Down the Road Wherever

Down the Road Wherever is the ninth solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 16 November 2018 by British Grove Records via Virgin EMI in the UK and via Blue Note in the US.

Overview
The album was announced in a press release, which called it a collection of "unhurriedly elegant new Knopfler songs inspired by a wide range of subjects, including his early days in Deptford with Dire Straits, a stray football fan lost in a strange town, the compulsion of a musician hitching home through the snow, and a man out of time in his local greasy spoon." The 14 songs were also called "slow and elegant".

Musicians who play on the album include Jim Cox and Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Nigel Hitchcock on saxophone, Glenn Worf on bass guitar, Danny Cummings on percussion and Ian Thomas on drums. Imelda May also provides backing vocals.

A music video for the first single, "Good on You Son", was released in September.

Release
Down the Road Wherever was made available in a variety of formats, including on CD, 2×LP and in a box set; the box set includes the preceding two formats as well as a 12-inch EP including four extra tracks. The deluxe CD inserts two bonus tracks before the final standard edition track, "Matchstick Man". Lyrics for the 20th song, "Back in the Day", were released online and printed in the 2019 tourbook but the song was never released as it was withdrawn.

Personnel
Musicians
 * Mark Knopfler – guitars, vocals
 * Richard Bennett – guitars
 * Glenn Worf – upright and electric bass
 * Guy Fletcher – keyboards
 * Jim Cox – keyboards
 * Ian Thomas – drums
 * Danny Cummings – percussion

Additional musicians
 * Lance Ellington – background vocalist
 * Beverley Skeete – background vocalist
 * Katie Kissoon – background vocalist
 * Kris Drever - background vocalist
 * Imelda May - background vocalist
 * Nigel Hitchcock – tenor saxophone
 * Tom Walsh – trumpet
 * Trevor Mires – trombone
 * John McCusker – fiddle
 * Mike McGoldrick – whistle
 * Robbie McIntosh – guitar

Production
 * Engineers: Guy Fletcher, Martin Hollis
 * Assistant engineers: Rowan McIntosh, Jason Elliot, Andy Cook, Poppy Kavanagh, Josh Tyrell