New 5-Song “LV” Coming from Hellbound Glory May 13th
Brand new, long-anticipated music from Reno, Nevada’s Hellbound Glory is finally on its way in the form of a brand new EP scheduled for release on May 13th called LV. It is exclusively a digital release, and is the first new music aside from a few individual singles since the band released its last full-length Damaged Goods in November of 2011. The album is now available for pre-order through iTunes.
Accompanying the release will be a video for the song “Streets of Aberdeen” from Ryan Short of King of Hearts Productions, and is scheduled to be released May 6th. Hellbound Glory will also hit the road in support of LV this Summer.
Taking its title from front man Leroy Virgil’s initials, “LV” was recorded in the songwriter’s original hometown and music mecca, Aberdeen, Washington. It was recorded to analog tape at the Oceanside Recording Studio, overlooking the bank of the Wishkah River.
Longtime friend, musician, and Aberdeen native, Brian Smith who was tapped to co-produce, record, engineer, and mix the session explains, “I took a 6 year hiatus from recording, but I kept the room and the gear”¦ This was the project that made me want to pull the sheets back and dust it off.”
Smith is no stranger to Virgil, first recording the young singer at age 15. Smith continues, “Even at 15, I could recognize his talent.”
LV is an exploration of the legacy and ghosts of Aberdeen’s distant and recent past, including Virgil’s own. Virgil explains, “I grew up in Aberdeen, WA and spent half my time on my stepdad’s oyster farm and the other half on those streets. When the song ‘Streets of Aberdeen’ came to me, it opened up a floodgate of memories, emotions, and stories. I knew I had to go back there to capture what it was like for me growing up. These are the most personal recordings I’ve ever done.”
Hellbound Glory was thrust into the national spotlight when it was announced they would open for Kid Rock on his Rebel Soul tour during the winter and spring of 2013. After the tour the band experienced some lineup changes, and has recently toured with The Supersuckers.
Hellbound Glory won Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year in 2010 for their breakout album Old Highs & New Lows, and front man Leroy Virgil is considered by many to be one of country music’s greatest undiscovered songwriters.
LV Track List:
1. Streets of Aberdeen
2. Just a Shell
3. So Nervous, No Service
4. Small Township
5. Goodnight, Irene
April 15, 2014 @ 9:08 am
May is shaping up to be a good month for new music. Sturgill, Matt Woods, now HG.
April 15, 2014 @ 9:20 am
FINALLY!
I have to use this comment section as a place to lament, though..
I watched the Youtube video of the live show they taped a month or so back, and I must say I was not impressed. They sounded like a high school battle of the bands act. Poor quality venue and sound work was partly to blame, I’m sure, but Leroy’s standing up there, hollering awful lyrics into a broken up microphone, drowned out by sloppy riffs on a $100 Squier strat.. Just not my idea of a good country show..
I realize Leroy’s somewhat of a visionary, and very respected around here (by me, too), but I honestly do not care of I ever hear an album’s worth of material like that.
On the bright side, he did put out two stripped down, soulful renditions of The Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers” and “Wild Horses” that are hauntingly beautiful and well done. They’re on Youtube, and for anyone who hasn’t heard them, they’re WELL worth your time.
April 15, 2014 @ 9:58 am
There has been a souring on Hellbound Glory here recently for some, or many people, and the fact that this announcement isn’t resonating on a larger scale is further evidence of this. Some of it might have to do with the changeover in the band that has made the sound suffer at times, some of it is because when Hellbound Glory first came into some people’s consciousness, it was when Leroy was sitting down on a bass drum and doing a more acoustic thing, so that is what Hellbound Glory will always be to them. Leroy Virgil has suffered from not being able to fit the right people around him, but he was never going to be a huge country star. Leroy Virgil is a songwriter. Go back and try to listen to many of those albums from Townes Van Zandt, I dare you. Many of them are downright dreadful. Townes was also known for being a terrible live performer at times. But his legacy has endured beyond many artist much higher than his stature because Townes could write the songs nobody else could. And that is Leroy Virgil.
I continue to hope that at some point Leroy will be able to put all the pieces together around him that he needs and be able to mine the true heart of the songs in a live context in the future. Unlike Townes, Leroy can be an astounding live performer. But as far as this EP, this is about Leroy and the songs, and this announcement immediately makes “LV” one of my most anticipated albums of 2014.
April 15, 2014 @ 10:13 am
I think one difference between Leroy and Townes is that although Townes was not within his charm as a singer, Leroy has shown himself, in my opinion, to be a very strong and versatile country singer. As a singer, I think he’s up there with Sturgill Simpson. You’re probably right that mainstream success was never in the cards, but I think he has the perfomance talent to attain an Americana-ish level of success.
