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Bloodshot Records Signs Firewater
12/13/2007
By: Patrick Steven Patterson
Bloodshot Records has announced a multi-album, international agreement with Firewater,
continuing the label's mission to champion roots music that defies pigeonholes. The band's
upcoming release, The Golden Hour is roots music, but this time, from the
Middle and Far East.
In 2005, Firewater's Tod A embarked on what would become a three-year sabbatical through
the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia. As the leader of a loose
collective that has included a few dozen of the best players in rock today, he has always
loved the act of collaboration, incorporating klezmer, Ska, cabaret and gypsy elements into
his songs in ways that were far ahead of his time.
Bands like Gogol Bordello and Beirut owe a debt to his early adventurousness. In fact, early
Firewater members are now part of Gogol Bordello and Balkan Beat Box, and drummer Tamir
Muskat of Balkan Beat Box produced and played on the album.
As former singer and bassist for New York No Wave descendents Cop Shoot Cop, Tod's
background is firmly planted in the punk rock movement, but Firewater explores ideas and
genres only hinted at in his former band. "I always thought World Punk summed it up pretty
nicely," he told Gear Wire, "We are inspired by music from all over the globe, but it's always
filtered through a punk rock sensibility."
"I traveled overland starting in Delhi, India, through the Thar Desert, then through Rajasthan,
onward through the Punjab, then into Pakistan," Tod recounted. "I had originally planned to
continue overland through Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, ending in Istanbul. Unfortunately I
was forced to end my trip at the Khyber Pass on the Afghan border, due to general ill health
and the unnerving likelihood of kidnapping."
Recording with a single microphone and a laptop in his pack, he captured performances with
a vast array of musicians across India and Pakistan - and eventually Turkey and
Israel.
Firewater is scheduled to appear at SXSW in March 2008, will tour throughout Europe in
April, and launch a national US tour in May. The Golden Hour is slated for April
2008 release.
Firewater - Tod A's travel footage -
Video
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