New Music Discovery: Portugal. The Man - 'What, Me Worry?'

Each Tuesday and Sunday, Taylor rounds up this week’s best new music with the New Music Discovery Show. Here’s one of our favourites.

Portugal. The Man – “What, Me Worry?”

Grammy award-winners Portugal. The Man have shared the first single off their forthcoming album. On Tuesday, the band released “What, Me Worry?”.

On the inspiration behind the song, guitarist and lead singer John Gourley shared, “While recording this album and hanging in LA, we got into a conversation with [producers] Jeff Bhasker and Ryan Tedder about how much we missed laughter. The last few years it’s been so easy to forget the fun in what we do. We talked about childhood memories of laughing at the world and ourselves while flipping through Mad Magazine. We missed those days and remembered that we all make music. So we took that afternoon to make a song about it.”

The band is celebrating the launch of their new initiative, PTM’s NIGHT OUT. In specific markets, the band supports disabled fans requiring ADA access by providing transportation to and from the show, concierge escorts throughout the venue, in addition to gifted merchandise and a special meet-and-greet.

When they announced the program, guitarist Eric Howk shared,

“I toured the country on two legs for 10 years of my life without ever giving a single thought to accessibility. I played basements and balconies, pavilions, and grandstands. I dragged amplifiers up and downstairs and took access for granted. Then, at 25, I fell down a hole and became a complete T4 paraplegic in an instant.

Since that moment, many things in my life have changed, but touring has remained a constant in my life. As a wheelchair user, and a believer that music is the great equalizer in humanity, I have come to understand that many of the venues that I play are not accessible or welcoming to people across the disability spectrum.

In many situations, I have found that sourcing accessible tickets to events is prohibitively difficult, and even then, merely the tip of the iceberg of considerations that must be made. Transportation to and from the venue, access to water and concessions, access to restrooms, obstructions to lines-of-sight from audience to stage – these are just a few of the logistics that many people in the disability community juggle each time they plan on seeing their favorite artists.

Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody was out there making sure that all these factors were considered? Wouldn’t it be great just to relax and enjoy the show?”

Later this month, Portugal. The Man will head out on tour with Alt-J. The only two Canadian dates include Vancouver and Toronto.