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American Laundromat Records, with a special announcement:

We are excited to release "How To Walk Away" on vinyl for the first time ever! This label-exclusive pressing is limited to 1,000 units and available in 3 vinyl color options.

We also have an exclusive seven-inch featuring "Not Enough" and "Back To Freedom," limited to 600 copies and available in 2 vinyl color options.

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Shipping is planned for December 2024. All the ordering info is on ALR’s site:

www.alr-music.com/collections/out-now/products/juliana-hatfield-htwa

This was a landmark album for Juliana, and I’m thrilled to see it getting a vinyl edition.

Stoke your excitement by visiting the archive page here too, where there’s interviews and reviews galore from the original 2008 press kit and more:

liveontomorrow.co.uk/how-to-walk-away-2008

Juliana Hatfield Three’s Dean Fisher has a new project called TINKERTOWN with an album American Gothic newly released.

American Laundromat Records:

TINKERTOWN began when multi-instrumentalist Dean Fisher and vocalist Gabriella Lawrence started writing together while playing with their other band, Ghosts and Shadows, a power pop and dark new wave band based in Arlington, MA.

The TINKERTOWN songs are a foray into different types of rock music, from glam, celtic and hard rock to Americana stylings like folk and vocal jazz. Dean has been playing in the Boston area for years, with Juliana Hatfield, Tanya Donelly, Dylan in the Movies and others. Along the way, he befriended and worked with musicians who have become the members of TINKERTOWN: keyboardist and accordionist Elizabeth Steen, bass player Joe McMahon and guitarist Russell Chudnofsky. Their collective resume includes Billy Bragg, Natalie Merchant, Lori McKenna, Tanya Donelly, Juliana Hatfield and Will Dailey. Since the recording of the debut album, American Gothic, Chris Anzalone has joined on drums. Before TINKERTOWN and Ghosts and Shadows, most of Gabriella’s musical experience was in classical music. 

The album’s on the streamers and available in physical formats via American Laundromat Records:

There’s an interview with Dean at Fifteen Questions, and a podcast interview with postburnout .

American Laundromat Records have confirmed details of the 2024 vinyl editions of Juliana’s 1998 Bed and Blake Babies’ 1989 Earwig albums.

As ever there are colour variants and in the case of Bed an alternative artwork variant too, with 3 new t-shirt designs in the mix as well.

Orders are up now and shipping is estimated for May 2024:

https://www.alr-music.com/collections/out-now/products/juliana-hatfield-bed

https://www.alr-music.com/collections/out-now/products/blake-babies-earwig

More background on these albums from the discography archives:

Bed (1998)

Earwig (1989)

Ahead of 2024’s scheduled reissue of the Bed LP, American Laundromat Records have announced a bonus single:

We are thrilled to release these two outstanding tracks on vinyl for the first time ever. "Anemia" and "Mean and Evil" were originally included on the Japanese CD edition of "Bed" as bonus tracks. This exclusive 7-inch is limited to 500 copies worldwide on red opaque vinyl with original artwork by Juliana. Spins at 45 RPM with a large center hole. Includes high-quality download card.

www.alr-music.com/collections/out-now/products/juliana-hatfield-anemia-b-w-mean-and-evil

Juliana’s cover of Neil Young’s Lotta Love is out today on streaming / download services having previously been a vinyl exclusive.

If you missed the sad news last month, the music world has lost Gary Smith after a long illness.

As Fort Apache studio owner, producer, and manager, Gary had a huge role in Juliana’s career as well as working with Pixies, Throwing Muses, and more.

There’s an obituary and condolences page at legacy.com

John P. Strohm posted on Facebook:

If anyone ever really ”discovered” a band, Gary discovered Blake Babies. We were struggling when we met Gary. We’d made an album, but had no idea what to do with it. Months after getting 1,000 LPs delivered to our apartment, we still had about 900 copies and no clue what to do with them. It was a struggle.

Gary came to our show one night at The Rat, strode right up to us when we came offstage and said, ”I love your band. I own a studio. Would you like to make a record?” Storybook stuff. We went to Fort Apache that night, and it instantly became our favorite place on earth.

