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. This summer, with the release of his debut solo album I’ve Been Down, Wagner steps into the spotlight. Though the move has been a long time coming. Deeply at home on international tours with Josh Panda and during his foundational stint with Kat Wright and her enchanting retro-soul unit, Wagner was often approached by fans curious where they could find his own music. “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 asking where they could see my band.” I’ve Been Down, due June 12 on Royal Potato Family, captures Wagner confidently stepping into the role of songwriter and bandleader. The album was recorded at The Studio Nashville, home to sessions by artists including The Wood Brothers, Seth Walker, and Steve Poltz. The album reflects influences from heroes such as Kat Wright, The Wood Brothers, and Sturgill Simpson, while remaining rooted in Wagner’s vivid storytelling. The sessions gained a bit of Nashville magic when Simpson’s telecaster-slinging guitarist Laur Joamets dropped by to contribute to three tracks. Additionally, Oliver Wood and Jano Rix of The Wood Brothers were enlisted. On the lead-off track, “Sad & Lonesome,” Wagner croons like a broken-hearted cowboy while the band whips up a dose of psychedelicized funk, punctuated by a swaggering solo from Joamets. Joamets also adds pedal steel to the contemporary murder ballad “Richest Man on Earth,” which Wagner conceived while driving home with a newly purchased 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, offers a meditation on an injured America delivered by a band firing on all cylinders. The album’s title track carries the longest history. Wagner first wrote “I’ve Been Down” more than two decades ago during a difficult chapter in his life. Over time, the song evolved into something closer to an uplifting spiritual. Recorded live in a single take with no overdubs, it features Oliver Wood on vocals and Jano Rix on piano. Beyond the album, Wagner remains deeply embedded in Vermont’s music community, serving as bandleader for the Hug Your Farmer concert series, which raises funds for agricultural initiatives across the state. He will also tour as one of two guitarists in Phish bassist Mike Gordon’s solo band. With I’ve Been Down, Wagner steps forward under his own name for the first time — but the record carries the weight of years spent sharing the stage.