Lambchop

***In late 2019, Kurt Wagner was experimenting with something new, something that would eventually reveal itself as Lambchop’s Showtunes. By taking simple guitar tracks and converting them into MIDI piano tracks, “Suddenly I discovered I could ‘play’ the piano,” he says. “It was a revelation that from those conversions, I was able to manipulate each note and add, subtract, arrange the chords and melody into a form that didn’t have any of the limitations I had with my previous methods of writing with a guitar.” Removing these limitations led to a surprising new sound, something akin to show tunes but with edges sanded down and viewed through Kurt’s own specific lens. Around the same time, Kurt was preparing for a live show. He’d been asked to 
participate in the Wisconsin-based Eaux Claires summer festival. With rough ideas already fleshed out alone, along with some input from previous collaborator Twit One, Kurt reached out to Ryan Olson and Andrew Broder. Needless to say, this show never happened. What it did lead to, though, was a whole new era for Lambchop. Having initially met in early 2020 and then working remotely from there, Kurt, Olson, and Broder continued to experiment with these ideas, eventually leading to Showtunes. The original idea behind Lambchop was: anyone could be part of Lambchop (so long as they behaved themselves). This revolving doorpolicy is how the band has grown and contracted through our many years. This led to the addition of one more key player. For the first time, longtime friend and collaborator James McNew of Yo La Tengo joins on upright bass. As for the content of the songs, it’s tempting to look at everything through the lens of the world we now live in. However, Kurt is quick to point out that these songs were conceived pre-COVID. “The words have no connection to the experience we now all share,” he says. “I find that to be a strong element in their favor. I’ve yet to reconcile the time I live in currently with something I care to enshrine in song. I’m searching for a way beyond that but I find it limiting, and I think good music deserves better.” Instead, Showtunes looks beyond and behind the now.