Tom Gabel will hit the road without his Against Me! bandmates on October 31st. Tom will be joined by Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Ben Nichols (Lucero), and Tim Barry (Avail) on the Revival Tour. The frontmen will trade off playing solo sets of their own songs as well as collaborating on each others material.
Gabel is launching the tour in support of his upcoming seven-song solo EP, entitled “Heart Burns,” which will be released on CD, digitally and on vinyl by Sire Records on October 28th. Inspired by the country’s current political and cultural landscape, Gabel began to write new songs in January. Due to the topical and timely subject matter, he wanted to release them around the upcoming Presidential election.
The centerpiece of the EP is “Anna Is A Stool Pigeon,” which Gabel wrote after reading about environmental activist Eric McDavid (www.supporteric.org) who was convicted in 2007 of conspiring to use explosives to damage corporate and government property after being implicated by an undercover FBI informant who posed as an activist. McDavid’s defense has argued that he was the victim of entrapment. He currently faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
“What struck me most about the story was a sense of familiarity,” Gabel says. “I know the scene he was a part of, I used to be a part of it myself. I’ve thought the same thoughts, talked the same talk. I’ve hung out with the same people, gone to similar protests. If Eric could have become the target of an FBI sting operation, then so could I. This could have been me.”
“Heart Burns” was recorded late August in Los Angeles on a short two week break in between Against Me! tours. Gabel co-produced the EP along with Billy Bush, while Butch Vig executive produced. The EP contains several guest appearances including Chuck Ragan and Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio).
Gabel’s solo tour will begin once Against Me! complete their upcoming U.S. tour with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, which begins on October 1st. Against Me! have been touring non-stop in support of their current album, the Butch Vig-produced “New Wave,” which was released by Sire Records in July 2007. Called “the most invigorating, zeitgeist-capturing rock album in years” by Spin Magazine, “New Wave” was named the magazine’s “Album of the Year,” and also appeared in the Top 10 on Rolling Stone, Blender, and MTV.com’s year-end “Best Album” lists. “New Wave has spawned two singles, “White People for Peace” and “Thrash Unreal,” which became the band’s first single to chart in the U.S. when it climbed to No. 11 on the Modern Rock chart.
Gabel has announced plans to post every Wednesday on his MySpace page, a video for each song on “Heart Burns.” These videos will not feature the album audio, but rather exclusive live audio of Gabel singing on camera. The first (for the song “100 Years of War”) is already up. View it at http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=43422974.
He is also keeping a blog at http://www.ifeelsicktomystomach.blogspot.com where fans can check in to get the latest info about the upcoming tour and EP.
Track-listing for Heart Burns:
“Random Hearts”
“Conceptual Paths”
“Cowards Sing at Night”
“Amputations”
“Anna Is A Stool Pigeon”
“Harsh Realms”
“100 Years of War”
Tom Gabel’s upcoming solo dates on the Revival Tour:
10/31 Pomona, CA, The Glass House
11/01 Hollywood, CA, The Knitting Factory
11/02 San Diego, CA, The Casbah
11/04 Las Vegas, NV, The Beauty Bar
11/05 Tempe, AZ, The Clubhouse
11/07 Lubbock, TX, Tequila Jungle
11/08 Dallas, TX, The Door – Prophet Bar
11/09 Austin, TX, Waterloo Park
11/10 Houston, TX, Walter’s on Washington
11/13 Little Rock, AR, Juanita’s
11/14 Memphis, TN, Hi Tone Café
11/15 Birmingham, AL, Workplay Theatre
11/16 W. Columbia, SC, New Brookland Tavern
Headlining:
11/20 NYC, NY – The Knitting Factory
