It’s the last Friday of the month, and in 2022 that means new All Them Witches. Following up on March’s “Silver to Rust” (posted here), February’s “Fall Into Place” (posted here) and January’s series-kickoff “Blacksnake Blues” (posted here), the 12:45 “Slow City” is a steady rolling linear instrumental jam the likes of which the Nashville four-piece used to periodically post on their Bandcamp page, at random, sometimes temporarily. One is reminded a bit of “George W. Kush” or the Effervescent EP (review here) that first came out in 2014, though certainly there are other examples of their gone-exploring impulses captured on tape, including on their studio albums. Dudes can jam. We knew that.

There’s a build in “Slow City,” and the guitar hints late at some foreboding vibes, but they don’t blow out a payoff. Robby Staebler‘s drums hold steady and are atmospheric in their own right, and the guitar of Ben McLeod is in its own trance throughout, with Parks‘ basslines and what may or may not be Allan Van Cleave droning keys out in the background — I’m honestly not sure; if you told me I was imagining it, I’d believe you — adding to the breadth. It’s a mellow vibe but not at all inactive for that, and answers the peaks and valleys of “Silver to Rust” with a fluidity of its own.

All Them Witches are on tour starting May 6 — they’re coming to Asbury Park, which is nice — and after playing what the folks who worked at the jam-band magazine in my old office used to refer to infuriatingly as ‘The ‘Roo,’ they’ll head to Europe for a slew of other festivals and dates, none of which seem to be written out in a conveniently cut and pasted list, but all of which can be found, with ticket links and whatnot, at the link below.

Enjoy the track and here’s to marking the calendar for May 27 and the next song in the Baker’s Dozen series:

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

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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

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

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All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

Nashville four-piece All Them Witches have unveiled the next in their Baker’s Dozen singles series in a track/video called “Silver to Rust.” The nine-minute piece, which follows behind “Fall Into Place” (posted here) and “Blacksnake Blues” (posted here) — yes, at some point I completely plan to have links for all of these songs individually, because that’s who I am — works in three distinct stages, unfolding at first with a kind of languid but somewhat downtrodden-of-mood fuzz before shifting at about three minutes in to a build led by the guitar that pays off in a soaring lead, and comes back to a verse with mellow vocals from bassist Charles Michael Parks, Jr. and drums building in intensity from Robby Staebler that only leave to question if they’re going to have enough time to hit another crescendo before the song is over.

By way of a spoiler, they do, if understatedly. Throughout, you’ll note the key work of Allan Van Cleave and the amorphous nature of Ben McLeod‘s guitar, tonally as well as in terms of what he’s playing at any given moment. Where past singles have dug into different sides of the band’s persona as I suppose they inevitably would, engaging their earlier work in “Blacksnake Blues” particularly, I get more of a latter-day All Them Witches vibe here, more dug into the jam than on 2020’s Nothing as the Ideal (review here), but still working from a similar experimentalist impulse, and seeming to grow bolder in the layering process as well.

I wonder how many of these songs are already done. If they’re all recorded and in the can, awaiting release, or in some stage of completion and being worked toward individually. Their presentation is awfully lined up, with all the links and digital distro, video, etc., but given All Them Witches‘ veteran status and factoring in that they’re a bigger band, I’d expect no less than such coordination. As the months play out, it’s interesting to hear the songs begin to interact with each other. I like this next to “Fall Into Place” and “Blacksnake Blues.” I like it on its own too. No substitute for being a sucker, I guess.

All Them Witches earlier this week announced a physical pressing for their Live on the Internet stream as a 2LP/CD. More on that here. They’ve got no shortage of tour dates as well. If you can see them, do that.

Until April, then, enjoy:

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

Tour On Sale Now:
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‘Silver To Rust’ Now Streaming: https://allthemwitches.lnk.to/silvertorust

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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

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

Nashville-based four-piece All Them Witches have posted a video for the second installment in what the band has dubbed their Baker’s Dozen singles series. “Fall Into Place” arrives behind last month’s “Blacksnake Blues” (posted here), which you can also hear below, and as the band gets ready to hit the road for what looks like an increasing amount of the year, they seem as well to be exploring new ground sonically as well.’

This is kind of a relief, to be honest. I dig “Blacksnake Blues” a lot, and a big part of that is the manner in which the track speaks to the band’s earlier work. “Fall Into Place” — true to form for the band — doesn’t. Instead, it’s among the most atmospheric material they’ve done, minimally percussed but backed by a current of drone that plays out behind the melancholic vocal melody. This, in turn, feels more in conversation with some of the experimentation with loops and different kinds of noise manifestations that showed up on 2020’s Nothing as the Ideal (review here), and in light of the shift in lineup that brought Allan Van Cleave back into the band on Rhodes/violin, etc., I’m glad those experiments haven’t been left by the wayside.

Have to wonder if All Them Witches aren’t thinking a 2LP compilation of all these songs when the year’s over, but I suppose we have many more months to speculate throughout 2022 as they build toward the entirety of Baker’s Dozen in a track-per-month rate and one to grow on.

Are we thinking last Friday of every month here? If so, I’ll go ahead and hold a spot for March 25 now.

Enjoy:

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

‘Fall Into Place,’ the second song from our Baker’s Dozen project, is yours to enjoy.

https://allthemwitches.lnk.to/fallintoplace

2022 Tour On Sale Now:
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‘Fall Into Place’ is the second song from ATW’s project, “Baker’s Dozen.” Baker’s Dozen will feature 13 songs, one each month in 2022 plus an extra track.

Listen to the first Baker’s Dozen song, ‘Blacksnake Blues,’ now:
https://allthemwitches.lnk.to/blacksnake

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

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

Nashville’s All Them Witches return to their heavy blues roots on their new song “Blacksnake Blues,” part of a single-per-month project that’s been dubbed Baker’s Dozen and will feature — you guessed it — a song for each month in 2022 and one to grow on. The band last year announced they’d been rejoined by multi-instrumentalist/organist Allan Van Cleave, and though tour plans for 2020 and 2021 were largely scuttled, the four-piece apparently weren’t sitting still. “Blacksnake Blues” is the first new offering with Van Cleave alongside bassist/vocalist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod and drummer/visual artist Robbie Staebler since 2017’s Sleeping Through the War (review here), and its 11-minute run demonstrates the spaciousness his work brought to the band in the first place, allowing the jam into fluid reaches it might not otherwise be able to find in quite the same way.

Van Cleave and McLeod both shine here, and Staebler‘s gentle shove of momentum is no less signature All Them Witches than Parks‘ willing-to-be-soulful-but-not-just-aping-a-blues-delivery verses. They proceed through the verses with due swagger for a veteran band doing what they do, but nothing here is overwrought, even as the jam takes hold and they make their way out, not to return. I don’t know if “Blacksnake Blues” is an indicator as to the mood or vibe of the rest of what will feature in Baker’s Dozen — given everything the band have done to-date in any incarnation, ever, I suspect not — but as a surprise and a heads up that there’s plenty more to come amid the long swath of tour dates they’ve announced for much of 2022, well, the news is welcome and I’ll take it as it comes. There are a lot of fans of earlier All Them Witches who are going to be very, very much on board with this.

And if it gets on Bandcamp, remember to grab it while you can because their digital stuff doesn’t always stay forever. Just saying.

Enjoy:

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches – Blacksnake Blues
https://allthemwitches.lnk.to/blacksnake

2022 Tour On Sale Now:
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Blacksnake Blues is the first song from ATW’s upcoming project, “Baker’s Dozen.” Baker’s Dozen will feature 13 songs, one each month in 2022 plus an extra track.

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp