Dirty Streets Sign to Blue Élan Records; Announce New LP Who’s Gonna Love You
New song new song new song. Memphis blues rockers Dirty Streets got a new label — hi there, Blue Élan Records — a tour coming up, and a new record on the way. All of that’s great, but today they’ve also go a new song posted and that’s where it’s at. You might recall their last release was 2020’s live album Rough and Tumble (review here), and the Sept. 29 arrival of Who’s Gonna Love You will mark their first studio offering since 2018’s Distractions (discussed here) — a four-year break that’s the longest of the band’s career, though one could easily chalk that up to either the search for another label, the global pandemic, or, most likely, both and more besides.
Either way, as they look to get out again in June before the album’s release, they would seem to be full speed ahead, and that’s likely a steady, bluesy roll when it comes to them, thoughtful in melody, classically grooving in rhythm, and resting on the borderline between heavy rock, blues, Southern rock and any number of other microgenres. However you want to classify them, they’re killer and they’ve got new stuff coming. And a new song up.
So get on it:
Memphis-Based DIRTY STREETS Joins Blue Élan Records’ Eclectic Roster
New Album – Who’s Gonna Love You – Produced by Grammy award-winner Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine) Due September 29, 2022
The Memphis-based rock band DIRTY STREETS spent the last two years of their pandemic-induced forced time off creating new music and finding a new home with the Los Angeles-based independent label, Blue Élan Records. The bluesy rock trio join an eclectic roster, which includes Soul Asylum, KT Tunstall, Liz Brasher, America’s Gerry Beckley, Grammy-Award winning guitarist Eric Johnson, and more. Their new album, Who’s Gonna Love You, is set for release on September 29 with the first musical taste, single “Alright,” out today – Listen HERE: https://dirtystreets.lnk.to/alright
In late 2019, when the band headed into the legendary Sam Phillips Recording studio to record Who’s Gonna Love You, with the Grammy-award winning Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine) in the producer’s chair, the band immediately felt the connection. “Matt Ross-Spang is like nobody I’ve ever worked with,” recalls singer/guitarist Justin Toland. “Bringing the songs into the studio, he really listened and sat with them. Most of the time he would be laying on the floor with his eyes closed, or hunched in the corner on a chair, just fully open. He was really into us performing them in the room while he just concentrated and soaked it all in before making any swift judgements.”
Justin continues, “There is a knack some people have for sensing a feeling in one bone of a song and building a whole skeleton. Matt is one of those people. He works more like an artist than a producer, shaping sounds and guiding without effort. It was just such a natural relationship between us that I felt like he was in the band the entire time we were recording. Some of the songs took an entirely different direction from the original concepts we had, but we were able to trust his insights, because they seemed to have an essence of purity and true creativity.”
Writing the album went quickly for the band, using forced time off of the road and their life experiences to carve out most of the material. Says Justin, “Our first single, ‘Alright,’ originally came out of the pressures of everyday life. Working, deadlines, disasters and all the other things you have to fight through. Into the pandemic it seemed to become more of an anthem for the pressure that we feel every day. This all happens while telling ourselves that we are making it just fine. In the end, that’s an attitude I try to stick with. I’m not in denial about what’s going down, but I just think of hardships as a means to grow and learn. The song is sort of a one-two punch against the world falling apart around you. I wanted to create a picture of tenacity against relentless storms so that I could mirror it in myself.”
DIRTY STREETS TOUR w/El Perro
Tue 6/7 – Memphis, TN – Growlers
Wed 6/8 – Lafayette, LA – Freetown Boom Boom Room
Thu 6/9 – Houston, TX – Black Magic Social Club
Fri 6/10 – Dallas, TX – Three Links Deep Ellum
Sat 6/11 – Tulsa, OK – The Whittier Bar
Sun 6/12 – Colorado Springs, CO – Vultures
Mon 6/13 – Denver, CO – HQ
Wed 6/15 – SLC, UT – Garage on Beck
Thurs 6/16 – Boise, ID – The Shredder
Fri 6/17 – Seattle, WA – Funhouse
Sat 6/18 – Tacoma, WA. – The Plaid Pig Live Music Lounge
Sun 6/19 – Portland, OR – High Water Mark
Mon 6/20 – Eugene, OR – Old Nick’s Pub
Tue 6/21 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Wed 6/22 – Los Angeles, CA – Permanent Records Roadhouse
Thu 6/23 – Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing Company
Fri 6/24 – Las Vegas, NV – Count’s Vamp’d Rock Bar & Grill
Sat 6/25 – Tempe, AZ – Yucca Tap Room
Sun 6/26 – Albuquerque, NM – The Historic El Rey Theatre
Tues 6/28 – Oklahoma City, OK. – Blue Note Lounge
Wed 6/29 – Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge
Thurs 6/30 – Eureka Springs, AR – Chelsea’s Corner Cafe
Fri 7/1 – Louisville, KY – fifteen TWELVE
Photo by @loudandclearphotography
DIRTY STREETS:
Justin Toland – guitar/vocals
Thomas Storz – bass
Andrew Denham – drums
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http://www.dirtystreetsmusic.com
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http://blueelan.bandcamp.com/
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