statechampion

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TOUR IS OVER. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING. ALL THE LOVE. XO, - SC

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STATE CHAMPION EU UK UH OH FALL TOUR 2019

HERE WE GO AGAIN (UK FOR THE FIRST TIME).

*POSTER BY BILL NACE

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SEPTEMBER SOLO MISSION:

9/1 @ REID’S FARM (SOMEWHERE IN KY -- I DON’T KNOW WHERE, I JUST SAID “SURE”)

9/7 @ KAIJU W/ SIMON JOYNER + DAVID NANCE

*FLIERS BY REID AND ME

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WE ARE GREATLY SADDENED TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO PLAY THE ABOVE SHOWS AND/OR ALL OTHER AUGUST DATES FOR REASONS BEYOND OUR CONTROL. THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING.

ALL OF OUR LOVE GOES OUT TO THOSE WHO ARE HURTING RIGHT NOW. WE LOVE YOU, DAVID. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.

FLIERS BY MIKIE POLAND AND CHRIS DAY, RESPECTIVELY.

MORE SOON.

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WEST COAST TOUR WAS AMAZING! MET LOTS OF NEW PEOPLE. SAW LOTS OF OLD FRIENDS. GOT DANGEROUSLY LOST IN THE DESERT. SEVERAL MORE *VERY SPECIAL* SUMMER SHOWS TBA!

THANKS TO PILE, NED, AND EVERYONE WHO’S BEEN RIDING W/ US THESE PAST FEW MONTHS <3

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HOMETOWN HOEDOWN 6/22 W/ COLUMBUS LEGEND TOMMY JAY + THE OTHER YEARS.

POSTER BY MATT LOCK -- http://puffandmagic.com/

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UPCOMING MAY / JUNE 2019 TOURS.

NED COLLETTE SHOWS SOLO. PILE SHOWS FULL-BAND.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

W/ NED COLLETTE

5/9 TH – LEXINGTON, KY  @  GREEN LANTERN

https://www.facebook.com/events/377581009515375/

5/10 FR – CHARLESTON, WV  @  ELK CITY RECORDS

https://www.facebook.com/events/322334425131444/

5/11 SA – HARRISONBURG, VA  @  BROCK’S HOUSE

https://www.facebook.com/events/440287930053642/

5/12 SU – BROOKLYN,  NY  @  UNION POOL

https://www.facebook.com/events/570580930088284/

5/13 MO – NEW HAVEN, CT  @  THREE SHEETS

https://www.facebook.com/events/525334177999080/

5/14 TU – GREENFIELD, MA  @  ROOT CELLAR

https://www.facebook.com/events/426183824859503/

5/15 WE – BOSTON, MA  @  DORCHESTER ART PROJECT

https://www.facebook.com/events/2585932618102767/

5/16 TH – PORTLAND, ME  @  APOHADION THEATER

https://www.facebook.com/events/413584939218678/433580563885782/

5/17 FR – BURLINGTON, VT  @  MAGLIANERO

https://www.facebook.com/events/503470040184073/

5/18 SA – PETERBOROUGH, NH  @  HARLOW’S

https://www.facebook.com/events/2436555596561183/

5/19 SU – KINGSTON, NY  @  TUBBY’S

5/20 MO – PHILADELPHIA, PA  @  JERRY’S ON FRONT

https://www.facebook.com/events/1186582711513120/

5/21 TU – CHAPEL HILL, NC  @  NIGHTLIGHT

5/22 WE – ATHENS, GA  @  FLICKER

5/23 TH – ATLANTA, GA  @  THE EARL

5/24 FR – NASHVILLE, TN  @  BETTY’S

https://www.facebook.com/events/2266724126913441/

5/25 SA – LOUISVILLE, KY  @  EIDERDOWN

POSTER BY ALEX COXEN – https://www.etsy.com/shop/WornSpiral

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W/ PILE (EXCEPT ^)

