Post by tcb on Jan 21, 2004 17:53:30 GMT -5
BR549 RETURN WITH A PASSION ON TANGLED IN THE PINES MARCH 9
New lineup and new partnership with Dualtone Records energizes Nashville honky tonkers
Nashville, Tenn. (January 21, 2004) -- Meet the new BR549. Energized by the enthusiasm of two new members, the reconstituted goodtime honky tonk band returns with their most focused, most original album of their careers.
Tangled in the Pines, the band's first album on Dualtone Records (streetdate: March 9) and sixth overall, features everything fans and critics love about BR549: ramped-up country dance floor rave-ups and witty romps about the travails of life, love and the pursuit of the perfect shuffle beat. For the first time, the band has been allowed to record a complete album of its own original tunes. The result makes for a distinctive, contemporary album that maintains the infectious fun and timeless traditionalism that has always been the band's trademark.
"We finally got to make the album we always wanted to do,"says Chuck Mead, BR549's congenial singer and guitarist. "We've always been a band that wrote a lot of songs, but people always loved our cover songs, too. We thought now was a good time to focus on our own music."
The result draws on the traditional sounds the band loves, but Tangled in the Pines is a modern album that honors country music by bringing it into the 21st Century with its soul and spirit intact. "We've never considered ourselves a retro band," Mead says. "We see ourselves as we're a modern-sounding band that writes songs with a contemporary point of view. This is what we think country music should sound like in this day and age -- which may be different than what Music Row thinks country music is. But that's always been our point of view."
The album comes after a period of transition that found Mead, drummer Shaw Wilson and multi-instrumental ace Don Herron regrouping after the departure of original members Gary Bennett and Jay McDowell. "We all are still great friends," Mead explains. "It's just that they both got tired of the road and wanted to stay home and pursue other things. We're all completely supportive of each other still."
Guitarist/vocalist Chris Scruggs and bassist Geoff Firebaugh began sitting in with Mead, Wilson and Herron in late 2001 during loose-limbed evenings when the remaining members of BR549 were playing for fun as the Hillbilly All-Stars at a downtown Nashville honky tonk. Conceived in a moment of late-night spontaneity, the new configuration created an exuberant, kick-up-your-heels sound reminiscent of the legendary shows BR549 put on in its formative years. So Mead and his compatriots decided to keep the band going under a revised lineup featuring Scruggs and Firebaugh.
"Their enthusiasm for the music really lit the fire back in all of us," Mead says. "They love the music, and they're both great musicians, and they were having so much fun that it reminded the rest of us of how incredible it is to be able to play music you love every night."
Mead also says the Tangled Up in the Pines benefited from the experience he gained co-producing two tribute albums, Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash and Lonesome, On'ry and Mean: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings, both released on Dualtone Records.
"I learned a lot about working in the studio and recording good songs by working on those albums," he says. "I felt more secure going into the studio and doing the album more live, without over-worrying everything. The result is more true to what we sound like as a band than our previous records. It's just experience: We were more comfortable in the studio and we knew what we were doing. It really made a big difference."
Mead became familiar with Dualtone Records through the tribute albums. Much of the staff consists of former staffers of Arista Records, the label that first signed BR549, and the combination of working with old friends while having the freedom of an independent company was real attractive to the band.
"At this point we all know what it takes to make it work," Mead says. "The band has a good combination of veterans and new blood. We have those of us with the experience to keep us out of trouble, and we have the excitement of having young, new members who love what we do. We're out to prove ourselves all over again."
He's also eager for people to hear what the new lineup has created. "Not only do we think it's our best album," Mead says, "but we also think our fans will think that we've finally made the album they've always wanted us to make."
www.br5-49.com
SPRING TOUR DATES
Feb 26 / Indianapolis / 8 Seconds
Feb 27 / Cleveland / Beachland Ballroom
Feb 28 / Lexington / The Dome
March 5 / Verona, NY / Turning Stone
March 6 / Washington DC / 9:30 Club
March 7 / Philadelphia / TLA
March 9 / Pittsburgh / Bynum Theatre
** March 10 / New York City / Irving Plaza **
March 12 / Detroit / Majestic Theatre
March 13 / Chicago / Park West
March 14 / Minneapolis / Fine Line
** March 18 / Austin / Antone's **
March 19 / Helotes, TX / Floore's Country Store
March 20 / Houston / Continental Club
March 21 / Dallas / tba
West Coast in April!
