EPONYMOUS THIRD ALBUM
RELEASED IN THE UK ON FRIDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER
South Carolinian-born Hannah Wicklund will release her third album “Hannah Wicklund &The Steppin’ Stones” on Strawberry Moon Records in the UK on Friday 13th September. The album was produced by Sadler Vaden, guitarist for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and received rave review when it was released in the US last year.
The album dovetails her nationwide UK Roadstars tour with Piston and Gorilla Riot in October. Tickets can be booked via planetrocktickets.co.uk and thegigcartel.com and from the 24 hour box office: 08444 780 898.
The 10-track self-released album was recorded in Nashville, TN and is a fresh take on Wicklund’s musical influences drawn from ’60s, ’70s and ’80s guitar-driven rock. “Once we started writing some songs, I saw that she had a real, raw talent,” says Producer Vaden. “I was inspired to work with her by her love of classic rock music and blues. I wanted to honour that in making this album, but also add a little modern edge to it.”
On her latest self-titled album, Wicklund taps into the fury of loneliness (Ghost). She resurrects spectres of Hendrix and Joplin (Looking Glass) as well as power ballad intensity (Strawberry Moon). Then, just as she’s supercharged you with about as much raw energy as you can channel, she lets you down gently with the acoustic intimacy of Shadow Boxes, but even here, her singing achieves an intensity that most artists can only dream of matching. Her music stands on a bedrock of razor-edged, old-school rock ’n’ roll reanimated by a new generation’s urgency.
That impression is doubly emphasised in the video for the album’s first single, Bomb Through The Breeze (playlisted on Planet Rock) It’s a hurricane of swirling colour interspersed with spare shots of Wicklund and her band in action, with black bunnies and slithering snakes adding an eerie visual complement.
The video for the latest single Shadowbowboxes and Porcelain Faces showcases the emotional toll the darkness of our digital lives takes. Says Hannah: “The lyrics can be interpreted in many ways, but for me it was meant to show how consumed by technology you can feel sometimes.” She continues: “Growing up in this day and age, there has been a screen in front of me constantly—especially during my last three years touring in the United States.” The footage used in the video are from Cuba, where she spent a week was completely detached from her phone. “It was very refreshing to detox and I came back feeling a lot more refreshed and a big reason was because of the lack of a screen constantly in my face,” she explains.
Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin’ Stones are fronted by a 22-year-old powerhouse guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. The South Carolina-born, Nashville-based artist who formed the band as an eight-year-old, has developed a powerful and sublime synthesis of guitar skills and makes it clear that the future is hers for the taking. On her most recent, third self-titled album, Hannah Wicklund and the Steppin’ Stones, Hannah has performed over 2,500 shows including festival appearances. Here, she digs in deep, hits hard, and crushes it. Her latest albumis an aural kaleidoscope of blazing guitars and searing vocals, that establishes Wicklund as a triple-threat player, singer and writer in the same vein as Susan Tedeschi and the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde.
A special guest on Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive At Sea Mediterranean Cruisein August, the Planet Rock Roadstars tour in October will be Hannah’s first major co-headline tour. The future’s looking bright for Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin’ Stones.
THE GIG CARTEL AND PLANET ROCK PRESENTS
THE BEST IN BREAKING BLUES AND ROCK
HANNAH WICKLUND & THE STEPPIN STONES,
PISTON & GORILLA RIOT
ALL TICKETS £14
PLANETROCKTICKETS.CO.UK, THEGIGCARTEL.COM
24 HOUR BOX OFFICE – 0844 478 0898
ROADSTARS – OCTOBER 2019 UK DATES
TICKETS: www.thegigcartel.com & 24-Hour Box Office: 0844 478 0898.
Chester, Live Rooms | Thursday 3 October |
Manchester, Rebellion | Friday 4 October |
Birmingham, Flapper | Saturday 5 October |
Norwich, Waterfront Studio | Sunday 6 October |
Newcastle, The Cluny | Tuesday 8 October |
Leeds, Lending Room | Wednesday 9 October |
Bristol, Exchange | Thursday 10 October |
London, O2 Islington Academy 2 | Friday 11 October |