NEW ALBUM: "PHOTOMAPS" ON LIMITED EDITION 12" VINYL
BIOGRAPHY:
Standing on the frayed edges of alternative and roots music, Exit 380 has tread many roads and styles in its 15 year span. Now, on the dawn of a new album, a focused style and the strength of a truly familial concept in their label, Hand Drawn Records, Exit 380 is poised to reinforce their claim as one of the region’s most exciting acts.
PRESS:
"A 180 for 380" by Jimmy Fowler
One recent Saturday afternoon, a group of North Texas musicians huddled over a small makeshift assembly line in a friend’s garage in Denton. The product being assembled was a limited-edition vinyl-and-CD package of Photomaps, the sixth and latest album by alt-roots rockers Exit 380. The band members were there, of course –– singer-keyboardist Dustin Blocker, guitarists Aaron Borden and Jeremy Hutchison, bassist Jon Hutchison, and drummer Bobby Tucker –– along with a couple of friends, Denton musicians Andrew Tinker and Jessie Frye. Tinker, as producer of Photomaps, is largely responsible for the long-player’s lush but mature and serene sound.
Everyone was “sweatshopping it,” as Blocker joked, putting 300 album packages together and stamping each with a specially designed signature impression that has since been tossed. The copies that weren’t preordered will be sold (and signed, if the buyer wishes) at Exit 380’s album release party Friday at House of Blues. Now that the band has been around in various incarnations since 1999, original co-frontmen and current main songwriters Blocker and Borden wanted to make a big deal over the release of what they consider their strongest batch of tunes yet.
“We hadn’t done any vinyl releases before,” said Blocker, 35. “Once you pay for printing [vinyl LPs], the cost of adding CDs and MP3s to it is negligible, so we decided to throw them all together. It’s our way of controlling the quality of the listening experience, I guess. Most people aren’t audiophiles, but we wanted them to be able to really hear the instruments the way we heard them in the studio.”
Most of the songs on Photomaps were recorded at Tinker’s spacious Big Acre studio in Copper Canyon, just outside Denton. As a songwriter, Blocker was feeling ambitious after 2012’s Townies generated so much strong buzz, and he wanted to make a concept album. Each song on Spaniards was going to be about a different character or place in a small Mexican town. The band worked with Salim Nourallah and a couple of other producers in the early stages of recording, but eventually Tinker (a labelmate of Exit 380’s on Hand Drawn Records, an imprint that Blocker co-owns) stepped in to make the record (and play some piano on it). Blocker and Borden quickly realized that the Spaniards concept was too restrictive –– while Blocker’s lyrics may have tied everything together originally, the music was heading off in all directions, from meditative rootsy folk to hard-charging, grunge-inspired guitar rock. So the guys renamed the LP Photomaps and let the music take them where it would.
That still includes some flamenco-flavored acoustic guitar courtesy of Jeremy Hutchison, but the characters Blocker was writing about –– an alcoholic in “Laid Up in the Road,” a dancer in “La Rosa Carlina” –– were no longer bound by one small town. Exit 380 also recorded its first cover, the outlaw country classic and character portrait “Pancho and Lefty” by Fort Worth legend Townes Van Zandt. Blocker said that as a producer, Tinker turned out to be invaluable in ways no one had suspected.
“He really took charge of the project and made it his own,” Blocker said. “He has this way of acting like he’s a member of the band, but he doesn’t care about any of the politics of that. He’s only interested in quality. He re-recorded some of the piano parts I played, and I was like, ‘Great, that sounds awesome.’ ”
The guys all tucked their egos into their back pockets during the recording process. The members put on their “big- boy pants,” Blocker said with a laugh, and took advantage of their time at Big Acre to perfect the sound of each song, unafraid to speak up when someone’s instrumental or vocal line sounded weak or out of place. The final results show a surprising creative harmony that has the veteran band looking forward to writing and recording more music together. For shows, the guys have decided to ditch a good 80 percent of their older material. Before they say farewell to those sounds of yesterday, though, Exit 380 will have a surprise for fans at House of Blues.
