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Trombone Shorty's new album opens with a dirge, but if you think the beloved bandleader, singer, songwriter and horn-blower born Troy Andrews came here to mourn, you got it all wrong. That bit of beautiful New Orleans soul—"Laveau Dirge No. 1," named after one of the city's most famous voodoo queens—shows off our host's roots before Parking Lot Symphony branches out wildly, wonderfully, funkily across 12 diverse cuts. True to its title, this album contains multitudes of sound—from brass band blare and deep-groove funk, to bluesy beauty and hip-hop/pop swagger—and plenty of emotion all anchored, of course, by stellar playing and the idea that, even in the toughest of times, as Andrews says, "Music brings unity."

As for why it's taken Andrews so long to follow 2013's Raphael Saadiq-produced Say That to Say This, the man simply says, "I didn't realize so much time passed. Some artists don't work until they put a record out but I never stopped going." Truly. In the last four years, Andrews banked his fifth White House gig; backed Macklemore and Madonna at the Grammys; played on albums by She & Him, Zac Brown, Dierks Bentley, and Mark Ronson; opened tours for Daryl Hall & John Oates and Red Hot Chili Peppers; appeared in Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways documentary series; voiced the iconic sound of the adult characters in The Peanuts Movie; inherited the esteemed annual fest-closing set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in the tradition of Crescent City greats like the Neville Brothers and Professor Longhair; and released Trombone Shorty, a children's book about his life that was named a Caldecott Honor Book in 2016.

Adding to that legacy, his Blue Note Records debut Parking Lot Symphony finds Andrews teamed with Grammy-nominated producer Chris Seefried (Andra Day, Fitz and the Tantrums) and an unexpected array of cowriters and players including members of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Meters, Better Than Ezra, and Dumpstaphunk. Considering Andrews' relentless schedule, it's all the more surprising that this LP began with him in a room, all alone, back in New Orleans.

"I had two weeks at home so I went to the studio and set up the 'playground,'" he recalls. "I had everything in a circle: tuba, trombone, trumpet, keyboard, Fender Rhodes, Wurly, B3 organ, guitar, bass, drums—and me buried in the middle." He recorded an album's worth of ideas and then, well, walked away for a year. Not because he was too busy, but because he wanted to hit the road and see how the music changed on him. When Andrews came back with a full band, the songs came to life.

Take the album's two covers, a pair of NOLA deep cuts: there's "Here Comes the Girls," a 1970 Allen Toussaint song originally recorded by Ernie K-Doe that here (with Ivan Neville on piano) sounds bawdy and regal, like something from a current Bruno Mars album; and The Meters' lovesick "It Ain't No Use," which swirls a vintage R&B vibe with resonant choir vocals and upbeat guitar from The Meters' Leo Nocentelli himself to transport the listener to the center of the jumpingest jazz-soul concert hall that never was.

The story there is almost too good. The session band—guitarist Pete Murano, sax men Dan Oestreicher and BK Jackson, and drummer Joey Peebles with Dumpstaphunk's Tony Hall in for Orleans Avenue bassist Mike Bass-Bailey—were in the studio to lay down "It Ain't No Use." Hall even had the vintage acoustic he bought from Nocentelli years ago, which was used on the original Meters session. On the way to the bathroom, Andrews saw Nocentelli coming out of a different tracking room: it was meant to be. 

But that's not unusual for a man raised in one of the Tremé's most musical families. Andrews got his name when he picked up his instrument at four ("My parents pushed me toward trombone because they didn't need another trumpet player," he laughs). By eight, he led his own band in parades, halls and even bars: "They'd have to lock the door so the police couldn't come in." Promoters would try to hand money to his older cousins, but they'd kindly redirect them to the boy. In his teens, Andrews played shows abroad with the Neville Brothers. Fresh out of high school (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) he joined Lenny Kravitz' band. 

Across that time, three Trombone Shorty albums and many collaborations since, Andrews nurtured a voracious appetite for all types of music—a phenomenon on fluid display with Parking Lot Symphony. On "Familiar," co-written by Aloe Blacc, they practically mint a new genre (trap-funk?) while Andrews channels his inner R. Kelly to spit game at an old flame. Meanwhile, the instrumental "Tripped Out Slim" (the nickname of a family friend who recently passed) bends echoes of the Pink Panther theme into something fit for James Brown to strut to. And if you listen closely to "Where It At?," written with Better Than Ezra's Kevin Griffin, you may even hear a little Y2K pop. "I know it wasn't cool to listen to *NSYNC or Britney Spears in high school," says Andrews, "but those bass lines and melodies are funky." They pair astonishingly well with all the Earth, Wind & Fire that bubbles beneath these songs.

It's worth noting that Andrews' vocals sound better than ever (he credits Seefried for that), because Parking Lot Symphony might be the man's most heartfelt offering yet. The breezy title track, which Andrews wrote with Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros), is as much about walking the Tremé, being uplifted by the music that seems to seep from every surface, as it is about moving on from a broken heart. And the shuffling, bluesy "No Good Time" reminds us, with a world-weary smile, that "nobody never learned nothin' from no good time."

But Andrews is clear that this isn't some kind of breakup record. "It's a life record," he says, "about prevailing no matter what type of roadblock is in front of you." That message is clearest on "Dirty Water," where over an easy groove, Andrews adopts a soft falsetto to address just about anyone going through it—personal, political, whatever. "There's a lot of hope turning to doubt," he coos. "I've got something to say to them / You don't know what you're talking about / When you believe in love, it all works out." Amen. Now let the horns play us out.

www.tromboneshorty.com

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On The War On Drugs’ 2017 album A Deeper Understanding, Adam Granduciel sang about wanting to “find what can’t be found.” In a way, the history of this band has been a chronicle of their frontman’s ongoing search for greater meaning. Along the way, they’ve grown with each record. In the aftermath of A Deeper Understanding, they won a Grammy for Best Rock Album. The New Yorker called them “the best American ‘rock’ band of this decade.” Even The Rolling Stones recognized Granduciel’s talents, inviting him to remix their long lost collaboration with Jimmy Page, “Scarlet,” which was previously an unreleased gem from Goats Head Soup.

By any metric, The War On Drugs have made it. They are now firmly embedded in the classic rock lineage. And yet the quest for that ineffable something continues. In practical terms, Granduciel was facing a familiar quandary as work began on the new War On Drugs album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, in early 2018: What next?

