Craig Finn on stage with Deer Tick at Brooklyn Bowl on NYE (more by Tracy Allison)

Craig Finn (of The Hold Steady) released his debut LP, Clear Heart Full Eyes, today (1/24) via Vagrant. You can stream the entire thing on NPR.

As mentioned, Craig will tour in support of the album this February and March. His tour includes early and late shows at Mercury Lounge on February 29 (which are both sold out) and a Maxwell's show on March 1, which is still on sale. He just added another NYC show to his tour, happening on March 8 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (1/27) with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (1/25) at noon.

Updated dates below...

Continue reading "Craig Finn releases/streaming solo debut, adds a Brooklyn show to tour (updated dates)"

photos by Eric M. Townsend

"Went to The Hold Steady & Titus Andronicus
at the BK Bazaar. Effing brill." - Kevin Plunkett

Craig & Patrick @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar

The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus, Wakey! Wakey!, and W/O played the final night of Brooklyn Bazaar on Saturday (12/17). Like he's done in the past, Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus joined The Hold Steady on their last song of the night, "Stay Positive." Titus played a show at Europa one night later and you can catch Patrick again at Shea Stadium tonight (12/22).

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn will return to NYC in February for two solo shows at Mercury Lounge (2/29) on his 2012 tour, which also includes a Maxwell's show on March 1.

Pictures from the first two nights of Brooklyn Night Bazaar are HERE and HERE. More pictures from the third night, and The Hold Stead's setlist, below...

Continue reading "The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus & Wakey Wakey closed down Brooklyn Night Bazaar (pics)"

Craig Finn will now play two shows with Marcellus Hall at Mercury Lounge on February 29th. The late show sold out at noon today. The early show goes on sale at 5pm. Meanwhile his Maxwell's show is still on sale.

As their own site reads:

On October 9, the Brooklyn Night Bazaar had its inaugural event at Dekalb Market in downtown Brooklyn. A talented group of local artists, designers, musicians and chefs were joined by over 5,000 visitors for what became a magical evening. Nomadic in nature, the next Bazaar will take place over three nights in a vast 40,000 sq ft warehouse with soaring ceilings. Highlights will include:

-Over 100 local merchant and food vendors.

-Artist films, projections and installations programmed by NBNY Projects.

-Specially designed layout by JDS/Julien De Smedt Architects.

-Live music and DJ sets including James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), The Crystal Ark, Midnight Magic, The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus, Wakey!Wakey!, Fucked Up, Dom, Big Troubles and more. See Ticketfly.com for tickets to the Bazaar's performance space.

-Beer and wine garden featuring local breweries and wineries.

When: December 15, 16 and 17 from 5:00 PM until 1AM.

Where: 149 Kent Ave, Brooklyn NY. (Entrance between North 5th and North 6th). Near the Bedford Ave. L train stop or the North 6th Street ferry landing.

Cost: Free except for the ticketed music space.

Look around the Bazaar's website for more info.

Craig Finn at Cabinet of Wonders in October (more by Chris Graham)

Last week, we announced that Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn added a Maxwell's show (3/1) to his already announced solo tour. The Maxwell's show is part of a longer string of dates that he's tacked on to the end the tour, which also includes Mercury Lounge on February 29. Marcellus Hall opens all of the shows on the newly announced run, except for the 2/27 show live at Drew's house in Ringwood, NJ. Tickets for the Mercury show and the Maxwell's show go on sale Friday (12/16) at noon. AmEx presale for the Mercury show starts Wednesday (12/14) at noon. All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile catch Craig front his band The Hold Steady at the Brooklyn Bazaar in Williamsburg this Saturday night, one night after Radical Dads play there (with Fucked Up).

Craig also recently made an in-studio video that talks about the process of his upcoming solo album, Clear Heart Full Eyes. That video and all dates are below...

Continue reading "Craig Finn discusses new album, adds more tour dates (Mercury Lounge included)"

Craig Finn at Cabinet of Wonders in October (more by Chris Graham)

The Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn is releasing his debut solo LP, Cleart Heart Full Eyes, on January 24 via Vagrant. You can stream the single, "Honolulu Blues," below and purchase it on iTunes. The album artwork and tracklist is below too.

When we first announced his solo tour in support of the album, it didn't include any NYC-area dates. He's since added a show on March 1 at Maxwell's. Tickets go on sale Friday (12/16) at noon. Mount Mariah open most of the tour, but no opener has been announced for the Maxwell's show yet.

