Your band of the week is one of my all time favorites…ladies and gentlemen, The Hold Steady.

The Hold Steady is a Brooklyn-based rock band comprising Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler, Galen Polivka and Bobby Drake. The band’s style has been described as a “riff-heavy mixture of classic rock,” notable for its “lyrically dense storytelling.” To date, the band has released five studio albums: Almost Killed Me (2004), Separation Sunday (2005), Boys and Girls in America (2006), Stay Positive (2008) and Heaven Is Whenever (2010).

In 2003, Minnesota-raised vocalist, lyricist, and guitarist Craig Finn and New York City bartender and bassist Galen Polivka began talking about starting a band. Finn and lead guitarist Tad Kubler (both formerly of Lifter Puller) developed the idea of The Hold Steady when, while watching The Band concert film The Last Waltz, Finn asked Kubler, “Dude, why aren’t there any bands like this anymore?” The Hold Steady’s 2004 debut album Almost Killed Me, released on Frenchkiss Records, was a sleeper hit among music critics, reaching #31 in the Pazz & Jop critics poll that year, an achievement which Finn described as “like being nominated for an Oscar or something.” In May 2005, they were the first rock band to grace the front page of The Village Voice in 15 years. They were Blender’s 2006 “Band of the Year”. You can check out their song title “Hurricane J” by clicking on the logo below.

Mr. McClung