“We’re going to tell the audience, ‘We want to shove the brand-new songs down your throat for selfish reasons,’ but after that, we’ll open up the show and take requests,” he said. “That’s the trick with any project that’s lived a long time [like Exit 380]. Some folks want to hear the new record, and other people don’t care and want to hear the older, familiar stuff. Pleasing everybody is hard, so we’ll see how that goes.”
For its first studio album (and sixth overall) in nearly three years, DFW quintet Exit 380 (vocalist/keyboardist Dustin Blocker, guitarist Aaron Borden, guitarist Jeremy Hutchinson, bassist Jon Hutchinson and drummer Bobby Tucker) continues to refine its rustic rock with Photomaps.
At nine tracks and just 33 minutes, Photomaps is a concise statement, one belying the record’s somewhat tortured genesis, bouncing between stop-start recording sessions at three different studios over the course of two years (including a stop at Salim Nourallah’s Pleasantry Lane Studios). Last winter, co-producer Andrew Tinker helped the band focus on finishing, and the results are thoroughly engaging.
From the jangle-laced Love Somebody, Cold to the grinding dramatics of Take It Like a Man, Exit 380 displays a firm command of its craft throughout, reminding listeners how easy it can be to take a local band of its caliber for granted.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/07/09/5958242/lone-star-sounds-exit-380-jackopierce.html#storylink=cpy // Author: Preston Jones
TME REVIEW: "Pancho and Lefty" by Exit 380
"...Over the course of their fifteen-year run, Exit 380 has established themselves as one of the best storytelling bands in the area, thanks to frontman Dustin Blocker, and even guitarist Aaron Borden (who has been known to write some songs here and there), each of whom certainly have a way with words. In turn, that makes “Pancho and Lefty” a very fitting song for them to try their hand at.
The promise with Photomaps has been that the band will further embrace the country side they discovered on their 2011 album, as well as adding a Spanish flair to the mix. A Spanish flair that is readily heard on their rendition of Van Zandts’ classic.
They’ve retooled the song completely, and the piano intro (guest musician, Andrew Tinker who also produced the record) establishes the ethereal quality that lasts for the duration of the track. The bass, drums, the lap steel guitar and the guitar, and even the harmonica intertwine so harmoniously. I dare say this song, even simply focusing on the music bed, is one of the most pleasing and calming things I’ve heard. To top it all off, Blocker’s voice is as smooth as whiskey, and I swear it only grows better with age.
If Townes Van Zandt were alive today, I have a feeling he’d be happy with this take on his song..."
READ MORE: http://themusicenthusiast.tumblr.com/post/90697515830/single-review-pancho-and-lefty-by-exit-380
Limited Edition Vinyl Release Show at House of Blues Dallas (Cambridge Room) AUGUST 8TH
Get Your Photo INSIDE Photomaps — Contest: Submit for Free Vinyl Record!
Exit 380 wants to put a printed photograph of YOU in their upcoming record! The band will be hand-stamping, numbering, signing and placing photos of you into each of the 300 limited edition copies of Photomaps.
Simply hashtag a picture of your FAVORITE VINYL RECORD with #YourVinyl, #Exit380 or #Photomaps on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and we’ll print and put your name on the back of your photo!
Upon purchase, the fan who finds their own photo in their record gets their money back! Totally guaranteed. Think of your photograph as your own potential Golden Ticket, but for awesome music!
VINYL RELEASE SHOW: HOUSE OF BLUES, CAMBRIDGE ROOM (Dallas) August 8th
New Record, Photomaps by Exit 380
SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM ON LIMITED EDITION TWELVE INCH VINYL
Hand Drawn Records is proud to announce the release of Exit 380′s sixth studio record, Photomaps, July 12th, 2014 on limited edition vinyl (only 300 produced)! At the time of the album release it will have been two and a half years (Townies - December 2011) since the veteran band produced a proper full length, and we are thrilled to bring it to life!