The Hold Steady play even sooner at Brooklyn Bazaar on December 17 with Titus Andronicus, Wakey Wakey and W/O. Tickets are still available. That's the final night of the three night event which also includes a BV-presented Fucked Up and Dom show.

Craig tweeted that he's "happy to be sharing a 1/24/12 release with John K Samson" of The Weakerthans, who kicked off their run of 4 albums in 4 nights at Bowery Ballroom last night (12/7). More on that later.

All Craig Finn dates, song stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Craig Finn adds Maxwell's show --- updated dates & album info"

As Bill just pointed out, BrooklynVegan is handling the Fucked Up Friday night show at the new Williamsburg version of the Brooklyn Night Bazaar (holiday shopping, eating and music), but I figured the fact that The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus and James Murphy and Midnight Magic were playing the other nights deserved its own headline too.

Meanwhile catch Midnight Magic this Saturday night with YACHT and Parenthetical Girls at Santos Party House.

Fucked Up were recently here for shows at Warsaw and Le Poisson Rouge., which they played with Titus.

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn goes on a solo tour in February.

Craig Finn, Tad Kubler & friends @ Bowery Electric last night

Though Brian Fallon cancelled, there was still plenty of talent to go around at last night's 1st-of-three BrooklynVegan-sponsored Replacements tribute shows at Bowery Electric. The Hold Steady's Craig Finn & Tad Kubler performed a cover of "Within Your Reach" which you can watch below (courtesy of jukeboxgraduate) along with a video of the encore performance of "Bastards of Young" that had Craig Finn, Titus Andronicus's Patrick Stickles, Jesse Malin, Tommy Ramone and others all on stage together.

If you missed the show, you have two more chances to experience it tonight (11/17). The early show is sold out though, but tickets are still available for the late one. Tonight's guests will not include Craig, but you will get:

Alex Levy
Anthony D'Amato
Danny Sage (D Generation)
Dave Hause (The Loved Ones)
Don DiLego & Bree Sharp (Beautiful Small Machines)
Jesse Malin
John Eddie
John Gallagher (American Idiot)
Matt Pinfield (MTV's 120 Minutes)
Matt Sweeney
Nicole Atkins
Paul Bearer (Sheer Terror)
Ted Leo
Tommy Ramone
Walter Lure (Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers)
& MORE

Meanwhile Craig Finn has announced a solo tour in support of his upcoming album which he also posted a song from. No NYC dates for now, but you can see all the other dates, listen to his new song and watch the videos from the Replacements event, below...

Continue reading "Craig Finn covered the Replacements (video), posted a new song (stream), touring solo in February (dates)"

Mountain Goats @ Knitting Factory, Halloween 2005 (more)

As previously mentioned, John Wesley Harding is holding a "Cabinet of Wonders" variety show at NYC's City Winery on October 28th with Hamilton Leithauser (The Walkmen), Eugene Mirman, John Hodgman, Emma Straub, Paul Harding, and more TBA. Since our last mention, two very special guests have been added to the bill: Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) and John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats). Hopefully you didn't sleep on tickets because the show is now sold out.

Tickets are however on sale now for A Haunted Hot Tub Halloween at Littlefield, also a comedy and music variety show, happening one day later (10/29) with Kristen Schaal, Kurt Braunohler, Wyatt Cenac, Andres du Bouchet, and... John Darnielle, and more.

Tickets are also on sale for Hot Tub on 10/10 and 10/17.

Tickets are also still on sale for the 11/18 Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery with The Blue Fisherman (from Edinburgh, Scotland), Howe Gelb, Myla Goldberg, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman, Audrey Niffenegger AND "Plus for this Cabinet of Wonders, and this Cabinet of Wonders only, the House Band will be THE KING CHARLES TRIO, comprising: Peter Buck (REM), Jenny Conlee-Drizos, Chris Funk, John Wesley Harding (Appearing as Himself), Scott McCaughey (The Minus Five), John Moen, and Nate Query." That's a lot of Decemberists. More upcoming JWH shows HERE

Speaking of Ted Leo and Craig Finn, both are scheduled to make appearances at the BrooklynVegan-presented Replacements tribute shows happening at Bowery Electric in November. The previously announced two shows (and movie screenings) are sold out, BUT a third tribute concert - a late one on 11/17, has been added. Tickets for the new show are on sale. More info HERE.

Mountain Goats dates and flyers below...

Continue reading "3rd Replacements tribute show added, John Darnielle schedules guest appearances, Craig Finn too"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Roots & The Hold Steady played a free party on the Intrepid back on 9/29. Here are some pictures.

