“Doug Gillard record? Would that in any way interest you?”

That was a text I received from Tom Beaujour, recording engineer, guitarist, songwriter, author, and one of our favorite people, back in April of 2025.

Doug Gillard wrote “I Am A Tree.” He’s been the guitarist in Guided by Voices for ten years, and also played with them between 1997 and 2004. Inbetween, he played with Nada Surf, playing lead guitar on the band’s excellent LP The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy. He’s played with Cobra Verde and Gem, and plays in Bambi Kino. He’s also collaborated with a ton of other indie artists. He’s one of Rolling Stone‘s 250 greatest guitarists of all time.

Yes, it would interest us.

Fast forward almost a year, and we’re beside ourselves to announce the forthcoming release of Parallel Stride, Doug’s fifth solo album (plus two EPs and a few singles), and his first in more than a decade.

It’s a pretty phenomenal album, chock full of gorgeous power pop hooks and tasteful-yet-amazing guitar work. Doug plays almost all the instruments on the album, with drum help from a number of friends. Co-produced by Doug and our good pal Tom Beaujour, the official street date is April 24, but you can preorder it now on vinyl, CD, or the high-res digital format of your choice. We’ve also got super-limited red and black “swirl” vinyl, available at our web store only. We’re limiting those to 100 copies, so order quick!