Minor Poet has announced new tour dates for September 2019 in support of The Good News out now on Sub Pop. The quartet’s eastern U.S. trek begins on September 12th in Washington, DC at the Songbyrd Cafe and ends September 27th in Charlottesville, VA at The Southern. Along the way, Minor Poet will co-headline with 6131 Records act Sammi Lanzetta (September 12th-26th), and Stray Fossa (September 27th).
Sep. 12 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd Cafe * Sep. 13 - New York, NY - Alphaville * Sep. 14 - Wilmington, DE - 1984 * Sep. 19 - Chapel Hill, NC - Nightlight * Sep. 20 - Charlotte, NC - Petra’s * Sep. 21 - Norfolk, VA - Charlie’s Cafe * Sep. 26 - Harrisonburg, VA - Golden Pony * Sep. 27 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern ^
* w/ Sammi Lanzetta ^ w/ Stray Fossa
Minor Poet’s The Good News, featuring the singles “Museum District” and “Tropic of Cancer” was produced by Andrew Carter and Adrian Olsen (Natalie Prass, Foxygen) at Montrose Recording in Richmond. The Good News is available through Sub Pop Mega Mart. Purchases of the LP through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, UK, and Europe will receive the limited Loser edition on clear with red and blue swirl vinyl (while supplies last).
North American tour supporting Cub Sport May 13 (in Seattle!) through June 7th.
Minor Poet is sharing the charming, Good Will Hunting-homage video for “Museum District” from The Good News, his forthcoming EP out May 17th on Sub Pop.
Minor Poet’s Andrew Carter and Sho Kellam co-directed the “Museum District” video, had this to say, “Good News Hunting tells the story of a songwriter and janitor who neglects finishing his new album, instead spending his days drinking in bars with his buddies and getting into fights in the Museum District of Richmond, VA. But after the advice and counseling of both his therapist and his best friend, he finds the courage to finish his new EP, The Good News.”
Minor Poet is currently supporting Australian band Cub Sport on the group’s headlining tour, which resumes on Monday May 13th in Seattle and ends June 7th in Phoenix at the Valley Bar. The tour will also include stops in Portland, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta, Austin, and Houston.
May 13 - Seattle, WA - Columbia City Theater May 14 - Portland, OR - The Old Church May 18 - Denver, CO - The Marquis Theater May 20 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern May 22 - Boston, MA - Café 939 May 23 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory May 24 - Montreal, QC - L’Esco May 25 - Toronto, ON - The Drake Underground May 28 - Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry at The Fillmore May 29 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd May 31 - Atlanta, GA - Purgatory at The Masquerade Jun. 02 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Indoor Jun. 03 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) Jun. 05 - Dallas, TX - Three Links Jun. 07 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar
Minor Poet’s The Good News was produced by Andrew Carter and Adrian Olsen (Natalie Prass, Foxygen) at Montrose Recording in Richmond. The Good News is available for preorder through Sub Pop Mega Mart. Preorders of the LP through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, UK, and Europe will receive the limited Loser edition on clear with red and blue swirl vinyl (while supplies last).
Minor Poet is joining Australian band Cub Sport on the group’s headlining tour in support of The Good News, out May 17th worldwide on Sub Pop. These intimate shows will find Minor Poet performing as a three-piece, beginning May 8th in Los Angeles at The Echo and ending June 7th in Phoenix at the Valley Bar. The tour will include stops in San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta, Austin, and Houston.
May 08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo May 09 - San Diego, CA - Voodoo Room at HOB May 13 - Seattle, WA - Columbia City Theater May 14 - Portland, OR - The Old Church May 18 - Denver, CO - The Marquis Theater May 20 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern May 22 - Boston, MA - Café 939 May 23 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory May 24 - Montreal, QC - L’Esco May 25 - Toronto, ON - The Drake Underground May 28 - Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry at The Fillmore May 29 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd May 31 - Atlanta, GA - Purgatory at The Masquerade Jun. 02 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Indoor Jun. 03 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) Jun. 05 - Dallas, TX - Three Links Jun. 07 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar
Minor Poet’s The Good News, which features “Museum District” and “Tropic of Cancer,” was produced by Andrew Carter and Adrian Olsen (Natalie Prass, Foxygen) at Montrose Recording in Richmond.
The Good News is now available for preorder through Sub Pop Mega Mart. Preorders of the LP through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, UK, and Europe will receive the limited Loser edition on clear with red and blue swirl vinyl (while supplies last).
The Good News will be available everywhere May 17th, 2019 through Sub Pop.
Minor Poet’s Andrew Carter had this to say about new song “Museum District” , “When Minor Poet became a touring band, I was confronted with just how badly I struggled with social anxiety. Being a musician requires so much public interaction with strangers on top of the soul-bearing of playing intensely personal songs every night. On the other hand, when writing “Museum District,” I wanted to really emphasize how severe social anxiety is not one-dimensional. Everyone who deals with social anxiety also deals with a longing for the life they’re not living, a desire to be there for that one amazing night or life-changing party they’ll always miss because they couldn’t bring themselves to go. All while simultaneously knowing they couldn’t enjoy it even if they were there. Social anxiety is a mess of contradictions that add up to one powerfully limiting state.