Upcoming DJ sets by Roots member Questlove include this Thursday at Brooklyn Bowl and 10/14 at Terminal 5 with Little Dragon. Of course you can also see the Roots 5 nights a week on Fallon. Tonight's show also includes an appearance by Portishead.

The Hold Steady's Tad Kubler is scheduled to appear at Petty Fest which begins at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight (10/5) and continues to Bowery Ballroom on Thursday (10/6).

More pictures from the Intrepid below...

Continue reading "The Roots & The Hold Steady played the Intrepid (pics)"

most photos by Amanda Hatfield

The Hold Steady/Caveman @ Beekman Beer Garden

As promised, everyone who showed up with a ticket (and then some) got in no problem to our free Hold Steady/Caveman show at Beekman Beer Garden in NYC, one of five total events that happened around the country as part of Evenbrite's Concert Confidential series on Saturday night (9/17). Each of the free shows had a charity attached, and ours was VH1 Save the Music Foundation (which we raised $4295 for!).

Though we were planning for a while, the date of the show was only announced 10 days earlier with the headliner revealed just 5 days before the show, "tickets" on sale just 2 days before, and the opener revealed just 1 day before.

Thanks to everyone who helped put this together, Eventbrite, the venue, the bartenders, the weather for staying cool and dry, everyone who came by, DJ Billy Jones from New Moods for playing sweet tunes before both bands, to Caveman for a jammin' set of tunes from their just-released debut album, and to headliner The Hold Steady for a raucous almost-2-hour set that never got boring (as usual). Check out their full setlist and more pictures from the whole show below...

Continue reading "The Hold Steady & Caveman played the free BV/Eventbrite show @ Beekman Beer Garden (pics & setlist)"

by BBG

The Hold Steady inject another 1.21 jigowatts of electricity into "The Power of Love", the 80s Back to The Future soundtrack fave by Huey Lewis & The News. Check out an AV Club video of The Hold Steady's doing a boozy, Stones-influenced version below, and look for The Hold Steady on the road in late September, including at the Popped! festival in Philadelphia.

The Hold Steady just finished a run of dates with The Donkeys who will play Knitting Factory in Brooklyn TONIGHT (9/2) with The Latebirds and Brooklyn's own Dinosaur Feathers. Tickets are still available.

The show is one of a select few dates for The Latebirds, who are touring in support of the US release of their new LP Last Of The Good Ol' Days (out now). If you just take the band's clearly American-sound for granted, you might not realize that The Latebirds are actually from Finland....

Blurt -Online: Americana really informs much of the sound.

Latebird Markus Nordenstreng: My first introduction to rock music came from Bruce Springsteen when I was eleven years old and that's when I got plugged into the great amp of life, as they say. I became a big fan of American popular culture, from Jack Kerouac to John Coltrane, from Hank Williams to Bob Dylan, from Paul Auster to Patti Smith, from Peckinpah to Scorsese, from the MC5 to Snoop Dogg, from Mother Maybelle to Marlon Brando. I think there is a common thread all along.
In the past ten years I've spent lots of time in the U.S. - not only touring or recording with the Latebirds, but on my own as well. I prefer spending my winters in Southern California instead of Southern Finland for sure...

Continue reading "The Hold Steady covered Huey Lewis (video), The Latebirds are on tour (play Brooklyn w/ The Donkeys tonight)"

Murder by Death @ Pop Montreal 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Murder by Death aren't on tour right now, but they are opening for the Hold Steady at Terminal 5 tonight (4/8) (tickets still available), and have some other random upcoming shows including a May 20th Rocks Off Concert Cruise, and a May 21st appearance at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Somerset, NJ. That's how the band lists it, though a bit of research reveals that the NJ show is actually part of the Steampunk World's Fair which is happening at that location from May 20th - May 22nd.

All MbD dates, and details on an art contest for an upcoming 7", below...

Continue reading "Murder by Death opening for the Hold Steady, playing a boat in NYC, and a hotel in Somerset, NJ (dates & a 7" art contest)"

photos by Ryan Barkan

Megafaun @ Bowery Ballroom

The Mountain Goats and Megafaun played their third of three Bowery Ballroom shows in a row on Wednesday, 3/30. NYC Taper has recordings (and the setlists) of the Mountain Goats' set from NIGHT ONE and NIGHT TWO.