Looking ahead, he was staring down his 40th birthday. He was on the verge of starting a family. And then there was the extended brotherhood of The War On Drugs, who had just spent many months on the road gelling into an excellent live act, as documented on 2020’s Live Drugs. In the 2010s, they had put out three classic studio albums in a row. But now it was time for a new statement for a new decade.

When he reflects on the making of I Don’t Live Here Anymore, Granduciel is quick to talk about the contributions of his bandmates as well as his trusted co-producer and engineer, Shawn Everett. That doesn’t exactly square with how we normally talk about this band. Granduciel typically is portrayed as the loner studio genius diligently pursuing the creation of heartland rock masterpieces. Think back to the cover of their 2014 breakthrough Lost In The Dream, in which we see the band’s leader standing in profile, looking pensive but determined.

But the moments that stand out most from the creation of I Don’t Live Here Anymore aren’t the solitary ones. For Granduciel, the new songs brought him back to the very community he had forged with his band.

“It just reminded me of all the things I love about making music,” he says, “collaborating with my friends, and letting everybody shine.”

As Granduciel sings in “Harmonia’s Dream” — one of the most anthemic tracks from an album positively bursting with them — “sometimes forwards is the only way back.” For The War On Drugs, the path forward started with paring back to the core of Granduciel, bassist Dave Hartley, and multi-instrumentalist Anthony LaMarca. As winter turned to spring in March of 2018, the trio retreated to upstate New York to jam, demo new songs, and deepen their bond.

“Sometimes you have to just get away from the predetermined roles that each member plays in the live setting,” Granduciel explains. These sessions proved highly productive, turning out early versions of some of the catchiest and most immediate songs on I Don’t Live Here Anymore, including the jangly “Change” and the pop-banger-in-waiting “I Don’t Wanna Wait.”

It was the start of an odyssey that lasted about three years. I Don’t Live Here Anymore was made in New York City and Los Angeles from 2018 through the early part of 2021, and included stopovers at iconic studios like Electric Lady in Greenwich Village and Electro-Vox in Hollywood. (Granduciel, as always, is a loyal patron of some of rock’s greatest sonic workshops.)

One of the most memorable sessions occurred in May 2019 at Electro-Vox, in which the band’s entire line-up — rounded out by keyboardist Robbie Bennett, drummer Charlie Hall, and saxophonist Jon Natchez — convened to record the affecting lead-off track and first single from I Don’t Live Here Anymore, “Living Proof.” Typically, Granduciel assembles War On Drugs records from reams of overdubs, like a kind of rock ‘n’ roll jigsaw puzzle. But for “Living Proof,” the track came together in real time, as the musicians drew on their chemistry as a live unit to summon some extemporaneous magic. The immediacy of the performance was appropriate for one of Granduciel’s most personal songs to date.

The songs on I Don’t Live Here Anymore were not written specifically about the pandemic. But at a time when we’re all starting to finally reunite with friends and family members, this record feels extra resonant. Who doesn’t feel right now like they’re entering a new phase of life? Who isn’t looking toward the horizon with a mix of fear and excitement?

The joy of this album is that The War On Drugs aren’t just exploring these themes lyrically. The sound of I Don’t Live Here Anymore also captures the exhilarating uncertainty of dusting yourself off and taking your first steps into a larger world. Musically, this is the most rousing and upbeat War On Drugs album yet. The kind of music you want to play with your friends, arm and arm, as you steel yourselves against whatever’s coming. It’s medicine.

Of course, there are also the sort of introspective ballads the band is known for, like the folkie “Rings Around My Fathers Eyes” and the gorgeous “Occasional Rain,” which Granduciel considers his personal favorite. But the bulk of I Don’t Live Here Anymore unfolds like a collection of future greatest hits. “Victim” is an electro-pop killer that could put The War On Drugs in dance clubs. “Wasted” slams like a lost Born In The U.S.A. outtake. The title track, which is littered with Dylan references, sounds like it was designed in a lab to shake the rafters in an arena.

As always, Granduciel is a master of crafting singular moments that take your breath away. The guitar solo in “I Don’t Wanna Wait.” The mammoth synth hook in “Harmonia’s Dream.” The stunning piano coda from “Change.” The sultry backing vocals from special guest stars Lucius in “I Don’t Live Here Anymore.”

And then there’s “Old Skin.” I don’t want to spoil it for first time listeners, so I’ll just say this: Wait for when the drums come in. It’s the best and most uplifting moment on the record.

Or maybe it’s the final verse of “Old Skin” that deserves such a distinction. It’s where Granduciel seems to find that special something:

Well there’s a price for everything

That tries to pull us all apart So take control of anything

That tries to kill you from the start

But I ain’t sure of nothin’ babe

Till I can feel it in my heart

“I keep coming back to it as a record of movement,” Granduciel concludes, “of pushing forward, of trying to realize that version of our most fulfilled life, in spite of forces at every turn pushing down and trying to break you.”

Sometimes you hear a record that makes you feel — if only for an hour or so — that nothing can break you. I Don’t Live Here Anymore is that kind of record.

— Steven Hyden, June 2021

The War On Drugs has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket will go to saving lives, revitalizing communities, and transforming global health through Partners In Health. www.pih.org

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On The War On Drugs’ 2017 album A Deeper Understanding, Adam Granduciel sang about wanting to “find what can’t be found.” In a way, the history of this band has been a chronicle of their frontman’s ongoing search for greater meaning. Along the way, they’ve grown with each record. In the aftermath of A Deeper Understanding, they won a Grammy for Best Rock Album. The New Yorker called them “the best American ‘rock’ band of this decade.” Even The Rolling Stones recognized Granduciel’s talents, inviting him to remix their long lost collaboration with Jimmy Page, “Scarlet,” which was previously an unreleased gem from Goats Head Soup.

By any metric, The War On Drugs have made it. They are now firmly embedded in the classic rock lineage. And yet the quest for that ineffable something continues. In practical terms, Granduciel was facing a familiar quandary as work began on the new War On Drugs album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, in early 2018: What next?

Looking ahead, he was staring down his 40th birthday. He was on the verge of starting a family. And then there was the extended brotherhood of The War On Drugs, who had just spent many months on the road gelling into an excellent live act, as documented on 2020’s Live Drugs. In the 2010s, they had put out three classic studio albums in a row. But now it was time for a new statement for a new decade.