6/1 SA (DAY) – CHICAGO, IL @ DO DIVISION FEST

6/1 SA (NIGHT) – MILWAUKEE, WI @ CACTUS CLUB ^

6/2 SU – MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ 7TH ST. ENTRY

6/4 TU – MISSOULA, MT @ WESTERN CIDER ^

6/6 TH – VANCOUVER, BC @ FOX CABARET

6/7 FR – SEATTLE, WA @ THE VERA PROJECT

6/8 SA – PORTLAND, OR @ MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

6/10 MO – RENO, NV @ HOLLAND PROJECT

6/11 TU – SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ THE CHAPEL

6/13 TH – LOS ANGELES, CA @ BOOTLEG THEATER

6/14 FR – SAN DIEGO, CA @ SODA BAR

6/15 SA – PHOENIX, AZ @ REBEL LOUNGE

6/18 TU – DENVER, CO @ LARIMER LOUNGE

6/19 WE – KANSAS CITY, MO @ THE RINO

6/20 TH – ST. LOUIS, MO @ FOAM ^

6/21 FR – BLOOMINGTON, IN @ BLOCKHOUSE BAR ^

6/22 SA – LOUISVILLE, KY @ ZANZABAR ^

POSTER BY TIM GREEN – https://www.instagram.com/timgreen.co/

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TROPICAL TRASH U.S. EAST COAST DRONE FOOTAGE TOUR 2019

4/3 WE – MURRAY, KY @ TERRAPIN STATION W/ SECULAR PETS

https://www.facebook.com/events/401287697334609/

4/4 TH – NASHVILLE, TN @ BETTY’S W/ DRUNK DOCTOR + RUBE + TRAFFICKER

https://www.facebook.com/events/3014737005218925/

4/5 FR – ATLANTA, GA @ THE EARL W/ HARMACY + MTN ISL + KONGOKAI

https://www.facebook.com/events/399833460816541/

4/6 SA – ATHENS, GA @ FLICKER THEATER W/ MCQQEEN + KNEELER

https://www.facebook.com/events/256071405336528/

4/7 SU – KNOXVILLE, TN @ PILOT LIGHT W/ WHITE GREGG + DAY AND AGE + FICTION FILMS

https://www.facebook.com/events/2408085445891909/

4/8 MO – ASHEVILLE, NC @ STATIC AGE W/ NEST EGG + CHEAP STUDS

https://www.facebook.com/events/337831987079734/

4/9 TU – CHAPEL HILL, NC @ NIGHTLIGHT W/ DAN MELCHIOR BAND + DAS DRIP

https://www.facebook.com/events/328889667731226/

4/10 WE – RICHMOND, VA @ CRYSTAL PALACE W/ GUMMING + VV

https://www.facebook.com/events/570633803440904/

4/11 TH – WASHINGTON, DC @ DEW DROP INN W/ COOL PEOPLE + NICE BREEZE

https://www.facebook.com/events/446923026045677/

4/12 FR – KINGSTON, NY @ TUBBY’S W/ YOGA INJURY

https://www.facebook.com/events/290106208552324/

4/13 SA – PHILADELPHIA, PA @ KUNG FU NECKTIE W/ STORKS + DARK WEB

https://www.facebook.com/events/1121930627979928/

4/14 SU – BROOKLYN, NY @ UNION POOL W/ THE WILFUL BOYS

4/15 MO – YOUNGSTOWN, OH @ WESTSIDE BOWL

4/16 TU – CLEVELAND, OH @ NOW THAT’S CLASS! W/ THE COWBOY + CHARLIE DAMS + SOUTH REACH

https://www.facebook.com/events/427024584705050/

4/17 WE – DETROIT, MI @ TRIXIE’S W/ DEAD PEOPLE + MILK BATH

https://www.facebook.com/events/258850125018099/

4/18 TH – CHICAGO, IL @ THE HIDEOUT W/ LILAC

4/19 FR – BLOOMINGTON, IN @ BLOCKHOUSE BAR W/ POST PINK + SWIM TEAM + DAGUERREOTYPE

https://www.facebook.com/events/2208946469358556/

4/20 SA – LOUISVILLE, KY @ AMERICAN TURNERS W/ WOMBO + WHITE GREGG

https://www.facebook.com/events/429214757647848/

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GREAT NEWS -- PEOPLE GENERALLY SEEM TO LIKE OUR NEW RECORD! HERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN SAID ABOUT IT ON THE INTERNET (AND ELSEWHERE).

AQUARIUM DRUNKARD ( “Each of the album’s seven songs are total gems, packed with thrift store wisdom and woozy wistfulness...Ryan Davis has a keen eye for the odd detail that transforms the mundane into the magical.” ) -- https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2019/01/06/state-champion-send-flowers/

