New Pernice Brothers album and tour!
Hello,
Yeah, it’s been a while. Not much, how ‘bout you? I’m not sure why I called. I guess I really just wanted to talk to you. (That’s from England Dan And John Ford Coley’s 1970’s smash hit “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” in case you didn’t know. Say what you will about the song. The hook is pretty massive, and the tune had to have been a license to print money for the songwriters. I wouldn’t kick that number out of my catalog for making crumbs. I always figured there must have been some other dude named Dan in the duo’s coterie, and soft rock Dan adopted the prefix “England” (note: He did not adopt “English”) to distinguish himself from the lesser Dan. Well, by Jesus, unless lesser Dan became Dan Akroyd or Dan Marino, it worked. )
Over the years I’ve borrowed a few tropes from the 1970’s soft rock genre. You got a problem with that? (Damn, too agro. Let me start over.)
Hello, Everyone. You look fantastic. Wow! The years we spent apart were really kind to you. You look exactly the same. I’m serious. Who, me? Oh, stop. You’re embarrassing me. I think your eyesight must be going. Sure, I worked pretty hard to lose most of the weight I put on with the baby, but you know what they say about Joe’s charm being 50 percent illusion and all. Like Mary says regarding her good looks: I had it when I needed it.
Anyway, about a year ago I quit my job at the blood bank and started writing songs. Lots of them. All kinds of songs. Before I knew it, I had a pile. And the pile was pretty high, like dirty laundry. (That simile may not be completely inaccurate.) I was left with only a single option: Make a newPernice Brothers record. Which is what I did. It’s called Spread The Feeling, and it comes out on Sept. 9, 2019. (If you’d like to order it, here’s a link.) For now the only ways to get the record are through Bandcamp for the digital, and mail order for the vinyl. (The LPs will not be mailed out until right after Oct. 17, 2019. They’re still being pressed, but you can preorder now. It should still be warm when you spin it.) I apologize to most fans outside North America. I have no European/UK/S. American recording or distribution deal, and rather than wait around for something to happen I decided to just put the damn record out. (If you’re in Australia the record will be available from Spunk Records. And it’s looking like something is coming together for release in Japan.)
We are also probably going to press a very limited number of CDs. Apparently a few of you still listen to music that way. (The plan is to press some, but we’re at the mercy of the pressing plant’s schedule. Will update when we know a CD delivery timeline.)
And then comes touring. The last time my band played live was at thee Carnegie Hall. No joke. Would have been pretty cool if the last band gig we did had been Carnegie Hall. But it’s not to be. We’re going to play a short “tour” with the band. Nothing enormous, just a few shows at first to ease back into things. (You can see the dates here.) If all goes well, who knows, maybe we’ll stay out on the road for a while. Again, apologies to Europe/UK, but having no Euro/UK booking agent is going to make playing shows your way tough. I’m working on it, but can’t promise something will shake out.
Oh, there’s something I must get off my chest. I can’t let this lie go on any longer. There’s a Pernice Brothers chain letter going around. (Here’s the link.) I co-wrote it with my partner (business only, thank God for both our sakes) Joyce Linehan. If you sign up for our mailing list and play along you’ll get to hear some new Pernice Brothers stuff for free.
I think that about covers it. I’ll leave you with some middle-eight wisdom from England Dan and/or John Ford Coley: “I won’t ask for promises, so you won’t have to lie. We’ve both played that game before. Say I love you and say goodbye.” That’s what I’m talking about.
JP, Toronto, Sept., 2019