April 15, 2014 @ 10:17 am
That is, Townes was not without his charm as a singer.
April 15, 2014 @ 11:05 am
I guess what I was trying to say is that if you’re a fan of Leroy and Hellbound Glory, I think you have to understand where the heart and the most important element of the music lies, which is in his songwriting. I saw them in Austin a while back, and concur his garage sale Squier (I think it still had a $50 price tag on it) sounded like garbage, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the set because of Leroy’s songs, and because I think he can be a great singer, even in the more electric context as long as you don’t bring any preconceived expectations to the table.
April 15, 2014 @ 11:29 am
I agree, and I can respect that. He’s got some losers in his song lineup, though. Repo Man is the one that comes to mind. He’s got more in that same vein that just don’t do anything for me. However. Upon second look at the songs on this new one, it may be a real gem. If “Just a Shell” is the song I think it is, and the rest are along the same lines, I’ll be digging it for sure.
April 15, 2014 @ 7:46 pm
Are you thinking of the song that says something to the effect of ” just a shell of a hell of a man”? If so, I’m looking forward to that one too.
April 15, 2014 @ 1:05 pm
This is the real tragedy. I thought that the Kid Rock tour would be HBG’s real break and they would come into their own, and it seems like they’ve kind of imploded since then.
I thought HBG was at its best when it was stand up bass, acoustic, and electric lap, with Leroy sitting on a drum. Ideally, I’d like it like that with a drummer. But I saw them before then when they were more electric, and that was amazing too.
However, the last time I saw them, they played for less than 40 minutes, and they did not sound remotely country. Leroy was an amazing showman (especially given how small the crowd was) and I can enjoy them just for their lyrics no matter what the music behind them is, but it was a huge disappointment.
There are a ton of great songs that I’ve seen HBG play in 2012 that they don’t play now and they haven’t recorded, and I have a feeling won’t be recorded ever.
Again, they’re still better at their worst than 95% of other country bands at their best, but I feel like they could be so much better.
April 15, 2014 @ 3:43 pm
Totally. I would contend that Kid Rock brings more rap/rock fans to his concerts than country fans, though. I doubt his last few years have brought him a whole lot of hardcore fans. Real shame nothing more substantial come of it for Hellbound Glory, though.
Absolutely. They were on their mark with the stripped down setup. His songwriting and voice pair up with that second to none. Hell, I enjoy all the youtube videos of him singing half drunk with just his acoustic shot with an iPhone. Less is more with him for sure.
For some reason, I swear I read that he had entire catalogs of songs written, maybe for the ‘Merica thing.. Who knows, hopefully they throw a full length release out there for us in the fall or something.
April 15, 2014 @ 9:26 am
One more thing..
Why would you preorder an album on iTunes? I know it’s not uncommon, I just never understood the point..
April 15, 2014 @ 10:07 am
One good reason to pre-order an album is to create a metadata event for the artist. If lots of fans pre-order a release, then once the album is actually released, all those sales register at once, allowing the album to be placed more prominently in things like iTunes and Amazon’s rankings and such, which creates additional interest for the title.
April 15, 2014 @ 11:26 am
Gotcha. In that case, these little guys should explain that and get their name out there a little better. Plenty of fans who are going to be buying it the day of anyway would, I’m sure, have no issue with that.
April 15, 2014 @ 9:55 am
I had the pleasure of hearing “Streets of Aberdeen” live at a venue that we book and a version of just Leroy and his acoustic guitar sitting at my kitchen table, and I have to say that everyone is in for a real treat!!! This has to be one of my favorite HBG songs!!!
April 15, 2014 @ 10:47 am
i’m a physical product guy (even if I’m forced to download something, i burn a disc and label the case so i can have it on the shelf), so I think it sucks that its digital only…i would assume a small press run of a few thousand discs or records would sell out easily. either way, i’m definitely excited to hear some new stuff from one of my favorite bands!
April 15, 2014 @ 11:02 am
He may be trying not to overshadow a full-length release coming up, and this is more just to tide folks over since it has been so long since Leroy released new music.
April 15, 2014 @ 6:39 pm
I hope that’s the case. I know he tours constantly and is always busy, but as much as I love live shows, I prefer a release every year from my favorite artists (HB being one of them). Just to keep my interest I guess, and I also like physical media, but now only on vinyl. Sadly, HB’s best album isn’t on vinyl (Old Highs).
