A Drunk Stuntman Sober and Acoustic

Freddy Freedom, guitar player with the Drunk Stuntmen (whose sobriety blog is a must-read) stopped by the VFR studio on Sunday night to play some cuts from the new CD State Fair (in stores on May 20), to talk a bit about life, and to deliver a few live acoustic songs.

Those of us in a certain Pioneer Valley Cohort (No, that wouldn't be the Crafts Ave Gang--although Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins is rumoured to have shared beer and a Red Sox game with the boys while they were touring in Ireland) have known for years that our friends the Drunk Stuntmen not only put on a fabulous rock and roll show, but that each are fine and discerning musicians in their own right. In the eleven cuts on State Fair, The Stuntmen, after fifteen years of working together as a band, are luminous.

• The Drunk Stuntmen are Steve Sanderson (lead vocals, guitar), Alex Johnson (lead guitar & vocals), Scott Brandon (bass and vocals), Scott Hall (keyboards), and Dave Durst (percussion).

• Alex Johnson and Steve Sanderson are featured musicians in the Young@Heart Band in the FoxSearchlight Young@Heart movie , and will appear on Leno and DeGeneres on April 16 and 17 respectively.

• State Fair was recorded live to 16 tracks by Mitch Easter of R.E.M., Velvet Crush, Pavement and Helium fame at the Fidelitorium Studio in North Carolina, and will be widely distributed by selecto-hits. Former Valley resident Morgan Kraft made the introduction.

• Their tour dates include the Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills and The Rodeo Bar in NYC, but they still like to come back home and rock the Rt. 63 Roadhouse in the shabby country milltown of Millers Falls.

• On April 25 at 10:00, The Iron Horse on Center Street in Northampton will host a CD release party, which promises to be a fine event. (Fred Eaglesmith has the 7 p.m. slot--so if you go out to hear Fred, stick around!)

listen to the mp3 halcyon days as permormed acoustic in the studio

Listen to the radio show, full of live acoustic songs and cuts from State Fair here.