[Cover photo credit to Shervin Lainez, L to R: Steve Selvidge (guitar, vocals), Bobby Drake (drums), Franz Nicolay (keyboards, vocals), Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar, vocals), Galen Polivka (bass)]
The Hold Steady have announced their ninth studio album, The Price of Progress, arriving everywhere on the band’s Positive Jams label via Thirty Tigers on Friday, March 31, 2023. It will be available digitally as well as on CD, standard black vinyl, translucent green-colored vinyl (band store), metallic gold (indie retail), metallic silver (Vinyl Me, Please), and white (Rough Trade).
The Price of Progress is heralded by first song, “Sideways Skull,” out now. It’s a song that shows its Rock heart on its sleeve.
Frontman Craig Finn says:
Sideways Skull is a rocking song about rock and rollers. In this case, they’ve been taken out of the game for a bit of rest, but still keep their dreams alive as they discuss past glories. We loved the big sound of this when Tad Kubler brought it into the band, and the studio performance of it felt especially joyful. We’re happy to put this forth as a first look at The Price of Progress, and the album’s title even comes from this song.
The Price of Progress arrives as The Hold Steady mark the 20th anniversary of their foundation. The album was produced by longtime collaborator Josh Kaufman at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY, and mixed by D. James Goodwin. It focuses on “showcasing narrative rock ‘n’ roll tales of ordinary people struggling and surviving in a modern world”. The front and back of the album cover feature photographs by Minneapolis-based photographer Alec Soth.
The Hold Steady will celebrate The Price of Progress with a wide-ranging live schedule, beginning with a performance at Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 28th, 2023. This will be a special event, with the show taking place exactly 20 years after the band’s first live performance, on the same site (then North Six). Two Dark Birds will be the special opener at Music Hall, harkening back to the January 2003 show where The Hold Steady opened for Two Dark Birds’ Steve Koester at North Six.
The week following, the band will head off for a weekend of shows February 2-4 in the mid-Atlantic, playing classic venues in Baltimore (Ottobar) and Washington D.C. (Black Cat), before finishing in Philadelphia (Brooklyn Bowl). They also have further live plans.
THE HOLD STEADY – LIVE 2023
JANUARY
28 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg (Official 20th Anniversary Show) #
FEBRUARY
2 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar ^
3 – Washington, DC – Black Cat ^
4 – Philadelphia, PA – Brooklyn Bowl ^l
MARCH
10 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom *
11 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom *
12 – London, UK – Colours Hoxton * (SOLD OUT)
MAY
12 – New York, NY – WFUV Highline Bash
JUNE
30 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed †
JULY
1 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed † (SOLD OUT)
2 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
NOVEMBER
29-30 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl **
DECEMBER
1 – 2 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl **
# w/Special Guest Two Dark Birds
^ w/Special Guests Friendship
* The Weekender 2023
† w/ Special Guests The Mountain Goats and Dillinger Four
** Massive Nights 2023