FADER ( FROM WINTER PRINT EDITION *PICTURED BELOW ) -- https://www.thefader.com/2018/11/09/state-champion-gen-f-send-flowers

NO DEPRESSION ( "A benchmark for fiercely independent alt-country's potential." ) -- http://nodepression.com/album-review/state-champion-rekindles-independent-alt-country

NOISEY ITALY ( * TOP 4 INTERNATIONAL ROCK RECORDS OF THE YEAR * “Se avete dei rapporti umani strampalati, un senso dell’umorismo obliquo e una passione per il folk rock USA sporcato di college rock anni 90, questo è il vostro nuovo album della vita.” ) -- https://noisey.vice.com/it/article/ev39jn/il-2018-di-noisey

PITCHFORK ( * 8.0 / BEST ROCK ALBUMS OF 2018 * ) -- https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/state-champion-send-flowers/

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-best-rock-albums-of-2018/

POST-TRASH ( “Over the last decade, State Champion has sprawled out a history of honky tonk injected power-pop, dusty and boisterous—think Gram Parsons meets Teenage Fanclub with the swagger of Warren Zevon or the Stones.” ) -- http://post-trash.com/news/2019/3/19/state-champion-send-flowers-album-review

RAVEN SINGS THE BLUES ( "Davis is one of this generation’s great songwriters, sketching out a vision of the American Midwest that’s self-aware, unpretentious and biting." ) -- http://www.ravensingstheblues.com/state-champion/

STILL SINGLE ( "This record – one of a short list of my favorites this year – should put State Champion within striking distance of the more recognized musical storytellers of the current century." ) -- http://still-single.tumblr.com/post/180061041976/state-champion-send-flowers-lp-sophomore

If Bob Dylan was funny, if Tom Waits was relevant, Ryan might not be peerless at what he does best, which is writing large gregarious circles around his pitiful colleagues in the field. He's the best lyricist who's not a rapper going.  - David Berman (Silver Jews)

[Send Flowers is] State Champion's most fully realized Beard Rock expression to date. The surrealist underpinning of Ryan's lyrics are heavier than ever, balanced by the band's most epiphanically tasty licking. The pieces fit together with such easy organic grace, it's tempting to suspect they're simple. But the closer you listen to the parts, the more complex they appear.  - Byron Coley (Feeding Tube)

Picture, like, a tendril of smoke rising from a chimney or a Cheers-esque bar where people aren’t afraid to get kind of dark, but in that comforting way that acknowledges the universality of personal pain. The lyrics are glittering jewels of zonked out, weirdly touching regular-life details...By the end of the song, it feels like we’ve been eavesdropping on an entire town, and that’s no small feat. - Sam Hockley-Smith (Vulture)

Wordy folk rock is a treacherous proposition. Maybe you’ll be Cracker or maybe you’ll just be the smartest asshole in the dorm. But State Champion is excellent. Imagine if no one at Drag City discovered heroin or John Fahey. If State Champion got their due, we’d never had to pretend Pinegrove had good lyrics in the first place.  - Zachary Lipez (Medium)

Terrific, clever, funny, weird...I think this band is really kind of devastating. - Amanda Petrusich (The New Yorker, * Best of 2018 via Red Bull Radio)

*BAND PHOTO BY TOM HOYING

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TROPICAL TRASH LP # 2 “SOUTHERN INDIANA DRONE FOOTAGE” OUT TODAY ON NATIONAL WASTE PRODUCTS (BORN FROM THE ASHES OF LOAD RECORDS). 1ST PRESSING OF 300. ART BY MATT LOCK.

