Announcing two more drops from The Strangers archives!
First up: The Van Ness Sessions Vol. 1. Recorded in spring 1992, this collection captures a fleeting moment between the wide-eyed innocence of our first full band CD The Joker and The Wheel and the road-tested grit of the follow-up Life On The Road. Think of The Van Ness Sessions as the missing link: an album that never quite was, but always should’ve been.
As was often the case with five songwriters in constant motion, we had more songs than we could ever record. By early ’92, we knew we were pulling away from our folky roots and leaning into a tighter, punchier, more rocking sound. With a stack of new material we loved, and another stack about to get shelved forever, we decided to preserve what we could. Fast. Cheap. At “home” in the entryway of our gloriously dilapidated pink Victorian rental on the corner of Van Ness & Chestnut in San Francisco.
The result? Four days. One house. A mess of new songs, spontaneous covers, borrowed gear, and a whole lot of laughter. The Van Ness Sessions Vol. 1 is raw, intimate, and totally unfiltered. Some tracks said their goodbyes here; others were just getting born. Volume 2 drops later this summer, so watch this space.
Also: Live at the Fox Theater (January 1993). This bootleg brings together two unforgettable nights in Boulder, Colorado: one opening for Little Women, the other a free show designed to grow our following in the region. This live set delivers high energy, tight playing, and a setlist that straddles our acoustic past and electric ambitions. Drew Emmitt from Leftover Salmon joins us on mandolin for “Josephine,” “Slow and Easy,” and “Bluestown.” And a personal fave: there’s a 20-minute version of “Mystery of Mysteries” that finally sees daylight.
Both albums are now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and most other platforms. Listen here and everywhere you stream music!
From the Vault: Live at the Fox Theater 1993
