Dave Hause - Versus
Armin
10.10.2023 - 21:03- Newsbeitrag
Hey now, everybody...
It is with the omnipresent combination of anxiety and excitement that I am thrilled to announce the pre-order of our next LP, Versus.
For those of you counting, after TIM and Drive It Like It's Stolen, this is the 3rd full length record in 2023 to release on Blood Harmony Records, which is a pretty mind blowing little factoid, but also cause for great gratitude to all of you for supporting our family business.
As many of you know, I was in a band called The Loved Ones before I began playing shows and releasing records under my own name, and in that band's short working life close to three dozen songs were written and recorded. I think we did some good work back then, and I'm proud of the songwriting at large. Those records came out on a supportive independent record label, we toured the world, and then burned out after about 5 years of hard living and touring. As many songwriters do, I initially put some distance between myself and The Loved Ones' material, as I wanted to make sure that I was able to forge forward on my own and not lean on past work as a means of developing an audience.
I took the slightly harder path of focusing on evolving as a songwriter and an artist, and now, after a 10+ year time period, with an immense amount of hard work, the life altering collaboration with Tim, and the graciousness of an open hearted audience, I look back and I'm proud that I took that path. I think the success we've had from Resolutions through Drive It Like It's Stolen, coupled with the mellowing of ego over time has also has allowed me to appreciate The Loved Ones as a crucial part of my development as a songwriter.
Tim and I were inspired by Taylor Swift's ferocity in re-recording her past work to retain control of her intellectual property, but I didn't have a whole lot of interest in re-recording Keep Your Heart, Build & Burn, Distractions and the self-titled EP in the same fashion they already existed. Those are well recorded snapshots of where we were at the time, and you can always go back to those if they've made their way into your life. I wanted to give those old songs a new life, and record them in a way that allowed the songs to shine on their own, played in a way that felt like a new, more intimate offering. I also wanted to organize the songs differently after I noticed three major lyrical themes that emerged when I re-examined the work. The songs on Versus are all borne of struggle, and involve the three classic forms of conflict in literature; "man against man", "man against nature", and "man against self". Those years were certainly tough ones, and there's a youthful reckoning with coming to terms with those struggles in this batch. Plus, there's an obvious play on words, and one of my all time favorite rock and roll records is called Vs, so it made for a pretty damn good title, wouldn't you say?
We started this project at the start of 2022 when the Omicron variant forced us to postpone our European tour for the third time, and Tim and I wanted to stay productive in the unexpected downtime. Plus, we love coming to Nashville to record with Will Hoge and David Axelrod. We did the principle tracking of all 30 songs in about 5 days in Nashville, and then added various other elements to the songs along the way. Eighteen or so months later, we present the first twelve songs of our efforts: Versus. Here's the cover art again, just because Jesse DeFlorio did such a tremendous job on it.
So here are the specifics... We are a tiny little record label, and we honestly have no idea how much interest there will be in a project like this. Plus, there are still other vested interested parties in The Loved Ones that we have to be mindful of. These songs are beloved by some, but they're also 15-20 years old... So rather than do a big radio and press campaign and a traditional record roll out, we are just making a very conservative amount of copies available to you fine readers right here. There may be a handful of record stores that get some copies, but it wouldn't be many, but it won't be anytime soon. Everything is through our store here.
In an effort to be fair, we just divided up 1000 copies according to how and where we usually sell records. There will be about 700 available in the US, 50 in Canada, and about 250 available in UK and Europe. And that's it (Europe, don't you worry, we have a different surprise brewing up for you next year). We aren't making cds, and these songs won't be on streaming services for a while (some songs are, some will be later down the line). We hope to get it up on Bandcamp at some point, BUT, like all records from Blood Harmony Records, a vinyl purchase does come with a free digital download. There is no proper release date per se.... once we have the records, they will be sent out immediately. We're told they'll arrive early next month so you should have them in time for Thanksgiving listening with the family.
Bear in mind, we usually press many, many more copies of a new record, so if this is something you're interested in, I wouldn't wait to grab a copy.
All of that said, we are incredibly proud of how these songs turned out. These are not meant to replace the original versions of the songs, or your memories and connection with them. Rather, they are an update, and an effort to enjoy these songs in a new way, and to make them part of the live shows more moving forward. I sincerely hope you enjoy this first batch.
Speaking of live shows, as you could probably predict, I insisted we play a few shows to honor the release of this little record. The surprise, I suppose is that the shows are SUPER small and they're going to be a month from now. We haven't played in the First Unitarian Chapel in Philadelphia since Devour came out, and it's one of the most beautiful and haunting rooms to play, so we are fired up to be back. Here's the plan:
Nov 10 - Baltimore MD - Club 603 (50 tickets remain here)
Nov 11 - Garwood, NJ - Crossroads (10 tickets remain here)
Nov 12 - Philadelphia PA - First Unitarian Church Chapel (70 tickets remain here)
Nov 13 - Philadelphia PA - First Unitarian Church Chapel (70 tickets remain here)
Regarding Europe, here's your reminder that you can hear songs from Versus (and all songs from our catalogue) at our Haunted Churches tour next year. Tickets are going fast, with Cologne and Hamburg already sold out and many other shows getting close. We have no plans after this tour to be back any time soon, so go ahead and grab your tickets.
ALSO...GREAT NEWS GERMANY! We were able to add a show on January 24 at the beloved and legendary Ringkirche in Wiesbaden!!!
We were initially so bummed to not be able to have the tour go through Ringkirche, so when it became available we were elated to be able to add a show in one of my all time favorite venues. Grab your ticket here.
Ok, that's it for this transmission. I got home yesterday afternoon to 2 very excited kids after a wonderful tour that brought us through the west coast with Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers, and then on to Denver, Evanston and Minneapolis to celebrate Devour, so I don't have recommendations this month other than to go grab a copy of Versus and a ticket to an upcoming show. THANK YOU SO MUCH for supporting our music.
Peace & Love,
Dave
diggo
01.12.2023 - 20:12
Ich mag die Platte. Tolle Neuinterpretationen von Lieblingssongs meiner Jugend.
Heute - und offenbar nur heute am Bamndcamp Friday - auf Bandcamp verfügbar. Kaufen!!
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