The first time I heard Bill Callahan’s Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest, I felt betrayed. How could an artist I’d become so attached to make music with such high spirits? My attraction to Callahan's music surely came from the sense of melancholy and darkness that defined his early years as one-man-band Smog.

Solo billing for the leader of Smog to continue his reflective songwriting, but with gospel, soul, and pop elements. Find Bill Callahan discography, albums and singles on AllMusic. Find Bill Callahan discography, albums and singles on AllMusic. Rough Travel for a Rare Thing: Drag City (0).
After releasing a string of critically acclaimed albums as Smog, singer/songwriter Bill Callahan began making music under his own name in 2007.The switch reflected how much richer and deeper his music had become over the years, both literally and figuratively: His songwriting, which used the imagery of the American West in thoughtful yet rugged ways that spoke to the present as well as the.
‎After almost 20 years of using the alias Smog for his music, Bill Callahan switched to his given name for his releases after 2005's A River Ain't Too Much to Love. The 2007 EP Diamond Dancer and full-length Woke on a Whaleheart both mixed the intimate, reflective, largely acoustic sound of later Smo. Available with an Apple Music subscription.

Albums like Julius Caesar and Forgotten Foundation were flaming arrows into my tortured soul. The witty and bleak lyricism balanced a sense of self-awareness with the dark comedy one might find in a Jim Thompson novel. The lyrics were solemn, even hopeless. Songs like “Your Wedding” and “Golden” gave birth to a lo-fi minimal songwriting style that later came to be the unwritten Drag City house style. The noisy, detached textures displayed in Callahan's debut Sewn to the Sky were the path into the anti-verse-chorus song structure in my own songwriting. The amps and instruments sound cheap, beaten, and brutalized like second wave black metal, though the music itself is even more idiosyncratic and much more deliberate.

Los Dug Dug’s Smog (1973) is an overwhelming barrage of fierce funk-rock rhythms, Zenta chaos, flutey delirium and political messaging. Smog, the ode against smoking that kicks off the album pounds like the Flower Travellin’ Band, its drum/flute riff should have informed a whole squadron of Madlib jeep-beat bangers. After signing to Drag City in 1991, Callahan added more melody to his music while remaining true to Smog's trademark bare-bones atmosphere on albums including 1991's Forgotten Foundation, 1993's Julius Caesar, and 1995's Wild Love. Two years later, he took another leap forward with 1997's Red Apple Falls, which added folk and country influences.

Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest is a pleasant and uplifting record, while still containing Callahan’s melancholy undertones. Most of the songs are very blunt, as if Callahan has unveiled himself from his earlier work, revealing his true self. Callahan admits he thought he'd never make it this far. He’s 53 and newly-married with a child, he tells us in “What Comes After Certainty.” He has a home and a car. He’s finally happy, or at least has found some inner peace. Compared to his earlier work, this is a huge relief.

I needed this record at this precise time in my life. Surrounded by uncertainty, depression, a run of bad luck, and our country’s political turmoil, refuge is hard to find. Aside from the music, which flows seamlessly, this album venerates hope on a grand scale. It's good to know that there's a chance for happiness in the future.

“Some time alone when you are young is good

High time, a drunk old time, sober time

I advise all three

When your brain is at least 23”

Callahan's discography is the story of his life. The early Smog records capture the tortured frame of mind that defined Callahan's livelihood, and Shepherd is the light at the end of the tunnel. Not all of Callahan's records are dark, however: Woke on a Whaleheart and Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle are almost as light-hearted, even humorous. Each song is uniquely crafted, but they don't feel as personal. Wit comes naturally to Callahan, yet moments of emotional nakedness are rare.

Nothing feels more gratifying to me than going back and listening to those early Smog records. Maybe in 25 years I'll have a similar feeling about Shepherd. It’s a thoughtful and engaging listen for “good listeners and tired dancers.” In contrast to the desolation of western politics that surrounds our current reality, it warms my heart to know that Bill is doing okay. All we can hope for is the happiness of others, right?

This a detailed discography of American singer-songwriter Bill Callahan. All of his work was released under the alias Smog, except where noted.

Cassettes[edit]

Macramé Gunplay (1988)
Cow (1989)
A Table Setting (1990)
Tired Tape Machine (1990)

Albums[edit]

All released under the name 'Smog' except those that mention otherwise.

Title	Release date	Label	Format	Additional info
Sewn to the Sky	1990	Disaster	LP	Re-released by Drag City on CD in 1995, on LP in 1996 and on CD in 2005.
Forgotten Foundation	May 25, 1992	Drag City	CD	Re-released on LP in 1996, and on CD in 2005.
Julius Caesar	July 5, 1993	Drag City	LP/CS/CD	Re-released on CD by Domino Records in 2001.
Wild Love	March 27, 1995	Drag City	LP/CD	Re-released on CD by Domino Records in 2001.
The Doctor Came at Dawn	September 10, 1996	Drag City / Domino	LP/CD
Red Apple Falls	May 20, 1997	Drag City / Domino	LP/CD
Knock Knock	January 12, 1999	Drag City / Domino	LP/CD
Dongs of Sevotion	April 4, 2000	Drag City / Domino	2xLP/CD
Rain on Lens	September 18, 2001	Drag City / Domino	LP/CD
Supper	March 18, 2003	Drag City / Domino	LP/CD
A River Ain't Too Much to Love	May 31, 2005	Drag City / Domino	LP/CD	Latest album released under the name Smog.
Woke on a Whaleheart	April 17, 2007	Drag City	LP/CD	First album released as Bill Callahan.
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle	April 14, 2009	Drag City	LP/CD	As Bill Callahan.
Apocalypse	April 11, 2011	Drag City	LP/CD	As Bill Callahan. UK chart peak: #116^[1]
Dream River	September 17, 2013	Drag City	LP/CD	As Bill Callahan. UK chart peak: #44
Have Fun with God	January 21, 2014	Drag City	LP/CD	As Bill Callahan.
Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest	June 14, 2019	Drag City	LP/CD	As Bill Callahan.
Gold Record	September 4, 2020^[2]	Drag City	LP/CD	As Bill Callahan.

Compilations[edit]

Accumulation: None (released under the alias (Smog) on November 5, 2002, by Drag City / Domino)

EPs[edit]

Title	Release date	Label	Format	Additional info
Floating	August 23, 1991	Drag City	7'
Burning Kingdom	September 19, 1994	Drag City	12'/CS/CD	Rerelased on CD by Domino Records in 2001.
Kicking a Couple Around	April 29, 1996	Drag City / Domino Records	12'/CD
The Manta Rays of Time	2000	Spunk Records	CD
Strayed	July 17, 2000	Drag City / Domino Records	CD	Features a reissue of the rare self-released cassette Cow.
'Neath the Puke Tree	December 11, 2000	D

Smog Discography Rare