New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On August 25, Nashville's Blank Range will release their debut album Marooned With The Treasure via Sturdy Girls Records distributed by Thirty Tigers. This release makes the band's first full length album after three years of touring the country heavily behind their first two EPs Phase II and Vista Bent.
Today, Noisey premiered "Opening Band," the first track to be released from the forthcoming album. Annalise Domenighini said, "It's a great example of how, sometimes, a song just needs to be simple to be good... Jon Childers' vocals resemble a southern-fried Bob Dylan."
Marooned With The Treasure is now available for pre-order via the band's website.
While singer Jonathon Childers deftly uses "Opening Band" as a multifaceted metaphor throughout the song, the phrase functions literally as well. Over the last three years the band has traversed the country, almost always as a support act, with artists like
Benjamin Booker, The Wild Reeds,
Black Joe Louis & The Honeybears, The Mountain Goats and many more.
Late last year, the four piece band comprised of Grant Gustafson (guitar & vocals), Jonathon Childers (guitar & vocals), Matt Novotny (drums & vocals) and Taylor Zachry (bass & vocals) traveled to Durham, NC to record the album with producer Brad Cook (Hiss Golden Messenger) at Overdub Lane in just four days.
Much of the inspiration for Marooned With The Treasure is the recent sobriety of singer Jonathon Childers, who was thirteen months sober at the time of the recording. He recounts, "When you're consuming zealous amounts of a depressant everyday it's easy to lose the light. I was bummed on everything, probably myself the most, and the party had been over for a long time." The themes of addiction and confusion pop up in "Opening Band," as Childers acknowledges his past with the lyrics: "Well I took on earthly pleasures / Til they stayed and staked their claim / And I've got a couple demons / That know me by my first name."
"My life is much richer now than it was. I'm present for the good moments, and there are plenty of them," asserts Childers.
After many years of traveling the country, the band is excited to finally release their debut album and hit the road once again, with tour dates to be announced for this fall.
"We've become so comfortable with each other over the years that the risks are easier to take but even more exciting," Zachry says of the band's camaraderie. "We're very focused on bringing out the drama in the music, finding the ups and downs and really sculpting them."
Track List:
1) 86 My Mind
2) Seemed Like Word Got Around
3) Opening Band
4) Crimson Moon
5) Labor Of Love
6) By My Side
7) The Forest And The Hum
8) Randolph Street
9) Ember In The Ash
10) The Season
Tour Dates:
8/9: Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle w/ Banditos
8/11: Milwaukee, WI - The Back Room @ Colectivo Coffee w/ Banditos
8/12: Burlington, WI - Tall Tales
Music Festival
8/13: Evanston, IL - SPACE w/ The Wild Reeds
8/16: Fort Wayne, IN - The Brass Rail
8/19: Nashville, TN - Musicians Corner at Centennial Park
8/25: Nashville, TN - Grimey's (In-Store)
9/14: Nashville, TN - Americanafest
