Chicago’s Blind Staggers are excited to announce new album Exile On Argyle, which is out on January 26th, via Seven Dead Arson Records.
The Blind Staggers are not a punk nor a country band. This Chicago band-of-siblings is made up of punks who started country bands, country lovers who started punk bands along with metalheads and blues fans who like a little twang. They’re American music, storytelling over guitars, about the hangovers that come from drinking too much and fucked-up relationships. It’s the kind of thing that wouldn’t be out of place at a romantic dance or the “Rawhide” bar in Blues Brothers.
The songs that fill the Blind Staggers’ debut album Exile On Argyle were hashed out in a raccoon-infested Mayfair house. “We all grew up in that basement and cut our teeth musically there,” explains bassist Shrek. Tracks like the galloping opener “22-22” stampede across your record player while “Bulleit for the Road” goes down smooth like a shot of, well, you know. But the band’s greatest assets is the one-two punch harmonies of vocalists Damien Christian Wilburn and Laura Zielinski. There’s no better showcase of how well Wilburn’s ragged baritone pairs with Zielinski’s bluesy croon than the bittersweet kiss-off “So Long.”
Recorded at Humboldt Park’s Legendary Recorders with engineer Mike Corcoran (Deal’s Gone Bad), Exile On Argyle features appearances from Corcoran (percussion), along with Al Scorch (banjo), Dave Max Crawford (trumpet) and Ray Jaclido (keys).
The Blind Staggers are:
Damien Christian Wilburn – vocals/guitar
Laura Zielinski – vocals
Tony Lee – guitar
Shrek – bass
RIYL: Murder By Death, Banditos, Lucero.
Voted “Best Country Band” in the Reader’s ‘Best of Chicago 2013’ poll.