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3.13.98 14:00 EDT Soul Asylum Surfaces With New Album, New Drummer -- Maybe
ye old photo 1986, not from mtv.com
Soul Asylum

Soul Asylum are back in the spotlight with a new album and (we think) a new drummer. The band will be releasing "Candy From A Stranger" on May 12, and although he doesn't appear on the album, Charlie Quintana, one of the busiest drummers in the business, with credits that include Cracker, Izzy Stradlin's Ju Ju Hounds, Bob Dylan, the Cruzados and most recently Joan Osborne, is apparently manning the kit.

Sources close to Quintana say he joined the group after a tryout earlier this month in the band's hometown of Minneapolis that included a last minute live appearance at a local club. Quintana told friends that he was as surprised as anyone when singer/guitarist Dave Pirner announced to the audience during their set that he was their new drummer. Quintana added that the chemistry with the band is working well, and that he expects to continue as a fulltime member.

Still, a spokesperson for Columbia Records says that Quintana has joined the band only temporarily at this stage and will play with them on one-off shows during March. He's not confirmed as the permanent replacement for the amicably departed Sterling Campbell.

The new album was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami late last year with producer Chris Kimsey (Rolling Stones, Gipsy Kings, Killing Joke) at the console. The record contains ten songs penned by Pirner (one co-penned with Campbell) and one written by lead guitarist Dan Murphy.

The band's previous release was 1995's "Let Your Dim Light Shine." Their last notable show together was entertaining flood victims at a high school prom in Grand Forks, North Dakota, last summer.

The members have been involved in a slew of side projects, however. Pirner wrote the score for the movie Chasing Amy, and played drums and trumpet (using the name "Reno") in the O'Jeez with Jessy Greene (ex-Geraldine Fibbers) and Kraig Johnson (Run Westy Run).

Murphy recorded an album with Golden Smog (see "Soul Asylum, Wilco, Jayhawks, Big Star Members Ready New Golden Smog Album") and toured with the Jayhawks. Bassist Karl Mueller did a stint with Babes In Toyland's Lori Barbero as house DJ at the 400 Club in Minneapolis.

For more on Soul Asylum, check out the MTV News Gallery
Smog News from MTV.com 
3.12.98 7:55 EDT Soul Asylum, Wilco, Jayhawks, Big Star Members Ready New Golden Smog Album
JEFF TWEEDY from mtv.com
Jeff Tweedy

The alt.country project known as Golden Smog has just finished recording 25 songs for use on the band's next album, which should pop up later this year or early next year.

Big Star drummer Jody Stephens told MTV News Online that he joined the band (Soul Asylum's Dan Murphy, the Jayhawks' Gary Louris and Marc Perlman, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Run Westy Run's Kraig Johnson) in the studio for a six-day recording blitz that put the finishing touches on 25 tracks that the band started during a similar 10-day session more than a year ago. He said that with the exception of a few overdubs, the material is ready for the next as-yet untitled Golden Smog album, which does not yet have a release date.

DAN MURPHY from mtv.com
Dan Murphy

"Some of the songs are Small Faces-meets-Gram Parsons. Some are Lennon-esque. There are trippy things like the third Big Star record," Stephens said of the material recorded so far. "The things that shine for me are the songs. These are great songs."

The sessions mark Stephens first studio time with the band, but he has drummed with Golden Smog in concert.

Stephens said that since everyone in the band has another prime gig, there's a refreshing lack of pressure on the group that comes across when they play together. "Because this is a part-time project, the key element is having a good time."

But will the band be taking that good time on the road to test the new material? "We may get together, as long as it doesn't conflict with anyone's schedule," Stephens said.

For more on Wilco, Soul Asylum check out the MTV News Gallery.

 

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