Lucero: Announce new album in 2012, Map tour dates

This Memphis band might be the hardest working band in rock n roll. The band plays over 200 shows a year, and if you've ever seen one of their live shows you know they put all their blood, sweat, and tears into every note, and it's as fun and raucous a show as you'll catch. So I was pretty excited to learn this morning that the band just announced a new round of tour dates for the new year, that will coincide with the release of a new album this coming March 2012. The new disc will be their debut for ATO records (My Morning Jacket, Dawes, Alabama Shakes). Here's what frontman Ben Nichols had to say about the upcoming LP, ..."This record is Lucero doing what we do best. It's one part barrelhouse Rock & Roll and one part lonesome nights. The thing is, we are having more fun than ever playing both onstage and off and I think that shows on this album." That pretty much sums up the bands music right there. Check out all the upcoming tour dates over on their website HERE.

video madness from Lucero

Lucero have been gearing up for their major label debut, which hits stores tomorrow, and in conjunction with the albums release the band commissioned a fan made music video for each of the 12 songs off of 1372 Overton Park. They started premiering a new video every Thursday, beginning a few weeks back, leading up to the release date, and with three new one's out over the last two weeks that brings the total to four out of twelve so far. Today we bring you the videos for "What Are You Willing To Lose", Goodbye Again", and "Johnny Davis", all of which give a good taste of the bands new expanded sound with the Memphis inspired horn section.

Lucero "What Are You Willing To Lose?" from Lucero on Vimeo.

Lucero "Goodbye Again" from Lucero on Vimeo.

Johnny Davis from Lucero on Vimeo.

new video: Lucero-"Darken My Door"

Lucero is known for a few things, among them their incredibly intense live shows and their rabidly loyal fans. So to help promote their upcoming new album, 1372 Overton Park, the band has enlisted the help of those fans, having them create a music video for each of the songs on the record (which means 12 in total). The group will be premiering a new video every Thursday leading up to the release of '1372 Overton Park', which drops on Oct 6th and is the bands major label debut for Universal Republic Records. After the release date, the rest of the videos will be made available for fans to watch on their website, but in the meantime the first up is by videographer Alex Mecum, who created a video for the song, "Darken My Door" which stars a homeless puppet. You just have to watch to get it, trust me.
Also listen to the new track, "Smoke" below.

Lucero-"Smoke" mp3

Darken My Door from Lucero on Vimeo.

hear Lucero's new single-"Smoke"

Gritty rockers, Lucero have an upcoming new album, 1372 Overton Park, due out October 6th on Universal Republic, and it's the bands major label debut, and seventh overall. The title, '1372 Overton Park' comes from the bands longtime living space in Memphis, and was recorded at Ardent studios with producer Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem). The new record sees the band expanding their hard to pin down punk/country/rock sound with an addition of a horn section.
You can check out the new track “Smoke” below.

Smoke - Lucero

visit Luceromusic.com for all the latest tour dates and info.

Lucero: takes show on the road this Fall

Memphis' hardest working band, Lucero, will be hitting the road again this fall in support of their major label debut, 1372 Overton Park. The new tour and so-called 'traveling road show' dubbed the, 'Lucero Ramblin' Roadshow & Memphis Revue', sees the band enlisting the help of, Amy LaVere, Cedric Burnside with Lightnin’ Malcolm, Jack Oblivian, John Paul Keith & the One Four Fives and The City Champs.
The new album will be their 6th overall, and first for Universal/Republic, it drops on October 6th.

The dates are as follows, with more to be announced.
Oct 9 - Next Big Nashville @ Cannery Ballroom - Nashville, TN*
Oct 10 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA*
Oct 11 - The Pour House - Charleston, SC*
Oct 13 - Cat’s Cradle - Carrboro, NC*
Oct 14 - The National - Richmond, VA*
Oct 15 - 930 Club - Washington, DC*
Oct 16 - Starlight Ballroom - Philadelphia, PA*
Oct 17 - Webster Hall - New York, NY*
Oct 18 - The Middle East - Cambridge, MA*
Oct 20 - Lee’s Palace - Toronto, ON*
Oct 21 - The Magic Stick - Detroit, MI*
Oct 22 - Turner Hall - Milwaukee, WI*
Oct 23 - Varsity Theater - Minneapolis, MN*
Oct 26 - Aggie Theatre - Ft. Collins, CO†
Oct 27 - Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO†
Oct 29 - The Crocodile - Seattle, WA†
Oct 30 - Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR†
Nov 1 - Mezzanine - San Francisco, CA†
Nov 4 - The Casbah - San Diego, CA†
Nov 5 - The Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ†
Nov 7 - Longhorn Saloon - Ft. Worth, TX††
Nov 8 - Fun Fun Fun Fest - Austin, TX††
Nov 9 - Meridian - Houston, TX††
Nov 10 - Alabama Music Box - Mobile, AL††
Nov 12 - Club Downunder,FL State Univ.-Tallahassee, FL††
Nov 13 - Czar - Tampa, FL††
Nov 14 - Lizzie McCormick Stage - Orlando, FL††
Nov 15 - Café Eleven - St. Augustine, FL††
Nov 17 - Visulite Theatre - Charlotte, NC††
Nov 18 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA††
Nov 19 - Valarium - Knoxville, TN††
Nov 20 - Orange Peel - Asheville, NC††
Nov 21 - Headliners - Louisville, KY††
* w/Amy LaVere and Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm
† w/Jack Oblivian and John Paul Keith & the One Four Fives
†† w/Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm and The City Champs

