Cannonball Statman To Release Art Rock Album HARD TO BREAK in October Followed By A 2-Month UK/EU Tour
This album was recorded with a full band, in September 2022 at Axe & Trap Studios in Wells, with producer Ben Turner.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Sep. 18, 2023
On the 22nd of October, Cannonball Statman will release Hard to Break, an 11 track album about coming back to life after a long hiatus. This album was recorded with a full band, in September 2022 at Axe & Trap Studios in Wells, with producer Ben Turner.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST, CANNONBALL STATMAN
Cannonball Statman has penned over 100 songs, released over a dozen albums, and toured extensively in America, Europe, and Asia, sharing stages with like-minded artists such as Jeffrey Lewis, Days N' Daze, and Sunflower Bean. He began making his own music at age 8, needing to channel the trauma of growing up in post-9/11 NYC, and cut his teeth on underground scenes of that era. He is known for his soulful lyrics that Radio Javali calls "great American storytelling".
Following his 2017-'19 world tour, when LiveTrigger Magazine dubbed him "the king of modern antifolk", he released the double album Miracle on Neon Clown Avenue in 2022, and did multiple European tours in preparation for the release of Hard to Break in 2023. Each of his albums has its own sound, drawing comparisons to folk, classical, punk, pop, and metal, and all feature his unique guitar style described by Bob's Aural Delights as "the edge of madness", a sense of melancholy and fun, and references to his hometown of NYC.
"...Statman charmed the entire greenhouse. Every now and then he jumped off the stage to make a U-turn after a few chords. The New Yorker also took over the Palmarium with his chatter in between, announcing his songs about the things of life. That's how we learned that Grow is about hair, and Tiger is about a tiger. But he also brought a song that is "a love song and a murder song at the same time" (I'm Gonna Explode), or a song about longevity that becomes exuberant. It was quite fun to enjoy the man's songs and honesty." (daMusic)
"For starters, Cannonball Statman (who made it in our latest Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists) has got the look - with an over-sized afro of curly red hair and a commanding stage presence. The music delivers the acoustic punk attack of antifolk by way of black metal; it's not unusual for a typical 5-minute song to run the BPM gamut and contain several distinct sections. Lyrically, he embraces smorgasbord surrealism, but the songs always resonate and the audience is never distanced from the youthful anxieties and aspiration that fuel his fervor." (The Deli Magazine)
MORE ABOUT THE ALBUM, HARD TO BREAK
Cannonball wrote Hard to Break during the early years of the pandemic. It was largely inspired by his experiences of healing from extreme childhood trauma, then by his recent experiences of being wrongfully incarcerated and abused by a psychiatric facility in Mexico.
The album was recorded in September 2022 during a trip to the UK, and the credits feature many names that would be familiar to long-time fans, including British classical tenor James Robinson, Norwich based artist Gem, producer Ben Turner, and mastering engineer Peter Fletcher.
MORE ABOUT THE VIDEOS FOR "HARD TO BREAK" and "F TRAIN OVER BROOKLYN"
Two music videos were also released from the album: "Hard to Break" and "F Train Over Brooklyn", which had been filmed on location in Brooklyn and were directed by local underground artists Dylan Mars Greenberg and Preston Spurlock.
The videos make use of many Brooklyn locations, taking the viewer on a trip through Gowanus, Red Hook, Prospect Park, the Jay Street-Metrotech and 15th Street-Prospect Park subway stations, the exterior of Barclays Center, and the block where Cannonball grew up.
MORE ABOUT CANNONBALL'S HARD TO BREAK AUTUMN 2023 UK/EU TOUR
On the 22nd of October, Statman's 30th birthday, he will release Hard to Break, with a release party (link) hosted as part of the renowned and long-standing Sunday night performance series at The Waiting Room in Eaglescliffe, UK, featuring additional performances by two of his friends and collaborators, France de Griessen and Chubaby.
The album's release will be followed by a 2 month tour in the UK and mainland Europe, including dates with John Peel favorite and long-time touring partner JD Meatyard, Leeds indie band Cowtown, and legendary New York artist Jason Trachtenburg, frontman of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. Jason and Cannonball will both perform at the London Antifolk Festival at Windmill Brixton in November as part of this tour.
SELECTED UPCOMING TOUR DATES
22 Oct / Stockton-on-Tees, UK / The Waiting Room w/ France de Griessen & Chubaby 24 Oct / Colchester, UK / Three Wise Monkeys w/ Lou Terry
25 Oct / Isle of Wight, UK / Medina Bookshop
26 Oct / London, UK / Cavendish Arms w/ The Last Whole Earth Catalog
27 Oct / Darwen, UK / Number 39 Bar w/ JD Meatyard
28 Oct / Norwich, UK / Louis Marchesi
29 Oct / New Brighton, UK / Rockpoint Records w/ JD Meatyard & VICE VERA
Photo credit: Aidan Watson
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