The March Divide
The March Divide | ALIVE! LP / “DISTRACTIONS” SERIES / ANTICIPATION POPS LP | SLOW START RECORDS | OUT NOW
Bio (ALIVE! LP):
“There’s no better time than a global pandemic to start work on whatever you’ve been putting off.”
Jared Putnam of The March Divide has never been known for putting anything off when it comes to releasing music.
After the release of his most recent full-length Anticipation Pops two summers ago, Putnam followed up with five volumes in his “Distractions” series, which he started “as an outlet to release songs I was working on between albums,” and later evolved into “more of a personal song writing challenge.”
The “distractions” became the focus as Putnam began to write, record, and release new singles every few weeks. All of this work was supplemented by a busy life on the road, mostly in and surrounding Putnam’s home base of San Antonio (he has since relocated to the Dallas area.)
This is, of course, before the pandemic changed the game.
If it seems like revisiting show recordings and compiling them for a live album during this time would be a daunting task, Putnam affirms that it is.
“It’s an incredibly depressing project, to mix a live record during the apocalypse,” he says. “I’ve worked really hard to get to the place that I was making a comfortable living from touring, and it literally vanished overnight.”
Difficult words to hear from any musician, but especially from one like Putnam whose work ethic is so strong.
“I started working on the mix right after everything was shut down, but it got really hard for me to work on, knowing there was no foreseeable end date to venues being shut down, so no foreseeable start date to my next tour,” he explains.
As the reality sunk in, Putnam pushed forward, and completed the project. The first live album by The March Divide, appropriately titled ALIVE! will be released on August 28th via Slow Start Records.
“The recording is primarily taken from a show I did in Athens, Georgia in January of 2020 at Vega Studios and a another show I did in Detroit in April of 2019. It was easy to pick the songs, because that was pretty much the set I was playing during all my tours behind my last album.”
“I don’t do many covers live,” Putnam says of the Radiohead cover included in the set. “‘High and Dry’ by Radiohead is one of the few I do.’ The Bends was a huge influence on my songwriting, so it was an easy song for me to make my own.”
For a tune that is an indie rock cornerstone, Putnam claims it. With just his acoustic guitar and harmonica, he hits the high notes with such clarity and pathos, it’d probably move Thom Yorke himself. Probably Johnny Greenwood, too!
“Around a year ago, I tried to record it, in the studio, but just didn’t feel like it came across as well as it did live.”
Summing up ALIVE!, Putnam says, “I really wanted to release something that felt as much like an actual show as possible.”
We’re all hoping that The March Divide, and all touring musicians, can get back to playing actual shows very soon.
Bio (“DISTRACTIONS” SINGLES):
“This will be the last in my series of distractions.”
Jared Putnam of The March Divide has been releasing two and three-song singles throughout 2019 as real-time follow-ups to his most recent full-length album, Anticipation Pops, released in the summer of 2018. “Distractions, Vol. 5” will be released on December 13th, preceded by the song “Crowded Room” on November 22nd. A lyric video for the song “It’s Not Over” is streaming now.
“Something I started as an outlet to release songs I was working on between releases has slowly evolved into more of a personal song writing challenge,” Putnam explains. “I knew that I wanted to push myself to finish the series before the year was over, so I really dove into a lot of new releases from 2019 that I’ve found inspiring.”
Putnam lists Pete Yorn’s collaboration with Jackson Phillips of Day Wave as a stand-out.
“He brought a whole new vision to what he was already doing, flawlessly, in my opinion. I also found myself obsessed with the new Julia Jacklin album Crushing and American Football’s LP3, which made me wanna get that Fender sound back into my songs.”
Putnam was also inspired to collaborate in more of a band setting than he has in quite some time.
“I tapped my friend Bobby Rivas, a crazy-talented writer and player, to help me with the overall direction of the songs. He also helped bring a focus to the production that I often can’t find on my own. I also had my friends Ernie Garcia on bass and Jason West on drums.”
One of the resulting songs, “Crowded Room,” is one of the catchiest The March Divide songs to date, and its in-your-face, youthful quality really does call back to Putnam’s younger years spent recording and touring with his then-band, The Conversation.
“‘Crowded Room’ really comes from a strange place.” he says. “I recently had a friend send me a text about a song called ‘Starting To Rain,’ off of my old band, The Conversation’s first album. It really got me thinking about the lyrics from that album, and the context of where they were coming from. ‘Starting To Rain’ was a rebellious song I wrote in my 20’s about being in a constant state of drug induced indifference, and the lack of accomplishment that often accompanies such a state.”
“Distractions, Vol. 5” is just the latest representation of Putnam’s evolved state of mind and work ethic since that time. A mere three-song collection in a catalog comprised of dozens of songs that Putnam has recorded and released in only the last five years.
The new three-song single “Distractions, Vol. 5” by The March Divide is out December 13th. The first four releases in the series are out now, along with Anticipation Pops, the fourth full-length album by The March Divide. All are available via Slow Start Records.