New lineup and new partnership with Dualtone Records energizes Nashville honky tonkers
Nashville, Tenn. (January 21, 2004) -- Meet the new BR549. Energized by the enthusiasm of two new members, the reconstituted goodtime honky tonk band returns with their most focused, most original album of their careers.
Tangled in the Pines, the band's first album on Dualtone Records (streetdate: March 9) and sixth overall, features everything fans and critics love about BR549: ramped-up country dance floor rave-ups and witty romps about the travails of life, love and the pursuit of the perfect shuffle beat. For the first time, the band has been allowed to record a complete album of its own original tunes. The result makes for a distinctive, contemporary album that maintains the infectious fun and timeless traditionalism that has always been the band's trademark.
"We finally got to make the album we always wanted to do,"says Chuck Mead, BR549's congenial singer and guitarist. "We've always been a band that wrote a lot of songs, but people always loved our cover songs, too. We thought now was a good time to focus on our own music."
The result draws on the traditional sounds the band loves, but Tangled in the Pines is a modern album that honors country music by bringing it into the 21st Century with its soul and spirit intact. "We've never considered ourselves a retro band," Mead says. "We see ourselves as we're a modern-sounding band that writes songs with a contemporary point of view. This is what we think country music should sound like in this day and age -- which may be different than what Music Row thinks country music is. But that's always been our point of view."
The album comes after a period of transition that found Mead, drummer Shaw Wilson and multi-instrumental ace Don Herron regrouping after the departure of original members Gary Bennett and Jay McDowell. "We all are still great friends," Mead explains. "It's just that they both got tired of the road and wanted to stay home and pursue other things. We're all completely supportive of each other still."
Guitarist/vocalist Chris Scruggs and bassist Geoff Firebaugh began sitting in with Mead, Wilson and Herron in late 2001 during loose-limbed evenings when the remaining members of BR549 were playing for fun as the Hillbilly All-Stars at a downtown Nashville honky tonk. Conceived in a moment of late-night spontaneity, the new configuration created an exuberant, kick-up-your-heels sound reminiscent of the legendary shows BR549 put on in its formative years. So Mead and his compatriots decided to keep the band going under a revised lineup featuring Scruggs and Firebaugh.
"Their enthusiasm for the music really lit the fire back in all of us," Mead says. "They love the music, and they're both great musicians, and they were having so much fun that it reminded the rest of us of how incredible it is to be able to play music you love every night."
Mead also says the Tangled Up in the Pines benefited from the experience he gained co-producing two tribute albums, Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash and Lonesome, On'ry and Mean: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings, both released on Dualtone Records.
"I learned a lot about working in the studio and recording good songs by working on those albums," he says. "I felt more secure going into the studio and doing the album more live, without over-worrying everything. The result is more true to what we sound like as a band than our previous records. It's just experience: We were more comfortable in the studio and we knew what we were doing. It really made a big difference."
Mead became familiar with Dualtone Records through the tribute albums. Much of the staff consists of former staffers of Arista Records, the label that first signed BR549, and the combination of working with old friends while having the freedom of an independent company was real attractive to the band.
"At this point we all know what it takes to make it work," Mead says. "The band has a good combination of veterans and new blood. We have those of us with the experience to keep us out of trouble, and we have the excitement of having young, new members who love what we do. We're out to prove ourselves all over again."
He's also eager for people to hear what the new lineup has created. "Not only do we think it's our best album," Mead says, "but we also think our fans will think that we've finally made the album they've always wanted us to make."
www.br5-49.com
SPRING TOUR DATES
Feb 26 / Indianapolis / 8 Seconds
Feb 27 / Cleveland / Beachland Ballroom
Feb 28 / Lexington / The Dome
March 5 / Verona, NY / Turning Stone
March 6 / Washington DC / 9:30 Club
March 7 / Philadelphia / TLA
March 9 / Pittsburgh / Bynum Theatre
** March 10 / New York City / Irving Plaza **
March 12 / Detroit / Majestic Theatre
March 13 / Chicago / Park West
March 14 / Minneapolis / Fine Line
** March 18 / Austin / Antone's **
March 19 / Helotes, TX / Floore's Country Store
March 20 / Houston / Continental Club
March 21 / Dallas / tba
West Coast in April!
