Heartfelt congratulations to The Midnight Ghost Train on signing with Napalm Records. The simple fact is there isn’t a damn thing the nigh-on-nomadic Topeka, Kansas, trio has got that they haven’t earned, whether it’s playing Roadburn and Desertfest and Freak Valley and others or stomping their way across the US alongside Truckfighters or whoever might think they’re up for keeping pace. Guitarist/vocalist Steve Moss and drummer Brandon Burghart — joined now by bassist Mike Boyne — have become one of American heavy rock’s most bombastic live acts the old fashioned way, honing their craft night after night on a seemingly endless string of tours.

As such, when news like the fact that they’ve been picked up to issue their recently-recorded new album, Cold was the Ground, through a high-profile imprint like Napalm, it gets a hearty “fuck yeah” from me. It’s excellent to see hard work being rewarded.

True to form, the announcement comes bundled with a new string of tour dates for next month. Dig it:

ATTENTION: THE BIG BIG NEWS IS IN.

We are unbelievably proud to announce that The Midnight Ghost Train has just now officially signed with one of the BIGGEST heavy music labels in the world… NAPALM RECORDS. Napalm will be releasing our new album “Cold Was The Ground” on vinyl, CD and digital.

Thank you to all the fans that been sticking with us over the years, and has helped to make our band grow. Now it’s time to do some major damage in the ROCK world.

SOME MORE EXCITING NEWS: Here is the schedule of our two week USA tour. Its a short run we know, but its gonna be a damn good one. Got some great cities and shows for this tour. Gonna be a blast. Check out the poster mark your calendars and be sure to spread the word.

09/04 Secret Show Topeka, KS
09/05 The Bay Warrensburg, MO
09/06 5th Quarter Indianapolis, IN
09/07 Blind Bob’s Dayton, OH
09/08 The Bug Jar Rochester, NY
09/11 31st St. Pub Pittsburgh, PA
09/12 Bar Matchless Brooklyn, NY
09/13 Rosie & The Rockers Washington D.C.
09/14 The Milestone Charlotte, NC
09/17 The Handlebar Pensacola, FL
09/18 The Station Madison, AL
09/19 Ol’ Tavern Jackson, MS
09/20 The Wild Salmon Lafayette, LA

We’re coming.

https://www.facebook.com/themidnightghosttrain/
http://www.napalmrecords.com/

The Midnight Ghost Train, Live at London Desertfest 2014

I took the above photo of always-raucous The Midnight Ghost Train‘s frontman Steve Moss from the sweaty doorway of the Bat Cave at the 013 venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands, as part of the Roadburn 2013 festival. It was as close as I could get to the band, who opened in grand fashion with feedback before unleashing an entire weekend’s worth of boogie into one bluesified, bombastic set. The Kansas trio are in the throes of a six-week US tour (dates here) supporting 2012’s Buffalo (review here) and have just released said Roadburn set as a free download under the fitting title Live at Roadburn 2013, with a CD and LP to follow soon on Roadburn/Burning World Records that’s available now for pre-order.

The link to that, more info, audio and the artwork — which I’m fairly sure is referencing a Leadbelly collection — follow here, courtesy of the label:

THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN Live at Roadburn 2013 free download. Pre-sale for vinyl + CD

Download The Midnight Ghost Train Live At Roadburn 2013 from Bandcamp below. As usual with the Roadburn releases this download is free (or more exact ‘pay what you want’). If you need more you can pre-order the album on vinyl (including a cd) and cd (in digipack with artwork). Pre-orders are up here.

The Midnight Ghost Train is a heavy blues / stoner rock band hailing from Topeka, Kansas. For five solid years The Midnight Ghost Train has been touring relentlessly in both the U.S.A and Europe, spreading their own version of thick Mississippi Delta-rooted style of stoner rock. The band is most well known for their intense, passionate, and soulful live show. No matter where they are or how many people they play to, you will never find TMGT giving anything less than their absolute best.

The Midnight Ghost Train, Live at Roadburn 2013 (2013)

When The Midnight Ghost Train go on tour, they stay on tour. Still in support of last year’s raging blues rocker Buffalo, the unhinged Kansas-based trio will hit the road once again starting this week. The band played Roadburn this Spring as part of a European run, and in addition to currently working on new material, they’ll also have a live record out of that performance come September, which is pretty much also how long this US tour is set to last. Go figure.

