As you can see from the new addition to our sidebar – t-shirts are back in stock! Dolour shirts featuring a design from “The Years in the Wilderness” as well as Shane Tutmarc & The Traveling Mercies “Hey Lazarus!” shirts. The Mercies shirts come in black or white, while the Dolour ones are in red or creme. Pick one up today!
In band news, this weekend we are doing a couple private benefit concerts. We are doing long sets with lots of vintage country, rock and roll and r&b sprinkled in between originals. I got a great band featuring my old friend Joey Sanchez on drums (he played on Dolour’s Suburbiac and New Old Friends), Josiah Holland on keys, accordian and additional guitar, and Jeremy Branon on bass. Hopefully we’ll get some good video footage to share with you. Meanwhile, look at the shows page to keep up-to-date with our concert calendar. Adios.
We are looking forward to returning to Bowling Green, KY’s venue Tidball’s tomorrow night. We had such a great time when we were last a couple months ago. Even when the PA died on us halfway thru our set, we kept on rocking (see: video).
With my usual drummer, Aaron Tosti, on the road (guitar tech-ing) with Switchfoot, I have frequent collaborator Ethan Luck on drums. Ethan holds the unique honor of playing the most instruments with me. Over the course of this last year and half I’ve lived in Nashville, Ethan has contributed electric guitar, baritone guitar (the solo on “What is This Love?”), lap steel, bass guitar, and drums to both live shows and recordings. If he’s available and I’m needing an extra element to the show, Ethan can more than likely cover it. Plus he brings an energy and excitement that is contagious and always makes the shows fun.
On bass I have my right-hand guy, Nathan Thomas. He produced the new EP, and we’ve already begun tracking some newer stuff. Not sure where that is headed, but I will keep you posted. If you live near the Bowling Green area, we hope to see you tomorrow, or if you got friends out that way – let them know!
Today marks the long-time-coming release of Hell or Highwater. This album has had a strange journey since the backing tracks were first recorded on February 17th, 2004. It was the first time I “experimented” with the old school technique of filling a room with great musicians, giving them simple instructions and recording what happens. In about 10 hours of recording, we captured all 10 of the instrumental backing tracks. I had a room full of trusted friends with talent to spare. Jeramy Koepping was at the board, and he captured the performances with skill, while I played piano in the live room with Josh Ottum on guitar, and long-time Dolour collaborators Phil Peterson playing upright bass, and Paul Mumaw on the drums.
I must have been in some sort of race with myself in those days. I remember the day we recorded Hell or Highwater was the day that New Old Friends arrived from the CD manufacturers. And that’s where the first stumbling block came in. Dolour’s 3rd LP (New Old Friends) hadn’t even been released yet and now I was lapping myself with Hell or Highwater. Looking back, maybe I should have slowed down a bit to see these records through, but I could feel myself developing as a songwriter and artist and didn’t want to miss the opportunity to capture these moments in time. By the time New Old Friends was officially released (through Made in Mexico Records) in November 2004, Hell or Highwater was already over 6 months old in my mind, and I was already considering the next move. Made in Mexico suggested, given the short length of HoH, that I record more songs for it, which would also give them a chance to delay the release. Not a bad idea, but never wanting to look back, I ended up recording Storm & Stress in early 2005 which took Dolour to a completely different place musically.
Although many people saw the Traveling Mercies’ exploration of Americana, gospel and blues as a 180 from the sunshine pop of early Dolour, one listen to Hell or HIghwater and you see this is the missing link. Elements of country, rockabilly, blues, and gospel began to surface through the filter of the jazzy-baroque-pop-ish arrangements.
