The dB's to Embark on First Tour in 12 Years; See Dates Here

The dB’s have announced their first set of tour dates in 12 years and featuring all original members – Peter Holsapple (vox, guitar), Chris Stamey (vox, guitar), Gene Holder (bass) and Will Rigby (drums).

The foursome grew up in Winston-Salem, NC, and helped define what would become the rich North Carolina indie-rock scene but emigrated to New York in the late 1970s and formed the band, frequently appearing at CBGB, Maxwell’s and other influential venues.

2024 Tour dates:

9/07    Hopscotch Festival                                   Raleigh, NC              Tickets

9/13    Atlantis                                                     Washington, DC       Tickets

9/14    Johnny Brenda’s                                      Philadelphia, PA       Tickets

9/15    White Eagle Hall                                       Jersey City, NJ         Tickets

10/11  Amsterdam Bar and Hall                          St. Paul, MN              Tickets

10/12  Old Town School of Folk Music                Chicago, IL                Tickets

Propeller Sound Recordings issued the debut album Stands for deciBels on all digital platforms on June 7 and the CD and vinyl reissue (its first time on vinyl in the US) will be available on June 14. The CD edition will include the bonus track “Judy,” a single not included on the original release. 

The video for the high-energy lead track “Black and White” was premiered last week by Spin Magazine alongside a feature.  The video is also available for viewing along with current touring and additional info here.

Stands for deciBels was produced by the band in association with the late Alan Betrock, founder of the seminal post-punk publication New York Rocker, with Don Dixon, Scott Litt and Martin Rushent mixing. It was originally issued in 1981 on UK-based Albion Records.

“Stands for deciBels was the first place many people heard The dB’s – thanks to intrepid college deejays who brought their personal copies into the stations. Hopefully those old disc jockeys can now replace their original copies with pristine new ones,” says Peter Holsapple.

R.E.M.’s Mike Mills calls his first listen to The dB’s’ Stands for deciBels a defining moment in his – and his band’s – genesis: “This is the one that let me know we weren’t alone, that there were others out there with the same curiosity, the same willingness to dive into melody, structure and pop sensibility with no fear, no reserve, only joy and well-deserved excitement. I still love listening to Stands for deciBels, and I always will,” he says.

“This was primarily a band-produced and -arranged record, recorded old-school analog in fits and starts at the dawn of what became ‘indie,’ at Blue Rock Studios, with producer Alan Betrock as an éminence grise to intermittently steady the ship. And after we’d filled up all 16 of the tracks on all the songs with a cornucopia of ideas, we lucked out: aces Scott Litt (at Power Station, NYC), Don Dixon (at Drive-In, NC) and Martin Rushent (at Genetic, UK) joined to help mix,” Chris Stamey said. 

In late summer, the band will announce additional tour dates as well as a fall multi-format reissue of its second album, Repercussion. The dB’s’ last national shows were in 2012 on the heels of their studio album of that year, Falling Off the Sky.

Photo credit: Stefan Wallgren

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