TOWNIE is out now.
Casey and I are from a small college-town in central New York called Ithaca. We grew up restless, both fighting to be seen and heard. A place like Ithaca sometimes felt like it wanted you to disappear.
Casey and I made music together in our basement and in our friend’s garages or sheds, and our teenage logic had us convinced that would be our ticket out. Somehow—in some crazy combination of ignorance, determination, and sheer luck—we we’ve found ourselves where we are today, very far away from our lives in Ithaca. But for some reason my mind keeps wandering back to this place that I so desperately sought to free myself from.
Here I am: 35 years old, and I still feel like that insecure teenager with a prematurely-receding hairline and the weight of the world on his shoulders, who’s still scared of being left behind. Writing this album was me asking myself “why?” Here’s what I came up with:
I am a Townie. I will always be a Townie. To deny that, is to deny everything that I am. And yes my town was small, but the people I grew up with never let me think that the world wasn’t big and exciting and out there for the taking. In my town I was loved, I was encouraged, I was accepted, I was challenged, I was knocked down and picked back up again a million times. It might not have been the cultural Mecca I dreamed about, but we had a pretty sick independent movie theater and more than one good coffee shop. The guys at the music store knew my mom, so they let me spend hours in there “testing out” guitars and pedals and recording equipment like I was actually ever going to have the money to buy anything. No one ever made me feel like an idiot for having dreams, or that my dreams couldn’t come true— only that they’d welcome me home with open arms if they didn’t.
I’m so lucky to have grown up where and how I did, and so it feels like a very appropriate that, 18 years later, we’d be putting out an album that’s a love letter to Ithaca, to Upstate New York, and all the people in it.
This is TOWNIE. For our town and yours. For the Townies in all of us.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of a good love song. I was in a writing session recently with someone who had just gone through a rough break-up— when we landed on a concept for a song that was more about falling IN love than falling out, they resisted writing about it at first. But i said “Fuck that! When you’re heartbroken is the BEST time to write a love song!” Because you know the stakes. And when the stakes are high, truth often comes bubbling to the surface. You know how beautiful and terrible it can be, and a good song about falling in love always has a bit of heartbreak in its DNA. So ultimately my friend caved, and you know what? WE ENDED UP WRITING A GREAT SONG THAT DAY haha.
The day we wrote “Half-Life” it was a really magical session. It was my last day in Nashville and I walked into a room with two of my favorite songwriters: Ben Stennis who wrote one my fav songs of 2022, Cody Johnson’s “Till You Can’t”, and the absolutely incredible Joy Williams, whose music— both with the Civil Wars and on her own— I’ve been in awe of for years. Joy came in with the title “half-life” and once we had that, our three brains just clicked into gear together. The whole thing was finished in 4 hours. I brought it back to the XA boys in LA and we ultimately decided on cutting a version that was very bare-bones; very apropos for the sentiment of the song.
“Half-Life” celebrates our friends, lovers, partners, spouses, pets, children— the ones who open up new passages in your heart; new valves and capillaries, new corners you didn’t even know existed before.
Cool coincidence: I’ve been with my wife Tess for almost 13 years now, married for 5 of them. But we also grew up together in Ithaca. I’ve known her since I was 17 and I’m 35 now, so that is quite literally half of my life. So I’ll be selfish for a moment and dedicate this song to her.
But, as is always the case with songs, what was once mine is now yours. It’s been so awesome seeing how much you guys connect with what we’ve been teasing. Let this song be the needle-drop for all those moments, big and small, when you want to show someone you love how much you love ‘em.
-Sam
Still processing what an amazing 5 months it’s been on the “Townie” tour. We love this album so much and we’ve loved playing these songs live for you guys more than anything we’ve ever done before. Every night felt like we were all just kids in the basement again, fucking around, making each other laugh, having deep conversations about nothing, eating 4-cheese Hot Pockets and JAMMING JAMMING JAMMING. Thank you all so much for coming out and for riding with us for the last 15+ years. My lower-back is ruined but my heart is full. Taking a year-long epsom-salt bath now.
BIG THANK YOU to our amazing crews across EU/UK/CAD/US and @rowan.drake & @newwest199x for joining us on the road.
Love you guys. Also New music coming soon.
-S
LAST SHOW TOMORROW!! Side-note: we always get asked to play this one and sometimes I don’t wanna because maybe I don’t feel like such a baddie that particular day but goddamn if you didn’t make me feel gorgeous EVERY DAY ON THIS TOUR. ❤️❤️ -S
Mexico City – it is with heavy, heavy hearts that we have to cancel our show on June 22nd. As a band, we take immense pride in bringing you all the best show that not only meets, but exceeds your expectations. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, a few recent developments have made it so that we are unable to make this show happen. We LOVE playing in Mexico City and because we love you all and respect you all so much— and because these types of cancellations are becoming more and more common in our industry among our peers— we feel like it’s important for us to be as transparent as possible with you regarding why:
In order to put on this specific show at the specific venue that we booked in Mexico City, there were a few large pieces of equipment that we needed to rent; essentials like a “front-of-house” mixing board / monitor board, gear that we simply needed to make any noise. Nothing extravagant or non-essential. We often have to rent gear for shows where we aren’t travelling with a bus and trailer (we were flying in for this show). Typically, venues have this equipment in-house but sometimes— like in this case— they don’t. However... when we got a quote for this equipment from the local vendors, they let us know that the rental costs would be 3x what they usually are for pieces of gear like this. We were already prepared to lose money playing this show. But the costs of these exorbitantly expensive last minute rentals combined with knowing that flights for band & crew + hotels + transportation wouldn’t be fully covered by our show fee, mean it’s simply not possible for us to put on this show for you.
We have to clarify that in this case, this is in NO WAY the fault of either the venue or promoter; they’ve both been doing a great job in trying their best to get us down there 🙏
This decision was not made lightly, and we are extremely bummed to have to cancel ANY show. Refunds will be available to all that have purchased tickets thus far. We love you Mexico, and hope to see you soon. ❤️
Lil bit of that southern comfort in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Nashville last week🔥 can’t wait for the final few Townie shows…Dallas tonight, then Austin, Phoenix, and LA. We’re not ready for it to be overrrr
Norfolk and SOLD-OUT DC, damn you guys always know how to welcome us back and you did not disappoint this time. Slowly making our way back the southwest, but first, we cant wait for Charlotte, Atlanta, and Nashville this weekend 🔥
📸: @christian.x
