Veloce by Dana Swimmer

Dana Swimmer - Veloce - This Is American Music release : 2.1.13

Dana Swimmer was born in a vacuum.

As you leave the band's adopted hometown, the musical mecca that is Athens, GA, drive due north on US Highway 441. When the city falls away, keep driving. Eventually you may see signs for Cleveland, GA -- The Vacuum. A sprawling stretch with little to do and no trace of a music scene. Singer Jack Blauvelt, sister Maggie Blauvelt, and drummer Parker Lusk spent two decades here in the mountains pulling songs from the thin air before joining guitarist John Riccitelli and bass player Danny Hurley in the city for the litmus test.

The catch-and-release, separatist epics of the band's debut album “Veloce” [Available February 1, 2013 via This is American Music] carry with them a lifetime of discord: A scenic mountain side littered with homemade skate ramps. Electric guitars feeding back inside a recommissioned barn. Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello. The forced juxtaposition of the avant and the pastoral drives the record; a record that utters the names of Patsy Cline and Ween in the same sincere sentence. The songs carry with them the verve of finding yourself suddenly on the edge of civilization, mountains and buildings mimicking each other on the skyline.

The band spent the better part of 2012 playing a rigorous live schedule, sharing the stage with bands such as Poliça, Hospitality, Pujol, and The Henry Clay People. Along the way, they recorded an album with producer T.J. Mimbs of the District Attorneys. “Veloce,” the title of the album, is a musical term turned ideology. It refers to a piece of music that is played at a steady pace, yet faster than the previous section; or a life that never wants for motion.

The new year found them in Athens on New Years Eve, playing in front of a packed-out 40 Watt Club. The first of February will see the release of “Veloce” and the band will continue the year down any road that leads to a stage.