Song of the Week – Had 2 Know (Personal), White Denim

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A few months ago, Austin based White Denim released their 7th album (well, 7th including their debut EP), Stiff. White Denim is an indie rock band from Austin that covers a wide range of musical styles – blues, rock, soul – in their repertoire.

The band was launched in 2006 as a trio – James Petralli (vocals, guitar), Joshua Block (drums), and Steve Terebecki (vocals, bass). In 2010 the band added Austin Jenkins as a second guitarist. But in 2014 Block and Jenkins hooked up with fellow Texan Leon Bridges during a White Denim hiatus, but decided to be a permanent part of his group. For a while that left the status of the group in limbo.

But Petralli and Terebecki hired Jonathan Horne (guitar) and Jeffrey Olson (traps) as replacements and picked up right where they left off.

The band has always had a knack for creative promotional gimmicks to foster a loyal fan following. Their first recordings were self-released on iTunes only. Their EP Workout Holiday was only sold at their gigs. A 2008 release called 11 Songs was sold on their 2008 spring tour as a CD-R. (It was later given a proper release under the title Explosion.)

In order to promote the new album, this winter the band did a series of “pop up” shows in small clubs in Austin. The photo below was taken at a show my nephew and cousin attended on February 18th at the Hotel Vegas, a venue that could only accommodate 150 fans.

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Today’s SotW is “Had 2 Know (Personal)” from Stiff.

This is the first song on the album and kicks it off like horses coming out of the starting gates at Churchill Downs. It has a classic rock sound, much like contemporaries The Black Keys – big guitar riffs and strong vocals. These good ‘ol boys are throwing a party and all you have to do is sing along to be a part of it.

If you don’t believe me just watch the video of them playing the song in a local music store that the band produced in April. The tablature scrolled across the bottom so viewers could learn to play it and upload their own versions to the band’s web page, Instagram or Twitter accounts by May 6th.

They promised to award a signed vinyl copy of Stiff, a limited-edition tour poster and a set of custom guitar picks to the winning musicians making the best version.

Enjoy… until next week.