We previously posted pictures from the first night, and from the other show John Darnielle (Mountain Goats) played earlier on Wednesday for WNYC. This post contains pictures from the last Bowery show where the Hold Steady's Craig Finn again joined the headliner on stage. They continue below.

Megafaun and the Mountain Goats continue on tour through 4/15 when they hit the Theater of Living Arts in Philly. One day later, Megafaun return to NYC to open for their friend and collaborator Sharon Van Etten at Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets are still available). In May you can catch both Sharon and Megafaun at MusicNOW in Cincinnati.

Megafaun recently released a new videeo for their song "Carolina Days." You can watch that, with more Bowery pictures and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Megafaun opened for Mountain Goats (night 3 pics), opening for Sharon Van Etten, playing MusicNOW, made a video"

photos by Lionel Bergeron

Craig Finn & Frightened Rabbit

Just hours before Saturday night's Frightened Rabbit show, I wrote "The Craig Finn duet audio is still not available." That is no longer true, though the audio now available is the live audio from the part of the Terminal 5 show where The Hold Steady's Craig Finn came on stage and sang "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" live on stage with the headlining band during their encore (video below). The excitement continued after that when Frightened Rabbit invited up costumed crowd members, of which there were many in attendance since the show's date was October 30th.

Plants & Animals and a very stylish looking Phantom Band (who recently played our Friday CMJ day party) opened the show. More pictures with Frightened Rabbits' setlist and the videos, below....

Continue reading "Craig Finn joined Frightened Rabbit @ Terminal 5. Phantom Band & Plants & Animals played too (pics, setlist & video) "

Frightened Rabbit @ Lollapalooz 2010 (more by Josh Darr)

"Having [recently] kicked off their headlining tour, [Frightened Rabbit] is simultaneously ramping up for their fourth single, "The Loneliness and the Scream" (FatCat Records), due December 8. For the b-side, frontman Scott Hutchison teamed up with The Hold Steady's Craig Finn for an all-male duet of the Elton John and Kiki Dee classic, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." Dressed in Hutchison's individually hand made artwork, the physical single will be included in a limited 500-edition box set that will house all four 7-inch singles from the album.

The unique choice of a cover was actually planned well ahead and Hutchison turned to a respected peer to see it through. "The b-side has been an idea of mine for a couple of years actually, two guys singing the Elton John/Kiki Dee duet. When I was making a list of the ideal Kiki's, Craig Finn was at the top," reveals Hutchison. "I couldn't believe it when he agreed to do the part. Craig is quite simply one of my favorite lyricists and his voice works brilliantly in the role." Frightened Rabbit's part was recorded at Glasgow's CaVa Studios while Finn recorded his vocal in The Hold Steady's studio, Wild Arctic Recording in New York.

Ahead of the single's release, a video for "The Loneliness and the Scream" [was released]

Frightened Rabbit's tour with Plants & Animals and The Phantom Band hits Terminal 5 in NYC tonight (10/30). Looking for last minute plans? I have a few pairs of tickets to give away to the show. Details on how to win them, with all dates and the video, below...

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit on tour, releasing duet w/ Craig Finn -- win T5 tix, watch their new video "

by BBG

Off! (photo by Lindsey Byrnes)

Whether or not the band name Off! is a not-so-subtle reference to another band that featured the great Keith Morris and dealt destruction to the insect populi, one thing is certain, they rule. Besides the incredible vocalist for Circle Jerks/Black Flag, punk supergroup Off! also features a killer lineup including Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless/Hot Snakes/Rocket From the Crypt) and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross) and the foursome have announced their debut material to be released with Vice Records!

Off!, who you may have caught at SXSW this year, will release the accurately titled First EP via limited edition 7" inch on October 12th. Featuring art and an exclusive poster courtesy of Raymond Pettibon, aka the evil genius behind Black Flag's iconic album covers, the release is the first of four 7"s to be compiled on the First Four EPs (another Black Flag nod) due on November 23rd - a collection of 16 songs which will each feature its own Pettibon sleeve art.

As the tour dates indicate below, Off!, in addition to playing FYFFest and Riot Fest this year, has announced their involvement in Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest (happening November 6th and 7th). For those of you counting at home, that brings the list of confirmed FFFFest bands to Woven Bones, Suicidal Tendencies, Slick Rick, Best Coast, Dirty Projectors, Cap'n Jazz, The Gories, Yelle, Snapcase, The Dwarves, High On Fire, and The Hold Steady! Stay tuned for more lineup announcements for the great Texas festival.

