 Santa Monica, CA (Top40 Charts/ 429 Records) - 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 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, Virginia-based studio, Sound of Music-an inner circle that Lowery has relied on for over seventeen 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 on 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 who played keybords on "Big Life." THE PALACE GUARDS will be available everywhere February 1st on 429 Records. The Palace Guards took David several years to complete. Lowery felt it liberating to write the songs without any constrictions such as 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 this 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 country rock of "Raise 'em Up on Honey" to the swirling, languid psychedelia of "Deep Oblivion" 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. Says Lowery: "One of the reasons the album sounds the way it does is that I have pretty strong personalities playing with me - 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." Track Listing: Raise 'Em Up on Honey
The Palace Guards
Deep Oblivion
Ah, You Left Me
Baby, All Those Girls Meant Nothing to Me
I Sold the Arabs the Moon
Marigold
Big Life
Submarines
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