Knowledge is power trio:

THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN Announces U.S. Headlining Tour in Support of New LP “Buffalo”

Powerful, High-Caliber Rock Band Set to Barnstorm the U.S. on Massive, Six Week Cross Country Tour

Utterly unique Topeka, Kansas based HEAVY rock band THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN will launch a U.S. headlining tour in support of its sophomore LP Buffalo on July 18 at the Downtown Music Hall in Little Rock, Arkansas. Boasting a gargantuan sound that has been described as “ZZ Top trampled by mammoths” and “like the great depression era blues shouter Blind Willie Johnson, if he had fronted the ’60s San Francisco band Blue Cheer at their sludgiest,” THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN’s epic live shows are “intense and real” and an uplifting cure-all for fans or critics that may feel rock music has lost its “edge”. The 34 city trek will run through September 7, showcasing a trio that has averaged over 300 live shows per year since its formation in 2007.

A phenomenal band who has the wind behind their backs and momentum on their side, THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN (aka TMGT) transcends geography, generation and genre. With a name inspired by an old Hank Williams lyric and a live show that hits with adamantine force, TMGT is led by guitarist Steve Moss, whose gruff-throated, Tom Waits-like vocals, gloriously fuzzy tone and unbridled, wailing guitar solos combine to deliver an entirely new form of musical power and intensity. With literally thousands of live shows under their collective belt — including 13 U.S. tours (both solo and alongside acts such as Jucifer and Truckfighters) and 3 full European jaunts — the band has developed a strong reputation for blowing the doors off every venue in which they perform, leaving a whole new contingent of music fans awestruck and hungry for more with each and every show. THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN isn’t just a band you hear, it’s something you feel deep down. Its pulse affects you.

Released in 2012 via Karate Body Records, Buffalo was recorded with producer / engineer David Barbe (Harvey Milk, Son Volt, Drive-By Truckers) and has met to shining critical acclaim in the time since its release; hailed for its soul, energy and thick Mississippi Delta-rooted Rock ‘N’ Roll. Dark, heavy blues is as much an influence on TMGT’s sound as rock/metal, but it’s also seriously head bang-able with loads of densely-packed furry riffage, heavy/quiet tradeoffs and memorable hooks. The record also contains a re-imagined cover of Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter’s 1940 classic “Cotton Fields”.

MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN tour dates:
July 18 Little Rock, AR Downtown Music Hall
July 19 Lafayette, LA The Wild Salmon Bar & Grill
July 20 Ocean Springs, MS The Squeaky Lizard
July 21 Pensacola, FL The Handlebar
July 22 Valdosta, GA Ashley Street Station
July 24 Charleston, SC The Mill
July 25 Fayetteville, NC Black Cat Lounge
July 26 Frederick, MD Guido’s Speakeasy
July 27 Indianapolis, IN Indy’s Jukebox
July 28 Cleveland, OH Now That’s Class
July 30 Akron, OH Annabell’s Bar and Lounge
July 31 Dayton, OH Therapy Cafe
August 1 Chicago, IL Reggie’s Music Joint
August 2 Green Bay, WI Crunchy Frog
August 3 La Crosse, WI JB’s Speakeasy
August 7 Billings, MT Shooters Bar
August 8 Great Falls, MT Machinery Row
August 10 Spokane, WA The Hop
August 11 Seattle, WA Victory Lounge
August 14 Red Bluff, CA The End Up Saloon
August 15 Fresno, CA Audie’s Olympic
August 18 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
August 19 Fort Collins, CO Surfside 7
August 22 Denver, CO Tennyson’s Tap
August 23 McCook, NE Sports
August 24 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory-OKC
August 26 Midland, TX The Blue Max
August 27 Austin, TX The Legendary White Swan
August 29 Monroe, LA Oaks Bar & Grille
August 30 Jackson, MS Sam’s Lounge
August 31 Birmingham, AL The Nick
September 4 Lexington, KY Green Lantern
September 7 Warrensburg, MO Bottomfeeder Bay

As part of its European headlining tour last spring, THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN delivered a jaw-dropping live performance as part of the hallowed Roadburn international rock festival. This week, it was announced that the fest’s record label, Roadburn Records will release TMGT’s full live set from the festival on both LP and CD this September as part of its popular “Live From Roadburn” series.

The Midnight Ghost Train, Buffalo (2012)

Note they call this one the “Winter Tour 2012.” One can only assume that’s as opposed to The Midnight Ghost Train‘s Winter Tour 2013, which will probably see the band take off two minutes after New Year’s and only stop in time for their Spring Tour 2013. The Midnight Ghost Train tour a lot, is the point I’m making.

