Thing of the Day
Take the Palace Guards Bowling
December 14th 2010
DAVID LOWERY, frontman of both CRACKER and CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN, is set to release his debut solo album, The Palace Guards, on February 1st via 429 Records…
There’s
a free MP3 of the title track and you love it so much you’ll let him
hide your passport and put you on a no-fly list – a rather wonderful
taste of things to come. You’d kind of think he would have already made
a solo album by now, but no, this is his first.
You can download the rather recommended track here:
DavidLoweryThePalaceGuards.mp3
And here comes the press
release…
"After
years of helping steer the lauded and eclectic careers of both of his
bands, Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, co-founder and frontman David
Lowery has seen fit to present a collection of songs recorded apart
from those iconic indie & alternative rock entities. Stopping
short
of calling it a solo record, Lowery has collaborated with a handful of
trusted musical cohorts associated with his Richmond, VA-based studio,
Sound of Music - an inner circle that Lowery has relied on for over 17
years and who’ve been instrumental in helping create the sounds heard
on this album as well as past projects. David recorded and produced The
Palace Guards in conjunction with John Morand and Alan Weatherhead. Key
players include Miguel Urbiztondo on drums, David Immergluck on guitars
and bass, Craig Harmon played organs and Ferd Moyse on upright bass and
fiddle. Special guest appearances include Cracker mates Sal Maida and
Johnny Hickman, as well as the late Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) who
played keyboards on “Big Life.” The Palace Guards will be available
everywhere February 1st, 2011 through 429 Records.
The
Palace Guards took David several years to complete. Lowery felt it
liberating to write the songs without the constrictions of how they
might fit in with the Cracker or Camper canon of songs and
performances. The easy rapport and powerful creative chemistry that
Lowery shared with his studio pals allowed his introverted musical
inclinations to shine through. Apparent in this collection of
nine songs is a willingness to push the envelope stylistically—from the
Appalachian-woven folk of the album’s first single “Raise ‘em Up on
Honey” to the swirling, languid psychedelia of “Deep Oblivion” and
eclectic Syd Barrett-inspired title track, to the rocked-out “Baby, All
Those Girls Meant Nothing to Me,” Lowery enjoys the freedom to write
and record just about anything that pleases him at that moment.
“One
of the reasons the album sounds the way it does is that I have pretty
strong personalities playing with me,” says Lowery, “guys who I’ve
worked with for years, who have done engineering or playing on Camper
and Cracker albums. There’s that instant easy rapport that shines
through. Working with them brought out the more extreme edges in these
songs and amplified them. It was also liberating to start with no
preconceived notions of what they would end up sounding like or
worrying about how they might sound in a live setting, as I have to do
when I write songs for Cracker."
This is all in
advance of what will certainly be a very busy year for Lowery in 2011.
In addition to promoting The Palace Guards, he'll also be doing a
string of East Coast dates this January with both Camper Van Beethoven
& Cracker as part of their Key Lime & Kerosene Tour,
where both
bands will be performing their signature albums (CVB's Key Lime Pie and
Cracker's Kerosene Hat)
in their entireties. David has also currently been writing
new
music with Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven for upcoming albums from
both bands (this will mark the first new material from CVB since their
lauded 2004 New Roman Times release). In addition, David also plans to
continue working on his popular 300 Songs project - a blog chronicling
all of the songs he's written and recorded with both Cracker &
CVB.
Plans are also in the works to turn these wry, humorous and informative
musings on his songs, bands and, ultimately, the music business in
general, into his first published book later in the year.
www.davidlowerymusic.com
www.300songs.com
www.crackersoul.com
www
campervanbeethoven.com
