Dead Painter
Hard to pick a fav track, so many are so amazingly good. Townes meets Nick Lowe with a ‘lil Chilton for spice. These songs will hit you hard.
Favorite track: French Creek Flood.
Nathan Xander is following up 2017’s Blue House with the wryly humorous and often touching French Creek Flood. Named after the creek that runs through his small hometown of Union City, PA; the album is a perceptive look at life’s transitional moments, capturing Xander and his band before pivotal changes—a new lineup, Xander’s quitting alcohol, and the pandemic’s impact on musicians everywhere. French Creek Flood will be released digitally on June 2nd, 2022.
Xander wrote French Creek Flood pre-pandemic during a period of self-reflection and deliberate choices. Xander says about the experience, “During that time I had lost two friends to opiates and was thinking about my relationships and how I was living my own life. I quit drinking in October of 2019 and it’s interesting to listen back to the songs now and hear how differently I felt about things, and wrote about life, at the time.”
A close-knit group, the band’s enjoyment during the creation of French Creek Flood shines through. Julian Cubillos, a local musician and mutual friend of the band, offered up his apartment in Ridgewood, Queens for the recording session. The bedroom and bathroom were the perfect spaces to isolate guitar amps while the band camped out in the high-ceilinged, mirror-bedecked living room. Members of the band include Cameron Kapoor on electric guitar, William Duncan on drums, keys, and percussion, Colin DeHond on bass, and a guest bass appearance from Cubillos on “Your Trial.” Mastering duties were handled by Carl Saff in Chicago.
French Creek Flood’s 11 tracks showcase Xander’s willingness to tackle a myriad of subjects. “Her Daddy’s Ring” is a true story about the moments we have to hide our real selves for the sake of others, while the title track imagines the life Xander might have led if he’d never left his small hometown. "EXIT/IN" is an account of a night spent playing to few people in a place designed to hold many more. “Your Trial” is a poignant, Cohen-esque tribute to a friend lost to opioids. Together, the songs are a blend of the honesty and earned wisdom which has become Xander’s trademark.
Originally from rural Union City, PA, Xander started writing songs at a young age, sparked by his habit of scouring record shops for first the classics, then the hidden gems and vinyl obscurities which tell a more lonely and mysterious tale. A self-professed crate digger and amateur musical anthropologist, Xander dove off the deep end into country, folk, and rock—sounds all woven expertly into French Creek Flood. He also credits the local music scenes of Pittsburgh, Chicago, and now New York City, his home for the last decade, for pushing him to grow as a songwriter. This drive to ever improve eventually brought him success playing shows with Justin Townes Earle, Tyler Childers, BJ Barham of American Aquarium, and Howe Gelb of Giant Sand.
He plans on following up French Creek Flood with another full-length album, Three Waltzes, in summer 2022.
credits
released June 2, 2022
All Songs by Nathan Xander
Engineered & mixed by Julian Cubillos
Recorded at Julian's House in Queens, NY
Mastered by Carl Saff
Cover design by Ian Langehough
Photo by Keith Rowland
Nathan Xander - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica
Cameron Kapoor - electric guitar
Will Duncan - drums, keys, vocals
Colin DeHond - bass, vocals
Julian Cubillos - bass on "Your Trial"
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