Former and once again All Them Witches Rhodes pianist/multi-instrumentalist Allan Van Cleave wouldn’t be the first — nor, I very much suspect, the last — to have made some manner of reconsideration of his creative existence throughout the course of 2020, though whether or not the pandemic ultimately played a passive or active role in his rejoining the group, I don’t know. In any case, the original four-piece lineup of the band quickly announced their return on social media in a characteristically short post, noting Van Cleave‘s “return from orbit.” Too bad he missed out on recording at Abbey Road. I bet they have some bitching vintage keys.

2020’s Nothing as the Ideal (review here) was released as a three-piece after the band’s brief stint with Jonathan Draper in a replacement role on 2018’s ATW (review here). Van Cleave‘s last album with the band was the particularly lush Sleeping Through the War (review here) in 2017, and at the time, it was said to be touring life weighing on him. All Them Witches continued to move forward, first with Draper, then as a three-piece, examining new avenues of ambience and experimentalism in Nothing as the Ideal in a way they never had before while remaining true to the jammier side of their core style.

Touring? Well that’s not really a concern at this point, is it? All Them Witches have a couple dates booked, including a Nashville show on Halloween that carries the “return to normal” vibe that much more in the context of Van Cleave coming back. In addition to this, the upcoming limited live 3LP Live on the Internet, capturing audio from their livestreams a few months ago, has been unveiled and will be issued in July for one or the other of the Record Store Day events. I guess that might just serve as the definitive document of the trio incarnation of the band, though I doubt it was embarked on as a project with that intention.

All Them Witches have made a career out of existing in flux on one level or another, beating back stagnation with consistent forward progress in a way few bands do, heavy or otherwise. More than a decade and six albums on from their start, I still won’t dare to predict what they’ll do next, beyond the immediate announcements, anyhow.

Speaking of:

ATW is pleased to announce Allan Van Cleave has returned from orbit and safely landed behind the keys!! Come see for yourself…

Tickets for our Oct. 31 show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville are ON SALE NOW!

TIX HERE: https://ryman.com/event/all-them-witches/

We are STOKED to be part of this year’s @Recordstoreday DROPS, with our new RSD exclusive release; LIVE ON THE INTERNET. A 16-song set (chosen from our only 2 live performances of 2020) pressed on 6 variations of color vinyl across a 3 LP set!

Available on July 17 ONLY at your favorite independent record store.

LIMITED TO 6,000 COPIES WORLDWIDE
LIMITED TO 2,500 COPIES IN NORTH AMERICA

All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

http://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/allthemwitches
https://www.instagram.com/allthemwitchesband/
http://www.allthemwitches.org/

All Them Witches, Nothing as the Ideal (2020)

Tags: All Them Witches, All Them Witches Live on the Internet, Nashville, Tennessee

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 8:58 am and is filed under Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.