THE HOWLIN’ BROTHERS TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM TROUBLE
APRIL 29 IN THE U.S. AND CANADA
A year after the release of their
critically acclaimed HOWL,
acoustic trio with indie edge returns
with 13 new original songs.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Howlin’ Brothers had a very good year in 2013, following the release of HOWL, their first nationally and
internationally released album.
HOWL, featuring Warren Haynes (on one track,
“Big Time”), brought instant success to the band. In one year they graced the
cover of Acoustic Guitar magazine’s
January 2014 issue; recorded in the legendary Sun Studio; were featured in a
national PBS show (The Sun Sessions,
which will broadcast throughout 2014 in more than 100 markets); shared the stage
with Grammy® winner Ricky Skaggs; placed on over 17 end-of-year “best of”
lists, and reached #6 on the Americana Music radio chart (was also #30 on that
year-end chart, the highest charting position by an act/artist new to the
format last year). The trio toured their brand of “old-time string country
blues with an indie-rock edge” throughout the U.S. and into Canada. The
majority of the 13 original songs that comprise Trouble were influenced by the people they met and struggles they
encountered on the road over the past year.
Trouble was produced and engineered by indie
rocker Brendan Benson of
The Raconteurs and solo career fame. It will be released on CD and digitally
April 29th via Benson’s independent label Readymade Records (in the U.S.), and
distributed by Thirty Tigers/RED. In Canada, it will be released via Dine Alone
Records, and distributed by Universal. It will be released throughout Europe
via CRS on April 28th. The vinyl configuration will follow on May 27th in
the U.S. and Canada, and on May 26th throughout Europe.
Benson describes Trouble as “effortless artistry . . . woebegone, lovelorn and
wrought with pain, but not without installments of lightheartedness and beauty,
downtrodden and then uplifted.” He adds, “The Howlin’ Brothers are somehow able
to conjure images of a bygone era and make it believable. Trouble is all over the map and I don’t just mean
figuratively. The listener gets a glimpse into the troubadour lifestyle,
traveling (among other places) to Louisiana for a Cajun romp on the bayou and
across the Arizona desert to California on a search for a misses. It’s a
journey very much worth the while. Hoooowwwwllll!”
Benson continues: “The Howlin’ Brothers live the
life they sing about in their songs. They are authentic and the real deal
through and through. On top of that, they are the hardest working
musicians I've come across. They play their instruments every waking moment and are truly possessed by
music.”
Amidst all the touring and other activities the
guys did to support HOWL,
Brother Jared Green got married and became a dad, making the time away from
home even harder for him. But every night on stage he brings the joy of playing
and dancing to the music alive. His Taylor guitar is almost as worn as Willie
Nelson’s famous guitar “Trigger,” with its extra sound hole created by too much
pickin’. In addition to playing guitar, harmonica, dancing’ up a storm and
singing, Brother Jared is an accomplished piano player (check out his playing
on “Tennessee Blues” from The Sun
Studio Session EP). He sings lead vocals on the songs he wrote:
“Monroe,” “Pack Up Joe” and “Hard Times”.
According to Green, “The songs on Trouble are very different from one
another. It’s a collection of beautiful music influenced from personal
experience. We tend to write songs separately and collaborate after a
melody or lyrics are fully thought. Trouble is a gumbo of stories that we hope the whole world will
hear. It was a blast working with Brendan Benson again, getting as far out
sonically as we could dream of, all in the midst of having a brand new
baby and coming right off the road from a busy year. A time of my life I
will never forget.”
TROUBLE TRACK LISTING:
1. Pour It Down
2. Boogie
3. Night and Day
4. Monroe
5. World Spinning Round
6. Troubled Waltz
7. Sing a Sad Song
8. Pack Up Joe
9. Love
10. Hard Times
11. I Was Wrong
12. Louisiana
13. Yes I Am!
He adds: "HOWL received
great reviews from all over the world. I am still impressed by the
overwhelmingly positive response it has received. We toured our asses off
in 2013 gaining much insight into ourselves and the world we live in. It
is beautiful to see people from all walks of life getting down to our music and
it’s a wonderful feeling knowing that we are growing our fan base.”
Trouble’s songs touch on lots of experiences from each
side of the same coin in the band’s life. Though these guys have more depth and
dimension than just two sides as people, players, and songwriters. Their
individual strengths combine in the bands’ whole in ways that really do
solidify their bond as musical brothers. They all met in college up in Ithaca,
N.Y. and migrated to Nashville, Tenn. Afterwards, where they immersed
themselves further in the Southern music they love and began to further hone
their craft. Prior to HOWL (2013),
they self released four albums - Tragic
Mountain Songs (2007), Long
Hard Year (2009), Baker St.
Blues (2011), and a very limited edition compilation of live
performances, Old Time All the Time (2012).
