Cliff Westfall

Baby You Win

New album, Baby You Win, out July 13.

New York-based, Kentucky-bred songwriter Cliff Westfall can make you laugh out loud or cry in your beer – sometimes in the same song. Whether delivering an uptempo country shuffle or a sentimental weeper, he dives headlong into tales of heartache, loss and addiction, transforming them into hook-laden gems with a mixture of cleverness and bravado. Indeed, for Westfall, that transformation is central to what country music is all about.

New York-based country songwriter Cliff Westfall writes songs about heartache, loss, addiction… you know, funny songs. Or he can turn on a dime and dive headlong into a sentimental weeper. The Kentucky native delivers with a mixture of wit and bravado that, for Westfall, is central to what country music is all about. On his new album, Baby You Win, he’s assembled a crew of some of New York’s best musicians to explore a new idea of Americana, drawing inspiration from sources often forgotten by the current country scene. 

Learn more / download one sheet


Baby you win - new album out now


riyl | Dwight yoAkam | rodney crowell | nick lowe | robbie fulks

Baby You Win was produced by Bryce Goggin (Pavement, the Ramones, Antony and the Johnsons, Evan Dando, Phish, Akron Family) and Graham Norwood at Trout Recording in Brooklyn, NY and features:

  • Electric guitar: Scott Metzger (Shooter Jennings, Wolf!, Phil Lesh, Joe Russo's Almost Dead)

  • Electric and acoustic guitar, harmony vocals: Graham Norwood (Bryan Scary, Ward White)

  • Pedal steel: Dan Iead (Norah Jones, Valerie June, Cass McCombs)

  • Bass: Jeremy Chatzky (Ronnie Spector, Bruce Springsteen, Laura Cantrell)

  • Drums: David Christian (Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse, Mary Timony's Helium, Sam Cohen, Hospitality, Sweet Cream)

  • Keyboards: Charlie Giordano (Bruce Springsteen)

  • Guest harmonies from Matthew Horn (A Don Piper Situation) on "Sweet Tooth," "Hanging On," and "The Man I Used to Be."

  • Guest harmonies from Barbara Endes (Girls on Grass) on "A Lie If You Must."

If you'd like a physical copy, please reach out to Devon Léger at Hearth Music/HearthPR: devon@hearthmusic.com.



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Recent News and Highlights:


Hot damn. I don’t know who the hell Cliff Westfall is or where he’s been hiding out for so many years, but he just released a hot shit country record that will whip the pants off of most others released this year and many from years prior, and get you making room on your list of favorite artists...You will not be able to get enough of Baby You Win, and it will continue to impress you at every turn.
— Saving Country Music, 9/10 review
He writes songs that partake of the clever wordplay and sharp romantic wit that were the stock in trade of country songwriters 60 years ago, and he plays and sings them (accompanied by the cream of New York City’s Americana session-player crop) in a sweet, clear voice that you could listen to all day. What this is, is country music. The very best kind of country music.
— Rick Anderson, CD HotList
In the current country landscape, Cliff Westfall’s music is a refreshing breeze. Drawing influence from the timeless hooks and unmatched wit of artists like Roger Miller and Chuck Berry, Westfall incorporates a dose of old-school know-how into his art. The broad scope of his retro roots ingenuity can be felt on his new album, Baby You Win, set to be released on 13 July. As it were, some of the most cunning and richly melodic country to grace us in the genre’s contemporary era comes from a singer-songwriter who hails from the Big Apple.
— PopMatters
The joint will be jumpin’ when you play this album from Kentucky-born, New York-based country artist Cliff Westfall, whose strong ensemble includes Bruce Springsteen keyboardist Charlie Giordano. Westfall combines witty lyrics with a back-to-basics approach that variously recalls such artists as the Flatlanders, Dwight Yoakam, and Gram Parsons. His skillfully crafted songs—a mix of up tempo toe-tappers and weepy ballads—are loaded with addictive hooks and evidence of the artist’s love of wordplay.
— No Depression
This is a stylish release, right down to the artwork which is just made for vinyl, and is a fine example of honky tonk that rocks in all the right ways. The guitar work is impressive and yet does exactly what it needs to do. This is the sort of thing I found really exciting when I was first getting into country music and it’s the kind of thing I always enjoy in a live setting.
— Country Music People Magazine, "Album of the Month," 5 star review
If a man is known by the company he keeps, then Cliff Westfall is a saint. Albeit in a country/rock sinner sort of way. The New York-based, Kentucky-bred singer/songwriter surrounded himself with a who’s-who of musicians’ musicians for new album Baby You Win...Recorded in just nine days, Baby You Win showcases Westfall’s keen ability to take the best bits of country and rock past and modernize (but not sterilize) them.
— Magnet
We are lucky today to be in a world where quality independent country music is the strongest it has been for decades, possibly ever…You can add Cliff Westfall’s album, Baby You Win, to that list. Packed with classic honky tonk sounds, with a production that manages to feel fresh and bygone at the same time, Baby You Win is reverential without falling into the trap of pastiche. Westfall’s lyrics are finely honed, at times wonderfully humorous, at others heart breaking, as only real a country songs can be.
— Whiskey Preachin'
If Elvis Costello had made an album of original country songs, it would have sounded something like this. The country crooner and songwriter writes period-perfect, aphoristic honkytonk and Nashville gothic tunes...
— New York Music Daily

Southern US tour coming in Spring 2024!