“I’m Not Perfect” is “a love letter for 1990s rock bands like the Gin Blossoms, Counting Crows, Tonic and Sister Hazel with a hint of Cheap Trick.”

Even while wearing influences on his sleeve, Jared Putnam of The March Divide has made “Lost Causes” sound like one of 2022’s freshest albums.
 
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Jared Putnam of The March Divide as photographed by Short Eared Dog Photography.
 
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The March Divide | “I’m Not Perfect”
 

[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/TheMarchDivide-ImNotPerfect
 
“Fort Worth-based Jared Putnam has a soft spot for ’90s pop rock,” says Central Track in its premiere coverage of “I’m Not Perfect,” the first single from Lost Causes, the sixth album by Putnam’s project The March Divide (June 10^th, Slow Start Records).
 
“The 10-song Lost Causes finds Putnam backed by bassist Ernie Garcia and drummer Jason West. Together with noted producer Mike Major, they made a love letter for 1990s rock bands like the Gin Blossoms, Counting Crows, Tonic and Sister Hazel with a hint of Cheap Trick.”
 
“I’m Not Perfect” might be an open nod to the 1990s rock that was on the radio a lot after Kurt Cobain died, but it doesn’t sound like a retread. Compare it with songs from August and Everything After (Counting Crows) or New Miserable Experience (Gin Blossoms) and it sounds inspired, but not taking direct lifts from those records.”
 
“This song came out completely different that I had initially imagined,” Putnam explains. “Writing mellow sad songs about utter loneliness, for whatever reason, comes very naturally to me. Over the years, I’ve developed a following that has a huge appetite for these songs. These songs are very therapeutic for me to write and it means the world to me that they connect so strongly with so many people.”
 
 “‘I’m Not Perfect’ was going to be one of those songs,” Putnam continues. “I tracked a very rough demo version of what I had and sent it off to Mike Major and he heard it as a full on rock song, which was the opposite of where I had intended to take it. When I realized I wasn’t seeing the forest for the trees, it just totally clicked from there.”
 
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The March Divide | In The Press
 

“Impressively hooky.” — American Songwriter
 
“Relentlessly catchy.” — Under The Radar
 
“Bittersweet beauty.” — Impose
 
“Putnam’s vocals pop.” — PopMatters
 
“Hits the mark again and again.” — The Big Takeover
 
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The March Divide
Lost Causes
(Slow Start Records)
June 10^th, 2022
  

Track Listing:
 
01. I Wanna Hate You
02. Tension in the Air
03. I’m Not Perfect (STREAM)
04. Dover Cir
05. Corduroy
06. Giving Up
07. Virginia (STREAM)
08. Mont Del Dr
09. King of the Lost Cause
10. This World is Gonna End
 
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The March Divide | Live
 
03/24/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
03/25/2022: Cibolo, TX @ 1908 House of Wine & Ale
03/26/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
03/27/2022: Corpus Christi, TX @ Executive Surf Club
04/01/2022: Plano, TX @ Terra Mediterranean
04/02/2022: Harlingen, TX @ Hop Shop
04/03/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
04/08/2022: Tyler, TX @ ETX Brewing
04/09/2022: Cibolo, TX @ 1908 House of Wine & Ale
04/14/2022: Wichita Falls, TX @ The High Dive
04/15/2022: Plano, TX @ Terra Mediterranean
04/16/2022: Wichita Falls, TX @ Iron Horse Pub (w/ Brannon Oliver)
04/23/2022: Coleman, TX @ Coleman Film Festival
04/27/2022: Clovis, NM @ Bandolero Brewery
04/28/2022: Albuquerque, NM @ Canteen Brewhouse
04/29/2022: Madrid, NM @ Mineshaft Tavern
04/30/2022: Prescott, AZ @ The Raven Cafe
05/01/2022: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Beehive
05/03/2022: Carson City, NV @ Shoe Tree Brewing
05/04/2022: Sparks, NV @ Elbow Room (w/Blunderbusst)
05/05/2022: Mindon, NV @ Shoe Tree Brewing
05/06/2022: Ashland, OR @ Art Walk (w/Blunderbusst) (Early Show)
05/06/2022: Ashland, OR @ Oberon’s (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/07/2022: Seattle, WA @ Lucky Liquor (w/Blunderbusst)
05/08/2022: Salem, OR @ Infinity Room (w/Blunderbusst)
05/10/2022: Portland, OR @ No Fun Bar (w/Blunderbusst)
05/11/2022: Medford, OR @ Johnny B’s (w/Blunderbusst)
05/14/2022: Landers, CA @ Giant Rock (w/Blunderbusst, Ryan Traster)
05/15/2022: Vista, CA @ Aztec Brewery
05/17/2022: Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
05/20/2022: Bisbee, AZ @ Bisbee Grand Hotel
05/21/2022: Alamogordo, NM @ 575 Brewing Company
05/22/2022: Silver City, NM @ Little Toad Creek
06/02/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
06/03/2022: Cibolo, TX @ 1908 House of Wine & Ale
06/05/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
06/11/2022: San Antonio, TX @ The Point Park
06/17/2022: Fort Stockton, TX @ Zero Stone Park
06/18/2022: Wichita Falls, TX @ O’Briens
06/23/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralos
06/24/2022: Fort Stockton, TX @ The Old ‘76
06/25/2022: Clovis, NM @ Red Door Brewing
08/05/2022: Corpus Christi, TX @ Art Walk
08/28/2022: Cloudcroft, NM @ Cloudcroft Brewing
 
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The March Divide | “Virginia”
 

[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/TheMarchDivide-Virginia
 
“‘Virginia’ is the first song that I wrote and recorded for the album and it set the tone,” says Jared Putnam of The March Divide about Lost Causes, his sixth album, out June 10^th on Slow Start Records. “This album is an intentional tribute to 90’s indie-rock. I barely touched my electric guitar in years, but this album seemed to demand it. It took me a little while to get reacquainted with my Telecaster, but I loved doing it.”
 
