Hold Steady - Stay Positive. Good music and a better story.

If you’ve heard of The Hold Steady you probably saw them live given they tour over 300 days a year.  People that know them raise your had; those that don’t stand up and take notice. The Hold Steady is a Brooklyn-based rock band that just released its latest album - Stay Positive.  This is the band’s fourth album  and was released in the UK on July 14 and the USA a day later.

In a recent interview with Gothimist the bands leader, Craig Finn tells the story behind how the new album became called Stay Positive.  “It was something that arose out of my constant surprise when people ask me for my autograph. I always write ‘Stay Positive’ in my autographs, and it stuck with me from writing it a bunch of times. I came up with a song of the same name, and once I worked on that I kind of had it pretty early on in the record’s genesis.”

The record is about aging gracefully and about maintaining that hope and optimism in the face of bigger events, something that is deeply personal to the band members.  Craig Finn is 36 and, “at the age of 30 I was working in an office, thinking my rock band days were behind me.

In the five years since forming, the guys in the band have gone through a bunch of typical thirty something stuff- babies born, family members dying, relationships started, relationships ended, health problems, joy, struggle, life, etc.   This last summer we opened for the Rolling Stones in Ireland. We have met many of our musical heroes.”

The song Constructive Summer is a driving song about trying harder.    Listen to the song below.

According to Finn, the most exciting aspect of our band is the community of fans that have followed the band around the country.  “In talking to them, we have found that no matter their ages, they are so much like us as people, that they seem at times an extension of the music.   These are our lives. These are your lives. This is our fourth record. Stay Positive.”