Recorded at three different studios over the course of two years, the completion of the record started to become questionable as Exit 380 again changed drummers and band mate’s personal schedules began to affect both the writing and vision of the project. However, in the winter of 2013 the band refocused on completing the material upon news they would be recording with fellow Hand Drawn artist, producer, Andrew Tinker at his personal studio, Big Acre Sound.
Photomaps track listing is held to a tight nine songs, clocking it at less than 35 minutes. But it’s not just focus here at work that makes Photomaps so exciting, yet, it’s the unique nature of the material which marries the band’s long history of energetic live performance with their predilection for engaging lyrical storytelling.
TWO SHOWS:
VINYL PREORDER + DIGITAL RELEASE PARTY: LOLA’S SALOON (Fort Worth) July 12th
VINYL RELEASE SHOW: HOUSE OF BLUES, CAMBRIDGE ROOM (Dallas) August 8th
DFW.COM—"The results are often riveting: Exit 380’s The Love Sleeps is absolutely exquisite, and over far too soon."
NEW SONG: "THE LOVE SLEEPS" RECORDED LIVE @ BIG ACRE SOUND
"New Exit 380 track available for FREE DOWNLOAD; part of upcoming Hand Drawn Records compilation, Volume 3."
We are currently in the studio (Big Acre Sound, near Denton, Texas), recording our sixth full length record, Photomaps. But the first time we entered Big Acre—last November, we were there to do a live cut for the upcoming Hand Drawn Records compilation record, alongside eleven other artists!
The full compilation doesn't release until May 10th, but in advance, the label is offering a new track every week on Soundcloud to download/stream for free! Last week, Dallas' Americana act, Bad Mountain had their song released, and today ours came out!
"The Love Sleeps" was done live in a single take (well, we screwed up two or three times, but the one you hear is one of those takes; no editing was allowed). Our friend, (and producer for Photomaps) Andrew Tinker sat in on the piano, and really helped us beef it up...so cheers to him for being awesome!
So, that's it...go listen to the song already! Thanks!
-Blocker
After a successful local alt-rock run in the early 2000s, Exit 380 and its hard-working frontman Dustin Blocker began to play around with other sounds and styles, even cutting a couple of folk-tinged concept albums. They continue on that path with the just released single “La Rosa Carlina,” a mandolin-backed waltz that evokes fellow style-shifter Eddie Vedder’s work on the Into the Wild soundtrack.
I like those oddly high-pitched background vocals that contrast Blocker’s lower register in the last chorus as he serenades the object of his affection. These dudes are becoming more subtle and tasteful with every release.
Look for the new album Photomaps soon, and see these guys take the stage Nov. 17 at House of Blues’ Cambridge Room, 2200 N. Lamar St., Dallas.
Our first single from the upcoming record, PHOTOMAPS will be releasing on October 15th on Hand Drawn Records! The song is titled, "La Rosa Carlina", and we are extremely excited about this track; thinking it is perhaps the best we've ever laid out.
We cannot wait to share it with you! It will be streaming on Hand Drawn's Soundcloud, so please find it, hear it, share it...you get the idea.
THANKS! -e3
We're off to start a new grand adventure today into the realm of our newest record Photomaps! Still unsure if the material will lend itself to an EP or a full length, but we can state with certainty that this first track entitled "La Rosa Carlina" is one we are already proud of.
Vintage Spanish-tinged dancehall rhythms and the unrequited love of a desperate on-looker mark this track, and we cannot wait to share it with you! We'll be trying to share as much as possible from the studio on the E3 Tumblr and Facebook, so watch out for it if you like.
FRIDAY, JULY 5TH, HAND DRAWN RECORDS PRESENTS: Live at The Kessler Theater (Dallas, TX) – Brandon Callies Band “Life is Still Good ” EP Release Show with The Orange and Exit 380
Details: Friday, July 5th, The Kessler Theater. The Orange, Brandon Callies Band, Exit 380. Doors at 7pm. Show at 8pm.
Presale Tickets $12: http://www.prekindle.com/promo/id/22815447474241444
In two weeks we'll be playing an outdoor show for a great charity, and we would love if you could come out to support the cause! The doors are at noon with the music rolling from 1-4pm, so come early to get in for the raffle and silent art auction!
