THE COLD STARES Release New Tune

Head Bent is the forthcoming new full-length from Nashville rock duo THE COLD STARES. Set for release next month via Small Stone Recordings, the eleven-track Head Bent was produced and mixed by the band with Greg Pearce and mastered by Chris Goosman (Acid King, La Chinga, Solace, Lo Pan, Freedom Hawk et al) and serves as a must-have gem for fans of The Black Crowes, Dirty Streets, Rival Sons, and Royal Blood.

Notes frontman Chris Tapp, “I was listening to a bit of Queen and always loved ‘Tie Your Mother Down,’ so I started writing with that in mind. The music just sounds like bikes to me. I’ve always had hot rods and bikes and wanted to do a tribute song to all the good people in those communities. A big part of my cancer recovery was getting my mind right, and just riding; there’s nothing like the focus and peace it brings. The bike and gear head community is so much about family and respect, and just love for the machine. ‘Head Bent’ is that feeling of 80mph wind twisting your neck down the highway.”

Authenticity. It’s word frequently used in describing THE COLD STARES, and often missing from modern music discussions. “We’re not just a blues band, or just a rock band, or anything other than who we are,” Tapp says. There is a power and a realness that is arrived at by just doing what you do best. THE COLD STARES do that.

Forged in 2008 and named in honor of The Black Crowes song “Stare It Cold,” Tapp and Brian Mullins united with the sole intent to jam. The result is a sonically and emotionally weighted, story-based brand of rock sung directly from the soul.

Tapp’s unique guitar rig and Mullins’ giant bass drum provide a visual and sonic landscape for the two to travel on different paths than other acts. You may find yourself looking for another member behind the curtains, but it’s just the two of them. As Huffington Post writer Radley Balko wrote in describing the first time he saw the group at a hometown gig at 3rd And Lindsley: “This will go on for an hour. Between songs, people will whisper. They’re asking one another if anyone knows who the hell this is. And it’s here that you and everyone in the room will have the same realization just about everyone else has the first time they see and hear THE COLD STARES live: These guys are better than the band you came to see.”

And their success has come from hard work and perseverance. From keeping everything in-house: booking, promotion, recording, and merchandise design, Tapp and Mullins have handled it at all themselves. Fans have seen THE COLD STARES in venues like Pianos in New York City and the Viper Room in Hollywood, and at festivals like The Ride, Copperhead, Handy Bluesfest, with acts like Rival Sons, Big Head Todd, and Spoon, among many others.