Look for Jared Putnam out on the road throughout 2019 and into 2020.
Bio (ANTICIPATION POPS LP):
You think we’d know Jared Putnam by now.
Over the course of three “impressively hooky” (American Songwriter) albums, five “completely clever” (Performer Magazine) EPs, numerous singles, and a batch of cover songs in a mere half-decade, Putnam’s mostly one-man project The March Divide has delivered a seemingly unending stream of songs that have established the San Antonio-based artist as one of the best rock songwriters working today.
Putnam’s upcoming fourth The March Divide album is Anticipation Pops (Aug. 24th, Slow Start Records) and is his best work to date, mostly because the ten songs here reveal a greater emotional depth, along with performances, and lyrics, that go beyond anything that Putnam has offered up before. Perhaps his near-manic recording and touring schedule was prologue that has led to the relatable sensitivity that is this album.
“This record feels like a new direction,” Putnam says.
Recording at home on the fly, and skipping his usual demo and pre-production process, has allowed Putnam to maintain a spontaneous feeling that informs these songs, and obviously kept him from overthinking lyrics or anything else that stood in the way of a group of tunes that could be called “raw” if Putnam wasn’t so good at producing himself and if the word “raw” didn’t scream “under produced.”
That is to say: These songs sound great.
Putnam claims that the work on Anticipation Pops represents a thematic “consistent inconsistency,” different from his more planned past albums. And while he dials that back when he agrees that the album is cohesive, he’s either being modest, or is far enough outside of his comfort zone now not to notice that Anticipation Pops is actually his most thematic record of all.
Writing ten personal songs from a unique perspective, but relatable to everyone, is an artistic goal most songwriters never achieve. True to Putnam’s attitude of throwing caution to the wind with this album, the first single is the record’s aptly titled opening cut, “I Don’t Care,” a two-minute gem that leaves ‘em wanting more.
“I think there’s something really special about a two-minute pop song,” Putnam says. “It’s like a shot of adrenaline. A song like that is a flash – it comes and goes – and is unexpected. ‘I Don’t Care’ really sets the tone. It’s a slow build of liberation and confidence, expressed in just two minutes.”
Doubling down on the attitude of “I Don’t Care,” Putnam affirms once again that he made Anticipation Pops by deciding, “this is what I’m doing, take it or leave it.” Apparently he didn’t know that the result would be the work his fans can care for most of all.
Anticipation Pops, the fourth full-length album by The March Divide is out August 24th, 2018 on the artist’s recently co-founded Slow Start Records label, preceded by the single, “I Don’t Care”.
NEWS:
Press Quotes:
“Impressively hooky.”
“Bittersweet beauty.”
“Drenched in summer nostalgia, Putnam’s vocals pop.”
“Ingenious.”
“Classic pop hooks and accessible emotional resonance, Putnam hits the mark again and again. ”
“The melodies are as catchy as ever.”
“It has a sense of nostalgia and pushes those warm memory buttons so well. ”
“Catchy hooks and memorable lines.”
“Big Star-informed, strummy acoustic reverie.”
“Putnam is skillful.”
“Eloquently simple and concise, Putnam’s lyrics are immediately relatable. His experience and memory transfer directly from the song to the listener.”
“Putnam invests each moment with a fierce resourcefulness and a care-free resilience which conspire to build a song unmoored of trivial concerns and personal anxieties.”
“A lovely surprise.”
“Completely clever.”
“ Gifted with a serious set of pipes.”
“Clever lyrics and undeniably catchy hooks. Infectiously poppy.”
“A seemingly unending stream of songs that have established the Texan as one of the best rock songwriters working today.”
“His work is uniformly intimate and thoroughly emotional.”
“Quality pop at its best.”
“All about lyrics and melodies.”
PRESS RELEASES:
ON THE WEB:
Assets:
Jared Putnam of The March Divide as photographed by Josh Huskin. Click for hi-res.
Jared Putnam of The March Divide as photographed by Josh Huskin. Click for hi-res.
Jared Putnam of The March Divide as photographed by Josh Huskin. Click for hi-res.
Jared Putnam of The March Divide. Photo credit: Short Eared Dog. Click for hi-res.
Jared Putnam of The March Divide. Photo credit: Short Eared Dog. Click for hi-res.
Jared Putnam of The March Divide. Photo credit: Short Eared Dog. Click for hi-res.
Jared Putnam of The March Divide. Photo credit: Short Eared Dog. Click for hi-res.
Jared Putnam of The March Divide. Photo credit: Short Eared Dog. Click for hi-res.
Jared Putnam of The March Divide. Photo credit: Short Eared Dog. Click for hi-res.
ALIVE! cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Distractions, Vol. 5” cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Distractions, Vol. 4” cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Distractions, Vol. 3” cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Distractions, Vol. 2” cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Distractions, Vol. 1” cover art. Click for hi-res.
Anticipation Pops cover art. Click for hi-res.