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The March Divide | About
 

I wanna hate you. I’m not perfect. Giving up. King of the lost cause. This world is gonna end.
 
Jared Putnam is a funny guy. No, really, he is. Don’t let the negative words above, which comprise five of the ten song titles on Lost Causes (oops, he did it again!), Putnam’s sixth album as The March Divide, fool you.
 
Being able to laugh at yourself is one of the tenants of comedy and Putnam’s greatest strength has always been to take his everyman, self-effacing character and wrap it in urgent melodies backed by just-slick-enough production to draw you in and keep you there.
 
It’s why over the years music critics have called his songs “impressively hooky” (American Songwriter) with “classic pop hooks” (The Big Takeover) where his “pop sensibility comes entirely to the forefront” (Under The Radar).
 
As a next-door neighbor who you would actually like to know, Putnam doesn’t try to overstay his welcome, either. Even though he is a prolific songwriter, after the release of his appropriately titled fifth album cinc in April of 2021, he figured he was tapped out of ideas for a while.
 
Instead, he started making the best distillation of his talents to date. As Putnam tells it, inspiration returned as he was just out doing Dad stuff.
 
“I was driving my kid to school and Gin Blossoms came on the radio. I’m a forever fan of Gin Blossoms, but this was ‘Hey Jealousy,’ which commercial radio has been running into the ground for 30 years.
 
“But in that moment, it was the greatest thing I’d ever heard! The hooks, the subject matter, and all the rest were as they’d always been, but I was struck by how it was put together. In that moment, that’s what made the song great.”
 
Putnam has spent years deconstructing pop songs in an attempt to discover the formula. This “Hey Jealousy” epiphany may have been destined, because the blueprint of the connection Putnam realized while just doing Daddy duty allowed him to build Lost Causes.
 
“I’ve always been fascinated with dissecting what makes a song great and trying to find the catalyst for the chemical reaction that emotionally connects us to where a handful of tunes are run into the ground for 30 years,” he says of the rarefied air that a timeless hit song occupies.
 
Joining Putnam under The March Divide banner for Lost Causes are friends Ernie Garcia (long-time player with El Vez and Javier Escovedo) on bass and Jason West on drums.
 
“Our mutual love of Cheap Trick has always made Jason the perfect drummer for my songs,” Putnam says. Lost Causes was mixed and mastered by Mike Major (At The Drive-In, Coheed and Cambria.)
 
“Mike also produced a lot of great bands around the southwest,” Putnam explains. “It wasn’t lost on me that Gin Blossoms are from Tempe and have a very staple southwestern sound. Mike knew what I was going for.”
 
Lyrically, the songs on Lost Causes pick up where the last single from Putnam’s previous album left off. At the time, he had started to write in a more stream of consciousness style, even making a promise to himself not to change his words.
 
“It’s pretty satisfying to just say what you want to say, without worrying about how cool it sounds,” he said at the time.
 
This is why Putnam’s humor shines brighter than ever on Lost Causes.
 
I wanna hate you. I’m not perfect. Giving up. King of the lost cause. This world is gonna end.
 
We have all felt these things, but putting them in song, or voicing them at all could seem whiney or at least cynical and pessimistic.
 
Not so, with Putnam, who has become a master of this somewhat sarcastic craft. Instead, these songs are relatable confessions in a candy coating.
 
“Writing sad songs about utter loneliness comes very naturally to me,” he says. “These kinds of songs are very therapeutic for me to write.”
 
These sad songs are the ones that most connect with Putnam’s growing audience, especially those overseas that have propelled tunes such as his 2019 release “Secrets,” to just-shy of a million Spotify spins.
 
“I’m Not Perfect,” the first single from Lost Causes, started out as one of these “downer” tunes, but in sharing his early demo with his collaborators, Putnam was pushed to make it more, while keeping what makes it The March Divide. The tune opens Lost Causes and is a total success.
 
“Even though writing these types of songs is therapeutic for me, it’s also a rut,” Putnam says. “Emotionally, I got so much more out of working on ‘I’m Not Perfect’ by working with others. I’m hopeful that the fans who crave these songs from me will too. Maybe we can all get out of our sad bastard rut together.”
 
He’s a funny guy.
 
Lost Causes, the sixth album by The March Divide, arrives on June 10^th via Slow Start Records preceded by the singles “I’m Not Perfect” (March 18^th), “Tension In The Air” (April 8^th), “I Wanna Hate You” (April 29^th), and “King of The Lost Cause” (May 20^th.)
 
Jared Putnam of The March Divide is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
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The March Divide | Links
 
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE : SLOW START RECORDS
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL