Third Man Records is excited to release the newest songs from Austin, TX’s Ghost Wolves, available today on 7” vinyl and digital. Formed in 2011 and hardly taking time to sit since then, the Ghost Wolves create, record and tour at a dizzying clip. Blending rock n' roll, punk rock, garage and blues with electronic elements, the duo has earned a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in the modern rock n’ roll underground, touring internationally for almost 8 years straight, with nearly 1000 shows between them in 23+ countries including most of western Europe, the USA, U.K. and Japan.

The recording sessions took place during a very dark time for Carley and Jonny, who have been married for 7 years. Jonny's father, John, received a terminal cancer diagnosis in late 2018. "I was in Connecticut with my dad in the hospital and Carley was in Texas sending me song demos. I'd write her back my thoughts and we went on for a while like that. I was up there almost a month when they first hospitalized him. When he stabilized somewhat, I went back to Austin to take a break and be home briefly, and that's when we recorded this. So we were creating with all of that hurt going on in the background. It was therapeutic for me in a way, to be there with these people, working on art. And I think it came out on the record. It's definitely darker and more intimate than our previous albums."

The three tracks from the sessions are out today on 7" vinyl and digitally by Third Man Records. About the partnership, Carley remembers, "We sent a bunch of labels all the music we recorded, 10 tracks total. When Third Man said they wanted to release some of it, we were popping champagne and screaming at the sky. For us it was like hitting the lotto. We're just fans of the label. They have so many of our heroes in their catalogs, people like Muddy Waters, Wanda Jackson, Dead Weather, Jerry Lee Lewis, the White Stripes. It's mind-blowing that our music will be there alongside them. It doesn't feel real, it feels like a dream."

The band will tour the USA in September 2019 and Europe in February 2020. For more information, visit: https://www.theghostwolves.com/tour

 

9/11 • Kansas City, MO - record bar

9/12 • Cedar Falls, IA, • octopus 

9/13 • Dubuque, IA • the Lift

9/14 • Maquoketa, IA • codfish hollow barnstormers 

9/15 • Chicago, IL • reggie's

9/17 • Cleveland, OH • beachland tavern

9/19 • Detroit, MI • PJ's Lager house

9/20 • Cincinnati, OH • MOTR

9/21 - Indianapolis, IN - Black Circle

9/22 - Nashville, TN - High Watt 

10/5 - Austin, TX - The ABGB

10/25 - Green Bay, WI - Lyric Room

10/26 - Oshkosh, WI - The Howard

 

ABOUT GHOST WOLVES:

At Muddy Roots festival in Belgium this summer, the sound system caught fire and blew up during The Ghost Wolves' set. Mid-show, smoke wafted from the speaker stacks and obscured the stage. "We kept playing." remembers Jonny Wolf "Until there wasn't sound anymore. Then Carley crowd surfed. There was almost a riot. It was incredible.” 

An uncontrolled fire, or an explosion, may be the perfect way to describe the experience of seeing The Ghost Wolves play live. No two shows are alike, and the audience is as much a participatory body as they are paying guests of the band. Carley Wolf is constantly engaging them, urging them to sing and dance, turning her up amps louder, while Jonny hits the drums harder and harder, until all present enter a feverous trance and the walls of the club seem to be ready to come apart. "If we don't walk off stage drenched to our underwear in sweat, it was a bad gig." Jonny says "That's how we gauge if we sucked or we did well. By our sweat levels." 

Rock n' roll is their genre, but the Austin, Texas-based duo explores a wider palette of sounds than just the guitar and drums. Jonny keeps an analog synthesizer and a tape delay box behind his kit, often reaching with a drum stick clenched in hand to smash the keys or spin a knob. Space rays, low rumbles, tape noise and other unidentifiable noises roll over Carley's thunderous one-string guitar tones and helium-pitch vocal lines. She recently scored a gig as a cartoon character in a kids show, playing the lead singer of a teenager punk band. "It was a dream come true." She remarks in her natural Betty-Boop voice. 

The Ghost Wolves’ name comes from a family history on Carley’s side. “I was raised with a pack of wolf hybrid and northern dogs on my parents ranch in central Texas, in the hill country. We’d have a bunch at once, sometimes as many as 11 or 12. My dad is an animal whisperer kind of guy and would rescue them from bad situations, because they don't make great pets for most people. But with a lot of love and room to run, they became members of our family.” Carley remembers. “When we started the band, we would take some of them on tour with us. They’re our mascots, security, merch sellers, and best friends on the road. And when they die, we really feel it, we miss them so much.” 

The duo has released two LP’s and an EP so far on labels from Austin, Berlin, and Nashville. They've also toured the world since starting their band 8 years ago, playing nearly 1000 shows in 23 countries. The Ghost Wolves' recorded music has been featured in film and TV by HBO, ABC, CBS, Disney, Netflix, MTV, Showtime and Alamo Drafthouse. The duo's ongoing clothing collaboration with Tokyo fashion brand Hysteric Glamour, now entering it's 6th season, is currently available at the company's brand stores throughout Asia and online. 

Their most recent recording was made with engineer/producer John Michael Schoepf (bassist for Ray Wylie Hubbard / Night Glitter) in his Austin living room studio. “We were working on 1/2 inch tape and an 8 track Tascam recorder from the 1970’s. We made a point of having no computers or screens in the studio for maximum clarity and focus,” Jonny tells us. "We didn't want distractions. For us, it was just hanging out with John Mike, who's one of our best friends in the world, having some beer and rolling tape into the night."