Sixteen (Album Version) - Lucero

check out Luceromusic.com

Lucero: major label debut this Fall

If there was a title given out for the hardest working band in the business, Lucero might be hands down winners. Now that the band is on the verge of releasing their 6th overall, and first major label debut, 1372 Overton Park, for Universal/Republic on October 6th, the bands frantic tour schedule is sure to get fuller.
The genre bending alt-country, punk,folk inspired band's new LP was produced by Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem), and is said to see Lucero get closer in touch with their hometown of Memphis' soulful and bluesy sound, even inspiring the albums title. The album serves as a love letter to Memphis, '1372 Overton Park' the address of the Memphis loft in which the band lived, practiced and even recorded portions of their albums over the years, with the space even serving as a karate dojo studio where local residents including Elvis took lessons in the 70's. Over recent years the bands members have gradually moved out just leaving frontman Ben Nichols the sole resident, until the band caught word that the building would be sold and demolished, marking the end of an era for the band. Nichols explains, “When [saxophonist] Jim Spake (Al Green, Cat Power) put that first horn track down, we began thinking of the record as having a certain sound. We heard pieces of Memphis history being played over our songs it floored us and we just went with it.”

You can stream the new track "The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo" over at Luceromusic.com

Ben Nichols-'The Last Pale Light in the West'

Ben Nichols, frontman of the Memphis based folk-punk group, Lucero is out with his first solo effort, The Last Pale Light in the West. The band has built up a well known reputation over the past 10 years for pouring their blood, sweat and tears into their live shows and LP's, taking on an everyman appeal akin to the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Hold Steady, or the Replacements for example. At the very heart of that everyman approach is Nichols, with his gritty, whiskey soaked vocals and a knack for Americana storytelling. On his solo affair, which is a 7 song mini-album of sorts, Nichols based his writing for the disc on author Cormac McCarthy’s book, Blood Meridian. While the musical style is a slight shift from his previous work in Lucero, Nichols ability to take you inside a character's head and emotions plays directly into his strengths here, taking on the role of a screen-writer almost. It's that character development that makes the disc work, even if your unfamiliar with McCarthy's book, as Nichols paints the picture for you. Musically speaking the disc is stark, and mostly an acoustic affair, with hints of pedal steel, piano and accordion. With that being said, it still shouldn't scare off die-hard Lucero fans, who are used to tracks like "The War" or "Hold Me Close" being scattered on the bands LP's.
The album is solid from top to bottom, but highlights of the disc include, the title track, "The Last Pale Light in the West", "Davy Brown" and "Tobin" to name a few.
In an era that seems to put little emphasis on great songwriting, it's a breath of fresh air to sit back and take in Nichols versatility and gift as a writer and storyteller.
In Lucero news, it was announced not long ago that the group is making the jump to the majors, having recently signed a four-album deal with Universal/Republic, no news as of yet as to when their next LP will be out.

The Last Pale Light In The Wes...

Sixteen - Lucero

New Ben Nichols track- "The Last Pale Light In The West"

We told you a few weeks back about Lucero frontman, Ben Nichols new solo album The Last Pale Light In The West. The new 7 track "mini-LP", which features songs inspired from the Cormac McCarthy book Blood Meridian doesn't come out until sometime in January 2009, but the title track to the album has just been posted on RCRD LBL, and is available to stream.
Nichols recorded the album this past August with Rick Steff (Cat Power, Lucero) and Todd Beene (Glossary). The mini-LP is said to showcase Nichols' gravelly voice accompanied by some simple acoustic guitar work, with Steff providing piano and accordion parts and Beene on pedal steel guitar.

Lucero's Ben Nichols- Announces solo release

Lucero frontman Ben Nichols, has announced he will be releasing his debut solo album, a “mini-LP” titled The Last Pale Light in the West, this coming January 2009 (Liberty & Lament / The Rebel Group). Nichols, who somehow found a pause in Lucero's well known non-stop tour schedule, entered the studio this past August with Rick Steff (Cat Power, Lucero) and Todd Beane (Glossary) to record the seven track mini-LP which features songs inspired from the Cormac McCarthy book 'Blood Meridian'. The Last Pale Light in the West is said to feature the gravelly voiced Nichols on acoustic guitar complimented by Rick Steff on piano and accordion, with Beane helping out on pedal steel.
This year also saw Nichols contribute vocals to The Hold Steady’s new LP, Stay Positive, on the first single, “Sequestered in Memphis”, as well as Ben taking part in the compilation disc, All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash , tackling “Delia’s Gone” for the CD.
As for Lucero, the band have just signed on with major label big shots, Universal Records. The group will soon be heading back into the studio to record their sixth studio LP, which is scheduled for release sometime in summer 2009.

Lucero on myspace.