Sunday, February 17, 2019

The Rad Trads – each member of Brooklyn-based group is both songwriter, lead vocalist – shares two videos for new “Thumbtack” single.


Mixing punk rock energy, horn drenched soul, jazz precision, MAGNET notes band’s “genre-defying, entertaining-for-everyone live performances.”

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The Rad Trads (L-R): John Fatum, Alden Harris-McCoy, Patrick Sargent, Mike Harlen, Michael Fatum. Photo by John Carges.

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“A confluence of excellent musicianship, deft writing and one wicked sense of humor,” says PopMatters in its premiere coverage of the new video by The Rad Trads, which sees the band biking through exotic locales. Spoiler: they were actually sitting stationary at a Citibike docking station in Brooklyn.


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The Rad Trads also shot an acoustic performance of “Thumbtack” “porch-style” on the beach in Duck, NC during the summer of 2018. See it now at For Folk’s Sake or at the link below.


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The Rad Trads – Live

03/09/2019: Nashville, TN @ The Basement
03/20/2019: Columbus, OH @ The Basement (w/ Bailen)
03/21/2019: Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe (w/ Bailen)
03/24/2019: New Cumberland, WV @ Oak Glen (Music and Art Festival) 

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‘Thumbtack’ is a song about love lost, in which the character is offering up various forms of self-flagellation or humiliation to win his lover back,” says Mike Harlen of Brooklyn-based band, The Rad Trads, about the band’s latest single and music video.

In a band where each of its five members contributes their own songs, and takes lead vocals on the ones that make the cut, it’s worth noting that Harlen is the writer and vocalist on this one.

For the “Thumbtack” music video, just-premiered via PopMatters, Harlen explains, “The video was directed by our good friend Taylor Ashton, and shot by him and Sam Graff. He set up a giant green screen behind a Citibike docking station in Red Hook and had us pedal the bikes in place while he superimposed various exotic locales behind us. It’s a playful, quirky video that reflects the tone of the song, as well as the goofy good-natured-ness of the band.”

The genuine friendship between Harlen and the rest of The Rad Trads can also be seen in an acoustic performance of the song, shot in Duck, NC on a break from touring this past summer. “The band’s not sacrificed a bit of their soul in this stripped-down reimagining of the self-deprecating single,” says For Folk’s Sake in its post of the clip.

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More about The Rad Trads

The gentlemen comprising the Brooklyn-based five-piece The Rad Trads distinguish themselves in ways few bands can. Already drawing lines around the block at home, the globe-trotting group’s singular take on rock n roll mixes punk rock energy, horn drenched soul, and jazz precision, all with a lighthearted but sincere delivery. It’s a sound and show that is gaining steam world over as The Rad Trads continue to tour in support of On Tap, out now from Hornblow Recordings. Listen to On Tap here.

Challenging but humorous, at times The Rad Trads bring to mind Springsteen and his “Big Man” Clarence Clemons, Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks-era vocal style, and Wilco’s epic guitar breakdowns. All of this sonic goodness is only upstaged by the fact that the guys in The Rad Trads manage to exist as five distinct songwriters and singers in a band that still sounds powerfully egoless, familial, and cohesive. And none of them even planned on being vocalists!


On Tap by The Rad Trads is out now from Hornblow Recordings. The Rad Trads will continue to tour throughout 2019. Members of The Rad Trads are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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The Rad Trads
On Tap
Out Now
(Hornblow Recordings)



Track Listing:

01. Good Luck Unto Ya (VIDEO)
02. Manhattan Bridge Serenade
03. Key Club
04. My Place
05. Thumbtack (VIDEO)
06. Sarge’s Boogaloo
07. Vada Via
08. Little Pie Blues
09. Wishing Well (VIDEO)

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The Rad Trads - Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


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