You have to give credit to Von Bondies main man Jason Stollsteimer. He has stuck it out in Detroit, while the state's economy and local garage scene have been on a down slide for some time. JS's frenemy Jack White moved to Nashville (taking fellow Raconteur Brendan Benson with him), Meg White lives in LA (eek!), and worse than that, fellow Michigander Iggy Pop lives in goddam Miami-fucking-Beach. Now, some might say that without the Detroit connection, The Von Bondies would be just another unexciting rock band, so maybe he needs Detroit more than it needs him.
It has been three years since the release of their sophomore (and major label debut) album, Pawn Shoppe Heart (Sire), and the band has gone through some changes, not of location but of membership. Mainstays Stollsteimer and drummer Don Blum have lost guitarist Marcie Bolan, bassist Carrie Smith, and replacement bassist Yasmine Smith in those three years. Currently, The Von Bondies are a five-piece, with newbies Matt Lannoo on guitar, Leann Banks on bass, and Alcia Gbur on keyboards. The band plans to release their second album for Sire in 2008, and to promote that LP and their existence, they are embarking on a two-month tour.
The winter-time trek begins for the band January 9 in the town that wasn't fake or sunny enough (I'm guessing) for the the Iggster, Ann Arbor, MI, then takes the band around the East Coast (with a little Canada thrown in), before a hop across the pond for a round of European dates. A band that is taking Detroit rock into outer space, SSM, and another band from the D, Freer, will be along for the U.S. and Canadian dates. Look for all that, as well as the band's new album, Love, Hate and Then There's You, sometime next year.
Tourdates:
* SSM, Freer
