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| photo
by Doron Gild |
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| Date |
City |
Venue |
| Sat 5/10/08 |
Sacramento, CA |
Blue Lamp |
| Sun 5/11/08 |
Boise, ID |
Neurolux |
| Wed 5/14/08 |
Fargo, ND |
Aquarium |
| Thu 5/15/08 |
Minneapolis, MN |
The Uptown |
| Fri 5/16/08 |
Chicago, IL |
Schubas |
| Sat 5/17/08 |
Dubuque, IA |
Town Clock Plaza |
| Sat 5/17/08 |
Dubuque, IA |
Busted Lift |
| Sun 5/18/08 |
Iowa City, IA |
Iowa City Yacht Club |
| Mon 5/19/08 |
Lincoln, NE |
Box Awesome |
| Tue 5/20/08 |
Omaha, NE |
The Waiting Room |
| Wed 5/21/08 |
Denver, CO |
Bender's Tavern |
| Thu 5/22/08 |
Salt Lake City, UT |
Kilby Court |
| Fri 5/23/08 |
Bozeman, MT |
The Filling Station |
| Sat 5/24/08 |
Missoula, MT |
The Badlander |
| Sun 5/25/08 |
George, WA |
Sasquatch Music Festival |
| Sat 5/31/08 |
San Francisco, CA |
Bottom of the Hill |
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It's
not often a person finds a bandmate, brother-in-law and
friend on Craig's List, much less someone who is willing
to cover the tab for Chinese takeout. But for THE HEAVENLY
STATES' Ted Nesseth (guitar, vocals) and Jeremy Gagon
(drums), that fateful posting was the beginning of an
adventure that would take them from playing basement shows
in their home town of Oakland, CA, to the British Consulate's
basement in Libya and beyond.
Ted's Oakland apartment had become a halfway house for
fellow Minnesota refugees, but the nest was empty and
he was looking for a roommate on Craig's List. When Jeremy
showed up to see the place, Ted and a friend had ordered
Chinese food for delivery that they couldn't pay for,
so Jeremy picked up the tab. The rest was history.
It was not the likeliest of pairings, as Ted and Jeremy
came from completely different worlds. Ted plays his guitar
upside down and backwards because he taught himself to
play on his right-handed friends' guitars. Music was an
anchor for Ted, who had been drifting and living by his
wits and huge personality on the edge of the law and sobriety.
Though he didn't know much about Jeremy when he moved
in, Ted was inspired by Jeremy's drive and musicianship.
Jeremy is a multi-instrumentalist who grew up in an offbeat,
highly edited version of the "military family"
in Virginia and Georgia with his sister and bandmate,
Genevieve Gagon.
After a renaming and some line-up changes, THE HEAVENLY
STATES' core formula was finally solidified, with Genevieve
sharing lyrical duties with Ted and lending her violin
and keyboard skills to the cause. Ted asked Gen to join
the band when she had a broken leg. "It was like
running down a faun," he explains. A month into the
relationship, they wrote three solid songs together and
the music kept coming. Three months in, Ted was cleaned
up and the band felt they had a future. Ted and Gen's
musical relationship eventually became a personal relationship
and the two were married at a civil ceremony in December
of 2006.
With a rotating cast of bassists, THE HEAVENLY STATES
released a self-titled full length, followed by another
LP entitled "Black Comet" along with a CD single
to benefit Moveon.org and a 3-way split 7" with Coldplay
and Postal Service.
In between full lengths, THE HEAVENLY STATES, with the
help of an iPod for a bassist and a guide named Abdul,
became the first rock band to play Libya after Muammar
Khadafi and the United States lifted a 30-year travel
ban to the country. Still, western music and the band's
proposed tour remained controversial. Local security authorities
in Libya tried to intimidate the band out of performing,
and they were threatened with deportation. Libyan bureaucrats
wanted the band to forego their smaller, public, underground
shows for a big UN sponsored show to take place "at
another time" courtesy of the Khadafi family but
the band didn't want to participate in a state sponsored
censorable event. They were finally able to perform a
tsunami relief benefit in the basement of a British diplomat's
home with the necessary cover of the Clash's "Rock
The Casbah." Word of the tour spread like wildfire
and was documented by the likes of Newsweek, NPR, San
Francisco Chronicle and many more. The world might soon
hear more about this trip, as Libyan-American producer,
Jawal Nga, asked the band if he could base a film on the
band's story. "Bruce Willis, Khadafi, 100,000 tons
of TNT, a helicopter and an American flag. Can anyone
say box office gold?" jokes the iPod bassist's replacement,
Masanori Mark Christianson. Masanori, a Japanese-Korean
immigrant who dabbles in cooking and the visual arts,
was raised in the same southeastern Minnesota town as
Ted, his Mexican-American bandmate, and often wonders
how they all ended up together, contributing to a project
that was once unimaginable.
Now with the Libyan stint as well as countless US tours
and trips to Egypt and Europe under their belt, the four
musicians who make up THE HEAVENLY STATES have entered
the studio and have emerged with a new LP entitled, Delayer.
For this album, THE HEAVENLY STATES have decided to use
their collective studio experience to produce the record
themselves, unlike their earlier albums, which were produced
by such big names as Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, Two Gallants),
Paul Oldham (Will Oldham's brother and main producer),
and John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, The Hold Steady). Delayer
is thick with sonic layers and, as Rolling Stone says
of their prior album, "delivers equal parts patchouli-soaked
violin and Superchunk-worthy melodies." Perhaps the
band's hook-laden wall of sound - an approach that shatters
the typical indie rock formula - stems from the chemistry
sparked by four individuals from completely different
backgrounds who have traveled the world and made music
together. "This ain't no pick up band with a leader
and hired guns," says Genevieve, "None of us
ever wanted to be a part of something we weren't really
a part of."
With the release of Delayer, THE HEAVENLY STATES will
be doing more of what they know best – hitting the
road. "Touring is a great challenge for your body,"
proclaims Genevieve, "We've done it enough now so
that the romance of separation from everyday life has
grown up into a permanent veil or some stinky dream that
doesn't wash off. We've used our music to get to people
and places we wouldn't have reached otherwise." Only
time will tell what adventures are in store for this "roommate
wanted" ad |
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Delayer
The Rebel Group
February 19, 2008
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