When he reflects on the making of I Don’t Live Here Anymore, Granduciel is quick to talk about the contributions of his bandmates as well as his trusted co-producer and engineer, Shawn Everett. That doesn’t exactly square with how we normally talk about this band. Granduciel typically is portrayed as the loner studio genius diligently pursuing the creation of heartland rock masterpieces. Think back to the cover of their 2014 breakthrough Lost In The Dream, in which we see the band’s leader standing in profile, looking pensive but determined.

But the moments that stand out most from the creation of I Don’t Live Here Anymore aren’t the solitary ones. For Granduciel, the new songs brought him back to the very community he had forged with his band.

“It just reminded me of all the things I love about making music,” he says, “collaborating with my friends, and letting everybody shine.”

As Granduciel sings in “Harmonia’s Dream” — one of the most anthemic tracks from an album positively bursting with them — “sometimes forwards is the only way back.” For The War On Drugs, the path forward started with paring back to the core of Granduciel, bassist Dave Hartley, and multi-instrumentalist Anthony LaMarca. As winter turned to spring in March of 2018, the trio retreated to upstate New York to jam, demo new songs, and deepen their bond.

“Sometimes you have to just get away from the predetermined roles that each member plays in the live setting,” Granduciel explains. These sessions proved highly productive, turning out early versions of some of the catchiest and most immediate songs on I Don’t Live Here Anymore, including the jangly “Change” and the pop-banger-in-waiting “I Don’t Wanna Wait.”

It was the start of an odyssey that lasted about three years. I Don’t Live Here Anymore was made in New York City and Los Angeles from 2018 through the early part of 2021, and included stopovers at iconic studios like Electric Lady in Greenwich Village and Electro-Vox in Hollywood. (Granduciel, as always, is a loyal patron of some of rock’s greatest sonic workshops.)

One of the most memorable sessions occurred in May 2019 at Electro-Vox, in which the band’s entire line-up — rounded out by keyboardist Robbie Bennett, drummer Charlie Hall, and saxophonist Jon Natchez — convened to record the affecting lead-off track and first single from I Don’t Live Here Anymore, “Living Proof.” Typically, Granduciel assembles War On Drugs records from reams of overdubs, like a kind of rock ‘n’ roll jigsaw puzzle. But for “Living Proof,” the track came together in real time, as the musicians drew on their chemistry as a live unit to summon some extemporaneous magic. The immediacy of the performance was appropriate for one of Granduciel’s most personal songs to date.

The songs on I Don’t Live Here Anymore were not written specifically about the pandemic. But at a time when we’re all starting to finally reunite with friends and family members, this record feels extra resonant. Who doesn’t feel right now like they’re entering a new phase of life? Who isn’t looking toward the horizon with a mix of fear and excitement?

The joy of this album is that The War On Drugs aren’t just exploring these themes lyrically. The sound of I Don’t Live Here Anymore also captures the exhilarating uncertainty of dusting yourself off and taking your first steps into a larger world. Musically, this is the most rousing and upbeat War On Drugs album yet. The kind of music you want to play with your friends, arm and arm, as you steel yourselves against whatever’s coming. It’s medicine.

Of course, there are also the sort of introspective ballads the band is known for, like the folkie “Rings Around My Fathers Eyes” and the gorgeous “Occasional Rain,” which Granduciel considers his personal favorite. But the bulk of I Don’t Live Here Anymore unfolds like a collection of future greatest hits. “Victim” is an electro-pop killer that could put The War On Drugs in dance clubs. “Wasted” slams like a lost Born In The U.S.A. outtake. The title track, which is littered with Dylan references, sounds like it was designed in a lab to shake the rafters in an arena.

As always, Granduciel is a master of crafting singular moments that take your breath away. The guitar solo in “I Don’t Wanna Wait.” The mammoth synth hook in “Harmonia’s Dream.” The stunning piano coda from “Change.” The sultry backing vocals from special guest stars Lucius in “I Don’t Live Here Anymore.”

And then there’s “Old Skin.” I don’t want to spoil it for first time listeners, so I’ll just say this: Wait for when the drums come in. It’s the best and most uplifting moment on the record.

Or maybe it’s the final verse of “Old Skin” that deserves such a distinction. It’s where Granduciel seems to find that special something:

Well there’s a price for everything

That tries to pull us all apart So take control of anything

That tries to kill you from the start

But I ain’t sure of nothin’ babe

Till I can feel it in my heart

“I keep coming back to it as a record of movement,” Granduciel concludes, “of pushing forward, of trying to realize that version of our most fulfilled life, in spite of forces at every turn pushing down and trying to break you.”

Sometimes you hear a record that makes you feel — if only for an hour or so — that nothing can break you. I Don’t Live Here Anymore is that kind of record.

— Steven Hyden, June 2021

The War On Drugs has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket will go to saving lives, revitalizing communities, and transforming global health through Partners In Health. www.pih.org

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The sophomore full-length from Clairo, Sling is an album with its own charmed atmosphere, graced with the easy warmth of a far lovelier era but wholly the outcome of her bright & restless mind. In creating the body of work, the 22-year-old co-produced alongside Jack Antonoff, recording at Allaire Studios in Upstate New York. As Clairo reveals, Sling’s lyrical element was largely informed by the adoption of her dog Joanie. “When I got Joanie, I started changing my routines & habits to healthier ones, to try to create an environment where she felt comfortable & happy, It made me realize I hadn’t been doing that for myself, & that I need to look at myself with the same respect that I’d give to someone I care about.” Several tracks feature background vocals from Lorde, “Blouse” offers a meditation on the degrading behavior of men in power. “I think a lot of people know that feeling of having to compromise a part of yourself in order to be heard, you finally get to where you’ve hoped to be for so long, & there’s just this guy looking down your shirt.” Her sophomore album, Sling provided countless moments of revelation for Clairo. While a number of guest musicians contributed to the album’s arrangements, most was handled by Clairo & Antonoff. The result is a perfect setting for Clairo’s songwriting, allowing abundant space for her nuanced exploration of mental health, unmet expectations, and the struggle to treat ourselves with gentleness and love.

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MUST BE 21+ TO ATTEND

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Masks optional for fully vaccinated patrons. Must be 21+ years of age to attend.

