“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. It sounds
inspired.” – Central Track
+++
Jared Putnam of The March Divide as photographed by Short Eared Dog Photography.
+++
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
+++
PLAY, POST & SHARE
The March Divide | “I’m
Not Perfect”
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ougIiJ1TFmA
[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/TheMarchDivide-ImNotPerfect
+++
“When it came to making the video for ‘I'm Not Perfect,’ I’ve always enjoyed
working with Hector Gallardo of Subharmonic City Productions,” says Jared Putnam of The March Divide about the video for the first single from his upcoming
sixth album, Lost Causes (June 10,
Slow Start Records). “If a song
brings out a tough memory or emotion that you're just not ready to deal with, Hector can put visuals to it that will
make you look and keep you from turning away.”
See
the “I'm Not Perfect” video via Ghettoblaster Magazine here.
Texas-based music discovery website Central Track says
of the song, “Fort Worth-based Jared
Putnam has a soft spot for ‘90s pop rock. ‘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.”
Putnam elaborates, saying, “I’m Not Perfect” came out completely different than I had
initially imagined. Writing sad songs about loneliness comes very naturally to
me and this song was an idea that would check that box. When my producer, Mike Major listened to my rough demo,
he heard it as a full-on rock song. It wasn’t until I heard the bass and drums
that I realized I wasn’t seeing the forest for the trees. Something that was so
obvious to everyone, but had been hiding behind in the blind spot of my comfort
zone.”
+++
The March Divide
Lost Causes
(Slow Start Records)
June 10th, 2022
Track Listing:
01. I Wanna Hate You
02. Tension in the Air (STREAM)
03. I’m Not Perfect (STREAM | VIDEO)
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
+++
PLAY, POST & SHARE
The March Divide | “Tension
In The Air”
[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/TheMarchDivide-TensionInTheAir
+++
“Going into making the album, ‘Tension In The Air’ was the most put together song I had,” says Jared Putnam, the man behind The March Divide, about the second
single from his upcoming sixth album Lost Causes (June 10, Slow Start Records).
“I had a vision for ‘Tension In The
Air,’” he continues. “I wrote this song right around the time that I
finally started playing shows again, and for the first time in a long time, I
had a pretty optimistic view of where things were going.”
Putnam has built a loyal following for his candid lyrical
style, which can vary from tongue-in-cheek sarcasm to almost too self-effacing.
Either way, it’s this quality that is clearly one of his greatest strengths,
building him a tidy fan base that has kept (and now returned) Putnam to where
he loves to be: the road.
“Putnam’s
urgent melodies, wrapped in just-slick-enough production, draw you in and keep
you there,” says The Big Takeover in
its premiere coverage of the song. “‘Tension
In The Air’ is one of The March
Divide’s best examples of this trick to date.”
“I’ve always been fascinated with dissecting what
makes a song great,” Putnam says.
“I’m 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.”
+++
The March
Divide | Live
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)
05/12/2022: Sacramento, CA @ The Library of Musiclandria (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/13/2022: Bakersfield, CA @ Great Change Brewing (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
05/18/2022: Bisbee, AZ @ The Hitching Post Saloon
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
06/04/2022: Boerne, TX @ Gather Boerne
06/05/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
06/06/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Sternewirth Sessions
06/09/2022: Wichita Falls @ The High Dive
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 @ Fralo’s
06/24/2022: Fort Stockton, TX @ The Old ‘76
06/25/2022: Clovis, NM @ Red Door Brewing
07/07/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
07/09/2022: Cibolo, TX @ 1908 House of Wine & Ale
07/21/2022: Wichita Falls @ The High Dive
07/22/2022: Tyler, TX @ ETX Brewing
08/05/2022: Corpus Christi, TX @ Art Walk
08/28/2022: Cloudcroft, NM @ Cloudcroft Brewing
+++
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 10th via Slow Start Records preceded by the
singles “I’m Not Perfect” (March 18th), “Tension In The Air” (April 8th), “I Wanna Hate You” (April 29th), and “King of The Lost Cause” (May 20th.)
Jared Putnam of The March
Divide is available for interviews. Contact Josh
Bloom at Fanatic for
more information.
+++
The March Divide | Links
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE
: SLOW START RECORDS
+++
Josh Bloom at Fanatic
Promotion | Contact
WEBSITE
: FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL
Jared Putnam of The March Divide as photographed by Short Eared Dog Photography.
“Impressively hooky.” — American Songwriter
Lost Causes
(Slow Start Records)
June 10th, 2022
Track Listing:
02. Tension in the Air (STREAM)
03. I’m Not Perfect (STREAM | VIDEO)
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
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)
05/12/2022: Sacramento, CA @ The Library of Musiclandria (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/13/2022: Bakersfield, CA @ Great Change Brewing (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
05/18/2022: Bisbee, AZ @ The Hitching Post Saloon
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
06/04/2022: Boerne, TX @ Gather Boerne
06/05/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
06/06/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Sternewirth Sessions
06/09/2022: Wichita Falls @ The High Dive
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 @ Fralo’s
06/24/2022: Fort Stockton, TX @ The Old ‘76
06/25/2022: Clovis, NM @ Red Door Brewing
07/07/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
07/09/2022: Cibolo, TX @ 1908 House of Wine & Ale
07/21/2022: Wichita Falls @ The High Dive
07/22/2022: Tyler, TX @ ETX Brewing
08/05/2022: Corpus Christi, TX @ Art Walk
08/28/2022: Cloudcroft, NM @ Cloudcroft Brewing
I wanna hate you. I’m not perfect. Giving up. King of the lost cause. This world is gonna end.
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