Meanwhile, Mario Rubalcaba was NOT part of the recent (and impromptu) Hot Snakes reunion that took place on July 29th at an Obits/Night Marchers show in San Diego, CA (the bands were on tour together).

You can view video of the three Hot Snakes songs from that set, as well as all Off! tour dates & a video from their first show in LA, below...

Continue reading "Off! signs to Vice, Fun Fun Fun Fest announces part of the lineup, Hot Snakes reunited (sort of) "

photos by Chris Graham

"At the sold-out Sasquatch, bands holding down the headliner spots haven't necessarily turned out to be the biggest draws. Sure, My Morning Jacket played to a mostly packed house on Saturday, and Massive Attack was overwhelmingly solid on Sunday despite a not-so-full amphitheater floor, but the band drawing the most populous, most stoked, most deserved gathering was unquestionably Vampire Weekend." [SPIN]

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2010 Day 1 in pics (My Morning Jacket, Hold Steady, Broken Social Scene, Vampire Weekend, Miike Snow & more) "

Video from David Letterman, Craig Ferguson and Carson Daly, below...

Continue reading "Band of Horses, She & Him & Hold Steady were on TV last night (videos)"

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Jessica Amaya

"About to see the hold mother fucking steady at music hall of wburg. I've been drinking all day in preparation." - David Chaitt

The Hold Steady hosted a pair of NYC shows on Saturday (4/17) to celebrate their new album, Heaven Is Whenever, out May 4th, and its limited Record Store Day release earlier that day (miraculously, the album remained unleaked up to that point, so those that braved the line for one of their store's 5 or so copies were the first to hear it). Now it's legally streaming in full online.

The shows were also a chance to show off the band's new touring members - guitarist Steve Selvidge (ex-Lucero) and keyboardist Dan Neustadt (ex-The World/Inferno Friendship Society) - who replaced key player/accordionist Franz Nicolay, and who'd been with the group for less than two weeks.

The late crowd at Music Hall of Williamsburg (the earlier show was at Bowery Ballroom) were part enthused revelers, part intent observers. Those up front were going wild.The set mixed old and new - "Massive Nights," "Stevie Nix," and late-in-the-set "Stay Positive" came off riotously, while the newer, more neat and polished songs like "The Weekenders" and "Rock Problems" were more subdued (time will tell how those play live post-release).

The band seemed sober and focused, a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. Craig Finn raised a sole bottle of beer to end the night, "I think I've earned this." (Compare to the two NYC shows by LCD Soundsystem a week prior, with frontman James Murphy demoing his new album blissfully shitfaced.) With the new album, the Hold Steady have clearly done some growing up. Appropriately, their next show set for New York will be at the regal, seated Beacon Theatre on October 7th.

NYC Taper has a recording of the Bowery show. More pictures from Music Hall of Williamsbug and both setlists below...

Continue reading "The Hold Steady played 2 NYC shows in 1 night (pics, setlist), new album streaming online"

The Hold Steady have updated their tour schedule, which already included a NYC show at the Beacon Theatre on October 7th, with two more NYC gigs on Saturday, April 17th. That night they play an early show at Bowery Ballroom with J-Roddy Walston And The Business, and a late show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Oranges Band. Two shows. One night.

Early show tickets and late show tix go on "Internet Presale" today (2/12) at 4pm. The presale is for people that bought tickets to Beacon, but it seems reasonable to believe that it might just be a password that anyone can enter. General sale starts Wednesday (4/14) at 10am.

Speaking of the Beacon show, tickets are also still on sale.

The new record, Heaven Is Whenever, comes out May 4th. Tracks from it (including the newly leaked "Barely Breathing") are below...

Continue reading "The Hold Steady add 2 NYC shows happening the same night (presale today), leak more new songs "

Ticketmaster is being screwy. Some people can get LCD Soundsystem tickets. Some can't. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to why except that I think Ticketmaster screws up when they list a show a few minutes before it goes on sale. When a show gets listed it has to pass through their zillion identical servers and it isn't on all of them yet.

Tickets go on AmEx & "Fan Club" presale at 10am for the Hold Steady show at Beacon Theatre, and I agree, it's weird that they're playing a seated venue.

Tickets go on AmEx & 'Fan Club' presale at 10am for the acoustic Willie Nelson show at Grand Ballroom. This will probably be a seated show (Grand Ballroom can go either way).

Speaking of The Hold Steady, the band just added a date at the Beacon Theatre on Thursday, October 7th. Tickets go on presale Wednesday at 10am. General sale starts Friday, April 9th at 10am.