Years went by, and I continued Dolour in a very on-again/off-again fashion, but when I received an offer from Japanese label, Quince Records to release Hell or Highwater (coupled with Storm & Stress which was also still unreleased at the time), it gave me the chance to finally put this music behind me. This “double album” was released on CD in Japan (and very few American retailers) in September 2007 as The Years in the Wilderness. I was very focused on my new project, The Traveling Mercies, and didn’t really pay much attention to it’s release. Although I loved the artwork by Toby Liebowitz (who has just done the new Fleet Foxes album cover), I was never really comfortable with HoH being attached to S&S, feeling that each record was made to stand on its own. With November 2010′s digital debut of Storm & Stress and now Hell or Highwater, I’ve separated these “fraternal twins.” Now you can enjoy these albums as they were intended – on their own. I love how my brother Brandon Tutmarc’s new artwork (featuring photos he took during the studio session), takes me back to that long – but very creative – day I spent with Jeramy, Josh, Phil and Paul.
I hope this (admittedly long-winded) back story gives you a little perspective on this album, that I feel was a big turning point for me. But more than anything I want you to just close your eyes, turn off the lights and enjoy the music!
Come on out to our first Chattanooga show tonight. It should be a good one too, as it is the CD release show for James Leg (Black Diamond Heavies), and it also features local favorites Bohannons and Duquette Johnston. Also tonight at the show, Alabama’s The Gum Street Killers will be taking donations for the recent Alabama tornado victims, so come on out and rock and roll for a good cause.
We just set up a mailing list that you can now join! In addition to up-to-date info about shows, releases, and other points of interest – we will be providing list-ers with exclusive mp3 downloads, video clips, and other goodies. And don’t worry about us “spamming” you with irrelevant show info. For instance, if you live in Seattle we will not be flooding your inbox with info our shows around the South. So include your zip code, and we’ll make sure the right info is targeted to you.
Take a look at the shows we have coming up. If you live in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Bowling Green, or our hometown of Nashville we are playing near you!
We’ve been happy to have Larry Vance of Blood On the Bluegrass join our team helping with booking. Congratulations are in order too, as yesterday Larry became a daddy. Congrats, Larry!
PRESS RELEASE A brief overview of all things Shane
**SHANE TUTMARC CURRENTLY RECORDING NEW ALBUM**
Nashville, TN. (April 4, 2012)- After two years of establishing
Nashville as his new home base, Seattle native, Shane Tutmarc, is now
recording his highly anticipated new album at Bryan White's Shmowland
Studio! While Tutmarc has had numerous songs in TV and film, with
various previous projects, many industry insiders believe that this
will be the album that puts Tutmarc on the map!
Tutmarc is working with a team of heavy hitters that perfectly embody
the album's fresh take on Memphis soul. Co-Producers RJ Stillwell and
Mike Leech (member of The Musicians Hall of Fame and legendary bass
player) have brought in iconic musicians for Tutmarc's project,
including Michael Rhodes and Chad Cromwell. Leech is also playing bass
on one of the tracks as well as writing the horn arrangements, just as
he did on so many classic hits (including Elvis Presley's "Suspicious
Minds" and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline") during his Memphis Boys
days at American Sound Studio. Jason Miller is recording and mixing
the album; nearly all of the songs are written by Tutmarc himself.
"I'm approaching this project as if it's my first record. This is
undoubtedly a new beginning for me," says Tutmarc. "I feel I have the
perfect team between the production talents of RJ and Mike and these
extraordinary musicians to make the record I have always dreamt of!"
"Tutmarc combines elements of garage-rock, folk, blues, country, gospel and pop into emotionally searing songs of spiritual disquiet and personal heartache." - Don Yates, KEXP Music Director
"In the beginning, rock 'n' roll fused country, boogie-woogie and the blues. This up-tempo alloy of country, rhythm and blues is where Tutmarc reigns. It could be called modern roots because, yeah, it's a little bit rockabilly, a little bit '50s rock, maybe some cool cat swing in there, too. On top of everything, though, is Tutmarc's spirited voice, which is at home snarling or crooning, wherever the spirit takes him." - Shawn Telford, Seattle PI
"From the opening notes of his latest album, Shouting at a Silent Sky, it's obvious the land of Elvis and Faulkner has had a profound impact on the Seattle-born singer-songwriter. With his pencil-thin mustache and bowler hat, Tutmarc looks like he could be the star of a 1930s European film. But when he opens his mouth to sing, out comes a brass twang halfway between Dwight Yoakam and a young Steve Earle." - Brian Barr, Seattle Weekly