SUNDAY, JUNE 2ND: "LIGHTER THAN AIR" Cystic Fibrosis Benefit Show @ Capital Bar (Fort Worth, TX) w/ Exit 380 and Jimmy Jones Band. Plus, silent art auction and raffle.
$10. Doors at noon. 21 & up.
I had been looking forward to their show, but out of all the bands on this bill I was most excited about the one I haven’t seen too much lately, and that was Exit 380.
I can’t remember for sure, but I believe the first time I ever saw the band was here, back many moons ago. Actually, they hadn’t even playing their old stomping ground in about five years. And to make things even more special, their old drummer, Bobby “Shoes” Tucker was joining them for a one-off show. Yeah, this was gonna be good... (read more)
Old friend joining us next Sat., for an old school set! Get ready Curtain Club! #BobbyShoes
Happy 2013!
The band has a couple of shows already under its belt in this New Year, and we are excited to announce a few more dates; but an even bigger scoop...NEW MUSIC COMING SOON! The demos are promising to be amongst our most daring, and we think you might just fancy them.
We are penning the new music under a Latin umbrella, tentatively entitling the effort Spaniards. Narratives of dusty Spanish dancehalls, eager senoritas, befuddled desert voyagers, and plodding tenant farmers converge with robust nylon-strung arrangements.
Thanks for your continued support, and we cannot wait to bring some of these new ideas to your ears in the coming months! Gracias amigos.
-Dustin, Aaron, Jon, Jeremy, and Jody
Small part of yesterday's interview/performance on Music Scene Live in The Stockyards, Fort Worth, TX!
Exit 380
Riding the success of their fifth full length record Townies; Exit 380 was featured in The Dallas Morning News; performed at The Dallas Museum of Art, House of Blues – Dallas, Kessler Theater, and won “Comeback Band of the Year 2012” by the Fort Worth Weekly.
"I see these guys so infrequently that I really forget how amazing they are. ... Blocker’s voice was nothing short of superb this night (and that can also apply to pretty much every other show they do). And while the Alt/Country sound is a big departure from the bands previous material, they still pull it off with ease, and it really came in handy in this scenario, since so much of the “Townies” record can translate perfectly into acoustic songs."
"WINNER: "Comeback Band of the Year" Exit 380 - Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards 2012"
"...the guys have mastered the alt-gothic roots vibe and, even more impressively, have managed to make the sound distinctly their own."
"What both Eleven Hundred Springs and Exit 380 share is a commitment to the true soul of country music — what Steve Earle calls real music. ...It's all about honesty and lack of pretense."
"For over a decade, Dustin Blocker has led some form of Exit 380, one of the most intriguing local bands. (...) Unfortunately, drummer Bobby Shoes decided to leave Exit 380 last year and the more rocking Cities side of the project had to be set aside. Thankfully, Blocker and crew persevered and finished Townies, a solid collection of country-influenced rock and folk."
Forget alt-rock, the members of Exit 380 must have thought, it’s time to plow an earthier sound. So shall it be.
Townies, the sixth full-length project for this Dallas-Fort Worth band, offers a soil-in-the-fingernails style. Think Mumford & Sons as filtered through early R.E.M. The 11-track disc, released on Dallas’ Hand Drawn Records, finds Dustin Blocker, Jeremy Hutchison, Aaron Borden and Jon Hutchison weaving interlocking harmonies with a rustic, swampy brand of rock. Banjo, lap steel guitar, mandolin and harmonica blend with drums, electric guitar, bass, organ and synthesizers.
Call it artistic maturity, or simply call it the product of more than a decade making local music. The Townies CD was recorded in Dallas and Fort Worth studios, so it’s totally homegrown. But tracks such as “Run for the Gold” and “Soul Burning Train” fit beautifully in the current roots-driven, hand-harvested national indie rock scene.
"Check out the first single “Soul Burning Train,” on which Blocker’s lingering vocals are answered by bluesy acoustic guitar lines and a gentle banjo rhythm."
