The Ballroom Thieves Share First Track “Tenebrist” From Upcoming Album + Americana Fest & Dates With Caamp
September 3, 2019 BY Nettwerk
“There’s a Nietzsche quote about how artists muddy the water to make it seem deeper than it is, and as harsh as that sounds, we think it applies directly to our current political situation. One of the challenges in writing this album was trying to maintain a sense of positivity and hope in such an increasingly negative sociopolitical climate, especially since we’ve had trouble writing ‘happy’ songs in general. This song asks the listener to see the reality we’re currently facing while remembering that good things tend to emerge out of the worst circumstances.” – The Ballroom Thieves
Listen To “Tenebrist” HERE
The Ballroom Thieves – lead singer and guitarist Martin Earley, cellist Calin Peters and percussionist Devin Mauch – offer up the first peek into the socially- and politically-driven collection of songs that will be released in 2020 (details TBA, album out via Nettwerk Records). The Thieves work a special concoction of powerful and harmonious music by combining blues, folk, and rock and roll, while never shying away from topics and ideas they are passionate about.
“We write about the things that are important to us and right now, it’s impossible to ignore the inadequate state of the world,” says Earley. “We just wrote the songs that came out of us and they happened to be largely political.” He continues, “In an ideal world, we would never write a political record—there’d be nothing extreme enough to warrant it.”
Callie recently spoke with DittyTV about the new song saying: “The only hope and positivity found in this song is the upbeat music that supports important statements from a white man’s perspective such as ‘I am the color of forgiveness, I am the shape of what is wrong.’ Tenebrism refers to a painting technique using chiaroscuro, where dark and light are in extreme contrast with one another. While the illuminated part of the painting is the subject, it’s the darkness that becomes the overwhelming focus of the entire picture. Today in this country, knowing what we know, and having the money and power we have, we are all ‘tenebrists.’ We muddy the water to make it seem less shallow when we need to look at our current state for what it is and make the changes we so desperately need to make.”
The Ballroom Thieves will perform at the prestigious Americana Music Festival in Nashville on Thursday, Sept. 12 at Exit/In at 9PM and Sept. 14 at Little Harpeth Brewing (2-5PM, exact time TBA), before heading out on the road with Caamp for several west coast dates. For more information, please visit www.ballroomthieves.com.
Tour Dates:
^ w/ Trampled By Turtles, Liz Cooper & The Stampede
* w/ Caamp
8.31 || Killington, VT || Cooler in the Mountains Concert Series
9.05 || Concord, NH || Bank of New Hampshire Stage
9.12 || Nashville, TN || Americana Fest at EXIT/IN (9PM)
9.14 || Nashville, TN || Americana Fest at Little Harpeth Brewing “Berklee Party” (exact time TBA)
10.12 || Marshfield, MA || Levitate’s Flannel Jam ^
10.13 || Portland, ME || Levitate’s Flannel Jam ^
10.14 || Nantucket, MA || Levitate’s Flannel Jam ^
10.15 || Phoenix, AZ || Crescent Ballroom *
10.16 || Los Angeles, CA || The Fonda *
10.18 || Santa Ana, CA || The Observatory *
10.19 || Solana Beach, CA || Belly Up Tavern *
10.21 || San Francisco, CA || The Fillmore *
10.23 || Portland, OR || Wonder Ballroom *
10.24 || Seattle, WA || The Showbox *
