Stavesacre- A Tribute

Do I see God in all of this? maybe all along
It's just that we're so small, and simply not as strong
Strong like wings of silver, and feathers made of gold
To carry heavy hearts, to cover all our helpless souls

To cover all of us

Under wings of Gold and Silver sometimes we have to hide
For shelter from this bitter winter at least tonight

These are part of the lyrics to a song called Gold and Silver which is one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands, Stavesacre.

Stavesacre just recently announced that after eleven years they are calling it quits. I am glad to say that I have been a fan of Stavesacre for about 7 or 8 of those years, having heard of them shortly after the release of their third album Speakeasy which was their final album with Tooth and Nail Records (if you don't count the pseudo greatest hits album Collective which was released to fulfill their contractual agreement with Tooth and Nail but featured very little newly recorded material).

Since leaving Tooth and Nail they have had a somewhat rocky road, releasing what I consider to be their worst record, the self-titled Stavesacre on Nitro Records. They left Nitro and after awhile eventually landed with Abacus Recordings. During their post-Tooth and Nail days I often wondered how long the band would continue on but shortly before they signed with Abacus they released the Bull Takes Fighter EP which essentially was a musical way to say "Don't count us out yet." After they signed with Abacus news of a new album called How To Live With a Curse got out. I remember going to see them live somewhere in LA during this time and thinking to myself "Stavesacre is back!"

After much hype in the days leading up to the release of the new album, it finally came out last April and it was absolutely amazing. It rivals Speakeasy as their best album and a year later continues to amaze me. I went to the album release party for How To Live With a Curse and even talked with Mark Salomon, the band's lead singer and author of Simplicity, for a bit after the show. However excited I was about the release of the new album, I got the sense that night that something was just off. Mark and the rest of the band kind of seemed like a new mother after she had just given birth; excited about what had just come from them but to exhausted and overwhelmed to enjoy it.

Now I may be way off because I don't know the band personally so this is just my hunch but it seemed that night that it was just a matter of time before Stavsacre called it quits. My hunches were confirmed shortly after as the band only played one more show that I know of after that, which is odd behavior for a band trying to promote and sell a new album. Stavesacre just went underground and weren't heard from at all until these past few weeks when the news I had been expecting to hear finally came out...They were wrapping it up.

Now the good news...They are still going to be playing a few more shows with their first guitar player back in the fold! You can bet I will be at as many of those shows as I can. They are also going to be releasing a career spanning DVD which I will buy in an instant. Hopefully they will also release one final record for their fans to remember them by.

Finally I thought it would be fun to try and make my own Best of Stavesacre tracklist as my way to share my favorite songs of theirs.

Below are the tracks with the album they can be found on in parenthesis.

1. Minuteman (Speakeasy)
2. Shiv (Absolutes)
3. Threshold (Friction)
4. Zzyzx Scarecrow (Absolutes)
5. Reason to Believe (How to Live With a Curse)
6. Sad Parade (Collective)
7. Bull Takes Fighter (Bull Takes Fighter EP)
8. Future History of the Broken Hearted (How to Live With a Curse)
9. You Know How It Is (Speakeasy)
10. Witch Trial (Stavesacre)
11. The Trouble With Being Born (How to Live With a Curse)
12. Keep Waiting (Speakeasy)
13. Gold and Silver (Speakeasy)
14. Sean (How to Live With a Curse)
15. At the Moment (Friction)
16. Kill My Darlings (How To Live With a Curse)
17. Freefall (From Hand to Hand) (Speakeasy)

Now that's good music.