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UID:470c67a3-b7ef-400b-b774-129b3b254d5b@findlocal.community
DTSTAMP:20261011T225149Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T210000
SUMMARY:Ratboys
DESCRIPTION:Ratboys opens its new album\, Singin’ to an Empty Chair\, wit
 h an invitation. “What’s it gonna take to open up this time?” vocalist J
 ulia Steiner sings\, launching an 11-song conversation that stands as Ra
 tboys’ most introspective and emotionally driven work yet. Before long\,
  the song swells into the sort of musical sunshower that’s become Ratboy
 s’ specialty\, underscoring the high stakes across the band’s sixth albu
 m and how gracefully the four-piece navigates them. When Steiner asks th
 e question on “Open Up\,” it’s clear she really means it. Despite its ti
 tle\, Singin’ to an Empty Chair is not defined by what’s missing. Rather
 \, Steiner says\, it’s the beginning of an important dialogue. “A big\, 
 overarching theme of this record is my attempt to document my experience
  being estranged from a close loved one\,” she says. “The goal is to upd
 ate this person on what’s been going on in my life and to try to bridge 
 that impasse and reach out a hand into the void.” Singin’ to an Empty Ch
 air\, the band’s first album for New West Records\, fills that space wit
 h nearly an hour of new music showcasing Ratboys at the peak of their po
 wers — twangy\, effervescent\, and as confident as they’ve ever been. Em
 otionally piercing songs like “Just Want You to Know the Truth\,” the bi
 llowing tale that delivers the album its title lyric\, mingle next to bu
 bbly power-pop\, delicate Americana\, and an exhilarating six-minute det
 our called “Light Night Mountains All That.” Steiner labels it the band’
 s “wormhole jam” thanks to guitarist Dave Sagan’s extraterrestrial guita
 r bloops and its unorthodox time structure. “It soon turned into\, like\
 , okay\, we gotta granularly break it down and bring out the whiteboard\
 ,” Sagan says about the detail that went into the four members’ collabor
 ative process. It’s no small feat\, but luckily\, Steiner and Sagan have
  long been great partners in exploration. The two formed Ratboys in 2010
  before rounding out the lineup with bassist Sean Neumann and drummer Ma
 rcus Nuccio. “It’s just fun to play music in a room with your friends\,”
  Nuccio says\, highlighting the genuine chemistry that’s fueled the band
  through its worldwide tours. That chemistry took center stage on Ratboy
 s’ previous LP\, The Window\, which found them operating at their highes
 t level yet\, becoming one of 2023’s most-praised albums. To begin craft
 ing its follow-up\, the four members decamped to a 75-acre plot of land 
 in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area to write and demo the new songs – or\, as 
 Steiner says\, “to make a bunch of ridiculous noise.” Months later\, the
  group reconvened back at the same cabin to begin tracking with co-produ
 cer Chris Walla\, the band’s trusted collaborator who also produced The 
 Window. After a one-week cabin session\, Ratboys and Walla took the song
 s to Steve Albini’s famed Electrical Audio studios in Chicago\, and late
 r to Rosebud Studio in Evanston\, Illinois\, to finish recording. As suc
 h\, some songs on Singin’ to an Empty Chair are journeys within themselv
 es\, patchworked together from multiple recording sessions across the Mi
 dwest. “We wanted to approach this record like it was a quilt\,” Neumann
  says. “We recorded the songs in all these different places\, so we appr
 oached it in a way where different songs had different scenes. Certain p
 arts of songs were recorded in different spaces\, and we switch back and
  forth between them throughout the record to help tell the story of each
  song.” In different squares of the quilt\, some songs on Singin’ to an 
 Empty Chair call upon humor and whimsy to relax the tension. Some called
  for intentional\, detailed edits between studio takes\, while others ai
 med to capture the band in its natural four-piece element. Ratboys track
 ed the irresistible post-country tune “Penny in the Lake” live in a room
  together\, while Steiner later overdubbed incisive vocals with a smile:
  “Today’s gonna change my life What’s for breakfast\, Jesus Christ?” Hum
 or finds its way into the conversation on the caffeinated anxiety anthem
  “Anywhere\,” for which Steiner found inspiration in Sagan’s family dog.
