Seen Your Video: The Hold Steady Take Over the Colbert Report

The Hold Steady was on The Colbert Report last night. Colbert had a few words with lead singer/guitarist Craig Finn and lead guitarist Tad Kubler to start. Best line:
Colbert: "Do you rip off Mother Theresa a lot? Tad, does she get a cut?"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Hold Steady
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

Then the band came out for a performance of "Hurricane J" from the latest record Heaven is Whenever. I kind of dig Finn doing the second chorus alone without all of the "whoaa-oh-oh-oh," which differs from the recorded version...changes it up a bit you know?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Hold Steady - Hurricane J
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

New Hold Steady Record, Heaven is Whenever Announced, Out 5/4

The Hold Steady @ Virgin Fest 2009, originally uploaded by BetweenLoveandLike.

Woot!! New Hold Steady record to be titled Heaven Is Whenever, is out 5/4 on Vagrant Records.

The Hold Steady recently put the finishing touches on Heaven Is Whenever, their new album set for release May 4th on Vagrant Records and May 3rd on Rough Trade in the UK and EU. The album was produced by Dean Baltulonis, who engineered the band’s Almost Killed Me and produced Separation Sunday,, and was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios in Upstate NY and Wild Arctic Studios in Queens, NY.

Singer Craig Finn says Heaven Is Whenever, is about “embracing suffering and finding reward in our everyday lives.” Piano and keys take a backseat to guitar on the new record, which also gets production help from guitarist Tad Kubler.

Recorded in several smaller sessions spread out over a long period of time, the songs on Heaven Is Whenever, received the benefit of being tested on the band’s recent tours. As Finn says this allowed them to “see what was working and what wasn’t. I believe this record benefits from us working at a more deliberate pace.”

Tracklist:
1 The Sweet Part of the City
2 Soft in the Center
3 The Weekenders
4 The Smidge
5 Rock Problems
6 We Can Get Together
7 Hurricane J
8 Barely Breathing
9 Our Whole Lives
10 A Slight Discomfort

Give a Listen: Our Whole Lives-The Hold Steady (live, 930 Club, Washington, DC, 8-29-09)
Buy here (Available 5/4)

The Hold Steady Spring 2010 Tour Dates
April 2nd: LIFE the place to be, Ardsley, NY
April 3rd: Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT
April 5th: Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT
April 6th: Pearl Street, Northampton, MA
April 7th: Linda Norris Auditorium, Albany, NY
April 8th: Bearsville Theater, Woodstock, NY
April 9th: Eleanor Rigby’s, Jermyn, PA
April 10th: The Westcott Theater, Syracuse, NY
April 12th: The Club at Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, NY
April 13th: Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
April 14th: Diesel Club Lounge, Pittsburgh, PA
April 15th: 123 Pleasant St., Morgantown, WV
April 16th: Appalachian Brewing Company, Harrisburg, PA
May 5th: El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
May 6th: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
May 29th: Sasquatch Festival, George, WA
June 12th: Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Festival, UK
June 14th: Fleche D’Or, Paris, FR
June 21st: Melkeg, Amsterdam, NL
June 22nd: HMV Forum, London. UK
Jun 26th: Academy 2, Manchester, UK

Looking for the Lifter Puller vs The End Of Book?

I just received information on the release of Lifter Puller vs The End Of oral history book we mentioned earlier today. Seems that...

--It has been available for purchase since last Friday, and only at Treehouse Records in Minneapolis for a mere $25. They do mail-order (link here).

--It will not be sold via Amazon or a larger book site of Amazon's ilk, but will be available shortly online via Blue Collar Distribution.

--Only 1,000 copies were made.

--With its purchase, you get a card with a code to digitally download the entire Lifter Puller re-releases and Slips Backward. However, the live tracks on each record from 7th Street Entry, the Black Cat, and Triple Rock are not included with that.

--Included are "tons of rare photos, artwork/flyers/posters, complete lyrics, and an oral history of the band as told by people who were there (engineer Dave Gardner, Twin Cities rock ambassador Lori Barbero, Dillinger Four's Paddy Costello, Trenchmouth's Damon Locks, Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav and Frenchkiss Records, Chris Newmyer of Self-Starter Foundation, Dan Cote of Heart of a Champion and Treehouse Records, and more"(Treehouse Records blog).

