real news this time: Release dates for the first three NBR records are now official. Here's what
we've got coming up:
- Lee Wadlinger, TBA EP (NBR-001), February 2007
- the Knights of Infinite Resignation, Peace and Rest EP (NBR-002), February 2007
- Lee Wadlinger, Lee Wadlinger's Guide to Dating rerelease (NBR-003), February 2007
For more info, check out the New and Upcoming Releases page.
Royal Family," but then we realized it's a good possibility that some of us will have gray hair by
the time we turn 29, so we'll be nice.
Anyways, Mr. Wadlinger's still keeping busy. Since the last update, we've gotten word that he's
completed two more songs for "The Price of Solitude", bringing the total to four. The new titles
are "Walking Alone" and "Our Town". Geez, "Walking Alone" will be on "The Price of Solitude",
which is currently being recorded in Fortress of Solitude Studios. It's a solo album, to boot....
Lee said "Our Town" is supposed to be an indirect tribute to the Michael Stanley Band song, "My
Town." After hearing the lyrics, though, the only similarities we can make out are the title and the
fact that both songs are about Cleveland.
No sneak peak audio files, yet, but here's another picture of Lee in the studio. Dig the New
Salem Witch Hunters t-shirt. Also, rumblings are underway that there will be a Next Best
Records blog hitting the cybersphere soon. Stay tuned.
beard (RIP 2005-06 Cavs season), but he also played guitar in two Columbus, Ohio concert
appearances and has completed two new songs for his upcoming solo album, "The Price of
Solitude."
The two songs, "Orchids" and "Towed" (gotta dig the one word retro-1994 titles) were recorded
and mixed at Fortress of Solitude Studios in Columbus. "Orchids," one of Wadlinger's new
compositions, is a reverb-heavy plaint on human deterioration, and it notably clocks in at 5:15
(longer than anything on 2000's "What's Wrong With Me").
"Towed" was a song originally intended for an upcoming Knights of Infinite Resignation release,
but it's now slated for "Solitude."
"The Knights version was a full-on thing, with guitars, drums, bass, and organ," Wadlinger said.
"It didn't feel right though. It sounded better when I just played it on the guitar by myself, so I
figured I'd do a stripped down version, and it ended up sounding better than I expected so I
figure I'll put it on the album."
Wadlinger's also kicking around the idea of putting together an EP, either by himself or the
Knights, so that "the label can get something out there while I'm finishing up the album." The final
decision on a potential EP will be made in the next few weeks.
released in mid-Summer.
The album, tentatively titled "The Price of Solitude," will feature a stripped-down, acoustic-driven
sound and will be the first official release from the newly-formed Next Best Records. Wadlinger
is currently writing the songs that will comprise the bulk of the album, with recording scheduled to
begin next week.
"I originally didn't want to do another solo album right now," Wadlinger said. "But I've been
listening a lot lately to stuff like early Dylan and Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska' album, and I think
there's a lot to do within that kind of acoustic story-rock context."
Wadlinger said the results of recent recording sessions will likely result in an album or EP by the
Knights of Infinite Resignation.
"A lot of the new songs I've been recording lately are sounding pretty good, but it's almost like
they're 'What's Wrong With Me' Part II," Wadlinger said. "Instead of kind of revisiting the sound
of that album six years later, I figure it's best to explore something different, and leave the other
stuff I've been working on for the full-band context with the Knights."
"The Price of Solitude" (the title is a tribute to Dylan, whose "Dirge" features the lyric, "I've paid
the price of solitude, but at least I'm out of debt") will likely feature 12 to 15 songs. While the
song lineup isn't set, Wadlinger said the material will mostly be brand new.
"I'm thinking of leading off the album with an old song I wrote about eight or nine years ago, but
other than that I think it will be all new stuff," Wadlinger said. "So far, it seems like a bit of a
departure from the last album. I'm working on minimizing the first person and trying to do more
detached narrative storytelling stuff, so it will be less of a teenaged symphony and more like a
collection of short stories on Midwestern life."
Despite the proposed title, Wadlinger said the album won't be all doom and gloom.
"Yeah, there will be obviously be some loneliness and rain on there, but that will just be a part of
it," Wadlinger said. "As much fun as it is to whine, there's always some kind of redemption on
the horizon."
