Lenny Kaye has announced his debut solo record, Goin’ Local, which will be out 17th July 2026 via Yep Roc Records. At 79, the punk pioneer and “godfather of garage rock” steps forward with a deeply personal collection, written over the course of many years, piecing together a lifetime of experiences and expansive musical language to find his truest voice. “I feel like I’m a new artist,” says Kaye. “I think this album will surprise those who think they know me from what I’ve done previously.”
In a career spanning more than half a century, Kaye has remained defiantly uncategorisable. The longest-serving member of the Patti Smith Group, he has also curated the genuinely legendary and game-changing garage rock anthology Nuggets– co-wrote Waylon Jennings’ autobiography, penned music to Allen Ginsberg’s poetry alongside Paul McCartney and Philip Glass – and produced projects for Suzanne Vega, Soul Asylum, Jessi Colter and more.
On Goin’ Local, Kaye calls upon several longtime collaborators, including Patti Smith, who co-wrote Solstice, continuing a half-century-long creative partnership behind some of their most iconic work. Additional collaborators include jazz pianist Matthew Shipp, Railroad Earth’s Tim Carbone, The Jayhawks’ John Jackson and multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield (Bob Dylan, T-Bone Burnett, Lucinda Williams).
The twelve-song collection finds Kaye embracing his expansive musical sensibility, while marking his most autobiographical and introspective turn yet. You can pre-save / pre-order Goin’ Local here.
The album’s title track has been released as a single with Kaye saying, “I’ve always loved the local, its intimacy and camaraderie…I feel that the truest Goin’ Local is the privilege to go inside my own head and hear how I sound to me”.