“...Here TT deliver a tour-tightened, conspiracy theory-enlightened set of energetic noise rock, aggressive but leavened by human intellect and seemingly no desire to wallow in transgressive scum other than that which they make. It's maybe their most organized effort to date, definitely their most sympathetic recording, a clean representation of the band's power. It's my favorite record of theirs so far.” - Doug Mosurock

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY! -- https://tropicaltrash.bandcamp.com/album/southern-indiana-drone-footage

http://loinseepage.blogspot.com/

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THIS WEEKEND IN CHICAGO! ENDING TOUR WITH A BANG. BE THERE. FLIER BY CHRIS DAY.

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State Champion – Send Flowers LP (Sophomore Lounge/Feeding Tube)

RECOMMENDED

It’s been so long since I felt like a band had something to tell me – maybe not something new, but something that lasted beyond the length of a song, or an album, something hopeful, something of theirs – that I sometimes stop waiting for it to happen, and accept whatever’s new in place of being moved. In recent years I hear a lot more approximations and refinements in music, and way more abstract musical selfies (usually involving a synthesizer), all of which have their place, some of which have more than that, great in the moment though the duration remains to be seen.

Between the mailbox and the inbox and the live stage and the recommendations of trusted friends, music is coming at me at a phenomenal rate, more of it worth hearing than maybe ever before in the lifespan of this endeavor, so much so that it sometimes eclipses my ability to say what I want to about it. I don’t want to come off as glib about my work (others cover that beat, and sadly you’re stuck with them), nor am I heartless, despite how these words over the past 14 years and counting might have made you feel. Maybe a touch of remove would make it easier to plow through it, but I’ve plowed already, with herniated disc and nerve pain the badges of pride, not honor, to prove it. I can’t tell you what I’m not believing in, because when it all washes out this is really me sharing the only thing out in the world of art/commerce that’s legitimately kept me feeling vital in spirit. When I hear these things, I need to tell you about them. It means someone has spoken or performed in a way that changed me, even a little bit, that I would be worse off without their works within my reach.

What I’m driving at is that, even in times of distress and dismissal, I’ve been getting music from Ryan Davis and his Sophomore Lounge label, and have taken pride in how it’s grown its personality out of a regional focus on music and friends and the confluence of both. I’m aware of the things the label does; even when they’ve struck me as perplexing or slight, it’s all happened for what I’d perceive to be a strong reason, or feeling, He and his crew open up their municipality of Louisville once a year for the Cropped Out festival, not to showcase themselves but to lay down the welcome for a physical representation of their tastes, good people casting a wide net. I’ve never gone (can’t swing festivals anymore, particularly those hundreds of miles away, sorry) but I hear tell that they have something to show the attendees. For this guy to be at the helm of at least two bands – the concussive noise rockers Tropical Trash, and the mannered truism of State Champion – and cede the spotlight to out-of-towners instead, seems to indicate a generosity of spirit that I don’t see with any regularity in the narrow margins of independent music.

State Champion shares a loose and stately skein of country music, sturdy and weatherbeaten, far enough off the path that listeners have to do the work of discovery all on their own. There are a good number of players in their direction, most or all of which reaching the same thin levels of recognition, enough to make a movement if there were anyone willing to move. Thinking about State Champion puts me in the mindset of folks like Jerry DeCicca, Little Gold’s Christian DeRoeck, and Zachary Cale, three guys who I met through three separate instances of DJing, me trying to tell some stories with other peoples’ art. I want things to change for all of them; I believe they all have tales that should be moving the needle, experiences to keep fueling them, and carry on what’s really the last thing we have left as a society that hasn’t been destroyed.