"Nominated "Best Pop Act" Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards 2011"
"Exit 380 just gets better with time. They have a track, and they are staying that track, with a little subtle experimentation. This is what drives a band up and keeps them fresh."
"The song ("Moonshiner Run"), which will also appear on the band's planned 2011 release, Townies, is among the best offerings we've yet heard from the band."
"Exit 380 might be the quintessential local rock band. They play, play, play and unabashedly pay homage to their favorite grunge-era bands while maintaining a quirky, idiosyncratic edge."
"Nominated "Best Rock Act" - Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards
"I also bet that more than half of the guitarists and drummers in allegedly progressive local bands (read: Denton post-punks) couldn't sit in with some of Fort Worth's most exemplary mod-rock outfits, including Merkin, In Memory of Man, and Exit 380, bands that are loud, in tune, and tight as hell."
"Exit 380 is a typical rock band, though you wouldn't know it from recent gigs."
"WINNER "Song of the Year - 'Alexander Stone' " - FW Weekly Music Awards 2009"
"Exit 380 has reached a new technical level with Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Stone. After years of giving over their sound to producers and engineers, Blocker and company self-produced, -engineered, and -mixed the entire CD during a nine-month period at the Fort Worth home of guitarist Borden."
"Nominated "Best Rock Act" - Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards
"Nominated "Best Rock Act" - Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards
"...Denton's own Exit 380 brings innovative rock stylings to a raucous live show."
Exit 380, Warren Jackson Hearne & Le Leek Electrique + Lindby.
Wild Rooster Bar, Fort Worth, TX. 21+. Doors at 8pm.
Cystic Fibrosis Benefit Show
The Capital Bar, Fort Worth, TX. 21+. Doors at 12pm.
FRIDAY, JULY 5TH, HAND DRAWN RECORDS PRESENTS: Live at The Kessler Theater (Dallas, TX) – Brandon Callies Band “Life is Still Good ” EP Release Show with The Orange and Exit 380
Details: Friday, July 5th, The Kessler Theater. The Orange, Brandon Callies Band, Exit 380. Doors at 7pm. Show at 8pm.
Presale Tickets $12: http://www.prekindle.com/promo/id/22815447474241444
HOB Dallas - The Cambridge Room w/ Red Wanting Blue and Exit 380
EVENT DETAILS: http://www.houseofblues.com/tickets/eventdetail.php?eventid=83244
Hand Drawn Records Unofficial "Not-South By"Showcase --> FREE SHOW
Brass House | Sat., March 15th - "24 Bands, 2 Stages. No Wristbands."
BRASS STAGE
2pm- Bird Meets Winter (Denton)
3pm- Lindby (Fort Worth)
4pm- Son of Swan (Dallas)
5pm- Black Books (Austin)
6pm- Machine Don't lie (Austin)
7pm- Swindle Boys (Fort Worth)
8pm- Un Chien (Fort Worth)
9pm- Exit 380 (Dallas-Fort Worth)
10pm- Omarr Awake (Austin)
11pm- Brandon Callies Band (Austin)
12am- Ephrata (Seattle)
1am- Birds of the Night (Denton)
ANNEX STAGE
2:20pm- John Earle Mainord (Denton)
3:20pm- Gollay (Fort Worth)
4:20pm- Mills & Co. (Fort Worth)
5:20pm- Andrew Tinker (Denton)
6:20pm- Jonathan Jeter (Greenville)
7:20pm- Paco Estrada (Dallas)
8:20pm- Buggaboo (Austin)
9:20pm- Graham Wilkinson (Austin)
10:20pm- Kalu James (Austin)
11:20pm- Bad Mountain (Dallas)
12:20am- Chase Ryan and The Grave (Denton)
1:20am- The Demigs (Denton)
Celebrating Fossil Group's 30th Anniversary (event not open to the public)
FORT WORTH RELEASE SHOW HDRCOMP3:
Swindle Boys - 12am
Exit 380 - 11pm
Taylor Craig Mills - 10pm
Andrew Tinker - 9pm
Read More: http://handdrawnrecords.com/2014/01/21/coming-soon-a-compilation-volume-3/
Details TBA. Cancer Benefit, performances by Andrew Tinker and Exit 380.