The Austin Taco & Margarita Festival is taking place at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater + 3TEN ACL Live + Terrace at W Austin on Saturday July 24th, 2021

We’re bringing together vendors from across the city for a taste of the town via TACOS!

ADMISSION TYPES:

General Admission 21+ - Admission into the event (food, drink sold separately) GA Entry into the event at 5:00 PM

VIP 21+ - 2 free margaritas, 1 T Shirt, VIP Entry into the event at 4:00 PM (food, additional drink sold separately)

There will be bars and beverage stations serving margaritas, tequila shots, ice cold beer, water, soda & more (sold separately).

VENDOR & SPONSOR INQUIRIES: Have a restaurant or food truck or want to be a vendor or sponsor?

You can email us brent@azfoodfestivals.com

PLEASE NOTE: Ticket prices are subject to increase at any time - do not wait to buy tickets, these events often do sell out! Please drink responsibly.

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Each VIP Taco & Margarita Festival ticket includes:

• VIP Entry at 4:00PM
• Two margaritas
• Event t-shirt

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Masks are required for entry.

Make a night of it! Book a hotel stay just steps away at W Austin. Exclusive rates for ACL Live patrons start at just $259 when you book with your tickets here. Already got your tickets? You can still grab a room at an exclusive rate for ACL Live ticketholders here.

For more than twenty years, Bill Maher has set the boundaries of where funny, political talk can go on American television.  First on “Politically Incorrect” (Comedy Central, ABC, 1993-2002), and for the last fourteen years on HBO’s “Real Time,” Maher’s combination of unflinching honesty and big laughs have garnered him 41 Emmy nominations.  Maher won his first Emmy in 2014 as executive producer for the HBO series, “VICE.” In October of 2008, this same combination was on display in Maher’s uproarious and unprecedented swipe at organized religion, “Religulous,” directed by Larry Charles (“Borat”). The documentary has gone on to become the 8^th Highest Grossing Documentary ever.

In addition to his television program – which has featured such visitors as President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kerry Washington, Michael Steele, Howard Dean, Michael Moore, Eva Longoria, Drew Barrymore,  Rev. Jesse Jackson, Gen. Wesley Clark, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner, Gary Hart and Pat Buchanan.– Maher has written five bestsellers: “True Story,” “Does Anybody Have a Problem with That?  Politically Incorrect’s Greatest Hits,” “When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden,” “New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer,” and most recently, “The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody But  Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass.”

Maher started his career as a stand-up comedian in 1979, and still performs at least fifty dates a year in Las Vegas and in sold out theaters all across the country.  Four of his ten stand-up specials for HBO – 2014’s “Bill Maher: Live from DC,” 2007’s “The Decider,” 2005’s “I’m Swiss,” as well as the hilarious, “Bill Maher … But I’m Not Wrong,” – have been nominated for Emmy awards.

Maher was born in New York City, raised in River Vale, N.J. and went to Cornell University.  He now resides in Los Angeles.

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THIRD NIGHT ADDED!

Make a night of it! Book a hotel stay just steps away at W Austin. Exclusive rates for ACL Live patrons start at just $259 when you book with your tickets here. Already got your tickets? You can still grab a room at an exclusive rate for ACL Live ticketholders here.

What happens after an artist has achieved his dreams? That was the major question Jason Isbell was asking himself leading up to the creation of his newest album, Reunions, recorded with the 400 Unit and produced by celebrated producer Dave Cobb. After all, four-time Grammy winner Isbell is at the top of his game. He is widely acclaimed as one of our best songwriters and possesses a devoted audience who have pushed his last two albums to the tops of the charts.

“Success is a very nice problem to have but I think ‘how do I get through it and not lose what made me good in the first place?’” he says. “A lot of these songs and the overall concept of this album is how do I progress as an artist and a human being and still keep that same hunger that I had when I wasn’t quite so far along in either respect.” Isbell’s solution: to go back in time with his hard-gained knowledge. The result is a seamless collection of ten new songs that delve into relationships with lovers, friends, children, parents, and one’s self. There are rousing anthems that will have stadiums singing along, lyrical standouts that highlight some of Isbell’s best writing to date, moving looks at youth and childhood, a deep dive into the challenges of relationships, and deeply personal songs about alcoholism and parenthood. All of them offer us an artist at the height of his powers and a band fully charged with creativity and confidence.

Why the title Reunions? There are a lot of ghosts on this album. Sometimes the songs are about the ghosts of people who aren’t around anymore, but they’re also about who I used to be, the ghost of myself. While writing I was thinking about how I could take the tools I have now, which are much better than the tools I had then, and go about building the same essential structure. I found myself writing songs that I wanted to write fifteen years ago but in those days I hadn’t written enough songs to know how to do it yet. I was also still drinking and I didn’t have enough focus. Just now have I been able to pull it off to my own satisfaction. In that sense it’s a reunion with the me I was back then.

Yet in going back to some old ghosts you also created a whole new sound. How did that happen? That was intentional, because I felt like we had made a statement with Southeastern, Something More Than Free, and The Nashville Sound. Those albums are looking at what happens post happy ending. They’re saying “I survived—now what?” So I wanted to make something different. Still, I didn’t want to do a 180 degree turn thematically. I didn’t want to be different just for the sake of being different. It all has to serve my own development as a person. This record probably gets closer to the music I actually like to listen to than anything I’ve done in the past.

This new sound feels bigger, more layered and expansive. A lot of that had to do with the production. I told Dave we wanted something that sounded very different than anything we’d done before. He brought in a lot of new gear and spent a lot of time working on the mix and really shot for a more high fidelity sound than anything he’s ever produced. We wanted it to transport the listener, to create a mood and take you to a different place in the way a record by The Rolling Stones, or The Smiths, or The Cure is able to do.

What makes you and Dave Cobb such a good team? His instincts are incredible. He’s really quick with good ideas, and he’s very hands on. Dave doesn’t sit in the control room; he comes out on the floor and plays something, he participates with everybody. So you don’t feel like you’re being judged by a producer as much as you’re collaborating with him, and that makes it really nice for everybody. Dave is also naturally gifted with the ability to come up with the direction or a sound very quickly and I don’t like to spend a whole awful lot of time in the studio so that’s a valuable asset.

