VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Hold Steady are marking their landmark 20th anniversary with the upcoming publication of The Gospel of The Hold Steady: How a Resurrection Really Feels, a new oral history by Michael Hann and The Hold Steady, arriving July 25 via Akashic Books. Preorders are available now. Pre-order options will include, a Limited-Edition Preorder Package for The Gospel of the Hold Steady includes a copy of the book signed by the band as well as the signed chapbook, TJK on THS—a behind-the-scenes photo journal by guitarist Tad J. Kubler spanning the band’s two-decade history (along with an exclusive introduction by THS frontman Craig Finn) only available as part of this package.
On January 22, 2003, four men stepped onto a stage in Brooklyn and did something no one else was doing at that time, in that place—they played old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll with skyscraping riffs and unhinged solos, topped with extraordinary lyrics about an out-of-focus America, blurred by pills and powders, filled with stories of crime and fear and desperation and redemption. Twenty years later, The Hold Steady are one of America’s most beloved rock bands, famed for live shows that turn the uninitiated into converts, and for a catalog filled with some of the most exciting yet poetic music of the twenty-first century.
The Gospel of The Hold Steady: How a Resurrection Really Feels addresses all the triumphs and setbacks of The Hold Steady’s two-decade career—from high times to near deaths, from the brink of splitting to their current renaissance—told through interviews with everyone who has played in the band, and those who have worked with them over the course of their career. The volume includes over 200 photographs and images along with essays by writers Michael Hann, Rob Sheffield, Laura Barton, and Isaac Fitzgerald, as well as the thoughts and memories of “The Unified Scene”—the devoted fans who have helped fuel and define The Hold Steady’s identity over the past 20 years.
The Hold Steady’s 20th-anniversary festivities are further punctuated by their upcoming ninth studio album, The Price of Progress, arriving on their own Positive Jams label via Thirty Tigers this Friday, March 31. A variety of formats will be available, including digital download, CD, standard black vinyl, translucent green vinyl (theholdsteady.net), metallic gold (Independent Retail exclusive), metallic silver (Vinyl Me, Please exclusive), and white (Rough Trade exclusive). Preorders are available now.
The Hold Steady—who recently kicked off their 20th anniversary cycle with sold-out shows in Brooklyn, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and London—will celebrate The Price of Progress with a wide-ranging live schedule. For complete details, please visit theholdsteady.net. The band will appear on Late Night with Seth Meyers on April 5 and on April 22 will perform on CBS Saturday Morning with an interview by legendary journalist Anthony Mason.
