The Lawsuits will play their farewell show at Underground Arts on Saturday
It’s with sadness that we share news that Philly rootsy rockers The Lawsuits will be playing their final show next Saturday at Underground Arts.
The band announced its parting of ways on social media over the weekend, saying they would not be continuing due to “unforeseen circumstances.” Read the full announcement from the band as noted in their Facebook post below:
It is with a heavy heart…. that we must announce, due to unforeseen circumstances our show on 11/11/17 at @undrgroundarts will be our final show as The Lawsuits…
Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years and we hope to see you at our last hurrah. We’ll be giving away our music to anyone who comes to the show.
– Love,
The Lawsuits
The band of Bucks County pals go way back: in music and in friendship. A few members met back in grade school, a couple in high school, but all were connected in college while studying at Temple. Based around the interplay between singer / guitarist / songwriter Brian Dale Aaron Strouse and vocalist Vanessa Winters, the band also features drummer Josh Friedman and bassist Brendan Cunningham.
Beginning in 2007 as a bluesy country crew, over time they flowed into the easy-going psych-tinged Americana that they are today. No matter the sound, one constant was The Lawsuits’ chemistry and love for each other, which was tangible during their lively performances.
Go back in time here with a 2013 write-up from The Key, where John Vettese got to know The Lawsuits around the time of their then-new album, Cool Cool Cool.
Last year, the band released its LP Moon Son on SoCal independent imprint Randm Records — which also works with local artists Former Belle and Jeremiah Tall. Over the weekend, the band shared an additional statement with The Key saying that the relationship with their label changed since the record’s release.
“They took our latest record, Moon Son, completely off the Internet. They took down music videos with the songs from that record. Given the fact that Randm records has made it impossible for anyone to get our record online, we’ll be giving away free copies of it to anyone that comes to celebrate the life & death of our band on November 11th. They’ve made it clear that if we release new music, they will sue us. Without going into more detail, our only real option is to dissolve the band.
Reached for comment via email, Paul Cavanaugh of Randm Records said he was unaware The Lawsuits were parting ways. “That the band is breaking up is news to us,” he said. “We’re hearing it from you first.” Cavanaugh went on to share the following about the band’s dissolve from the label perspective.
The Lawsuits are a good band that has put out solid records. We believed in them, and signed them to a three album deal. We released and supported their last album, we were looking forward to releasing their next album, and we were told demos were coming earlier this year for a 2017 release.
The Lawsuits will perform live for the final time this Saturday, November 11th, when they open for Chris Kasper at Underground Arts. Find info on the show at the XPN Concert Calendar, and watch their SoFAR Sessions performance of “Hail Storm” below.