Posted on November 4th, 2019
14 years ago, I started a solo project called Anna Flyaway where I played every instrument. After I wrote and recorded a bunch of songs, I decided that I wanted to try and make the project a real band, so I recruited my then-girlfriend (and now wife!) Cathy Coffin to play guitar, my best friend Danny Miller to play bass (he also played bass in my high school band and the beginning of Empire!), Liz Wilson on cello, Andrew Juhl on keys, and Erik Krueger on drums.
We wrote and recorded an entire LP worth of material. When we added new members, they wanted to re-record/add their parts and the original engineer Danny Stickel couldn't finish the recording. So I decided to try my hand at it. I started a project called Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) to practice recording and get competent enough so I could match the quality of what had already been recorded.
The writing on the wall was there, though, and it was clear Anna Flyaway was going to break up before the record was going to be finished. The rest of the band agreed to finish recording their parts, and when we finished, it sat on my laptop mostly finished for a decade or so. Cathy, Danny Miller, and I found a new drummer and used the songs I recorded as Empire! to springboard our new band.
But I always wanted to do something with these songs because they were so special to me. I asked Mat Halliday Audio Production, the longtime engineer behind like 90% of the Empire! Empire! catalog, if he would be down to try and resurrect the Anna Flyaway recording and clean it up. He had done the same for the vinyl reissue for "When the Sea Became a Giant".
It needed a lot of work, and we chipped away at the mix for about 4 years off an on before it was finally done. Dave Downham of The Gradwell House mastered it and Sarah Bogosh (Bad Ponies) created wonderful artwork that somehow matches the music perfectly. At long last, it is finally done and ready to heard by the world!
So without further adieu, please head over to BrooklynVegan to hear a very old, 'new' song called 'Every Time You Breathe In, You Breathe out (And Then, One Day, You Won’t)' from the album "Tomorrow I Will Take a Knife to Your Confidence". Thanks to Andrew Sacher for posting this!
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/anna-flyaway-pre-empire-empir…/
You can pre-order it at Count Your Lucky Stars Records now, it comes out on vinyl and digitally everywhere 11/22/19.
http://countyourluckystars.limitedrun.com/…/650313-pre-orde…
xoxo
Keith
Posted on October 24th, 2019
We are very excited to welcome Singing Lungs to the CYLS family! We will be releasing a new EP called 'Mutter' digitally and on cassette, available 11/8.
Singing Lungs (featuring the drummer from Cheap Girls) is a punk-rock band that calls back to when acts like Lemonheads and Lagwagon were tearing up the small club circuit. Brash, gruff vocals soar over harsh palm-muting that quickly move to driving drums and distorted guitars. The 90s are alive and well in Singing Lungs.
Head over to Ghettoblaster Magazine to hear the first single 'The Kids I Used to Know' now: http://ghettoblastermagazine.com/song-premiere-sin...
Then pre-order that puppy here: http://countyourluckystars.limitedrun.com/products...
Posted on October 14th, 2019
Exciting news! Kittyhawk is back- and this time with bass! Clare Teeling has joined with Kittyhawk as they head out to Japan for a tour, as well as a hometown Chicago date:
1/18- Chicago, IL (TBA)
1/23- Tokyo, Japan @ Warp
1/24- Osaka, Japan @ Conpass
1/25 Nagoya, Japan @ Party'Z
1/26 Tokyo, Japan @ Spices
Get antiquated with their 2014 classic 'Hello, Again', again: https://countyourluckystars.bandcamp.com/album/hello-again
Grab it on vinyl or CD (or grab a shirt!): http://countyourluckystars.limitedrun.com/roster/kittyhawk/products
Posted on October 9th, 2019
Hey! Long Knives hasn't done a tour since 2015, so you better go catch them with Jabber next month!
11/7 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
11/8 Fullerton, CA @ Programme
11/9 Phoenix, AZ @ Big Surf
11/10 Albuquerque, NM @ Tannex
11/11 Oklahoma City, OK @ Blue Note
11/12 Tulsa, OK @ Witty Books
11/13 Denton, TX @ J & J’s Pizza
11/14 Houston, TX @ Shoeshine Charley’s Big Top Lounge
11/15 Austin, TX @ Fortress of Updog
11/16 El Paso, TX @ Neon Rose
11/17 Tucson, AZ @ Blacklidge Community Collective
11/18 San Pedro, CA @ Recess Ops
11/19 Fresno, CA @ Friends Know
11/20 Santa Cruz, CA @ Subrosa
11/21 Sacramento, CA @ The Press Club
11/22 San Jose, CA @ Trash House
Do your homework and pick up their debut 7" EP:
Bandcamp: https://countyourluckystars.bandcamp.com/album/thi...
Store: http://countyourluckystars.limitedrun.com/roster/l...
Posted on June 13th, 2019
Surprise! We are still a label! Every now and again, we will be putting out some stuff (more on that in the future)! So please welcome Overo to the fold. You might recognize CYLS alums Lindsay and Mercy from Football, etc., and Brendan from Perfect Future. Welcome John too, he's new to our family.
Together, the four of them make Overo. If you can imagine a perfect blending of their past bands, you've pretty much got Overo Texas emo/post-hardcore at it's finest, blending melodic singing and throaty singing, all over a raging atmosphere of distortion.
Kerrang is streaming the ENTIRE album now here.
We don't have a lot of these puppies in stock, so pick one up today before they are all gone: http://countyourluckystars.limitedrun.com/products/645170-overo
While you are at it, brush up on some Football, etc. and Perfect Future here: https://countyourluckystars.bandcamp.com/music
Pressing info: 300 Black/200 Clear. Co-release with Middleman Records, sncl (UK), Lilac Sky Records (Norway), and Pundonor (Spain).