Club, High Sierra, Pickathon and more (see below).
Who is Boy Golden? On the one hand it is moniker for a mysterious new artist, who is building buzz following major support for track "KD and Lunch Meat" from his debut album which hit #1 at Alternative radio in home country of Canada, and major moments including debut at Bonnaroo, and opening for Jason Isbell, MJ Lenderman, and Joshua Ray Walker.
On the other hand, Boy Golden is also a conduit for songwriter Liam Duncan—a persona that allows him to create honestly and freely. For Duncan, Boy Golden grants access to an inner world only reachable through music. His three previous albums—For Eden (wistful), For Jimmy (rollicking), and the lemon-yellow-leisure-suited Church of Better Daze—served as a psychic clearing for Best of Our Possible Lives. This new work finds him mid-journey, reckoning with the self as it was, as it is, and as it can be.
Boy Golden states “The lines between him and I are soluble… Whether it is my spiritual beliefs, my way of living, my sexuality - it comes up in my writing and I am then forced to reckon with it.”
Recorded at Lucy’s Meat Market in Los Angeles in March, the album features contributions from aforementioned Pino Palladino, alongside Abe Rounds (Meshell Ndegeocello), Gabe Noel (Father John Misty), Joseph Shabason (Destroyer), and Church of Better Daze collaborators FONTINE and Austin Parachoniak.
An album with highlights including rocking album thesis, “Suffer,” swampy, moody and resolutely idealistic “The Matter at Hand,” “Eyes,” a powerful eulogy for a friend who died by suicide, and breezey folk rocker and perhaps the album’s breakout single “Like a Child” which urges us to be present, adaptable, and vulnerable.
Boy Golden’s philosophy is simple: By living here—now—in this moment—we create the Best of Our Possible Lives. With a major 2026 tour ahead and anticipation building, this moment truly belongs to Boy Golden.
TOUR DATES
Upcoming Festivals
June 20 & 21 - Telluride, CO - Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 25 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
June 27 - Sisters, OR - Big Ponderoo
July 2 - 5 - Quincy, CA - High Sierra Music Festival
July 5 - Calgary, AB - Stampede
July 7 - Vancouver, BC - FIFA Fan Fest
July 11 - Saint Paul, MN - Minnesota Country Club Festival
July 30 - Aug 2 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon
Sept 11 - Toronto, ON - Indie 88 The Bowl
Oct 3 - St. Catharines, ON - Cicada Music & Arts Festival
CONNECT WITH BOY GOLDEN
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Photo Credit: @paigesarastudio
