Brian Fallon
with Dave Hause
Brian Fallon is known far and wide for his elemental gifts as a songwriter, musician, and storyteller, including four acclaimed solo albums and his role as founding member and frontman of The Gaslight Anthem. Over the course of nearly three decades, the New Jersey-based artist has crafted a constantly evolving body of work, booming with insistent imagery, defiant romanticism, and an extraordinary emotional acuity that has marked all variations of his music from the very start. 2023 saw The Gaslight Anthem return from a long hiatus with History Books, their sixth full-length album and first new studio LP in nine years. The much-beloved band marked the acclaimed album with an epic tour schedule that saw sold-out headline dates and show-stopping festival performances around the world, confirming their ongoing place among the top ranks of American rock ‘n’ roll bands.
Dave Hause had an epiphany rewatching Goodfellas. “There’s that scene in the beginning where Henry Hill says, ‘As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.’” The Philly-bred, California-based singer-songwriter always longed to be in a different kind of mob.
“This record is my realization that, as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be in a rock and roll band. This record is that rock and roll band distilled into 10 songs.”
This record is …And The Mermaid. And those 10 songs offer a welcome shock to the system, blending Hause’s signature lyrical elan and gift for surging melodies with his keening vocals and some deliciously sharp musical elbows courtesy of the titular group.
“I had made a couple of records in a row in Nashville, and I was super happy with the outcomes,” says Hause of 2023’s Blood Harmony and 2021’s Drive it Like it’s Stolen, both produced by Will Hoge with top-flight session musicians. While they certainly had their muscular moments, those records were more in line with the Americana-tinged music Hause had been making as a solo artist. He ended up on several solo tours, as well as some duo outings with his brother and collaborator Tim, which necessitated stripping the songs back. “It occurred to me how far I’ve come from my roots,” he says. “Punk rock just isn’t where my muse has been for the last couple albums.”
But as he pumped electricity when playing those solo songs with his occasional band The Mermaid at his celebratory weekend festival Sing Us Home in Philly the last few years, he realized, “I was just missing plugging in and turning up. I was missing the energy that it takes to deliver that show.”
*Infants and children under 6 are not permitted in the venue for amplified night time shows due to sound levels and crowded conditions.*
*All ticket purchases are final. No refunds will be processed unless the headline artist cancels the performance*
