THE GIN BLOSSOMS ON TOUR THIS FALL FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 10 YEARS JUST RELEASED
The Gin Blossoms are back. The band is heating up the highway this fall with a string of dates in support of their long-awaited new album, Major Lodge Victory (Hybrid Recordings), which hit stores in August. The first single, “Learning the Hard Way” has impacted AAA and Hot AC radio and is a fitting title for the band’s long time together (and apart).
“Learning the Hard Way is an effortless triumph of melodic perfection, organic production and collaboration that sounds familial in its ease,” reported Billboard. “If you miss the sweet, simple pleasures of early-'90s guitar-pop the non-grungy variety, this collection of honeyed rockers from the reunited Blossoms is just the ticket to ride,” wrote USA Today.
The twelve songs on Major Lodge Victory deliver that same signature blend of melody, mystery and poignancy that Gin Blossoms fans have come to love -- from the band’s breakthrough album, New Miserable Experience through to its powerful followup Congratulations…I’m Sorry and such enduring and memorable songs as “Hey Jealousy,” “Allison Road,” “Follow You Down” and “Til I Hear It From You.” Since Robin Wilson, guitarists Jesse Valenzuela and Scott Johnson and bassist Bill Leen reunited as the Gin Blossoms in 2002, the idea of recording new songs was something the group thought about but didn’t want to force. “I wanted it to happen organically,” Valenzuela says. “And it did.”
Successful tour dates demonstrated that the many fans who cherished New Miserable Experience (which has sold more than four million copies in the U.S.) and Congratulations…I’m Sorry (which has sold more than a million) were still eager to hear more from the band. So were their younger brothers and sisters. “I didn’t even know if we could get back together,” Leen says. “I didn’t know we’d have a fan base. I think it helped that our songs never left the radio.”
Truly, on the radio it was as if the Gin Blossoms had never left, even as all the band’s members moved on to other projects. And getting back together proved satisfying. “A lot of fans came up to us and said, ‘I loved you guys for so long, and I was so bummed when you broke up and I never got to hear you play. I’m so glad you’re back,’” Johnson says. “That was gratifying. Now I respond by saying, ‘You’re going to hear us a lot more!”
To record Major Lodge Victory, the band members began working in their native state of Arizona, but ended up returning to Ardent Studios in Memphis, where they had made their previous two albums. “It felt like we were going home,” Wilson says. Drummer Scott Kusmirek, who had played with the band for a time after it reunited, joined the group in the studio. The irresistibly catchy “Learning the Hard Way,” which Valenzuela wrote is “a classic Gin Blossoms song,” Wilson says, evoking the band’s Tempe, Arizona club roots. “It’s exactly what Jesse would have delivered back at Long Wong’s.”
Valenzuela also wrote the soaring ballad “Someday Soon.” Wilson brought in the energetic rocker “Come On Hard,” while the two men collaborated on “The End of the World,” with its lush choruses and Beatles-style harmonies.
The fact is that very little on Major Lodge Victory will surprise fans, except in the way that great pop music always surprises listeners – by taking familiar elements and making them sound thrillingly new. “I felt it was important to stick to what we do best,” says Johnson. “We’ve changed, obviously. We’re a bit older. In the past, we were young and naïve, and, instead of dealing with our problems, we made the classic stupid move and broke up.
“Now we don’t take it for granted,” he continues. “I’m very proud of the Gin Blossoms and our sound and our style of rock & roll. I’m excited about bringing that to the world again.”
The Gin Blossoms are: Robin Wilson (vocals), Jesse Valenzuela (guitar), Scott Johnson (guitar) and Bill Leen (bass). Drummer Scott Kusmirek is currently touring with the group.
The Gin Blossoms Itinerary
Sept 21 Greensboro, NC N Club
Sept 22 Charlotte, NC Amos Southend
Sept 23 Williamsburg, VA Williamsburg Winery
Sept 24 Huntsville, AL Big Spring Jam
Sept 25 Tallahassee, FL Floyds Music Store
Sept 26 Orlando, FL House of Blues
Sept 28 Jacksonville, FL Freebird Live
Sept 29 N. Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
Sept 30 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
Oct 2 Falls Church, VA State Theatre
Oct 3 Baltimore, MD Rams Head
Oct 4 New York, NY Nokia Theatre
Oct 5 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
Oct 6 Rutland, VT Paramount Theatre
Oct 7 Deerfield, NJ Deerfield Township Harvest Fest
Oct 9 Boston, MA Middle East - downstairs
Oct 12 Cincinnati, OH Bogarts
Oct 13 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
Oct 14 Fort Wayne, IN Pierre’s
Oct 15 Nashville, TN 3rd and Lindsley
Oct 17 Indianapolis, IN Music Mill
Oct 18 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
Oct 19 Chicago, IL Park West
Oct 20 Joliet, IL Rialto Square Theater
Oct 21 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line
Oct 22 Fargo, ND Playmakers Pavillion
Oct 24 Des Moines, IA Val Air Ballroom
Oct 28 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theater
Oct 29 San Diego, CA Belly Up
Nov 1 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
Visit the Gin Blossoms at www.ginblossoms.net, www.thegins.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ginblossoms
“Learning the Hard Way is an effortless triumph of melodic perfection, organic production and collaboration that sounds familial in its ease,” reported Billboard. “If you miss the sweet, simple pleasures of early-'90s guitar-pop the non-grungy variety, this collection of honeyed rockers from the reunited Blossoms is just the ticket to ride,” wrote USA Today.