The stories on State Champion’s Send Flowers, their fourth and finest LP so far, all seem to be centered about loss, seven poems about the only thing that mitigates losing a person or dissolving a relationship: the remembrances of when things simply were. “Death Preferences,” the album’s second song, takes its time detailing a relationship, words and words and words (which Davis had the luxury of ruminating over during an ACRE residency last year) about putting on accents with a departed friend/co-worker, “data-mapping the system” as it were, something about environmental cleanup, trying to fit in, drifting apart and holding it together with the times they shared. Saying that someone sounds assured seems like such a copout, but I don’t know if anyone could have told tales both this abstract and this evocative the way he has, nor there being a band (guitar, violin, rhythm section, occasionally some keys and pedal steel, occasionally the talents of Edith Frost) better suited to thematically underline what he has to say. There’s songs about tradition (“Stonehenge Blues Band Blues”), songs about appreciating that which others let go as a statement of intent (“My Over, My Under”), but these themes of loss keep turning back up. They’d feel weird in any voice other than Davis’s. They don’t have a ton of regret or nostalgia staining them, but they do have a lot of phrase-turning that, when excerpted out of context (“Jeff Foxworthy in a serious role” comes to mind, and lately quite often) might seem referential for the sake of it. Yet, even in songs that hover around the seven-minute mark, nothing is wasted, no editing is required. Their chosen avenue of song is not a place that some feel comfortable to go, and if hearing a violin is going to be your dealbreaker, then I’ve got nothing for you here. But I will say that they have found their zone, and play the hell out of it, midtempo crooners to put these yarns in the loom and spin ‘em out with righteousness unmatched in our era. They don’t grandstand, because sharing never should be construed as something that prideful. These songs feel like receiving a letter written by a friend.

If nothing else, this record – one of a short list of my favorites this year – should put State Champion within striking distance of the more recognized musical storytellers of the current century. It’s a small, crowded stage. Help them make room. (http://www.sophomoreloungerecords.com) (http://www.feedingtuberecords.com) (https://sophomorelounge.bandcamp.com/album/state-champion-send-flowers) (Doug Mosurock)