I’ll pre-order because I want to make sure the good artists get my money. So should all of you!
April 15, 2014 @ 12:22 pm
Trigger you have to remember that one of Leroy’s influences is Kurt Cobain, who was notorious for obtaining cheap pawn shop and garage sale guitars. I seem to remember some of the guitars were Japanese and Mexico made Squiers. This may be a link to Leroy’s cheaply bought guitars as well.
I’ll make a disclaimer here: I am no expert in guitars or Nirvana. I just read a magazine on the life of Kurt Cobain.
Oh and by the way, badass! I’ve been waiting for some new HBG music!!!
April 15, 2014 @ 1:59 pm
I don’t think Cobain ever played a Squier. He was big into the short scale, “offset waist” Fenders, though. Mustang, Jaguar, etc.. A lot of those were Japanese made, and poor sellers when they came out initially. A good bargain could be had on those guitars back in the 80s and 90s when bought secondhand. Cobain put those old Fenders on the map, popularity wise. An aside, some of the old Japanese Fenders/ Squiers are better quality instruments than Mexican Fenders. Second to American made, many say the Japanese models were the best.
And, Kurt Cobain’s music was punk inspired rock music. Played through multiple fuzz pedals. Whole different ballpark there. Most real country pickers run guitar straight through a tube amp on the clean channel, and maybe some spring reverb if we’re really getting wild haha..
April 15, 2014 @ 6:07 pm
Sweet. Thanks for the lesson.
April 15, 2014 @ 2:18 pm
Townes was only a bad performer when he was drunk. Steve Earle said that Townes shot himself in foot quite a lot and it’s his own fault that he wasn’t more successful, the same can be said for Leroy.
April 15, 2014 @ 2:52 pm
Do you think it’s substance related with Leroy? As big of a fan as I am, I don’t know a whole lot about him. He touts the hard living lifestyle, is that his reality?
April 15, 2014 @ 3:49 pm
So PSYCHED! Like Ryan, I got to hear him play this live and let me tell you, it is a masterpiece.
Reading these comments I’m taken aback as to his lack of whatever it is seen he’s lacking. I love Repo Man and the range of songs he has. Obviously, to each his own and I don’t want to come across as all judgy, but I really don’t see anything but stellar writing, and great showmanship.
April 15, 2014 @ 4:53 pm
I’ll take back what I said about Repo Man. But he’s got some duds. To be fair, I’m on youtube every week darn near looking up any new stuff he puts out. For a while there it was like people were uploading new tunes of his all the time. A lot of them may have been unfinished, or not meant for a wider audience yet, and that could be why they weren’t great. In truth, yes I’m excited to finally hear new product from Leroy.
“Barroom Beauty” has got to be one of the greatest songs ever written. I saw live footage of him saying his dream is to have Willie Nelson record that song. That would be awesome
April 15, 2014 @ 5:42 pm
I’m excited for this. I’m really excited about “Streets of Aberdeen”, I’ve loved that song to death since Halloween. I have a feeling the upcoming version is going to take some time to grow on me though, as I’ve listened to the acoustic, foot taping version so much, THAT is just the way that song is supposed to be. Still though, very excited about this.
April 15, 2014 @ 6:37 pm
This sounds good, but I really don’t care for 5-song CDs and I prefer buying a hard copy with liner notes in a jewel case – just my thing.
Nonetheless, I like these guys a lot and I am excited.
April 15, 2014 @ 6:46 pm
BTW – I preordered on Amazon and it has a May 6th date.
April 15, 2014 @ 6:53 pm
Ol’ Leroy! Can’t wait to hear this and Sturgills new album!
April 16, 2014 @ 4:44 pm
Just listened to the samples on amazon. This seems to be an acoustic ep, which is what I was hoping for, as opposed to the sound in “The Fued”. The samples are short, and I’ll hold off judgment until I hear the ep in full, but so far ” Streets of Aberdeen “, ” Just A Shell” and “Goodnight Irene” sound like winners. That being said, I’d still love to hear that ‘Merica record they recorded a few years back with Shooter Jennings. I was really hoping that “Cliche Country Singer” and “Guess We Got It Made” were going to get a proper release on there. Maybe someday they will.
April 17, 2014 @ 3:23 am
Don’t know how I missed this article. Can’t wait for new stuff from HG. I’ve brought HG to the attention of many of my friends and it’s not uncommon for people to put tell me to play some “Hellbound”. I find it hard to believe that people are not eating up Leroy’s music. I was at his San Diego stop with The Supersuckers and there where very few people at the show. Even my mainstream “country” friends like his stuff.