It was only last August that Bloomington, IL bar-rockin’ band Backyard Tire Fire released their fantastic The Places We Lived which I reviewed here.

Ed Anderson, his brother Matt and Tim Kramp are heading back into the studio in late February with Grammy-Award winning producer Steve Berlin who is also a member of Los Lobos whose last album The Town and the City was reviewed here. Berlin found out about BTF when they opened for Los Lobos last October. They dug Tire Fire’s show so much they invited the band to sit in on the encore! The following week Berlin reached out to talk to the band about the possibility of producing their next record! Berlin said about BTF, “Great songs, great playing and great guys. I’m really looking forward to the recording sessions… In my opinion they are one of America’s best young bands.” I agree.

I think the matching of Berlin to Backyard Tire Fire should be a winning combination.  As with previous efforts from Backyard Tire Fire, the next album will be recorded in a studio, to tape and completely analog. This means that they’ll be pressing vinyl like the did on their last record, I’m sure. The sessions will take place at Type Foundry Studio in Portland, Oregon with Jeff Stuart Saltzman engineering.

They guys recorded a couple of songs for Daytrotter last year that will end up on the album, “Food for Thought” and “Ready or Not.” A couple of really great songs even in their minimal form for Daytrotter.

Click Here for the Daytrotter page for Backyard Tire Fire.

Backyard Tire Fire is on tour starting this weekend through a stop in Iowa City opening for JJ Grey and Mofro on Sunday, February 8th. There’s a gap in the tour dates until March 13th in which they will have been in the studio. Iowa gets three stops through May, so that is pretty cool. I still haven’t made it to the Redstone Room, maybe by April 30th the snow will have subsided and I can make it down there.

January 30 & 31 / Louie’s / Bloomington, IL
February 3 / Bluebird / Bloomington, IN*
February 4 / Downing University Center Theatre / Bowling Green, KY*
February 5 / The Intersection / Grand Rapids, MI*
February 6 / The Magic Bag / Ferndale, MI*
February 7 / The Dame / Lexington, KY*
February 8 / Industry / Iowa City, IA*
March 13 / Chicago Street / Joliet, IL
March 15 / Mountain Stage / Charleston, WV
March 19 / 40 Watt Club / Athens, GA**
March 20 / Emerald Lounge / Asheville, NC**
March 21 / Gottrocks / Greenville, SC**
April 2 / Locals Only / Indianapolis, IN***
April 3 / Southgate House / Cincinnati, OH
April 4 / Barley’s Taproom / Knoxville, TN
April 10 / Mojo’s / Columbia, MO
April 11 / Off Broadway / St. Louis, MO****
April 14 / Wisconsin Public TV / Madison, WI
April 16 / Gerstle’s / Louisville, KY**
April 17 / Hangar 9 / Carbondale, IL**
April 18 / Double Door / Chicago, IL**
April 23 / 7th Street / Minneapolis, MN
April 24 / High Noon Saloon / Madison, WI
April 25 / Green Room / Sheboygan, WI
April 26 / Brown Baer / Elkhart Lake, WI
April 30 / Redstone Room / Davenport, IA
May 1 / Nutty’s North / Sioux Falls, SD
May 2 / Vaudeville Mews / Des Moines, IA

* Supporting JJ Grey & Mofro
** Co-bill with Bloodkin
***Co-bill with Steepwater Band
****Co-bill with Pokey LaFarge