In addition to their shows, which are outlined below, they'll be appearing on Late Show with David Letterman on April 30th and The Colbert Report on May 14th.

The band will be boosting their live lineup (recently minus keyboardist Franz Nicolay) with guitarist Steve Selvidge and keyboard player Dan Neustadt (who, like Franz also played in World Inferno Friendship Society). Meanwhile Franz is touring as a member of Against Me!

All Hold Steady tour dates are below...

Continue reading "updated The Hold Steady touring lineup & tour dates (Beacon Theatre, Colbert Report, David Letterman & more)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Ex-Hold Steady troubadour Franz Nicolay is currently on the West Coast prepping for a short tour that kicks off from there next week, but that won't (hopefully) stop him from joining in via Skype on this month's Bushwick Book Club at Goodbye Blue Monday on Tuesday, April 6th (tonight).

His other upcoming dates include NYC-area shows on April 23rd show at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, May 11th show at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park with Bomb The Music Industry, and a May 14th performance at the release party for Kate Rockland's debut novel Falling Is Like This, at Word Bookstore in Greenpoint, along with music writer Rob Sheffield.

He's also set to play a May 21st edition of the weekly Small Beast series gone big at the Angel Orensanz Foundation. Ticket info for that is forthcoming, and the lineup should include Botanica, Barbez, Bee & Flower, Little Annie, Spottiswoode, Blasco and others.

This May and June Franz heads to Europe as a touring member of Florida punk rockers Against Me, who have a new album, White Crosses, out June 8th on Sire Records. Franz says, "Gonna be a touring Against Me for the summer. I have already prepared my beard and promise to give at least the recommended 35 percent." For whatever reason, the band isn't using Franz in the US though. They kick off a North American tour without him in April and play Asbury Park's Stone Pony on April 29th. Tickets are on sale (Sweden's Moneybrother is also on that bill and part of the tour). Against Me!'s new video for the song "Rapid Decompression" off the new record is below with all dates. The LP will be their second on Sire and their first since the departure of drummer Warren Oakes (replaced by Hot Water Music's George Rebelo).

Meanwhile, Franz's Hold Steady compatriots have been putting up tracks from their new album, Heaven Is Whenever, set to come out May 4th. The record's piano and keyboard parts (which are right up front on some of the new tracks) are played by guitarist Tad Kubler. Three of those new ones are streaming on their Myspace.

As for Franz, he's also released a book & other assorted projects, and soon, a new CD.

[After my tour], I'm starting work on my new full-length with producer Jim Keller, who's worked with everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Willie Nelson to Mastodon. Unlike "Major General," it's all new songs, nothing from the vaults - and in case you're curious what that means, I've posted demos for two of the songs, "Felix & Adelita" and "This Is Not A Pipe," at myspace.com/franznicolay. Hope you like.

Continue reading "Hold Steady streaming new songs, Franz Nicolay keeping busy, playing in Against Me! (but not for their upcoming US tour) "

DOWNLOAD: Pearl and the Beard - Lost In Singapore (w/ Franz Nicolay) (MP3)

Franz Nicolay w/ Hold Steady @ Coachella '09 (more by Darren Kim)

You should know: I've left The Hold Steady. I told the band I'd be leaving in early September, played my last show with them in Minneapolis around Thanksgiving, and dotted the t's and crossed the i's this week. Five years seemed like a nice round number. Thanks to everyone who was a part of the experience, especially the Unified Scene, who are nice folks. I'll see you all soon in any case. [FranzNicolay.com]

Franz has some solo shows coming up (in addition to his collaborative projects). He plays Knitting Factory on February 26th for a show with Tim Fite and Toronto band Zeus. Tickets are on sale. He'll also be touring the UK in March.

His band Guignol will be playing Freddy's Backroom on February 2nd with The Debutante Hour, Phoebe Kreutz and Otis Pike.

In 2009, he collaborated with Pearl and the Beard, putting accordion to the track above, off their album God Bless Your Weary Soul, Amanda Richardson. Pearl and the Beard have a show coming up this weekend, Saturday, January 23rd at Mercury Lounge, where they'll play with Xylos, Team Genius, Echo Station, The Static Jacks and Valerie June. Tickets are on sale. Their "Will Smith Medly" video is below, along with some Franz videos and all tour dates...

Continue reading "Franz Nicolay quits the Hold Steady, playing shows, collaborating (w/ Pearl & the Beard, others)"