The twelve songs on Major Lodge Victory deliver that same signature blend of melody, mystery and poignancy that Gin Blossoms fans have come to love -- from the band’s breakthrough album, New Miserable Experience through to its powerful followup Congratulations…I’m Sorry and such enduring and memorable songs as “Hey Jealousy,” “Allison Road,” “Follow You Down” and “Til I Hear It From You.” Since Robin Wilson, guitarists Jesse Valenzuela and Scott Johnson and bassist Bill Leen reunited as the Gin Blossoms in 2002, the idea of recording new songs was something the group thought about but didn’t want to force. “I wanted it to happen organically,” Valenzuela says. “And it did.”
Successful tour dates demonstrated that the many fans who cherished New Miserable Experience (which has sold more than four million copies in the U.S.) and Congratulations…I’m Sorry (which has sold more than a million) were still eager to hear more from the band. So were their younger brothers and sisters. “I didn’t even know if we could get back together,” Leen says. “I didn’t know we’d have a fan base. I think it helped that our songs never left the radio.”
Truly, on the radio it was as if the Gin Blossoms had never left, even as all the band’s members moved on to other projects. And getting back together proved satisfying. “A lot of fans came up to us and said, ‘I loved you guys for so long, and I was so bummed when you broke up and I never got to hear you play. I’m so glad you’re back,’” Johnson says. “That was gratifying. Now I respond by saying, ‘You’re going to hear us a lot more!”
To record Major Lodge Victory, the band members began working in their native state of Arizona, but ended up returning to Ardent Studios in Memphis, where they had made their previous two albums. “It felt like we were going home,” Wilson says. Drummer Scott Kusmirek, who had played with the band for a time after it reunited, joined the group in the studio. The irresistibly catchy “Learning the Hard Way,” which Valenzuela wrote is “a classic Gin Blossoms song,” Wilson says, evoking the band’s Tempe, Arizona club roots. “It’s exactly what Jesse would have delivered back at Long Wong’s.”
Valenzuela also wrote the soaring ballad “Someday Soon.” Wilson brought in the energetic rocker “Come On Hard,” while the two men collaborated on “The End of the World,” with its lush choruses and Beatles-style harmonies.
The fact is that very little on Major Lodge Victory will surprise fans, except in the way that great pop music always surprises listeners – by taking familiar elements and making them sound thrillingly new. “I felt it was important to stick to what we do best,” says Johnson. “We’ve changed, obviously. We’re a bit older. In the past, we were young and naïve, and, instead of dealing with our problems, we made the classic stupid move and broke up.
“Now we don’t take it for granted,” he continues. “I’m very proud of the Gin Blossoms and our sound and our style of rock & roll. I’m excited about bringing that to the world again.”
The Gin Blossoms are: Robin Wilson (vocals), Jesse Valenzuela (guitar), Scott Johnson (guitar) and Bill Leen (bass). Drummer Scott Kusmirek is currently touring with the group.
The Gin Blossoms Itinerary
Sept 21 Greensboro, NC N Club
Sept 22 Charlotte, NC Amos Southend
Sept 23 Williamsburg, VA Williamsburg Winery
Sept 24 Huntsville, AL Big Spring Jam
Sept 25 Tallahassee, FL Floyds Music Store
Sept 26 Orlando, FL House of Blues
Sept 28 Jacksonville, FL Freebird Live
Sept 29 N. Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
Sept 30 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
Oct 2 Falls Church, VA State Theatre
Oct 3 Baltimore, MD Rams Head
Oct 4 New York, NY Nokia Theatre
Oct 5 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
Oct 6 Rutland, VT Paramount Theatre
Oct 7 Deerfield, NJ Deerfield Township Harvest Fest
Oct 9 Boston, MA Middle East - downstairs
Oct 12 Cincinnati, OH Bogarts
Oct 13 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
Oct 14 Fort Wayne, IN Pierre’s
Oct 15 Nashville, TN 3rd and Lindsley
Oct 17 Indianapolis, IN Music Mill
Oct 18 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
Oct 19 Chicago, IL Park West
Oct 20 Joliet, IL Rialto Square Theater
Oct 21 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line
Oct 22 Fargo, ND Playmakers Pavillion
Oct 24 Des Moines, IA Val Air Ballroom
Oct 28 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theater
Oct 29 San Diego, CA Belly Up
Nov 1 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
Visit the Gin Blossoms at www.ginblossoms.net, www.thegins.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ginblossoms
posted by EmpyreLounge at 11:17 AM
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