COURTYARD THEATER INFO: http://www.plano.gov/index.aspx?NID=208
Free Outdoor Show at The Foundry (Dallas, TX)! Exit 380 and Andrew Tinker
VINYL PREORDER + DIGITAL RELEASE: PHOTOMAPS BY EXIT 380
Exit 380 - 12a
Goodwin - 11pm
Chase Ryan and the Grave - 10pm
READ MORE: http://handdrawnrecords.com/exit-380s-photomaps-releasing-july-2014-vinyl/
VINYL RELEASE: PHOTOMAPS LIMITED EDITION VINYL (300 qty)
Lineup: TBA
READ MORE: http://handdrawnrecords.com/your-photo-in-our-vinyl-photomaps-record-contest-exit-380/
Hand Drawn Records Presents: HAND-PICKED
LIVE MUSIC SHOWCASE FEATURING:EXIT 380 | BAD MOUNTAIN | KITES & BOOMERANGS
Hand Drawn Records Presents: Hand-Picked | LIVE MUSIC SHOWCASE at Shipping and Receiving (9/26): featuring Exit 380, Bad Mountain, Kites & Boomerangs
THE SHOW: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 @ SHIPPING & RECEIVING (FORT WORTH)
Show 9pm. 21+. $7 cover.
We are launching a new live music showcase, “Hand-Picked,” in which our staff selects some of their favorite artists to perform at different venues across North Texas. Our inaugural show will be played by a couple of roots-based artists whom we are quite familiar (okay, they’re on our roster), Exit 380 and Bad Mountain, and an eclectic pop act we’ve been eyeing for some time, Kites & Boomerangs.
The first “Hand-Picked” show will be performed at one of Fort Worth’s newest (see: burgeoning) venues, the “Near Southside” locale, Shipping & Receiving. The venue has been pulling in some incredible acts (most recently, Bob Schneider and Old 97’s Rhett Miller), and we are beyond stoked to bring this show to you on their outdoor stage!
As always, HDR will have some unique giveaways for attendees, so stay tuned for more on that front. In the meantime, check out the acts slated for the showcase below and we’ll see you on Friday, September 26th!
Free to the Public! http://spinsterrecords.com
Hand Drawn records Presents: Un Chien "A Heavy Hand" Video Release Party at Live Oak Music Hall (Fort Worth, TX)
Preformances by Un Chien, Exit 380 and The Cush.
Doors 8pm. Show 9pm. Tickets: http://www.theliveoak.com/
Spinster Records *Vinyl Only Record Store in Oak Cliff | Performances by Exit 380, Brandon Callies and Omarr Awake
Free and Open to the Public - 12-2pm.
KXT and Shipping & Receiving Present: Ben Kweller, with Salim Nourallah and Exit 380
Austin's own Ben Kweller makes his triumphant return to Shipping & Receiving!
Ben Kweller, backed by his full band will play South Main Saturdays on April 18. Kweller has released 5 full length albums, three EPs and collaborated on many others. His genius appears on albums from Bright Eyes , Guster, The Bens and various others. Kweller is a force within the Texas music scene and has an undeniable national and international following. Salim Nourallah and Exit 380 will open. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 the day of.
EXIT 380: 3:30-4:30PM BLUE STAGE
The Dallas Music District Festival makes its debut on May 16th and 17th, 2015, to celebrate the city’s vibrant music, art and culture scene. DMD Fest features a wide variety of musical genres on two stages during two days. Experience some of the area’s best food trucks, live music and local artisan offerings along a spectacular view of the Dallas skyline.
In addition to the music festival, DMD Fest will be collaborating with the City of Dallas for the annual Trinity River Wind Festival. The Trinity Wind Festival runs from 11am to 5pm and is a free event with 10,000+ kite goers expected in attendance.