“I don’t know if I’ve evolved,” laughs Andrew McKeag, “but I’ve gotten better at the one thing I know how to do.”

A true rock n’ roll lifer, McKeag has worn multiple musical hats over the decades, including session guitarist, guitar tech, road manager and club booker. But the man’s true calling is singing and playing amp-frying, asphalt-searing, noise complaint-inducing, ‘70s-damaged guitar rock — something he’s been doing for years with the raucous likes of Uncle Joe’s Big Ol’ Driver, The Presidents of the United States of America, Hard Roller, Huge Spacebird, Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, and currently as bassist with Neko Case.

Over the years, Andrew has shared stages and riffs with numerous world-famous musicians, including Bo Diddley and Javier Escovdeo, and his Seattle 70s rock cover band 70 Proof has featured appearances from Duff McKagan (Guns N‘ Roses), Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) plus members of Mother Love Bone, Supersuckers, and more. His debut, self-titled Andrew McKeag Band album boasted guest appearances from Zakk Wylde, Brad Whitford of Aerosmith, and Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks, Joe Strummer, Thelonious Monster).

And now Andrew’s back with another ecstatic blast of swaggering sounds — Highway Dust, the forthcoming second album from the Andrew McKeag Band. Produced and engineered by Mike Butler (whose credits include the wide-ranging likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Ray LaMontagne, The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash and the animated children’s TV show Batwheels), Highway Dust just may be the best record McKeag has waxed to date.

The first single from Highway Dust is the cinematic title track, a yearning ode to the open road that takes McKeag’s dual-exhaust roar and rides it deep into shoegaze territory, where melodies cruise and tumble, amid hypnotic surging guitar and the sound of a Moog synthesizer.

“I’ve always loved My Bloody Valentine and that Spiritualized kind of psych thing,” he says, “But I’ve never tried to do it in my way. So that was kind of my way of taking, like, Aerosmith and My Bloody Valentine, and sort of cramming them together. It’s a total vibe song, and we layered it with a Moog that Mike had borrowed. We probably used it more than we should have — but once we started finding the right tones on it, everything just sounded so thick and killer!”

As Andrew explains, lyrical influence for the song came from his time spent on the open road. “Big, long lonely drives through dusty landscapes figure mightily in this song! I ride and race motorcycles for fun, and I work in a motorcycle shop when I’m not touring. I do lots of bike deliveries, so I’m on the road quite a bit driving through the deserts of California, Arizona, and Nevada.”