Just as with the last album, The Nashville Sound, you recorded Reunions in Nashville’s legendary RCA Studio A. What makes that a special space? The size of it, the ability of everybody in the band to be able to see each other and hear each other and be able to play at the same time. There aren’t many studios left like that. There are huge successful albums being made in tiny rooms but it was very rewarding for us to feel like we were in a big, official studio. When you’re in there recording you think “I better do something worth doing because this is a big room and this is where all these great folks recorded all of these great songs. This is the big time.”

Speaking of the sound, your vocals have never been better than on this record. Why? We’ve used essentially the same mic for the past four albums but somehow the way Dave recorded my vocals this time sounded accurate to me. Hearing what I wanted to from where my voice sat in the mix—hearing that probably motivated me to sing differently, to try a little bit harder than I have in the past. We kept quite a few live vocal takes. We wanted to keep that emotion as much as we could. And I quit smoking, so that had a lot to do with it, too.

And the band is just absolutely on fire on Reunions. We’ve been together a long time and I feel a leap in the ability of the band to be able to play together as a group but still swing, to find creative ways to play these songs. The band found new things to do that kept the songs from sounding like old hat to me.

This is a much less overtly political album than your last one but a couple times you do make reference to the world burning. I feel there should be context, and it would be impossible to put the listener in any kind of context without discussing that there is a great unease for people in this country and pretty much all over the world. It’s probably more personal than political on this album. I didn’t want to avoid anything if something was weighing on me. I think painting a picture that is tense and anxious and heavy on a personal level can work betTer. It’s hard to make a call to action poetic; it’s almost impossible to write a beautiful song that also motivates people to do something. You have to be subtle, and very personal, and open with private feelings that tell people, “Here’s my experience.” Rather than say “Act,” the next step is to get people to empathize.

You are very much an album artist, and that seems especially clear on Reunions because even though each song stands solidly on its own, they all work together so beautifully. There is a lot that is lost if we just listen to a single rather than an entire album. It’s just not going to affect you in the same way. When I’m writing a record I try to put the elements in that are important to me as someone who listens to an album in full.

There are at least a couple of real anthems on this album. While listening I could so clearly hear these being sung in big arenas. I like the way rock n’ roll includes people. But I don’t want to write meaningless anthems. It’s hard to write a big chorus that says anything, so yeah, I was trying to do that. As I write more and more songs through the years I challenge myself to do things that I know are going to be difficult. I thought, “What can I do to get everybody in the room to sing along but not make any of us sound stupid?” It’s not easy, but I appreciate the challenge.

There’s always a lot of self-examination in your songs. It seems that you work really hard at being conscious, at caring deeply, about paying attention. That’s all that I know to do to improve. I probably work harder at that than anything else. I try to stay in the moment, and stay in the process. And I worry about if I am a good parent, a good spouse, a good member of society, a good artist. I just try to stay aware. I guess that’s a philosophical lodestar for me. In trying so many different things, that’s the only one I noticed that really worked. Paying attention.

There’s so much elegy on this album. Practically every song is full of pining. I think that’s another phase of sobriety and adulthood, another step in the long process of getting and keeping your shit together. It’s very easy to lose control and go off the rails. Even for somebody who has been sober for eight years, it would be very easy to slip back into my old ways and I think what in general I’m looking for more than anything else is that sense of the unexpected in my day to day life. I don’t ever want to write songs to maintain a lifestyle or a level of success, I always want to write them because I need to get something out and because I want to connect with people. That’s always been why I’ve written and sung songs.

CUT BY CUT

What’ve I Done To Help? Sweeping strings, a shimmering acoustic guitar, a prowling guitar line, close harmonies, and a self-interrogating Isbell provide layers of music that simultaneously laments living in a world that is “burning down” but remains hopeful enough to find ways to help others. This album opener that provides a perfect transition from The Nashville Sound to Reunions. “The groove is pretty infectious on this song,” Isbell says, and he is especially proud that one of his heroes, David Crosby, guests on it. “I’ll never forget doing that. I grew up trying to imitate his harmony parts and trying to figure out what he was doing on those early records. To be around a microphone with him and Amanda was pretty special; I felt like I got to be part of an era in music that is long gone.”

Dreamsicle In this widely relatable look at children surviving divorce, Isbell leans on vivid imagery that conjures up not only a sense of loss but also the sensation of childhood. “I was thinking a lot about myself and my wife because we were both very young when our parents split up,” he says. “I was blending our two stories. It’s not exactly a heartbreaking song, it’s just sort of a picture of a kid’s life. I wanted to keep the voice of the child-narrator but also retain a retrospective quality to show it’s something the child survived.”

Only Children This song was the first written for the album and Isbell says it “constructed the room where the album takes place”. The characters in the song are composites of several people but the main one is based on a friend of Isbell’s who passed away a few years ago. “We spent a lot of formative time together, back home in Alabama,” he recalls. “When somebody has the same interests as you in a small town, they can be like an oasis. That connection never leaves you. If you lose them sometimes you wind up addressing their ghost for the rest of your life.”

Overseas Driven by a unforgettable guitar line and percussion that conjures the feeling of a journey, this song is an allegory about couples who are sometimes separated for long periods. Isbell says he has challenged himself to write allegorically after reading that Eric Clapton, one of his musical heroes, felt that was required for anyone who wanted to be a great songwriter. “The narrator in that song is married to an expat who has left for political reasons, but I found a lot of similarities between that and [my and Amanda’s] lives,” Isbell says. “When one’s on tour and one’s home with the kids, you understand why the other is gone but you still wish they were home with you. I grow bored of writing songs about myself, singing about myself, so to create an allegory like that is interesting.”

Running With Our Eyes Closed “I’m really proud of the lyric on this one. I feel like I got really close to perfecting the metaphors in this song,” Isbell says. The musical arrangement and production is as complex as the subject matter on this tune about keeping a relationship going over a long period of time. “A lot of songs are about the spark but not a lot are about relationships that are ten or fifteen years in.”

River In what is sure to be a fan favorite, this abstract prayer’s narrator goes to a river to reveal the secrets he cannot share with the people in his life. “A lot of men are raised to not speak about things that are weighing on them, so we turn to something else,” Isbell explains. “This narrator turns to nature but it doesn’t work for him because nature doesn’t talk back. People tend to cast their sins on bodies of water and sometimes that’s not enough, sometimes you have to tell people what you’ve done.” The song was partly inspired by Peter Matthiessen’s epic novel, Shadow Country, which Isbell counts as a favorite book that continues to influence his work.