And good for them, as their hard work has seen them added to next year’s Roadburn (part of the Spring tour, no doubt; announcement here), and their 2012 outing, Buffalo (stream it below), will give them no shortage of kickass songs to play there. In the meantime, here are the Winter Tour dates:

The Midnight Ghost Train Winter Tour 2012

Nov 29 Green Lantern Lexington, KY
Nov 30 Ultra Lounge Chicago, IL
Dec 1 Southgate House Newport, KY
Dec 2 Brass Rail Fort Wayne, IN
Dec 4 Pegasus Records Florence, AL
Dec 5 Squeaky Lizard Ocean Springs, MS
Dec 6 Twist Of Lime Metairie, LA
Dec 7 Tsunami Monroe, LA
Dec 8 Beer Land Austin, TX
Dec 9 Jakes Downtown Tulsa, OK

Named either for a town with which it would seem to have little to do musically but from which they hailed at one point or another, or an animal with which it shares many commonalities, Buffalo is the second full-length from The Midnight Ghost Train. Recorded just days after the Topeka, Kansas, trio got off the road from their 2011 tour with Truckfighters (see here and here) – and mostly recorded live, from the sound of it – Buffalo (released on Karate Body Records) is a half-hour set that commences almost immediately with zero-bullshit American-style stoner blues rock and offers little let-up for the duration. Their 2009 self-titled (review here) was a stylistic jaunt into such territories, and boasted several guest appearances from friends of the band, but Buffalo is more straightforward and outclasses its predecessor on every level in much the same way that album was a step up from earlier 2009’s The Johnny Boy EP (review here). Fronted by gruff-throated guitarist/vocalist Steve Moss, the mission behind Buffalo was clearly to bring the energy and flow of the band’s live set to a recording, and aided by the production of David Barbe (Bob Mould, Drive-by Truckers), they come about as close as one imagines being able to; tracks flow one into the next with ultra-natural smoothness, and there are moments in the album’s core midsection where it seems like Moss, bassist David Kimmell and drummer Brandon Burghart are going to lose control of the jams entirely and the whole record is going to come to a halt, but of course that never happens and The Midnight Ghost Train, however wild or tonally entrenched they might become, never actually lose control here when they don’t want to do so. Buffalo’s eight tracks are memorable individually, but work best taken as a whole – which of course is easy given the fact that the album is only a half-hour long – where the ebbs and flows and Moss’ bluesy growling can be carried across with the full complement of the next shifts about to come.

At their core, The Midnight Ghost Train are a stoner rock band. It’s Moss’ riffing leading the way with thick, rich, gloriously fuzzy tone for the heavy blues rhythms of Kimmell and Burghart, who hold their own behind him even at his most frantic. Vocally, Moss takes on a raving blues persona. Like he’s the one who most took Neil Fallon’s vocals on “I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth” to heart. His delivery is likewise gruff as “Henry” takes hold following upbeat instrumental opener “A Passing Moment of Madness,” which introduces the band’s penchant for riff-fronted grooves and foreshadows instrumental focus to come. Maybe it’s a style derived from heavier roots, but Moss plays it all bluesy on “Henry,” and his solos are likewise unbridled. Most importantly, he’s well mixed, so as not to be completely dominant or out in front of the guitars, bass and drums when it’s so obviously supposed to be the whole song that’s the focus and not one individual or another. Still, he’s striking as he drives home the rolling groove of “Foxhole,” with Burghart adding tom flourishes behind, and is obviously going to be a central presence throughout Buffalo. The reason it’s not out of balance is because, as I said, he’s well mixed, and also because Kimmell’s bass gives a formidable showing of its own, not to mention Burghart’s deft and varied drumming. I know Moss has been through several lineups of the band at this point, but they sound better here than they ever have, and having seen some of these songs live, “Foxhole” among them, I think they came as close as they could have to honing in on that live feel without actually having Moss walk in the room and start yelling at you.

Read more »

It’s been a while since we last heard from pita-loving Kansas heavy rockers The Midnight Ghost Train. The band self-released their self-titled debut late in 2009 (review here) and were just getting ready to record the follow-up, Buffalo, named for their former hometown, but after Karma to Burn dropped off the Truckfighters tour, they’ve been selected to fill the position.

So congratulations to the band. If you have to delay recording, at least it’s for a good cause. The tour is set to start this week, and as you can see below, the run with Truckfighters is just a fraction of the dates confirmed for Spring.

From their website:

Hey y’all, we’ve got quite the exciting news for you. I know we recently posted that we were taking the month off to get ready for our new record, but we just can’t stay off the road. We are very honored to announce that we were chosen to go on tour with one of the world’s biggest stoner rock bands of all time: Truckfighters from Sweden.

This is huge for us, and will be a big step in the right direction for our band. It’s a very last-minute tour, we leave this Monday and the tour starts in Charlotte, NC, on March 1. So I know its very last-minute but let’s pull together and show Truckfighters and the world that TMGT has not only got the greatest fans in the world, but also let’s show them how much TMGT kicks ass. So let’s pull together and tell your friends, and blog about it, and do whatever y’all do.

The day after the tour ends we will be going into the studio to record our new record. So we will be rip roarin’ and ready to record. Can’t wait to see you guys at the shows, we love you and we wouldn’t be here without you. The tour dates with Truckfighters are posted below. See you at the show, get ready to rock the fuck out.

