Track-by-Track: Tristan Armstrong Takes You Down ‘The Lonely Avenue’

It’s a new chapter in the musical journey of Tristan Armstrong. The singer-songwriter released his debut album, The Lonely Avenue, last month via Littleknown Records. Although it is his debut, Armstrong is not exactly a newcomer when it comes to songwriting and performing. He was the co-founder of the roots rock band The Actual Goners, a popular local act around Toronto. The band played frequently at popular local spots like The Horseshoe Tavern, The Rivoli, and The Cameron House.

While not a complete departure, The Lonely Avenue is not just an extension of Armstrong’s work with The Actual Goners. It contains some Americana influences, but it’s much more of a traditional rock record. He began writing this new record after moving to Toronto from his native Vancouver Island. Although he loved that West Coast lifestyle, he decided Toronto was the right place for him to more fully pursue a musical career. After about a year in Toronto, he began to write this record, inspired by the loneliness he felt away from his core group of friends in Vancouver. He enjoyed the urban qualities of Toronto but missed the people he said goodbye to. Armstrong describes The Lonely Avenue as both raucous and melancholy at the same time.

With the recent release of the record, Armstrong joins us for an exclusive Track-by-Track rundown of The Lonely Avenue.

1. “The Lonely Avenue”

“I began writing this song after living in Toronto for about a year, having moved across the country from where I’d grown up on Vancouver Island. I was living above a comedy club on Bloor Street. My apartment window faced the back parking lot, a place where the bar’s patrons would smoke cigs and socialize during set breaks. Seeing and over-hearing those groups of people interacting made me miss the friends and community I’d left behind on the West Coast. The boisterous energy of this urban scene is reflected in the groove and main riff of the track. Musically, I describe it as a Clash meets Roy Orbison sort of jam. It’s a cathartic and energetic rock n’ roll track.”

2. “Periscope”

“The lyrics of this song were inspired after taking a tour of the USS Growler submarine at the Intrepid Museum, an American military and maritime museum in New York City. It features one of my personal heroes on slide guitar. I’ve been a fan of Kevin Breit for a couple of decades at this point. The guy’s a national treasure here in Canada. I was absolutely thrilled that he was keen to play on this song after I’d reached out to him with a more or less cold email. His musical spirit is deeply generous. I’d say this one is perhaps the ‘moodiest’ track on the album. Mix engineer James Bunton did some cool stuff in shaping the sonic landscape.”

3. “Sing In Your Sleep”

“I wrote ‘Sing In Your Sleep’ during the first summertime of the pandemic. It’s a song that, for me, reflects getting a bit older and enjoying the slower pace of domestic life. I got into a stream-of-consciousness type flow with the verse lyrics. I love the way Stephen Malkmus can do that sort of thing. It can be a really fun way to write. The end section of the tune takes a turn from the roots-rock groove and builds into a ’90s alt-rock-type vibe.”

Tristan Armstrong ‘The Lonely Avenue’ album artwork

4. “The Lender”

“A quirky British version of CCR is how I describe the vibe of ‘The Lender.’ The opening line is a direct quote from a conversation I’d overheard in a coffee shop in Toronto’s Kensington Market. Two guys talking about a real estate opportunity. It turned into a song about struggling to survive and keep up with urban life as an artist.”

5. “Gimme a Sign”

“This tune is a more emotionally charged number. It’s a song about being in a band and navigating the relationships within that fellowship. There’s a lot of faith and compromise involved. The song uses imagery of touring the highways of the vast Canadian Shield.”

6. “Queen of Diamonds”

“For this track, I made a conscious effort to not go overboard with overdubs. It’s just two guitars, bass, and drums throughout. Pure power pop, with some Keith Moon-esque excitement from Trevor Falls, who drums throughout the record (he’s pictured with me on the album cover.) In a literal sense, the song is about playing a game of cards. Figuratively, it’s about going ‘all in’… committing, so to speak.”

7. “On the Run”

“In a similar vein to ‘The Lonely Avenue,’ this one is about moving to a new city and trying to find my place. Springsteen, Jimmy Page, Gary Numan, Joel Plaskett, they’re all in there. I tracked the guitar for this one, and most of the album, in my basement. I like to be in the same room as the amp and feel the volume. Amp-simulation software has come a long way, and these days it sounds quite convincing… but it just doesn’t feel the same.”

8. “Twice as Bright”

“This song opens with the setting of being in bed, trying to sleep, counting sheep, then morphs into being awake on an airplane, looking at the changing landscapes below through a one-foot window. I like the way John Dinsmore mixed the drums more upfront on this track. The other instruments build around that and change in density with the different sections of the song. Growing up, I saw myself as a guitar player first and foremost. Most of my guitar solos tend to be more structured, but I decided something more off-the-cuff was what this song was calling for.”

9. “Would You Take an IOU?”

“I like talking about my influences. Generally speaking, I’d say musicians enjoy conversing about the music they like, and it’s a way to form connections with like-minded people. This one leans into my Americana roots, and love for artists like Jason Isbell and Tom Petty. I had a brief conversation with Jason Isbell one night years ago outside of a venue he’d just played in Vancouver. He told me he liked my shirt, it’s the one I’m wearing on The Lonely Avenue album cover! My good friend and musical brother Duncan Symonds was also at that show with me. He’s featured doing some beautiful pedal steel on this track.”