Be Afraid In the album’s most boisterous rocker, Isbell reminds his audience that true bravery is only achieved by doing something that frightens you. “I’m trying to encourage people to be themselves as loudly as possible,” Isbell says. “I don’t know if I’m in any position to do that but I think if we’re going to make any progress as a society then people have to be brave enough to say what they feel.”

St. Peter’s Autograph The album’s most haunting track is also the one Isbell calls his favorite lyrically and melodically. “As a husband there’s something in that song that speaks to the dynamic in a relationship between two people in general about jealousy. A lot of men are so jealous their whole lives and they never grow out of it because of their own fears of inadequacy. I see that possessiveness a lot with the men I grew up around.” On this song, we have a man who is the opposite, and a better man for it.

It Gets Easier While Isbell has talked very openly about his own alcoholism in the eight years since he became sober, he has never written or sung so blatantly about it before. The refrain of “It gets easier/but it never gets easy” is one that will instantly resonate with anyone who has wrestled with addiction. “I wanted to write for folks going through that. It’s always right over your shoulder.”

Letting You Go The album closer is perhaps the most traditional song on the album and may also be the most moving, with its tender look at being a father. “It was a challenge to write about something that is so important to me but that’s my wheelhouse,” Isbell says. “I like writing songs about things that could get maudlin, but pulling back before they do. I like going to that line. I like to see how emotional I can get without going too far. I feel like my job as a parent is not so much to protect as to prepare. I think’s easier said than done because our instinct is to protect at all costs but I feel it more important to prepare her for the world. It’s hard to let them go.”

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When asked about what drove him to craft his deeply evocative new album, Ghosts of West Virginia, Steve Earle says that he was interested in exploring a new approach to his songwriting. “I’ve already made the preaching-to-the-choir album,” he says, specifically alluding to his 2004 album, The Revolution Starts Now. As anyone as politically attuned as Earle understands, there are times when the faithful need music that will raise their spirits and toughen their resolve. But he came to believe that our times might also benefit from something that addresses a different audience, songs written from a point of view that he is particularly capable of rendering.

“I thought that, given the way things are now, it was maybe my responsibility to make a record that spoke to and for people who didn’t vote the way that I did,” he says. “One of the dangers that we’re in is if people like me keep thinking that everybody who voted for Trump is a racist or an asshole, then we’re fucked, because it’s simply not true. So this is one move toward something that might take a generation to change. I wanted to do something where that dialogue could begin.”

Ghosts of West Virginia centers on the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed twenty-nine men in that state in 2010, making it one of the worst mining disasters in American history. Investigations revealed hundreds of safety violations, as well as attempts to cover them up. The mine’s owners agreed to pay more than $200 million in criminal liabilities, and shut the mine down.

In ten deftly drawn, roughly eloquent, powerfully conveyed sonic portraits, Earle and his long-time band the Dukes explore the historical role of coal in rural communities. More than merely a question of jobs and income, mining has provided a sense of unity and meaning, patriotic pride and purpose. As sons followed their fathers and older brothers into the mines, generational bonds were forged. “You can’t just tell these people that you’re going to shut the coal mines without also telling them what you’re going to do to take care of them, to protect their lives,” Earle explains. To be sure, Earle’s politics have not changed. He believes in sustainable energy sources and ending fossil fuels. “But that doesn’t mean a thing in West Virginia,” he says. You can’t begin communicating with people unless you understand the texture of their lives, the realities that provide significance to their days. That is the entire point of Ghosts of West Virginia.

Earle started working on the album after being approached by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, a playwright team that would eventually create Coal Country, a theater piece about the Upper Big Branch disaster. Earle had previously worked with them on The Exonerated, an Off-Broadway play about wrongfully imprisoned people who ultimately proved their innocence and got released. Earle describes Blank and Jensen as creating “documentary theater,” and they received a commission from the Public Theater in New York. They interviewed the surviving West Virginia miners, along with the families of the miners who died, and created monologues for their characters using those words. Working closely with Oskar Eustis, the Public’s Artistic Director, they workshopped the songs and text for nearly four years. Earle functions as “a Greek chorus with a guitar,” in his words. He is on stage the entire play and, along with his song “The Mountain,” performs seven songs from Ghosts of West Virginia. “The actors don’t relate directly with the audience,” he explains. “I do. The actors don’t realize the audience is there. I do.” The songs provide personal, historical and social context for the testimony of the play’s characters, and, heard on their own, along with the album’s three additional songs, they provide a wrenchingly emotional portrait of a world that Earle knows well. “I felt that I could do it because so many of those people own Copperhead Road -- and I talk like this,” Earle says in the unreconstructed Texas drawl that has survived moves to Nashville and New York City, where he now lives.

Ghosts of West Virginia opens with “Heaven Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” a stark, a cappella spiritual that, in its sound and in its sense, captures the blend of faith and stoicism characteristic of mining communities. Without being explicit, “Union God and Country” nods to the deep union history of the West Virginia mines, a history that is being wiped out. “This was the most unionized place in America until the Nineties,” Earle points out. “Upper Big Branch was the first non-union mine in that area and it blew up and killed twenty-nine guys. That’s the deal.” “Devil Put the Coal in the Ground” is an expression of what Earle calls “a kind of hillbilly mindfulness” – a tough-minded recognition of the dangers of the mining life and the pride of doing such a demanding job in the face of those dangers. “The guy in that song is a miner and he’s being real about what he’s doing,” Earle says. On “John Henry Was a Steel Driving Man,” Earle, as so many have done before, takes the folkloric tale of the hammer-wielding hero and updates it for a contemporary world in which automation and union-busting have drained miners’ lives of so much of their potential and significance.

“Time Is Never On Our Side” was inspired by the four-day wait that four Upper Big Branch families endured because rescue teams found footprints in the mine that they believed might belong to miners they had not yet found. It turns out the footprints belonged to company managers who had entered the mine before the inspectors arrived, and failed to reveal that they had done so. The familial devastation wreaked by the mining disaster finds expression in “It’s About Blood,” in which, under a driving rhythm, Earle blazons the names of all the men who died in it. “If I Could See Your Face,” which closes Coal Country, is the only song that Earle does not sing. In the play, it’s sung by the actress Mary Bacon, while, on the album, that distinction goes to Eleanor Whitmore, who plays fiddle and mandolin in the Dukes. She delivers the ballad, a chronicle of memory, longing and loss, in a manner that is both feeling and plain-spoken, perfectly suited to its subject.

