Seattle Theatre Group (STG) presents Alberta Cross on January 19, 2010 at 9:00pm at Chop Suey.
More than clever verses and catchy choruses, truly timeless albums offer listeners the keys to another world; they catapult you into another frame of mind and jostle your soul a little bit along the way. Broken Side of Time, Alberta Cross' ATO Records debut, is one of those albums.
A cathartic, kaleidoscope of influences, from Depeche Mode to The Band, it's also the sound of Alberta Cross' two principals-frontman/guitarist-vocalist Petter Ericson Stakee and bassist Terry Wolfers-going for broke and stumbling across the sound of their dreams in the process.
Broken Side of Time took root in an April 2008 jam session, Stakee and Wolfers' first with three players they would quickly enlist-guitarist Sam Kearney, drummer Austin Beede and keyboardist Alec Higgins. With the aid of a little drink and a little smoke, the five jammed on a group of Stakee's then-new songs, giving birth to Alberta Cross' second incarnation almost immediately: "I remember thinking that night, 'This is gonna be insane,'" remembers Stakee.
Broken Side of Time, meanwhile, is a giant stride ahead, one that marks the band's official introduction to America. Grand in volume and vast in vision, it's an inspired set of electric songs that finds the intersection of The Verve, My Morning Jacket and Neil Young (with or without Crazy Horse). Recorded in Austin, produced by the band with Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Dead Confederate, Heartless Bastards) and mixed by John O'Mahoney (Depeche Mode, Coldplay, Kasabian) at Electric Lady Studios, the album melds propulsive, throbbing bass lines and crashing waves of guitar to a haunting, impassioned voIce That can sound ancient and Appalachian.
Alberta Cross has toured extensively through the U.K., sharing the stage with Oasis, The Shins, Bat for Lashes and Simian Mobile Disco, among others. "If we weren't playing for people every night, we would be going mad." Stakee says. Adds Wolfers, "We do it, because we have to."
Tickets: $10.00 advance, $12.00 day of show, not including applicable fees. Tickets are on sale now at all Ticketweb locations, charge by phone 1-866-468-7623, Chop Suey box office, or online at www.ticketweb.com. For more information, please visit www.stgpresents.org.
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