The Midnight Ghost Train and Truckfighters:
03/01 Tremont Music Hall Charlotte, NC
03/02 31st Street Pub Pittsburgh, PA
03/03 Blind Bob’s Dayton, OH
03/04 Pyramid Scheme Grand Rapids, MI
03/05 Ultra Lounge Chicago, IL
03/06 Hi-Tone Memphis, TN
03/07 Siberia New Orleans, LA
03/08 ND Austin, TX
03/09 Jake’s Downtown Lounge Tulsa, OK
03/10 The Roadmap Texarkana, AR
03/11 Downtown Music Little Rock, AR
03/13 The Get Down Asheville, NC
03/14 Pour House Raleigh, NC
03/15 Jewish Mother Backstage Norfolk, VA
03/16 The Station Philadelphia, PA
03/17 Public Assembly Brooklyn, NY

The Midnight Ghost Train Spring US tour dates:
04/13 Green Lantern Lexington, KY
04/14 Neptune on Pine Warrensburg, MO
04/20 Indys Jukebox Indianapolis, IN
04/26 Filling Station Boozeman, MT
04/27 Jesters Bar Helena, MT
04/28 Jesters Bar Helena, MT
04/29 Dante’s Portland, OR
05/04 Redwood Los Angeles, CA
05/05 Bar 11 San Diego, CA
05/10 Lions Lair Denver, CO
05/14 Soundpony Tulsa, OK
05/17 JD’s Glass Sheffield, AL
05/18 Wild Salmon Lafayette, LA
05/19 Tsunami Bar Monroe, LA

European shows:
05/25 Bolzplatz Revival Fest Fiefbergen, Germany
06/01 DB’s Utrecht, Netherlands
06/02 Jume Kiel, Germany
06/09 ROTORMANIA Festival Berlin, Germany
06/15 Revolver Oslo, Norway

The room was basically a glorified VFW, or a Knights of Columbus hall in Bayonne, New Jersey, and I’d never seen The Midnight Ghost Train before. The trio, then from Buffalo, now hailing from Kansas, had a thickened, rootsy blues take on stoner heaviness, and though the layout of the place was awkward and the stage absurdly high, guitarist/vocalist Steve Moss, then-bassist Odie Lallo (since replaced by Will Shumate) and drummer Brandon Burghart owned the room with the presence and sound of a veteran road act. Turns out that’s not just coincidence.

In fact, if Moss has his way, they’d never come off tour. It’s an attitude more reminiscent of the DIY hardcore punk of the early ’80s than the usual stoner rock real-life commitments that keep so many bands from wider-ranging gigs — jobs, families, etc. Moss, who logged over 1,000 miles just in the move from Buffalo to Topeka, has an unwavering passion for The Midnight Ghost Train. This has led to some shifts in lineup, but more importantly, to the band’s recently-reviewed self-titled debut full-length. The album, self-released and distributed for free in both physical and digital form via their MySpace, harnesses the power of their live show while simultaneously panning it out and expanding in ways that space in Bayonne simply wouldn’t be able to handle.

I didn’t have the record that night to compare it to (though that is when I picked up their preceding release, The Johnny Boy EP), but looking back on that show now, it’s clear their set was only just a sample of the band’s potency and vibrant, organic approach. Moss recently took some time out to field an email interview about The Midnight Ghost Train, band and album, and the changes they’ve brought about in his life.

Interview is after the jump. Please enjoy.

Read more »

The PR wire would like you to? be aware of this new Samothrace side-project. I seem to recall stumbling on their MySpace page a little while back and thinking the artwork was cool and the sounds were decent. Anyway, worth checking out their two new songs if you’ve got a couple minutes.

Seattle-based psychedelic stoner rock outfit Lethe (featuring members of Samothrace) have just issued an update on their highly anticipated debut album, Mnemosyne. The album was recorded by Eric Graves (The Esoteric) at Black Lodge Studios and Mixtape Soundlabs in the band’s hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, and will be released by instrumental music giants Reptile Records.

Bassist Dylan Desmond divulged that, “It’s looking like mid August the pressing should be complete. We have a full-time drummer now named Adrian Guerra who also plays drums in the Seattle band Sod Hauler. He’s kicking ass and we’re writing a lot of new material with him. We’re officially a three piece now, and Adrian‘s input and style is a huge step up for our songwriting! We’re in the process of planning a November/December tour, and are probably going to begin recording a new full-length sometime early next year. “

To get a taste of Mnemosyne, head over to Lethe‘s MySpace and check out two new songs that appear on the record — “Mother Milk Eyes” and “Therefore Let Us Feed the Beast.”

Track listing:
1. Mother Milk Eyes
2. Therefore Let us Feed the Beast
3. New Queen’s
4. Open Harvest
5. Mnemosyne