These previous releases had been sold exclusively at shows, however they may
become available on the band’s website sometime in 2014. An old-time
pickin' party and the wash tub bass led to them meeting Brendan Benson, who
later tapped them to perform on a Cory Chisel record he was producing, soon
after Brendan & the guys teamed up to create HOWL.
They ended their HOWL Tour in style last year opening for and then participating in
the Brendan Benson & Friends benefit concert (for The David Lynch
Foundation) at The Ryman Auditorium in late December. They will reprise the
same role on the 2014 version of this show in London at Shepherd’s Bush this
coming October 11th.
Brother Ben Plasse plays stand-up bass and sings
lead vocals on the songs he wrote: “Boogie”, “Love”, "Troubled
Waltz” and “Louisiana”.
“HOWL was
very well received, and I think we owe a lot of that to great bands like the
Carolina Chocolate Drops and Old Crow Medicine Show among others, who paved the
way for a new generation of string bands to have success. It’s a beautiful
thing to see so many young bands making music on fiddles and banjos.”
Brother Ian Craft plays banjo, fiddle, mandolin,
and sings lead vocals on the songs he wrote: “Pour It Down,” “Night and
Day,” “Sing a Sad Song,” “World Spinning Round,” “I Was Wrong” and “Yes I Am!”
Craft says: "Trouble
is an awesome recipe for tasty sounds your ears will be happy to take
the journey with us from Jays songs of love and Cajun food to Ben’s travels to
get a mojo hand and find the girl who has yet to present herself, to my
tunes of love gone wrong and finally a little moment in an old church on top of
a smoky ole Tennessee mountain top.”
In the fall of 2013, The Howlin’ Brothers
recorded and digitally released The Sun Studio Session EP in
the U.S. and Canada. Recorded as part of the PBS series The Sun Studio Sessions, this six-song collection features four new
originals (one of which, “Troubled Waltz,” was re-recorded for TROUBLE), a re-record of “Tennessee
Blues” (from HOWL), and a cover of
the Carl Perkins' classic “Dixie Fried.” A limited edition vinyl pressing
will also be released via independent music stores on May 27th in the U.S. and
Canada as well, and the EP will also be released in Europe on July 7 in
CD, digital, and vinyl. Their segment (#8) of the PBS show has already
begun airing and will be broadcast on TV in as many as 100 markets throughout
this year in the U.S. The guys treated the opportunity to record in that
historic studio with respect and really captured the spirit & tradition of
those famous early rock ’n’ roll recordings that helped change the music world,
by breathing new life into the process — adding subtle modern touches via their
own influences and vision.
This EP was a bridge between HOWL and Trouble and is worth seeking out for all who dig those old Sun recordings and fans of
The Howlin’ Brothers alike. The legendary Sun Studio in Memphis is still a
going concern. A tourist destination during the day, the “Birthplace of Rock
’n’ Roll” often hosts sessions after hours with some of today’s best up and
coming acts.
The Howlin’ Brothers begin a Pledge Music
campaign the week of March 3 to help raise funds for a new van (so they can
keep touring), some videos & marketing help for Trouble, and to better fund their overall business efforts.
The Howlin' Brothers are:
Ian Craft (Banjo, Mandolin, Fiddle, Kick-drum,
Vocals)
Jared Green (Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Vocals)
Ben Plasse (Upright Bass, Vocals)
Special
guest artists on Trouble include:
Ricky Skaggs - mandolin on "Hard Times" and
"Sing a Sad Song"
Etta Britt (also Brother Jared’s mother-in-law) - Background vocals on
"Love" and "Yes I Am
Mike
Freid -
Pedal Steel on "World Spinning Round”
Gregg Stock - drums on “Sing A Sad Song"
Brendan Benson - Washtub Bass on “Boogie”
and background vocals on “Yes I Am!"
TOUR
DATES
Mon., March 3 NEW YORK, NY Rockwood Music Hall 2
Tues., March 4 TEANECK, NJ Mexicali Live
RELIX Magazine office performance/taping, 2 p.m.
Wed., March 5 WILMINGTON, DE World Cafe at the Queen World Cafe
Live; co- bill w/The Honeycutters
Thurs., March
6
WASHINGTON DC Gypsy Sally’s;
co-bill w/The Honeycutters
WAMU 88.5 FM interview
and performance taping, 4 p.m.
Fri., March
7 FREDERICK,
MD Weinberg Center for the
Arts co-bill
w/The Honeycutters and Steel Wheels
Sat., March 8 JOHNSON CITY, TN The Down Home
NOTE: webcast LIVE via ConcertWindow, HYPERLINK
"http://www.concertwindow.com/shows/3953-howlin-brothers"
Mon., March 10 LUFKIN, TX Standpipe Coffeehouse
Tues., March 11 ROUND ROCK, TX The Roost
KDRP 101.3 FM, on-air interview & performance, 5
p.m.