“Even from an early demo stage, I knew that I wanted “Museum District” to feel outsized, like a person struggling to get outside of themselves. As soon as I wrote the opening drumbeat, I could hear the horns, the sleigh bells, the harmonies, and most of all the disparate yet interlocking rhythms coming from each instrument. In that sense it needed to be kinetic, like a weirdly constructed puzzle that had to fit together perfectly or the whole thing would fall apart.”
The Good News, which features the aforementioned “Museum District” and “Tropic of Cancer,” was produced by Andrew Carter and Adrian Olsen (Natalie Prass, Foxygen) at Montrose Recording in Richmond.
The Good News is now available for preorder through Sub Pop Mega Mart. Preorders of the LP through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America, UK and Europe will receive the limited Loser edition on clear with red and blue swirl vinyl (while supplies last).
Sub Pop welcomes Richmond, VA’s Minor Poet who will release The Good News, his label debut on LP/DL on May 17th, 2019. The six-song collection, which features the ebullient lead single “Tropic of Cancer,” was produced by Andrew Carter and Adrian Olsen (Natalie Prass, Foxygen) at Montrose Recording in Richmond.
After spending years writing and recording music by himself in various bedrooms and basements, Andrew Carter hit his stride with the debut Minor Poet album, And How!. Made on a creative whim with no outside expectations, the eleven-song collection combined Carter’s love of carefully-crafted pop with a loose, fun, off-the-cuff recording aesthetic. The album was released in 2017 and developed a small but loving fan base, and Minor Poet has grown from a passion project into a cross-country touring band with write-ups in publications such as American Songwriter, Magnet, The Wild Honey Pie, Impose, and more.
Minor Poet’s second album, The Good News, is a six-song collection that expands the boundaries of what constitutes the band’s sound. In just twenty-two minutes, the songs take apart the standard formulas of guitar-based rock and infuse them with vibrance and energy. On opener “Tabula Rasa,” interlocking guitars and a Farfisa organ carry the song through until everything drops suddenly into a doo-wop section that wouldn’t be out of place on a 1950’s greatest hits compilation. Warped noise envelops a tropicalia-flavored Casio beat in “Tropic of Cancer” before a slick groove and sliding bass line lead into the chorus’ pure pop bliss of horns and vocal harmonies. “Museum District” begins with a drum intro reminiscent of an off-kilter “Be My Baby,” and “Bit Your Tongue/All Alone Now” features a midsection with a glam-rock guitar solo amidst trumpet fanfare. These are just a few of the infectious moments on an EP filled with many more.
The Good News was made over four days at Montrose Recording, in Minor Poet’s hometown of Richmond, Virginia. In the past, Carter played all the instruments and handled all the production, but he knew that he had to reach outside himself to do justice to these songs. “I couldn’t capture the sounds I heard in my head,” Carter explains. “I wanted something that was vast and expansive but that at the same time could hit you immediately in the gut.” Paying homage to the “wall of sound” techniques made famous by Brian Wilson and Phil Spector, Carter and co-producer Adrian Olsen (Natalie Prass, Foxygen) overdubbed layer after layer of Carter playing an array of guitars, pianos, organs, synths, and percussion, as well as singing all the harmonies. The members of Minor Poet’s touring band were brought in to perform the core rhythm section, and local musicians stopped by to add crucial flourishes, such as the harmonizing guitar riffs in “Reverse Medusa” and the saxophone solo that closes out “Nude Descending Staircase.”
At the center of everything is Carter’s voice, singing lyrics that seamlessly mix allusions to religion, mythology, art, and philosophy as he questions himself, his place in the world around him, what he owes to his relationships, and, in turn, what he needs to ask of others in order to stay healthy. “Tabula Rasa” is a concept that argues that humans are born blank slates, shaped through experience and environment. The last two years couldn’t have felt more applicable for Carter, who started out as a fresh face with little-to-no experience in the music industry and slowly grew into himself as a stage performer and bandleader through both good and bad times. During this period he began to come to terms with lifelong struggles, such as the depression that permeates “Tropic of Cancer” and the social anxiety that runs through “Museum District.” Rather than be one-dimensional, however, Carter dives deeper into himself and his motivations, such as in “Reverse Medusa” when he sings, “Hide my love in poetic half-truths/never was one to dwell on my issues.” Carter’s ability to balance emotional honesty with a tongue-in-cheek self-awareness adds to the richness and originality of the music. Short but memorable, catchy yet meaningful, The Good News is another promising step forward for Minor Poet.
The Good News Tracklisting
1. Tabula Rasa 2. Tropic of Cancer 3. Museum District 4. Reverse Medusa 5. Bit Your Tongue / All Alone Now 6. Nude Descending Staircase
