Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven Bring "Key Lime & Kerosene Tour" to Highline Ballroom

DOWNLOAD: David Lowery - "The Palace Guards" (title track from David's forthcoming solo CD)
DOWNLOAD: Camper Van Beethoven - Mississippi Nights, St. Louis, MO 10-12-89 (Live Show from 1989's Key Lime Pie Tour)

(photo: Jason Thrasher)
Camper Van Beethoven & Cracker are playing a short run of East Coast dates as part of their Key Lime & Kerosene Tour, where both bands will be performing their signature albums (CVB's Key Lime Pie and Cracker's Kerosene Hat) in their entireties. The tour stops at Highline Ballroom on Jan. 14th and tickets are $22 in advance and $25 DOS.

David Lowery is apparently not planning on resting this year as he is following this tour with the release of his first solo album, The Palace Guards, on Feb. 1st (429 Records). After years of helping steer the lauded and eclectic careers of both of his bands, Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, co-founder and frontman David Lowery has seen fit to present a collection of songs recorded apart from those iconic indie & alternative rock entities. Stopping short of calling it a solo record, Lowery has collaborated with a handful of trusted musical cohorts associated with his Richmond, VA-based studio, Sound of Music - an inner circle that Lowery has relied on for over 17 years and who’ve been instrumental in helping create the sounds heard on this album as well as past projects. David recorded and produced The Palace Guards in conjunction with John Morand and Alan Weatherhead. Key players include Miguel Urbiztondo on drums, David Immergluck on guitars and bass, Craig Harmon played organs and Ferd Moyse on upright bass and fiddle. Special guest appearances include Cracker mates Sal Maida and Johnny Hickman, as well as the late Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) who played keyboards on “Big Life.”

The Palace Guards took David several years to complete. Lowery felt it liberating to write the songs without the constrictions of how they might fit in with the Cracker or Camper canon of songs and performances. The easy rapport and powerful creative chemistry that Lowery shared with his studio pals allowed his introverted musical inclinations to shine through. Apparent in this collection of nine songs is a willingness to push the envelope stylistically—from the Appalachian-woven folk of the album’s first single “Raise ‘em Up on Honey” to the swirling, languid psychedelia of “Deep Oblivion” and eclectic Syd Barrett-inspired title track, to the rocked-out “Baby, All Those Girls Meant Nothing to Me,” Lowery enjoys the freedom to write and record just about anything that pleases him at that moment.

“One of the reasons the album sounds the way it does is that I have pretty strong personalities playing with me,” says Lowery, “guys who I’ve worked with for years, who have done engineering or playing on Camper and Cracker albums. There’s that instant easy rapport that shines through. Working with them brought out the more extreme edges in these songs and amplified them. It was also liberating to start with no preconceived notions of what they would end up sounding like or worrying about how they might sound in a live setting, as I have to do when I write songs for Cracker."

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN & CRACKER'S KEY LIME & KEROSENE SHOWS
Fri., Jan. 14 -- Highline Ballroom / New York, NY
Sat., Jan. 15 -- Lee’s Palace / Toronto, ONT
Sun., Jan. 16 -- Middle East Downstairs / Cambridge, MA

Links:
Cracker
Camper Van Beethoven
David Lowery

Cracker Plays Two Nights with Rev. Horton Heat at Highline Ballroom

DOWNLOAD: Cracker - Live at Crossroads, KC 5-13-10
(Note: This is hosted on Archive.Org and is an authorized bootleg...buzz off RIAA weenies)

Cracker came back into the mainstream last year when the first single, "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me", from their Sunshine in the Land of Milk and Honey CD hit the Billboard charts. This new disc has been called "musically gutsy and lyrically sharp" and "as engaging and enjoyable as anything they have released since Kerosene Hat in 1993."

Cracker features co-founders David Lowery (vocals/ guitar) and Johnny Hickman (lead guitar / vocals), along with bassist Sal Maida (Roxy Music / Sparks) and drummer Frank Funaro (The Dictators / Joey Ramone / Del Lords).

Cracker and the reconvened Camper Van Beethoven played a series of double-bills earlier this year and the band is now back on the road for a national co-headlining tour with Reverend Horton Heat. The tour stops at the Highline Ballroom on May 27th and 28th and tickets for the all-ages show are $30. Doors open at 6PM and the show starts at 8PM.

Links:
Cracker

Camper Van Beethoven & Cracker Play a Double-Bill at Highline Ballroom on Jan. 15th

(photo courtesy: Pitch-a-Tent)

Cracker came back into the mainstream this year when the first single, "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me", from their Sunshine in the Land of Milk and Honey CD hit the Billboard charts. Cracker and the reconvened Camper Van Beethoven have been playing a series of double-bills which kicked off in California right after Christmas and the two bands' Traveling Apothecary Show hits the Highline Ballroom on Jan. 15th.

Cracker, featuring co-founders David Lowery (vocals/ guitar) and Johnny Hickman (lead guitar / vocals), along with bassist Sal Maida (Roxy Music / Sparks) and drummer Frank Funaro (The Dictators / Joey Ramone / Del Lords). Camper Van Beethoven, whose recent best-of album Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty was released last year as part of their 25th Anniversary as a band, features David Lowery (vocals / guitar) and original bandmates Greg Lisher (lead guitar), Jonathan Segel (violin / guitar) and Victor Krummenacher (bass) along with Cracker’s Funaro on drums.





This show is all-ages; tickets are $22 in advance and $25 at the door. Door time is at 7PM and the show starts at 8:30PM.

Links:
Cracker
Camper Van Beethoven