Ben Kweller 'Changing Horses' album

ATO Records is excited to announce the release of Ben Kweller's new record on February 3, 2009. The album is his fourth full-length and is called Changing Horses. It was produced by Kweller and recorded mostly in Austin, TX, where he and his family recently re-located. The title is meaningful as it represents a sea change for the 27-year-old Texan-bred musician. Beginning with his first record, Sha Sha, released in 2002, Kweller's albums have always been stylistically restless, moving from indie rock to ballads to anti-folk to melodic chug rock, often from song to song. Changing Horses, on the other hand, is of one mind -- a full-blown, straight up country affair, brimming with immaculate pedal steel, twang and multi-part harmonies. It features his touring band -- Chris Morrissey on bass and vocals, and Mark Stepro on drums and vocals -- as well as the brilliant Kitt Kitterman on pedal steel. Like all of Kweller's work, the new album is filled with unforgettable melodies and deeply soulful lyrics that could only come from someone as sensitive to the human spirit as he is.

To make the record, Kweller dug down to his deepest roots. "I grew up bass-fishing, playing in creeks, and shooting BB guns," Kweller says. "Country music was the soundtrack to my life. It's still a big part of who I am. When Garth Brooks or Alan Jackson come on the radio, somethin' happens inside. Brings me back to the trees, back to pushin' cars out of the mud. Reminds me of my hometown."

For Kweller, releasing a country album is the realization of a long-held goal. "I've been working on Horses for years." he says. "I wrote the first song for it when I was 16. Over time, I've collected these songs that fit together and wanted to release them together. I didn't want to try and fit them on my other albums one or two at a time."

On producing the record himself, Kweller says, "I've learned so much from all the great producers I've worked with, from Ethan Johns to Gil Norton, and I just felt it was time for me to go in there and make the album the way I knew I could," he says. "I wanted it to feel really pure and direct. I wanted each instrument to sound exactly like that instrument, with very little treatment or alteration, to give it that natural, warm beauty that I love."

Kweller and his band, who just finished a tour of America, the UK and Europe, have confirmed a North American tour for 2009 to support the release of Changing Horses. The confirmed tour dates are below. A west coast leg of the tour as well more international dates will be announced soon.

Ben Kweller tour dates
February
16 Omaha, NE Slowdown
17 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theatre
18 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
21 Cleveland, OH Case Western Reserve U
22 Toronto, ONT The Mod Club Theatre
24 Somerville, MA Somerville Theatre
25 New York, NY Town Hall
26 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
27 Philadelphia, PA TLA
28 Pittsburgh, PA Diesel

March
1 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
3 Lousiville, KY Headliners Music Hall
4 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
5 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
6 Birmingham, AL Workplay Theater

Ben Kweller biography
Remember the days when male solo rockers ruled the pop charts? When you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing “Free Fallin'” or “Born in the U.S.A.?” Ben Kweller does. The 25-year-old's new album — entitled Ben Kweller — hearkens back to a time when Petty and Springsteen gave their roots rock a glossy makeover and became even bigger stars than they already were.

On this, his third album for ATO Records, Kweller layers acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass guitars, pianos, glockenspiels, tambourines, xylophones, organs, drums, claps, harmonicas and even triangles atop shimmering vocal harmonies to create an indelibly melodic, sweetly nostalgic work that displays the depth of this ever-evolving singer-songwriter's craft.

Not only does the Greenville, Texas, native use more instruments on this album than on his other two, but he plays them all himself — from slide guitar to drums. “It was intimidating to play everything myself,” Kweller says. “Some people around me thought it was a crazy idea, but the payoff is always better on a crazy idea.”

He found a cheerleader in British producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters) whom Kweller turned to help him realize his vision. “Gil gave me the confidence to show people I could do this,” he says. Norton also served as the prolific Kweller's editor. “He's excellent at finding the meat of the song or melody and bringing it to the forefront.” Together, the pair were going for a highly produced Wall of Sound feel. “I've always been into using raw takes and keeping things pure and not overworked.” Kweller says, “but there's something about the opposite that can be really beautiful, too.”

Indeed, the production on Ben Kweller is in complete contrast to that of his previous album, the brilliantly raw On My Way, which was recorded live in a room with no headphones and few overdubs. Of the new album, Kweller says, “There's a difference between ‘stripped-down' and ‘simple'. You can have loads of different instruments playing, but there can still be a directness to it, if it's done right.”

Ben Kweller may be the artist's most direct work yet. The writing is lean and focused, with songs about freedom and travel taking center stage. The opening track “Run,” a nostalgic look back at Kweller's gypsy life, sets the tone, while the summery “I Gotta Move” carries it through to the reflective rocker “Penny on the Train Track,” where Kweller muses about running into an old friend who is now a police officer. “I was at the Wal-Mart in Greenville looking for a mouse trap when I bumped into a buddy from high school and he showed me his badge. That was a big moment for me to realize that we're all growing up. To think that somebody I used to get in trouble with is now a cop!”

The album also contains plenty of Kweller's trademark off-kilter love songs and ruminations about relationships, such as the melancholy “Sundress,” the starry-eyed “Magic,” the regretful “Until I Die,” and the conflicted “Nothing Happening,” which is about loss of friendship. Then there's “Thirteen” — a spare, piano ballad that Kweller considers the album's masterpiece.

“‘Thirteen' was a breakthrough for me,” he says. “As a songwriter with pop sensibilities, you can feel pressured to always write big, sing-along choruses. Lately I find myself placing the importance on emotional content and not on standard pop technique. With “Thirteen” I just kept writing verse after verse and never felt the need for a chorus. The words carried the song home. All these emotions were pouring out of me while I was writing it. I was thinking of my wife Liz and all that we've been through in eight years. Thinking about the friends that have come and gone, the people you think you know that you don't, the curveballs life throws you, the good and the bad.”

Kweller has travelled a long road since leaving high school in the mid ‘90s to play rock ‘n' roll with his teenage punk band Radish. When the group disbanded in 1999, Kweller moved to Brooklyn, NY to pursue a solo career. He flirted with NYC's Anti-Folk scene and self-released a CD called Freak Out It's… Ben Kweller , which caught the ears of Evan Dando, Jeff Tweedy and even Dave Matthews, who signed Kweller to his indie label ATO.

2002 saw the release of the college classic Sha Sha , which ranged from delicate folk-pop to full-on rock freak-outs. He followed up in 2004 with On My Way , which critics hailed for its charming oddness and brightly contagious mix of lithe harmonies and shiny power-pop. Now, by nodding to the rock heroes of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Kweller is taking the next step in his natural evolution and perhaps making his mark as today's premier male solo rocker.

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Ben Kweller - Changing Horses