Despite its grim subject, “Black Lung” is rollicking and unsentimental, and it includes the verse that Earle describes as “the most important thing for me to say on this record”: “If I’d never been down in a coal mine,/I’da lived a lot longer/Hell, that ain’t a close call/But then again I’da never had anything/And half a life is better than nothin’ at all.” Those words were the last lyrics Earle wrote for the album, and they convey the reality of the lives that mining made possible for rural folk, regardless of the dangers.

“Fastest Man Alive” is a paean to Chuck Yeager, a West Virginia native who became a war hero and the first pilot to travel faster than the speed of sound. Earle treats him like a folk hero along the lines of John Henry and Davy Crockett (who, like Yeager, was a real person). Yeager’s life of risk in the sky offers a moving contrast to the miners facing danger underground, often unseen and unacknowledged. The album’s closing song, “The Mine,” was the first that Earle wrote, even though it was not included in Coal Country. It quietly gives voice to the hopes and fraternal bonds that a job in the mines once represented.

Earle and the Dukes recorded Ghosts of West Virginia at Electric Lady Studios, which Jimi Hendrix built in Greenwich Village, where Earle lives. That the album was mixed in mono lends it a sonic cohesion and punch, while losing none of the finely drawn delineation that the Dukes’ characteristically eloquent playing provides. More personally, however, the album is in mono because Earle has lost hearing in one ear and can no longer discern the separation that stereo is designed to produce. His partial deafness is not the result of exposure to loud volume that afflicts many musicians. He woke up one morning unable to hear in his right ear, and doctors have been unable to identify a cause. He’s been told a virus is likely the reason, but one doctor told him, “That’s what we say when we don’t know what the cause is.” As a result, Earle says, jokingly, “If I can’t hear the album in stereo, nobody else will either!”

The Dukes, too, suffered a major loss when, not long before the band went into the studio, bassist Kelley Looney, who had played with Earle for thirty years, passed away. Beyond the death of a longstanding partner in crime, Earle was faced with the prospect of finding someone who could share the telepathic musical communication so characteristic of the Dukes. Happily, Jeff Hill, who had previously worked with Earle and had most recently been part of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, perfectly fit the bill. “Jeff stepped into the breach, but it was hard. It was really hard,” Earle says. Hill joined Whitmore, guitarist Chris Masterson, Ricky Jay Jackson on pedal steel, drummer Brad Pemberton and, of course, Earle on guitar and banjo. Their raw blend of country, rock and folk lifts the articulation of each song without the slightest hint of contrivance or pretension.

With Ghosts of West Virginia, Steve Earle has evoked a world as three-dimensional and dramatic as Coal Country, the play in which it found its origins, does on stage. That’s appropriate, because, as Earle says, “I came to New York to make music for theater, and it’s taken a long time. Theater is a powerful thing. It’s my favorite art form. It always has been. My ambition is to write an old-fashioned American musical. I’m a pretty good songwriter, and I just feel like I want to do that before I die.”

For now, however, there is Coal Country – and Ghosts of West Virginia. “I said I wanted to speak to people that didn’t necessarily vote the way that I did,” he says, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t have anything in common. We need to learn how to communicate with each other. My involvement in this project is my little contribution to that effort. And the way to do that – and to do it impeccably – is simply to honor those guys who died at Upper Big Branch.”

***

Steve Earle is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation, a worthy heir to Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, his two supreme musical mentors. Over the course of twenty studio albums, Earle has distinguished himself as a master storyteller, and his songs have been recorded by a vast array of artists, including Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, the Pretenders, and more. Earle’s 1986 debut album, Guitar Town, is now regarded as a classic of the Americana genre, and subsequent releases like The Revolution Starts...Now (2004), Washington Square Serenade (2007), and TOWNES (2009) all received Grammy Awards. Restlessly creative across artistic disciplines, Earle has published both a novel and a collection of short stories; produced albums for other artists; and acted in films, TV shows and on stage. He currently hosts a radio show for Sirius XM. In 2019, Earle appeared in the off-Broadway play Samara, for which he also wrote a score that The New York Times described as “exquisitely subliminal.” Each year, Earle organizes a benefit concert for the Keswell School, which his son John Henry attends and which provides educational programs for children and young adults with autism.

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Kesha attracts a diverse, passionate, and socially-engaged global audience who believe in the messages behind her music. Over her career, she has earned 10 Top Ten singles, over a billion views on YouTube, 2 number one albums, 4 number one songs at top 40radio, and nearly 40 million followers across social media.

Kesha’s latest album 'High Road' was called a body of work “wise and wild in equal measure” (Billboard), that “electrifies from the inside out” (American Songwriter) and “strikes a believable balance between vulnerability and the bluster she made her name on” (Stereogum).

Her previous album 'Rainbow', called "an artistic feat" by Entertainment Weekly and "the best music of her career" by Rolling Stone, earned Kesha the first GRAMMY nominations of her career.

Kesha’s ventures outside of music include a top rated TV program, an award winning film, a book, a cruise, and a cosmetics line.

As a songwriter she has penned her own music as well as songs for artists including Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, The Veronicas, and Miley Cyrus. Kesha is an animal rights crusader as the Humane Society International's first Global Ambassador and a passionate advocate for equality, being honored with the 2016 Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award. In 2016 shewon Billboard's Women in Music Trailblazer Award and in 2018 she was named one of Time Magazine's Time 100, their list of the most influential people in the world.

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Vocalist/guitarist Dave Pirner will be the first one to admit that recording a Soul Asylum album can sometimes be very stressful, simply because he cares so deeply about every aspect of his songs and how the record unfolds. However, the frontman reports that making the band's twelfth studio full-length, Hurry Up and Wait, was a completely seamless, enjoyable and productive experience.

This ease is evident in the music, which reflects Soul Asylum's usual eclectic approach: thrashing songs indebted to punk ("Hopped Up Feelin'") and classic rock ("Got It Pretty Good"), folk-influenced pop-rock ("Silly Things"), and gorgeous jangle-pop ("If I Told You"). "It was just total freedom," Pirner says. "There was nothing, pressure-wise, that was making it less of a smooth creative process—if there is such a thing."