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SC “SF” FALL TOUR 2018

TH 11/1 – ST. LOUIS, MO @ THE SINKHOLE (7423 S BROADWAY) W/ ABI OOZE + STONE HEN

https://www.facebook.com/events/468975780256886/

FR 11/2 – MURRAY, KY @ TERRAPIN STATION (920 S 12TH ST) W/ SECULAR PETS

https://www.facebook.com/events/2136617013243111/

SA 11/3 – COOKEVILLE, TN @ CHAR (14 S WASHINGTON AVE) W/ COMMANDER KEEN + PUMPKINSEED + WICA INTINA

https://www.facebook.com/events/1903930619725702/

SU 11/4 – KNOXVILLE, TN @ THE PILOT LIGHT (106 E JACKSON AVE) W/ PSYCHIC BAOS

https://www.facebook.com/events/206917203315452/

MO 11/5 – ASHEVILLE, NC @ THE MOTHLIGHT (701 HAYWOOD RD) W/ MJ LENDERMAN + WES TIREY

https://www.facebook.com/events/561229717631562/

TU 11/6 – DURHAM, NC @ DUKE COFFEEHOUSE (106 EPWORTH LN) W/ SPIDER BAGS

https://www.facebook.com/events/2257464487821663/

WE 11/7 – ATHENS, GA @ CALEDONIA LOUNGE (256 W CLAYTON ST) W/ DEEP STATE + ROSE HOTEL

https://www.facebook.com/events/449355678928837/

TH 11/8 – ATLANTA, GA @ THE EARL (488 FLAT SHOALS AVE SE) W/ ARBOR LABOR UNION + NEW JUNK CITY + SUNSET PIG

https://www.facebook.com/events/253709735329410/

FR 11/9 – NASHVILLE, TN @ SOFT JUNK (919 GALLATIN AVE # 14) W/ JONATHAN STONE PHILLIPS + COUNTRY WESTERNS

https://www.facebook.com/events/262768911248412/

SA 11/10 – LOUISVILLE, KY @ ZANZABAR (2100 S PRESTON ST) “SEND FLOWERS” RECORD RELEASE SHOW W/ DAVID NANCE BAND + AXIS: SOVA

https://www.facebook.com/events/353032045263534/

SU 11/11 – CINCINNATI, OH @ NORTHSIDE YACHT CLUB (4227 SPRING GROVE AVE) W/ CASPER SKULLS + SMUT + VIRGINIA CREEPERS

https://www.facebook.com/events/278804766064587/

MO 11/12 – BALTIMORE, MD @ CREATIVE LABS (1786 B UNION AVE) W/ HOTHEAD + ANTI-PLANET

https://www.facebook.com/events/2226770580945551/

TU 11/13 – WASHINGTON, DC @ COMET PING-PONG (5037 CONNECTICUT AVE) W/ HOTHEAD

https://www.facebook.com/events/473872946435472/

WE 11/14 – BROOKLYN, NY @ UNION POOL (484 UNION AVE) W/ MAIL THE HORSE + GARCIA PEOPLES

https://www.facebook.com/events/325794864666641/

TH 11/15 – BURLINGTON, VT @ SIDEBAR (202 MAIN ST) W/ FOOTINGS + HOMEBOY

https://www.facebook.com/events/280906842550276/

FR 11/16 – PETERBOROUGH, NH @ HARLOW’S PUB (3 SCHOOL ST) W/ FOOTINGS

https://www.facebook.com/events/1878926222143782/

SA 11/17 – BOSTON, MA @ THE DEMOCRACY CENTER w/ (45 MOUNT AUBURN ST) W/ PILE + BAD HISTORY MONTH

https://www.facebook.com/events/246839859514820/

SU 11/18 – GREENFIELD, MA @ THE ROOT CELLAR (10 FISKE AVE) W/ HUEVOS II + FOOTINGS

https://www.facebook.com/events/324451734790500/

MO 11/19 – KINGSTON, NY @ TUBBY’S (586 BROADWAY) W/ ANDY WEAVER

TU 11/20 – PHILADELPHIA, PA @ JERRY’S ON FRONT (MOVED TO ORTLIEB’S) (847 N THIRD ST) W/ SOFT CRIME + EMILY ROBB / LINDA FOX

https://www.facebook.com/events/340861703131666/

WE 11/21 – CHARLESTON, WV @ KIN SHIP GOODS (613 TENNESSEE AVE)

https://www.facebook.com/events/259005354763706/

TH 11/22 – LEXINGTON, KY @ GREEN LANTERN (497 W 3RD ST) W/ DANIEL CASE

https://www.facebook.com/events/924721091049841/

FR 11/23 – INDIANAPOLIS, IN @ STATE STREET PUB (243 N STATE AVE) W/ LANDON CALDWELL’S ATOMIC GARDEN + GUITARS OF MIDDLE WESTERN USA

https://www.facebook.com/events/188507958720971/

SA 11/24 – CHICAGO, IL @ THE HIDEOUT (1354 W WABANSIA AVE) W/ GLYDERS + BILL MACKAY

https://www.facebook.com/events/331849100939115/

SU 11/25 – MADISON, WI @ THE WISCO (852 WILLIAMSON ST)

https://www.facebook.com/events/340969876668165/

STAY TUNED HERE OR TEXT US IN THE VAN FOR MORE INFO / UPDATES.