After 17 years on England's venerable Rough Trade Records, the world's favorite underground indie-rock songwriter, Jeffrey Lewis, is finally putting out a proper album on a stateside label - Bad Wiring, which will land November 1st via American indie-stalwarts Don Giovanni Records!
Lewis has a new band name, too, if not necessarily a new band. Bassist Mem Pahl and drummer Brent Cole -- who have been touring the world with him for the past four years as Los Bolts -- are still on board. For Jeffrey, though, it is tradition to apply a new band name to each release. This time around, the group has been re-christened as The Voltage.
Although mostly recognized for his lyrical skills, the secret weapon in Lewis's arsenal has been his slow evolution from DIY folkie in the late '90s to barn-burning indie-rock live sensation- he started out as Daniel Johnston and spent twenty years turning into Yo La Tengo. Bad Wiring -- which was recorded by Roger Moutenot in Nashville, TN -- continues along this trajectory. "The first thing we did when we got to Roger's studio in Nashville was to set up the gear and play the entire album through, live, like a live set, no stopping," Lewis explains. "Roger got good quality recordings of all of that and we pretty much could have called the album finished right then and there, in one day. But we spent the rest of the week using those live performances as a reference point for how to capture the best possible version of each song, the best performances and the best sounds. So we first showed Roger what we were capable of and then Roger showed us what he was capable of! It was an amazing working method! I worship a number of the records Roger had produced in the past, so I specifically sought him out, I didn't even know if he was still producing records, or where he was living."11.1.19 - Kent, OH @ Stone Tavern
11.2.19 - Detroit, MI @ PJ's Lager
11.3.19 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
11.4.19 - Omaha, NE @ Brothers
11.5.19 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
11.6.19 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Diabolical Records
11.7.19 - Boise, ID @ The Owyhee
11.8.19 - Portland, OR @ The Fixin'
11.9.19 - Seattle, WA @ Victory Lounge
11.11.19 - Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur
11.12.19 - Eugene, OR @ Wandering Goat
11.13.19 - Arcata, CA @ Outer Space
11.14.19 - Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club
11.15.19 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Cid
11.17.19 - Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space
11.17.19 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
11.19.19 - Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlie's
11.20.19 - Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard
11.22.19 - Knoxville, TN @ The Pilot Light
11.23.19 - Richmond, VA @ Sound of Music
11.24.19 - Newark, NJ - Index Art Center
Photo Credit: Nic Chapman
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