It helped that Soul Asylum—which also includes drummer Michael Bland, lead guitarist Ryan Smith and bassist Winston Roye—recorded Hurry Up and Wait with a long-time studio collaborator: co-producer John Fields, who also worked on the band's previous three albums, including their most recent effort, 2016's Change of Fortune.

The group also decamped to a familiar spot: Nicollet Studios, the same place Soul Asylum recorded seminal early albums released on Twin/Tone Records, such as the 1986 LP While You Were Out. Recording at Nicollet again was "extremely comfortable" says Pirner, who moved back to Minneapolis in recent years after a long stint living in New Orleans.

"I don't think I could be more comfortable in a studio than at that place, except for my house," he says. "There's an amazing sense of familiarity. Every store in the neighborhood has changed just about, but it's still the same place—it's a very familiar place. It definitely evokes [a feeling of], 'Shit, I'm back at my old place of work. Oh my God—how much time passed again?'"

Hurry Up and Wait, which was mastered by Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer Emily Lazar, certainly echoes of all eras of (and influences on) Soul Asylum's work. "Make Her Laugh" is a laid-back, Stones-inspired jam; "Freezer Burn" marries hardcore energy to supercharged melodic punk riffing; and "Here We Go" is a pristine, lovelorn song with a deeply sentimental core. Lead single "If I Told You," meanwhile, is classic Soul Asylum: Chiming riffs, an evocative guitar solo, and wistful Pirner vocals and lyrics ("If I told you I love you, would you hold it against me?") unite to create a vibe that's melancholy but lovely.

However, Hurry Up and Wait also boasts some subtle sonic evolutions. The acoustic-heavy, country-leaning lead single "Dead Letter" boasts an especially mournful vibe, and the smoky guitars of "Social Butterfly" have the dreamy aesthetic of '80s indie-pop acts such as the Smiths.

"I did sort of put my guard down," Pirner says. "And I was like, 'Well, this time, I'm going to just go with whatever seems to be working, and I don't really care what kind of music people want to call it.' It's a little raw

and forthcoming in the way that I didn't second guess it. There's a lot of just letting it come out as opposed to trying to force something."

Recording Hurry Up and Wait was also easier since Fields, who spent years in L.A. working with a wide variety of pop and rock musicians, had moved to Minneapolis and taken over the front room of Nicollet. And so unlike previous Soul Asylum albums—which found Pirner and Bland doing initial work with Fields in California and then finishing the album in Minneapolis—Hurry Up And Wait was recorded in one place, with the band and producer hunkered down in the studio.

This consistency, when coupled with the relaxing atmosphere and lack of outside interference, also contributed to an energetic, loose vibe. "I was pretty insistent on less of everything," Pirner says with a laugh. "I wanted it to sound more organic, let's put it that way. Less effects and fancy studio stuff, because we've actually learned how to play like since the last time we were in that building." He laughs again. "But it was very much homegrown, which is very much how we made records in the very early days."

Soul Asylum initially formed in the early '80s under the name Loud Fast Rules when Pirner was still in high school with friends Dan Murphy and Karl Mueller, and became part of the celebrated Minneapolis local music scene alongside fellow indie bands the Replacements and Hüsker Dü. This success led to the band entering the major-label mainstream with 1988's Hang Time and its 1990 follow-up, And the Horse They Rode In On, before achieving a commercial breakthrough with 1992's triple platinum Grave Dancers Union.

That album spawned several international hits, including "Runaway Train," which won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, and "Black Gold," and led to steady alternative radio and MTV airplay. Soul Asylum continued to enjoy mainstream success with 1995's platinum-certified Let Your Dim Light Shine, which featured the hit "Misery," and 1998's Candy from a Stranger; the group also appeared on the soundtrack for multiple Kevin Smith movies, including Clerks. Since returning to action with 2006's The Silver Lining, Soul Asylum has recorded steadily, and become a reliable presence on the road.

Pirner isn't necessarily one for nostalgia, although he's been doing a little more looking back than usual lately: In a nod to his reputation as one of America’s greatest songwriters, MNHS Publishing (Minnesota Historical Society) in February 2020 is releasing Loud, Fast, Words, a book of Pirner's lyrics accompanied by commentary and essays about each Soul Asylum album. Compiling his thoughts for the book has made Pirner realize that while his lyric-writing process is more "streamlined" these days, in general it's remained remarkably similar across Soul Asylum's existence.

"There's always like—oh, this song I sat down and wrote in 25 minutes," he says. "This one took me 25 years to write," he says. "There are always both of those kinds of songs on a record. Sometimes it all comes together very quickly, and other times it literally can take me decades."

Hurry Up and Wait—which dives into topics such as grappling with emotional and geographic disconnection, navigating romantic ebbs and flows, and the power of embracing optimism despite it all—is no exception, he adds "I could probably go through [the album] and go, 'Oh, that one I started writing 10 years ago. That one I started writing six months ago. That one I've been trying to get right since the beginning of time, and I finally found the right words that finished the sentiment.'"

Luckily, these days Pirner can bounce his ideas off a steady group of creative foils, including drummer Bland, who spent many years drumming as part of Prince's New Power Generation. "The band is really the first reaction. And if they respond to something, I pursue it. If we're playing it for the tenth time in the studio and

everyone's like, 'I don't know,' I'm like, 'Well, fuck it,'" he says with a laugh. "But if people are just feeling it and they're excited, I'm like, 'All right, this one's going to end up on the record. Let's fucking do it.'"

Nearly 40 years after Soul Asylum coalesced as a band, Hurry Up and Wait underscores that Pirner is the rare musician who pairs the confidence of a seasoned veteran with the unflagging enthusiasm and ambition of an artist just starting out. "The first time you go into the studio, it's terrifying," he says. "You're on the clock and you have to play and sing well, and have good songs. Now it's like being a mechanic that's been working on cars his whole life—you just do it."

In March of 2020, the band ended their best selling tour in 15 years, The Dead Letter Tour, with support from Local H. They recently released an acoustic EP of songs from HUAW titled, Born Free. With more than 100 songs performed during weekly livestream sessions, the band are anticipating to be back on the road in 2021.

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