Album Description
The Florida-based musician began work on Sorry Vampire almost immediately after self-releasing his debut, Needle Bed, in 2005, which was picked up by Vagrant and re-released in 2006. When he arrived in Knoxville to record the album and Needle Bed's producer Michael Seaman, he'd formed his plan: "To make the record sound beautiful, but in a different way than you've heard before." This is when he began experimenting with his songs, tossing out leftovers and writing new parts. The first song, "Fragile", was one of the first Ralston began crafting with onetime Wilco keyboardist/engineer Jay Bennett and Ralston's then-bandmate David Vandervelde.
To mix the record, Ralston teamed with Grammy-winning mixer Charles Dye (Lauryn Hill, Ricky Martin, Aerosmith), as he had done with the comparatively sparse Needle Bed.
Album Description
In 2005 John Ralston (recess theory, Legends of Rodeo) is releasing his first two solo records. It all started last summer when, at the insistence of Knoxville producer and friend Michael Seaman, John made the trek north from Florida to record. After a feverish five days he returned home to realize that he had a complete album tracked. "We never intended to make an album. It just happened to turn out that way." Thus, Needle Bed (The Honeycomb & Academic Life Recordings due April 22nd) was born. It eventually found its way into the hands of Jay Bennett, formerly of Wilco. When Jay heard Needle Bed, he immediately invited John up to record at the famed Pieholden Studios in Chicago. In a cold week in November they recorded what will be the second of two releases this year entitled There's always an ambulance around the bend. Both albums are fueled by family death, the feeling of loss, and an enveloping sense of frustration. And while Needle Bed leaves you feeling that it might turn out right, There's always an ambulance... leaves you feeling like maybe you're not so sure. Tagged to open up for Dashboard Confessional and play the Bamboozle Festival in late April, John will be backed by multi-instrumentalist David Vandervelde, keyboardist Andrew Schaap, bassist Dan Bonebrake (ex-Dashboard Confessional, Seville, Fay Wray, the Enablers), and drummer Jeff Snow (Legends of Rodeo). This lineup will be touring throughout the year, augmented occasionally by Jay Bennett as well as a rotating cast of string players.
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