CHICAGO, IL. (Top40 Charts/ Western Publicity) Neither hell nor high water could stop them. Boston-bred blues-stomp band Ten Foot Polecats are back with a new album, Undertow on Austin's Hillgrass Bluebilly Records, out April 30th, 2013. Playing super-charged gutbucket tunes with a strong Mississippi sound, the trio formed five years and barnstormed around the country. Playing festivals like Deep Blues Festival helped spread the gospel to like-minded music lovers from coast to coast, earning them the kind of rabid fans that money can't buy. Undertow is their third album, recorded at Vizzable Studios in Newton, MA and mastered by industry giant Toby Mountain. They'll hit the road in April and May then head out on a summer tour with stops at
Heavy Rebel Weekender, Muddy
Roots and the Roots, Rock & Deep Blues Festival this summer, where they'll be joined by Jack Oblivian, Dale Watson, Red Simpson, Shooter Jennings and a slew of other keepers of the American music flame.
Undertow unveils songs featuring up-tempo raunch and mesmerizing, hypnotic jams with the unifying theme of catastrophe. Songs of natural disasters like hurricanes and tornados, flooding and fire are interspersed with others that take on personal betrayal, career and relationship failures, substance abuse, and even the small positive moments in life that occur around the negative. "Since we don't always write together, we didn't see a common thread in the songs until we were almost done," explained Scheffler, "it became obvious that one is a metaphor for the other."
Guitarist Jim Chilson employs a rather unorthodox package of gear and technique - his guitar is handmade, designed by himself and Matt Sullivan of MJ Sullivan Guitars. "Basically we put it together from bits and pieces of my other guitars," explained Chilson, "Its shaped like a hollow wooden box with a Warmoth neck and Jason Lollar humbucker pickups." He plays with a grand total of five strings, remaining seated throughout their performances, using his knees as support - he strikes so aggressively that a guitar strap isn't strong enough to handle the impact. Propelling his sound with fingerpicking and the occasional employment of his ball cap's bill, Chilson has created a unique sound that drives Scheffler's harmonica and vocals equally with Rousseau's drumming for an ultra-rhythmic effect.
Ten Foot Polecats will tour in May behind the album with
Molly Gene One Whoaman Band as the Ten Foot Polecats Electroduo - which entails Jay singing and playing harp while Chilson plays guitar and keeping the rhythm on an electric porchboard made from a downed fence in his back yard. There will be a full band tour in July that takes the band through the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest.
ON TOUR:
Sun Mar 24 - Boston, MA - The Wonder Bar
Fri Mar 29 - Worcester, MA - Lucky Dog
Music Hall
Sat Mar 30 - Fairfield, CT - FTC Stage One Theater (w/ Otis Taylor)
Sat Apr 6 - Bridgeport, CT - Two Boots
Sun Apr 14 - Quincy, MA - South Shore
Music Hall
Mon Apr 15 - Somerville, MA - Bull McCabes
Sat Apr 20 - Lowell, MA - The Back Page
Fri Apr 26 - Albany, NY - Valentine's
Sat Apr 27 - Rochester, NY - Abilene Bar & Lounge
Sun Apr 28 -
Jamaica Plain, MA - Midway Café
Thu May 2 - Boston, MA - O'Brien's
Fri May 3 - Worcester, MA - Beatnik's
Sat May 4 - Providence, RI - Nick-A-Nees
Fri May 10 - Charleston, WV - The Empty Glass
Sat May 11 - Beckley, WV - Foster's Main St
Tue May 14 - Chattanooga, TN - JJ's Bohemia
Wed May 15 - Nashville, TN - TBA
Thu May 16 - Carbondale, IL - Tres Hombres
Fri May 17 - Kansas City, MO - The Brick
Sat May 18 - Warrensburg, MO - East Pine Pub
Sat May 25 - Cambridge, MA - Club Bohemia (The Cantab Lounge)
Sat Jun 8 - South Hadley, MA - The Polish Am. Citizen's Club
Fri Jul 5 - Philadelphia, PA - The Shore Road Tavern
Sat Jul 6 - Wilmington, NC - The Barbary Coast
Sun Jul 7 - Winston-Salem, NC -
Heavy Rebel Weekend - Millenium Ctr
Wed Jul 10 - Quincy, IL - TBA
Thu Jul 11 - Pekin, IL - The High Note
Fri Jul 12 - Milwaukee, WI - O'Keefes
Sat Jul 13 - Minneapolis, MN - Rock & Deep Blues Fest - Patrick's Cab.
Sun Jul 14 - Annandale, MN - Weber's Deck
Mon Jul 15 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's
Music Joint
Thu Jul 18 - Port Huron, MI - The Roche
Aug 30-Sept 1 - Cookeville, TN - Muddy
Roots Festival - Junebug Ranch
