American Weekend

2006
Cover:American Weekend

This record was originally recorded for the Beggars Banquet record label. Complications at Beggars saw the release delayed. Stella U.S. finally split with the label, only to endure a sadly typical two year legal battle to regain rights to their recordings.

Though officially unreleased, the “American Weekend” recordings have maintained a clandestine life of their own. Bootleg copies passed between friends and fans and seemingly the only way to hear the album was through a pirate copy. Until now.

With eye-opening contributions from Cheap Trick’s bassist Tom Peterson and South Carolina’s extraordinary Danielle Howle, Stella (U.S.)’s second full length “American Weekend” shimmers. Expanding on the guitar driven detonation of their first Beggars Banquet album “Ascension,” Stella’s second offering displays more ambient six-string treatments, especially when conjuring lush, night drowned ballads like the twilight-lit mood of “Sunday,” or singer Perkins’ Nick Cave-esque duet with Howle on “NYC.” This tenderness aside, the band has clearly not forgotten how to turn up the volume.

Tracks like “Summertime” and “Blue Sky” showcase wall-of-sound guitar production paired with Perkins’ emotive vocals. “Breakdown,” at the mid-point of this American Weekend, ups the ante a bit more, with guitarist Charles Wyrick adding a palpable level of intensity to a story of love lost and aftermath. The blissed out “New Age Special” sees Stella mining shades of Lou Reed meets UK groove pop meets Jimi Hendrix. Strange bedfellows to be sure, but in the context of this ambitious record, it’s a welcome diversion.
All in all, American Weekend finds Stella-US broadening their horizons. Ambitious. Sonic. Textural. Emotive. All these adjectives apply. This dispatch from the American Weekend circa 1999 finds its themes just as relevant in 2006. Enjoy.
credits
released 04 July 2006

STELLA (U.S.)
American Weekend – Credits

Produced
Curt Perkins and Stella (U.S.)
Glenn Rosenstein Co-Production on:
“New Age Special”
“Nashville”
“The Great Suicide Machine”
“On’

Recorded
Treasure Island Studios, Nashville TN
Thunderchild Manor, Cornelius NC
Underground Sound, Nashville, TN

Engineered
Dan Lefler (Treasure Island)
Kevin Edlin
Curt Perkins
Alan Johnstone
Charles Wyrick (Thunderchild Manor)

Mixed
Dan Lefler at Treasure Island Studios

Mastered
Foxwood Mastering by Dan Leffler and Dave Shipley

Stella
Curt Perkins – vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, samplers
Charles Wyrick – guitars, ebo, percussion
Preach Rutherford – bass, background vocals on “Summertime” and “The Great Suicide Machine”
Alan Johnstone – drums, percussion, background vocals on “Blue Sky.”

Additional Musicians

Tom Petersson – 12 string bass on “Summertime” and “The Great Suicide Machine”
Danielle Howle – Background vocals on “NYC”
John Morris – Background vocals on “Gasoline”
Ben Towle – Pedal steel guitar on “NYC”
Glenn Rosenstein – keyboards and programming

String arrangements by Glenn Rosenstein and Curt Perkins
Cover design by Warren Main for Warren Main DesignPhotographs by Curt Perkins and Marc Pisapia
Special thanks to Dick Huey, Toolshed.biz and Justin Goldberg
Thank you friends.

Tom Petersson appears courtesy of Cheap Trick Unlimited/Big3 Records
Danielle Howle appears courtesy of Valley Records