The Posies are simply one of the most creative, resourceful, and influential bands to emerge from the
American DIY underground in the last two decades. When the Posies’ core singer/songwriter partnership of Ken
Stringfellow and Jon Auer sundered in 1998, fans around the world mourned their breakup.
But now is the time for all Posies people to dry their tears and shed their black garments: This spring Rykodisc
will release Every Kind of Light — the first full-strength new album by the Posies since their 1998 swan song
Success.
Between then and now, "the Posies had everything that a band that runs the course of its career usually ends up
having: a live album, a greatest hits, a box set," explains Jon Auer. "Somewhere along the line of getting those
things together with each other, we became an acoustic duo again — which is how we started playing, nearly 20 years
ago. So in essence, we returned to our roots — to use a much-abused phrase — and things just grew exponentially
from there."
With this recording, both Jon and Ken have set aside their prolific solo careers (Ken’s roadwork with R.E.M., Jon’s
appearance on the William Shatner/Ben Folds album Has Been, their joint work with the revived Big Star, etc.) to
rededicate themselves to the group they co-founded in 1987. Every Kind of Light is the work of a new quartet — with
bassist Matt Harris and drummer Darius Minwalla — that is the closest thing to an equal creative partnership in the
Posies’ long history. All twelve songs are credited to the four musicians, and the entire album was written — and
all basic tracks cut — in three straight weeks of intensive effort at The Soundhouse in Seattle, WA.
"This record was created in a way totally different from any we’ve made before - which was a conscious decision on
everyone’s part," explains Jon Auer. "We wrote it in the studio as we went along, and were forced by circumstance
to sink or swim."
Ken Stringfellow notes: "The first song, 'Conversations,' was composed, arranged and recorded on February 1, 2004 —
and we managed to write a piece of music from scratch, every day for the next twelve days."
In contrast to the painstaking production of previous Posies platters such as Dear 23 (1990) and Frosting On The
Beater (1993), Every Kind of Light is characterized by the immediacy and excitement of great live rock and roll.
"We recorded the majority of this music as four people playing off each other in a room together," says Jon, "and
we tried to keep as much as possible of what we initially put down as a group."
"Pretty much what you hear on this record is the first or second time we played the music all the way through,” Ken
adds, “and it really shows. It's alive."
Every Kind of Light was created with the full participation of the Posies’ new rhythm section. Bassist Matt Harris
was recruited from Bay Area band Oranger, and previously played with San Diego pop-punkers Overwhelming Colorfast
(1994-99).
Drummer Darius Minwalla has toured and/or recorded with Preston School of Industry, Super Deluxe, Harvey Danger,
and Jim Carroll. He joined the Posies in early 2001, when Ken and Jon resurrected the band for occasional live
performances. "They gave me about 40 songs to learn in not very much time. It was do or die — a lot like the
recording of Every Kind of Light, actually."
As a long-time member of the REM touring band, Ken Stringfellow is "always amazed by how many people come up to me,
at clubs and bars all over the world, to say how much they love those old Posies records. So we plan to tour as
much as possible — my goal is to capitalize on all that we have built with our fans.
"Plus, we want to build relationships in countries we really didn't get to visit much before, and deliver a live
show that many people who have not seen the band on stage should see. It’s a very different interpretation of our
recorded work, with a nice hint of violence and raw power that...well...you’ll just have to see it!"
"It sounds like a cliché, but we’ve reached the point in our career where it’s more interesting to challenge
ourselves, to be different, than to fall back into a comfortable groove or pander to any possible expectations
based on our past," says Jon Auer. "It truly amazes me that we have been around the proverbial block and still can
come up with ways to surprise each other."
STEVE WYNN & the MIRACLE 3 perform MEDICINE SHOW 25th Anniversary of the seminal Dream Syndicate album “Medicine Show”. New York and Los Angeles shows only!
SATURDAY, JUNE 27 - NEW YORK @ The Bell House (Park Slope, Brooklyn STEVE WYNN & the Miracle 3 @ 9:30 Paramount Styles (feat. Scott McCloud of Girls Against Boys) @ 8:30 Doug Gillard (of Guided by Voices and Death of Samantha) @ 7:30 http://www.thebellhouseny.com
SATURDAY, JULY 9 - LOS ANGELES @ The Echo (Echo Park) STEVE WYNN & the Miracle 3 @ 9:30pm The Urinals @ 8:30pm http://www.attheecho.com
Thanx FOR the add!I would play "Flavor of the Month" for my kidz(who are now in the band) many years ago (along with "Solar Sister") and tell them -this is how you write a SONG-...and they would tell me,"yeah,whatever ,Dad"...-Eddie O./G.S.F. ps. well...Alex has been comin' around - he likes' you guys'...
years have passed, so I may now confirm: the dueling guitar solo in "Conversations" is the best piece of post-3:00 music i've heard in the past decade.
I just want to thank this band for the most amazing birthday present ever....one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time performed in its entirety! Oh, how I love 'Frosting'! I've grown up with this album, it's been there for me for most of my life and it never fails to do the trick.
I made the trip from LA to see the show in Brooklyn last Friday at the very cool Bell House and was, once again, blown away by the genius known as The Posies. My gosh, I love these guys! There I was, front and center, dancing and singing just like I did when they toured the album the first time around. Albeit a bit embarrassing to be emotionally exposed like that, what the hell, you only live once. The only difference is now that I'm 43, I paid for it a bit more the next day ;o) Thanks to Jon for taking a minute after the show to say 'thanks for coming' to me, and thanks to all for one of the all-around best nights I can remember in many years. Alan, I'm sorry I missed you, we shared a few emails when you were putting that tribute disc together and I would have loved to say hello. I just saw your email today.
Take care, everyone, and here's to 20 more amazing years of The Posies!
I just wanted to let people know that I will be attending The Posies show on Friday June 12th at The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY. In addition, some of the artists who appeared on "Beautiful Escape: The Songs of The Posies Revisited" will also be there - it should be a great night.
We will be enjoying the show and also selling some copies of our smashing homage to The Posies, "Beautiful Escape: The Songs of The Posies Revisited" after the show. Stop by and say hello if you're there.
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