Lambchop’s New Album Out Now, New Tour Dates, Win Tickets To The LPR Show

Lambchop
Lambchop

It’s been nearly two decades since Lambchop released its first album, at the time pronouncing itself “Nashville’s most fucked-up country band.” Provocative it may have been, but the description made sense: at the heart of all that ruckus was a band at once defying and embracing the musical legacy of its hometown. Since then, Lambchop has evolved into an accomplished ensemble, adding palpable depth and substance to singer-songwriter-guitarist Kurt Wagner’s songs—and the band sounds as commanding as ever on its 11th album, Mr. M, a collection of meditations on love and loss and the detritus of everyday existence.

Recorded at Mark Nevers’s Nashville Beech House studio cum bungalow and dedicated to Vic Chesnutt, Mr. M includes the usual core of musicians- Scott Martin (drums), Matt Swanson (bass), Ryan Norris (guitar, organ), Tony Crow (piano), William Tyler (guitar) and guests include original co-founder Jonathan Marx, delightful Cortney Tidwell (who shared vocals on 2010’s KORT project) and fiddler Billy Contreras (who has worked with all from Charlie Louvin to Laura Cantrell) – and with spectacular string arrangements shared between Peter Stopschinski and Mason Neely, it stretches out sonically as promised. (Incidentally the paintings, thickly layered black and white portraits forming a series called Beautillion Millitaire 2000, feature on the album sleeve and throughout the full artwork). [MergeRecords.com]

It’s not so often that Lambchop goes on tour, in fact, 2006 was probably the last time we saw Kurt Wagner and Co. pass through these parts in support of Damaged. Author John Cook shed some light on the reason behind Lambchop’s long hiatuses between tours in Our Noise:

But serious touring was a tough proposition for a thirteen-or-so member band, most of whom had day jobs that weren’t prepared to give up… Aside from the obvious scheduling difficulties, the expense of moving a baker’s dozen of musicians around the country made it virtually impossible to book a profitable tour. [Our Noise, p.214]

No word yet on what kind of band Kurt will be bringing with him to NYC when he plays Le Poisson Rouge on April 19 (Buy Tickets) and the Bell House on April 20 (Buy Tickets), but if you’re interested in finding out, I’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky Bumpershine reader. Contest ends on February 29 at midnight, 1 entry per person please.

Contest entry form, more Lambchop tour dates and official video for “Gone Tomorrow” after the jump.

Lambchop 2012 Tour Dates
02/26/12 Leipzig Werk II Germany
02/27/12 Vienna Konzerthaus Austria
02/28/12 Linz Posthof Germany
02/28/12 Köln Kulturkirche Germany
03/01/12 London Barbican United Kingdom
03/03/12 Dublin Vicar´s Street Ireland
03/04/12 Gateshead Sage United Kingdom
03/05/12 Glasgow Oran Mor United Kingdom
03/06/12 Manchester Cathedral United Kingdom
03/07/12 Bristol Fleece United Kingdom
03/08/12 Amsterdam Amstelkerk Netherlands
03/09/12 Brussels Botanique Belgium
03/10/12 Frankfurt Union-Halle Germany
03/11/12 Fribourg FRI-SON Switzerland
03/13/12 Zürich Kaufleuten Switzerland
03/14/12 Dornbirn Spielboden Austria
03/15/12 Innsbruck Treibhaus Austria
03/16/12 Munich Kammerspiele Austria
03/17/12 Düsseldorf ZAKK Germany
03/18/12 Copenhagen DR Studio 2 Denmark
03/19/12 Aarhus Voxhall Denmark
03/20/12 Stockholm Södrateatern Sweden
03/21/12 Gothenburg Pustervik Sweden
03/22/12 Oslo Rockefeller Norway
03/23/12 Bergen Tegleverket Concert Hall Norway
03/24/12 Stavanger Folken Norway
03/26/12 Malmö Palladium Sweden
03/27/12 Hamburg Fabrik Germany
03/28/12 Karlsruhe Tollhaus Germany
03/29/12 Paris La Maroquinerie France
03/30/12 Barcelona Apolo Spain
03/31/12 Bilbao Espacio BKK Spain
04/01/12 Madrid Joy Eslava Spain
04/13/12 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle w/ Crooked Fingers
04/14/12 Durham, NC Motorco Music Hall w/ Crooked Fingers
04/15/12 Arlington, VA IOTA
04/16/12 Annapolis, MD Ram’s Head
04/17/12 Boston, MA Paradise
04/18/12 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live
04/19/12 New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge
04/20/12 Brooklyn, NY The Bell House

04/21/12 Pittsburgh, PA Club Cafe
04/22/12 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
04/23/12 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
04/24/12 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
04/25/12 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
04/26/12 Minneapolis, MN The Dakota
04/27/12 Omaha, NE The Slowdown
04/28/12 Boulder, CO The Fox Theatre
05/01/12 Seattle, WA The Tractor Tavern
05/02/12 Portland, OR Doug Fir
05/04/12 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
05/05/12 Santa Monica, CA McCabe’s
05/06/12 Tucson, AZ TBA
05/08/12 Dallas, TX Club DaDa
05/09/12 Austin, TX The Cactus
05/11/12 Birmingham, AL Secret Stages
05/12/12 Nashville, TN TBA