Read John’s full words below:

Billy Bragg, also on Facebook:

The Fort was an amazing place where young bands making challenging music could find in Gary a sympathetic ear and a lot of good advice. He produced the Accident Waiting To Happen single which I recorded there with the Red Stars, as well the b-side 'Sulk' which was written during the session.

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So much to say (but can’t today)💔
I ✨love✨you, G pic.twitter.com/aAhs3rsKLx

— Tanya Donelly (@TanyaDonelly) January 17, 2023

We’ve got a new ‘Juliana Hatfield Sings’ project to look forward to as not so subtly hinted by Juliana including ELO covers in her summer shows!

The album has been officially confirmed by American Laundromat Records on a flyer in their shipping of the Become What You Are reissue:

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Thanks to Eric for the info and while I’m here a big seasonal thanks to everyone who has been in touch and particularly Carlos Lopez for helping with many of the links for these pages. Best wishes to all in Jules’ fan community.

If this proves to be my last post of the year, I’ll see you in 2023.

Juliana, via Twitter:

i just opened a new online art shop in case you are interested in checking out/acquiring any of my drawings on paper.. here is where it is:

julianahatfield.myshopify.com

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American Laundromat Records:

We are stoked to reissue "Become What You Are" on vinyl to celebrate its 30th Anniversary. This exclusive reissue is limited to 2,500 units worldwide.

Reissue artwork prepared by Aaron Tanner at Melodic Virtue from the original art. Our good friend Sean Glonek at SRG studios handled remastering, Levi Seitz cut metal, and the fine folks at Furnace pressed the vinyl. It looks and sounds amazing! We are very proud of this reissue and hope you enjoy it.

The release is planned for January 2023, with pre-orders up now for 3 variants and a further yellow splatter variant to be available from indie stores.

www.alr-music.com/collections/catalog/products/jh3-become-what-you-are

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As trailed by American Laundromat Records last year, a new Juliana single is coming for Black Friday Record Store Day this November:

Juliana Hatfield and Emma Swift cover Neil Young for charity on this exclusive RSD Black Friday 7" single. Side A features Juliana covering the classic "Lotta Love" and side B features Emma covering the deep cut "Give Me Strength." Mastering and lacquers cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Pressed in the USA at Gotta Groove Records on beautiful virgin black vinyl for an optimal audio experience. Spins at 45 RPM with a large hole. Original artwork and design by Casey Burns. Includes high profile callout sticker and digital download card.

One dollar from the sale of each record is lovingly donated to Casting for Recovery, whose mission is to enhance the quality of life of women with breast cancer through a unique retreat program that combines breast cancer education and peer support with the therapeutic sport of fly fishing.

As was the case with 2020’s Christmas Cactus single, this release is restricted to US stores only at launch.

Juliana has covered Neil Young before, most notably Only Love Can Break Your Heart for her 2002 Gold Stars compilation, and in 2011 she sang Barstool Blues as part of a PledgeMusic campaign and performed a duet of Cinnamon Girl with Evan Dando for a benefit show in New York.

Freda performing with the Blake Babies in Allston, MA, 2016. Photography by David Young.

This week has seen Freda perform on drums for the last time.

If you missed her retirement announcement on the Sunshine Boys’ Facebook back in April here’s a snippet:

Lately I’ve been saying to the folks around me that baseball players don’t play forever. Bodies change. And mine is just about finished playing drums. I’m speaking here on behalf of my wrists, back, elbows, shoulder, knees, and hips, among other parts. And speaking on behalf, too, of the writer and teacher in me. I’m currently writing two books and teaching writing more than I ever have, and I feel strongly compelled to make more space in my life for these endeavors.

Freda performed her last show with Sunshine Boys a couple of weeks back. This last weekend saw her final drumming appearance at the Hot Stove Cool Music event in Chicago where she guested with several artists which included playing Some Girls songs in Juliana’s set.

Freda has given us so much joy over the years in her various projects. For many of us it is the music she made with Blake Babies that will be the most special legacy from her brilliant career.

Best wishes for the future Freda and thanks for everything.

Freda Love Smith performing on drums with the Blake Babies in Allston, MA 2016. Photography by David Young

American Laundromat Records:

We are stoked to reissue "Sunburn" on vinyl for the first time in over 30 years! This exclusive reissue is limited to 2,000 units worldwide.