Wed., March 12 AUSTIN, TX SXSW Music & Media Conference
•Guitartown/Conqueroo Present
Kickoff 2014 The
Dogwood, 715 W. 6th St.
(outside stage), 1 p.m.
•KCA Artists official showcase Shotguns, 503 East 6th St., 1 a.m.
Thurs., March 13 AUSTIN, TX SXSW Music & Media Conference
•5th Annual Radio-thon, WLVR 91.3 FM, 2050 South Lamar, noon
•Lucy’s South By South Austin Fried Chicken
Revival, 2218 College Ave., 2
p.m.
•GRAMMY Museum presents Musical Milestones:
The Rolling Stones, Red Eye Fly, 715 Red River, 9:40
p.m.
•Readymade official showcase, Maggie
Mae’s Gibson Lounge, 512 Trinity Street,
midnight.
Fri., March 14 AUSTIN, TX SXSW Music & Media Conference
•Grand Ole Austin, Maria’s Taco Express, 2529 S. Lamar Blvd., 3:30 p.m.
•The Midway Foodpark, 1905 S. Capitol of Texas Hwy., 6 p.m.
Sat., March 15 WIMBERLEY, TX Blue Rock Studio Birthday
Party (private, 1:30 p.m.)
NOTE:
Though not open to the public, webcast live via ConcertWindow,
Sun., March 16
FT. COLLINS, CO Avogadro’s Number
Tues., March 18 BOISE, ID Neurolux
KRBX 89.9 FM,
Radio Boise presents … (t), on-air interview, performance TBD
NOTE: *
denotes McMenamin’s Great Northwest
Music Tour
Wed., March 19 BEND, OR Father Luke's Room at Old St. Francis
School *
Thurs., March 20 PORTLAND, OR Kennedy School Gymnasium *
Fri., March 21
GEARHART, OR Sand Trap Pub
at Gearhart Hotel *
Sat., March 22 McMINNVILLE, OR Mattie’s Room at Hotel Oregon *
Sun., March 23 PORTLAND, OR Lola’s Room at the Crystal Hotel *
Mon., March 24
KSMF Jefferson Public Radio interview and performance taping in Ashland, OR (air date TBD)
Tues., March 25 CENTRALIA, WA The Olympic Club Theater *
Wed., March 26 BAINBRIDGE ISLAND (SEATTLE),
WA Treehouse Cafe
Thurs.,
March 27 TROUTDALE, OR Edgefield Blackberry Hall *
Fri., March 28
FOREST GROVE, OR The Compass Room Theater at Grand Lodge*
Sat., March 29 BELLINGHAM, WA The Green Frog Acoustic Tavern
Sun., March 30
VANCOUVER, BC The Railway Club
Tues., April 1 MISSOULA, MT Missoula Winery
Wed., April 2 BOZEMAN, MT Live
From The Divide taping. NOTE: will
broadcast later on Montana
Public Radio
Thurs., April
3 (t) SALT LAKE CITY, UT or LINCOLN, NE TBD
Fri., April
4 DENVER, CO
Swallow Hill’s Cafe
Sat., April
5 KANSAS City, MO Knuckleheads Saloon
Sun., April
6 ST. LOUIS, MO Gramophone
Thurs., April 10 (t) ATLANTA, GA Smith’s Olde Bar
WDVX - FM, Blue Plate Special, noon.
(t)
Wildman Steve Radio taping, 2:30 p.m.
Fri., April
11
BROOKVILLE, FL Sertoma
Ranch/SpringBreak Festival
Sat., April 12 ATHENS, GA The World Famous
Tues., April 15 WSM 650 AM Morning Show,
on air interview and performance, 9:15
a.m.
Thurs., April 17 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK The Blue Door
Sat., April 19 CONROE (HOUSTON), TX Dosey Doe Music Café; opening
for The Black Lillies
Sun., April 20 AUSTIN, TX The Saxon Pub
Fri., April 25 INDIO, CA Empire Polo Field/Stagecoach Festival
Sat., May 3 CARBONDALE, IL Tres Hombres
Sun., May 4 NASHVILLE, TN 3rd & Lindsay, 8 p.m. Broadcast live on
WRLT 100 FM, Radio Lighting
Fri., May 16 GETTYSBURG, PA Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival
Fri., May 23 ALBANY, NY
The Linda
Fri., May 30 GOSHEN, IN
Ignition Music
Sat., May 31 LOUISVILLE, KY Decca Restaurant
Sat., June 14 PALISADE, CO Riverbend
Park/The Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Festival
Fri., Aug. 22 LAWNDALE, NC Clear
Mountain View Music Festival
Fri., Oct. 10 LONDON, UK Shepherd’s Bush
Empire Brendan Benson & Friends,
a
benefit for the David Lynch Foundation.
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