Toadies go ‘almost acoustic’ on new album
Clark Vogeler stops short of calling the Toadies’ upcoming album an acoustic record.
“It’s almost an acoustic record,” says Vogeler, who plays guitar in the alternative rock band that’s in town Saturday, Aug. 15 on the Summerland tour.
The 12 tracks on “Heretics” are stripped down from the big guitars and loud vocals the band made its name with in the late ’90s.
They retain the Toadies’ vibe, Vogeler says.
The album is a mix of old songs (including a deconstructed and acoustically re-arranged “Possum Kingdom”), new songs, an unreleased track and a cover of Blondie’s “Heart Of Glass.” It will be released next month in conjunction with Dia De Los Toadies, the annual music festival the band hosts in its hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. The band heads out on a headlining tour to support the album in November.
In a way, “Heretics” reflects the band as it is during Dia De Los Toadies.
The band typically plays the festival’s opening night, doing quieter “almost acoustic” sets. Over the years, they’ve reworked their old songs for the fans, with Vogeler often playing the Rhodes piano and singer Vaden Todd Lewis on acoustic guitar, or more often, a mandolin.
“We started doing this for fun at our festivals,” Vogeler says.
The band’s tour for the album will feature similar arrangements, he says.
The guitars, the Marshall stacks, those things will always be there.
Toadies guitarist Clark Vogeler
Of course, the Toadies are still very much a rock band. and obviously its members love loud rock music. How these new sounds fit with the band is yet to be seen, Vogeler says.
“That will be next year’s challenge.”
As it is, the Toadies are getting their share of loud rock (and then some) playing the three-month Summerland tour, which features Everclear, Fuel and American Hi-Fi.
“These are all bands we played with back in the ’90s and early 2000s,” Vogeler says.
The tour, which ends Sunday night in Riverside, has been a good deal of fun, he says: “We just blow into town and play a bunch of rock and roll.”
It’s also given him some insight on the Dia De Los Toadies. A truncated version of the festival may be hitting the road someday.
“We have seen that this format for a show works,” Vogeler says.
Joshua Tehee: 559-441-6479, @joshuatehee
This story was originally published August 12, 2015 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Toadies go ‘almost acoustic’ on new album."