Reissue artwork prepared by Aaron Tanner at Melodic Virtue from the original Mammoth art. Our good friend Sean Glonek at SRG studios handled remastering, Levi Seitz cut metal, and the fine folks at Furnace pressed the vinyl. It looks and sounds amazing! We are very proud of this reissue and hope you enjoy it.

For further info on colour variants and test pressing options head to American Laundromat Records order page.

John P. Strohm posted on Twitter yesterday about finding a Blake Babies tour diary he kept from 1989-1990, and which he’s now transcribing.

I’ll keep this post updated with links to John’s Wordpress as he publishes in parts.

A snippet from Part 1 (November - December 1989) :

12/7/89

Athens GA did not disappoint. Tuesday night we played the 40-Watt. We played an hour and two encores. It felt a little lackluster because Juliana is getting a cold. The staff at the 40-Watt are as nice as any club people I’ve met. The sound guy kept offering Juliana various cold remedies including slugs of brandy (which she declined – she never drinks and in fact none of us are drinking at all on this tour). Wednesday we drove to Sparta to a junk store and I bought some shitkickin’ boots and some hats. Freda got these amazing red cowboy boots, which she’s wearing with pride.

Updates:

Part 2 (January 1990) published April 3, 2022

Part 3 (February 1990) published April 4, 2022

Part 4 (February 1990) published April 5, 2022

Part 5 (March 1990) published April 6, 2022 (final part)

Erika Wolf, writing for Albumism on the 30th anniversary of Hey Babe:

Obviously, I liked Hatfield because she was wry. But on Hey Babe, her debut solo album sandwiched between the Blake Babies and her fame-fanning Become What You Are, she was vulnerable, too. Radically so. In 1992, she appeared on MTV’s 120 Minutes to promote the video for “Everybody Loves Me But You,” Hey Babe’s first single. I’m not sure if I saw it back then. Every summer, my family would fly to the states to visit my grandparents in Minnesota, and my brother and I would lounge around the basement rec room, bingeing on MTV for hours.

Albumism recently ran a readers’ poll for all time fave Juliana albums. All 19 solo LPs (including JH3 and Juliana’s Pony) were eligible.

The results are now in with nearly 3,000 votes cast of readers’ top 5 picks.

I won’t spoil it here so head to the post at Albumism to find out the choices.

I’m not too surprised at the ‘winners’ (the 5 I voted for are in the top 6), but there’s a few unexpected rankings in the middle (e.g. I wouldn’t have thought that #9 would get almost double the votes of #13.)

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Available to order now from American Laundromat Records.

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promotional image by Stacee Sledge / julianahatfield.com

Livestream show! With a band! This month!

Juliana returns to her internet concerts on Wednesday October 20, 2021 at at 6pm EDT (that’s 11pm BST, midnight CEST 😬) on Q Division’s YouTube channel.

Writing on her official site:

I will play electric guitar and sing, Chris Anzalone will play drums, and Mike Oram will play bass and sing some harmonies. This is the lineup that was set to go on the road before we had to pull out of the tour with Soul Asylum and Local H.

We are all fine (thanks for asking!) and we will be playing an assortment of songs chosen from the buffet of my vast, decades-spanning repertoire.

So no full album show this time, but the pay what you want deal remains with donations being accepted at julianahatfield.com

American Laundromat Records are having a further run of their Blake Babies t-shirt featuring John P Strohm’s classic illustration.

We’re receiving tons of requests again for this exclusive @blakebabies tee, so we’re doing a special run. We are only screenprinting against orders received in advance so be sure to place your order asap here https://t.co/iTIlPhhc9K@johnpstrohm @julianahatfield @fredalovesmith pic.twitter.com/71lJu73JeK

— American Laundromat (@laundromat13) September 16, 2021

Also, ALR have teased a 2022 single featuring Juliana covering Neil Young’s “Lotta Love”:

Oh, what’s this?! Just the test pressing for the @julianahatfield and @emmaswiftsings split 7”we’re putting out next year. Two @Neilyoung songs. Juliana covers “Lotta Love” and Emma covers “Give Me Strength.” They’re both OUTSTANDING!#45rpm #testpressing pic.twitter.com/qMNaQnBFoZ

— American Laundromat (@laundromat13) September 15, 2021