Live reveal new EP title - "Local 717" Options

[Bremang]

http://www.news-herald.com/article/HR/2018.../NEWS/180829624

Considering Live is known as a multi-platinum alt-rock band from the '90s, it was apropos that singer-guitarist Ed Kowalczyk referenced another touchstone from the decade when discussing the group's newly released single, "Love Lounge," which is a rocking affair that found the act plugging in its guitars and turning the amps to 11.

"I don't think anybody expected it," said Kowalczyk, calling from Mansfield, Massachusetts. "The fans were a little bit whiplashed by it, which was fun for us.

"We didn't expect to make a song like 'Love Lounge' and to sort of kick it up into that gear three years ago when we started putting the reunion together. It's like one of those, 'Life is a box of chocolates' kind of things."

Live finds itself at a new chapter of its 25-year-plus career, which includes more than 22 million albums sold worldwide, two No. 1 albums ("Throwing Copper" and "Secret Samadhi") and more than a dozen Top-20 alt-rock radio hits.

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After spending the better part of a decade away from Live, pursuing a solo career, Kowalczyk


rejoined the group a few years ago with an eye on new material. At that point, the Pennsylvania outfit could have taken the easy route — releasing a nostalgic, albeit schmaltzy, tune in hopes of finding airplay on adult-contemporary radio.

"I blame it all on Dave Grohl," Kowalczyk said. "We reconnected with the Foo Fighters a couple of times last year. 'Love Lounge' has a whole different tenor and energy. We also have EP 'Local 717' coming that's very much along the same lines.

"After this break, I didn't really want to do a sort of five-minute, mid-tempo meditation. We write like that all of the time. I wanted something that rocked, so we really took that, sort of digested it and just went into the studio and kicked the whole thing up a notch."

Fans attending Live's show Aug. 26 at Blossom Music Center — the band is opening for the Counting Crows — can expect to hear the new tune, as well as all of the group's hits ("Lightning Crashes," "I Alone," "All Over You" and "Lakini's Juice") and a Jimmy Reed cover ("Baby What You Want Me to Do").

This tour marks the third time Live has teamed up with Counting Crows, including a memorable 2000 show at Blossom. Kowalczyk said when the Adam Duritz-led act offered them the gig, it was a no-brainer for Live, which over the decades has lived and experienced all of the rock 'n' roll tropes — early success, creative differences, band acrimony, a breakup and an eventual well-received reunion.

"It's some kind of prefigured thing and a story that's been told a lot of times," Kowalczyk said. "But living it in my life, and I think I can speak for the band, the fact we're back together, nobody expected it for a long time. So there's a level of gratitude and joy on tour that I think the fans can really tell."

More importantly, playing up the title of the band's top-5 alt-rock hit "All Over You," it's pointed out that the fans aren't over Live.

"Nope, they're not over us yet," Kowalczyk laughed. "We're still rocking. They keep calling, we keep coming."

[mattyeagles]

There were rumors of this for a long time and CT confirmed in a blog post several years ago, saying something to the effect of they thought it was done but Ed retooled it and it came as a surprise to all of them.

He’s complimentary to Ed and it seems like the label and mixers changed the feel of the album. I dont know where to find it, but the early demo of TDTH is incredible, as are all the B-sides.

“In order to make Ed’s shows more enjoyable for him, we added guitarist Christopher Thorn to the live line-up. Chris grew up in Dover, PA, a neighboring town of York. He was always much more a lead guitar player than Ed but he did a great job of finding his way into the feel of the songs. This was the first time a had another guitar player to truly play off of and would influence the fell of the album. Additionally, we brought in session keyboardist Michael “Raylo” Railton to add flavor to the tracks. These guys would form the nuclease of a new sound and new era for the band. Ed’s early demo of The Distance, in my opinion, was far better than the albums version. The drum loop he recorded to had a groove that was simply incredible and we worked very hard to get that feel with Gracey’s drumming. The Distance demo is awesome and a b-side worthy of trying to find. We recorded two version of Sun (one with a down tempo Indian loop and the other with a full rock guitar approach). In the studio this album in particular felt totally different than its finished product. The band was pushing hard for songs like Change, Don’t Wait (I have a CBGB’s demo that features one of Ed greatest vocal performances), Still Aroused and New City. The guitars once again shined on these tracks and the tempos were upbeat. It was a return, I thought to the feel of Copper. When I received the mastered album, it had changed greatly. Gone were those up-tempo rockers, each replaced by mid-tempo singer/songwriter selection. I admit, I was in shock but the record label was really in love with the album. I think I may have made a critical mistake by not pushing to have the rockers win out but then again some of those songs are pretty amazing! Overcome featured the full band and is my preferred version of the song. Face & Ghost originally did not have lyrics and once again is my preferred version of the song. In my opinion, if Secret Samadhi was my vision of the band than TDTH was Ed’s. It ranks as my second favorite Live album and I personally think it was Ed at his absolute very best. I haven’t bought his new album yet but I hope it has some of this flavor; if not it should be on his next! Most of TDTH was tracked live but we clearly let technology start to play a roll (Voodoo Lady for example). We had all begun to purchase recording equipment and began to experiment with loops and productions. There are a ton of unreleased demos from this era. For example, the demo for They Stood Up For Love has different lyrics, an oboe and is one of the last substantial contributions I felt I made to the Live catalog. We also have demos of Voodoo Lady, recorded on April 18th (my daughter, Ruby Lou was born later that day). My favorite demo is Transmission, a Dahlheimer track infused with great lyrics and singing by Ed.”

This post has been edited by mattyeagles: Oct 30 2018, 1:26 pm