THE STEPKIDS – NEW ALBUM, TROUBADOUR, OUT SEPTEMBER 10 ON STONES THROW RECORDS
June 12, 2013
JUNE 12, 2013 – Carefully crafting their own brand of modern music by blending classic jazz, R&B, funk, 70s pop/rock and more with soaring harmonies, The Stepkids have made a name for themselves as one of the most artistically diverse bands today. The trio will release new album Troubadour September 10 on Stones Throw Records and just premiered new single “The Lottery.” The track is about “the gamble of different sides of life: The gamble of love, the gamble of business, and the general risk of following your heart,” notes guitarist/vocalist Jeff Gitelman. Listen to it now via RollingStone.com: http://rol.st/ZFG6Lz
The Stepkids—Gitelman, Dan Edinberg (bass/keyboard/vocals) and Tim Walsh (drums/vocals)–played in various bands and backed some of the industry’s biggest names before coming together in 2009. Praise for their 2011 self-titled debut album and for their multi-sensory live show featuring interactive light art projections, led to tours with an eclectic mix of artists including Kimbra, Mayer Hawthorne & The County, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Mates of State and The Horrors. While touring non-stop over the last two and a half years, the band has been carefully crafting the collection of songs found on Troubadour, an album shadowing the artists’ journey to success.
From the opening “Memoirs of Grey” through the closing “The Art of Forgetting,” Troubadour follows the travels and travails of the title character as he grapples with love, life on the road, and the commercial requirements of the music biz. “The album’s kind of autobiographical,” explains Edinberg. “The troubadour character represents an extremity of who we really are.” “Though honestly,” adds Walsh, “It’s a character anyone can find themselves in.”
The album features a number of tracks familiar to fans including: “Sweet Salvation,” released as a single and video in late 2012; “Moving Pictures,” performed by the band on NBC’s Last Call With Carson Daly last fall; and “The Art of Forgetting” performed recently as part of the “In The Red Bull Studio” series.
Not ones to rest on their laurels, The Stepkids will continue to bring their music to stages across North America including upcoming performances at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Electric Forest Festival and Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn, NY. The band also launched a video series featuring jazz covers of pop songs including Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky, Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie” and “Rihanna’s “Stay.” All covers and additional live videos can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/thestepkids.
Deftly dancing on the ledge between art and commerce, harmonic skill and raw emotion, The Stepkids are just getting started.
TROUBADOUR Track Listing
01. Memoirs of Grey
02. The Lottery
03. Desert In The Dark
04. Insecure Troubadour
05. Sweet Salvation
06. Symmetry
07. Moving Pictures
08. Bitter Bug
09. Brutal Honesty
10. The Art of Forgetting
Digital Assets
“The Lottery” (MP3)
https://soundcloud.com/stonesthrow/the-stepkids-the-lottery-2
“Sweet Salvation” (official video)
“Moving Pictures” from Last Call With Carson Daly (video)
“The Art of Forgetting” from “In The Red Bull Studio” Series (video)
Tour Dates
Jun 11 Atlanta, GA – Vinyl
Jun 13 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music Festival – The Other Tent
Jun 14 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music Festival – Sonic Stage
Jun 18 Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall (with AM & Shawn Lee)
Jun 20 New York, NY – VH1 O Music Awards
Jun 21 Las Vegas, NV – Electric Daisy Carnival (DJ Set)
Jun 29 Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jul 12 New London, CT – Hygienic Art Park
Jul 19 Thornville, OH – All Good Festival
Jul 20 Brooklyn, NY – The Bell House (Music Frees All Festival)
Aug 02 Brooklyn, NY – Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell (with Dan Deacon, Jamie Lidell)
Aug 03 Norwich, CT – High Noon
Aug 10 Turin, NY – Moe.Down Festival @ Snow Ridge Resort