Lifter Puller Catalog to Be Re-Released, Includes Live Tracks and New Compliation, Slips Backwards

Prior to coming to Brooklyn and starting up The Hold Steady, frontman Craig Finn and lead guitarist Tad Kubler were in a band together called Lifter Puller. What's interesting about LP is that you can definitely hear, in both sound and lyric, the beginnings of what become THS lurking in that noisy punk sound. (And have Craig Finn and Tad Kubler aged at all in the last 20 years? They look exactly the same. Kudos to good genetics I guess.)

LP broke up in 2000 and as of 2006, all their records were out of print, but that all changes next month...It was announced yesterday that their catalog will be available digitally for the first time on 12/1, along with a new collection of odds and ends titled Slips Backwards. Sans their self-titled debut, the rest of the re-releases will contain extras in the form of various live tracks culled from a 1998 7th St. Entry show in Minneapolis, a 2000 gig at the Black Cat in DC, and 2003 reunion shows at Triple Rock in Seattle.

A book titled "Lifter Puller vs The End Of" will follow, containing photos, lyrics, and an oral history of the band.

Lifter Puller Releases (all out 12/1)
New:
-Slips Backwards (New-contains two live recordings from D.C.’s Black Cat in 2000 – one of the band’s final shows)

Tracklist:
1. Secret Santa Cruz
2. Back In Blackbeard
3. Math Is Money
4. 4 Dix
5. La Quereria
6. 11th Ave Freezout
7. The Langelos
8. Mick's Tape
9. The Pirate And The Penpal
10. The Mezzanine Gyp
11. Star Wars Hips
12. Slips Backwards
13. Nassau Coliseum
14. Prescription Sunglasses
15. Emperor
16. Secret Santa Cruz (Live From The Black Cat 2000)
17. Math Is Money (Live From The Black Cat 2000)

Re-Releases:

-Lifter Puller

-Half Dead And Dynamite: Deluxe reissue, includes live bonus tracks from 1998 7th St. Entry performance in Minneapolis

-Entertainment And Arts: Deluxe reissue, includes live bonus tracks from 1998 7th St. Entry performance in Minneapolis

-Fiestas and Fiascos: Deluxe reissue of Frenchkiss 2000 debut and last studio album. Contains six live cuts from the band’s reunion shows at Seattle’s Triple Rock, June 2003)

Give a Listen: To Live and Die in LBI-Lifter Puller (from Half Dead And Dynamite deluxe reissue)

Sound and Vision: Talking Photography with Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady

If you know anything about the Hold Steady, it wouldn't surprise you to hear that lead guitarist and co-founder Tad Kubler is a top-notch guitar player. Playing the more zen-like ying onstage to lead singer and (the other) co-founder Craig Finn's spastic and hyper yang, Kubler's playing really gives Hold Steady songs a fullness, creating a sound that, to quote a friend, "smells like pure testosterone."

So you might know Kubler is a guitarist, but it might surprise you to hear that Kubler is also a top-notch photographer as well. Starting out in Minneapolis, MN shooting for ad agencies before the band got going, he still shoots whenever he can. Kubler's been involved with press materials for The Hold Steady and occasionally, does work on the side for publications like Rolling Stone (for instance, Kubler's responsible for this great shot of Leonard Cohen)

I discovered all of this when I was doing some reading on The Hold Steady after finally experiencing The Hold Steady live at SXSW this year and stumbling across Kubler's photography site ("woefully outdated," he says). I'm relatively new to the photog field but there were things in Kubler's approach to composition that I found myself really relating to, because they seemed to run congruent to things I found forming in my own work that I'd like to expand. Plus, I was super interested to hear just how exactly he scored such wonderfully rich colors (answer: it ain't digital). So Kubler very graciously found me some time before their recent 930 Club show here in Washington, DC to discuss his background and the wonders of film.

Be sure to check out the links that follow each segment too.

PART 1/4


Take a Look:
* Two big influences:Krissy Drake, Mark Seliger
* Photographers mentioned: Judson Baker, Doug Ordway, Max Vadukul

PART 2/4


Take a Look: Yashica camera, Hasselblad cameras

PART 3/4


Take a Look: Tad Kubler Photography

PART 4/4


Take a Look: A Positive Rage (DVD/Live Album)-The Hold Steady