Blending blues, rock 'n' roll, punk and early American music with modern forms, Austin, Texas-based duo Ghost Wolves is no stranger to MOTR Pub. The band has made the Cincinnati music venue a repeat stop during its almost eight years of touring.
This time is a little different. The group returns to MOTR Friday fresh off the release of its three-song single "Crooked Cop" on Jack White-founded label Third Man Records. For singer and guitarist Carley Wolf, the partnership with Third Man was a big deal.
"We're just fans of the label," she said in a news release. "They have so many of our heroes in their catalogs, people like Muddy Waters, Wanda Jackson, Dead Weather, Jerry Lee Lewis, the White Stripes. It's mind-blowing that our music will be there alongside them. It doesn't feel real, it feels like a dream."
Carley and drummer Jonny Wolf, who have been married for seven years, wrote and recorded the songs against a backdrop of fear and uncertainty in their personal lives. Immediately before the recording, the Jonny traveled to visit his terminally ill father in Connecticut.
"I was up there almost a month when they first hospitalized him," Jonny said in the release. "When he stabilized somewhat, I went back to Austin to take a break and be home briefly, and that's when we recorded this. So we were creating with all of that hurt going on in the background. It was therapeutic for me in a way, to be there with these people, working on art. And I think it came out on the record. It's definitely darker and more intimate than our previous albums."
After taking the stage Friday night, Ghost Wolves will stop by WCPO Lounge Acts on Saturday to chat and perform some of their new material. You can watch live on Facebook at 2 p.m.
IF YOU GO:
- Ghost Wolves with Still Witches and Dead Man String Band
- 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20
- MOTR Pub, 1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine
- Free, ages 21 and older