  “Whenever Dave’s mom leaves the room\, oh man\, his whole world just fa
 lls apart\,” she says. “You can see it in his face. I think a lot of us 
 can relate to that sort of anxious attachment style.” Steiner’s lyrics h
 ave always probed her mind’s inner workings\, and complex family dynamic
 s were present in early Ratboys songs like “Charles Bernstein” and “Cont
 rol.” But Singin’ to an Empty Chair marks the first Ratboys album writte
 n since she began therapy\, and she credits the clarity she’s found for 
 the album’s unflinching examinations of self. “The title is in reference
  to a therapy exercise that I did\, called The Empty Chair Technique. It
 ’s basically an attempt to have a difficult conversation\, or an impossi
 ble conversation\, with someone who’s not physically present\, by speaki
 ng out loud to an empty chair and imagining that the person is really th
 ere\,” she says. “Just Want You to Know the Truth” continues the dialogu
 e initiated by “Open Up” by unspooling a highly personal tale about unea
 rthing buried secrets and the ensuing fallout. “It’s not that I don’t mi
 ss you or the way it used to be\,” Steiner sings. “It’s that I can’t liv
 e my life without sayin’ anything.” An extended coda\, marked by one of 
 Sagan’s most electrifying guitar leads to date\, leaves plenty of room f
 or the theoretical reply. The gentle and lilting “The World\, So Madly” 
 presents a similar opportunity to connect. Steiner wrote it about “feeli
 ng sort of helpless that the world is spinning and there’s nothing you c
 an do to stop it.” But in making peace with her lack of control\, she fo
 und power. The same could be said for “Burn It Down\,” a stadium-ready p
 owder keg that furiously ignites with a declarative refrain\, magnified 
 by Neumann’s soaring harmonies. Fittingly\, while the album begins with 
 a hand extending into the abyss\, it concludes with a scene of serenity\
 , as Steiner finds comfort in the loved ones still at her side. “At Peac
 e in the Hundred Acre Wood” finds Steiner once again wringing tranquilit
 y out of chaos over the swaying lull of a Hammond B3 organ played by The
  Decemberists’ Jenny Conlee. One moment sees her “crying in the rain\,” 
 but eventually\, she concedes that she must “laugh through the pain.” On
  the most emotionally interrogative Ratboys album yet\, the resolution h
 its like a semicolon — definitive about the challenges present\, but hop
 eful for the future. “It’s not all doom and gloom\, ” Steiner says. “The
 re are plenty of good days\, days filled with friendship and love\, and 
 then there are days when I dwell on things and desperately want to bridg
 e the gap. It’s my whole life\, you know? So\, for me\, this record is a
  document of all of those days stitched together\, like a quilt in a tim
 e capsule\, just waiting to get dug up when the time is right.”// Words 
 by Patrick Hosken Shortened bio (271 words): Despite its title\, Ratboys
  ’ new album Singin’ to an Empty Chair is not defined by what’s missing.
  Rather\, it’s the beginning of an important dialogue with a close loved
  one vocalist Julia Steiner finds herself estranged from. The music on t
 he band’s sixth studio album – its first for New West Records – fills th
 e space that person left behind with 11 songs showcasing Ratboys at the 
 peak of their powers — twangy\, effervescent\, as confident as they’ve e
 ver been\, and perhaps more emotionally interrogative than ever before. 
 The four-piece Chicago band followed up 2023’s highly acclaimed The Wind
 ow by reconvening with co-producer Chris Walla to begin tracking at a ru
 ral Wisconsin cabin before taking the songs to Steve Albini’s famed Elec
 trical Audio studios in Chicago and later to Rosebud Studio in Evanston\
 , Illinois. The results veer from bubbly power-pop on “Anywhere” to irre
 sistible post-country on “Penny in the Lake\,” along with heart-piercing
  ballads like “Just Want You to Know the Truth” and an exhilarating deto
 ur into the extraterrestrial on “Light Night Mountains All That\,” which
  Steiner dubs the band’s mammoth “wormhole jam.” Singin’ to an Empty Cha
 ir also marks the first Ratboys album written since Steiner began therap
 y\, which the singer/lyricist credits for the clarity found across the a
 lbum’s unflinching examinations of relationship and self. Fittingly\, as
  the album begins by extending a hand into the void\, it concludes with 
 a scene of serenity – all while weaving candid honesty\, humor\, chaos\,
  and whimsy along the way. “It’s not all doom and gloom\,” Steiner says.
  “The experience of making this record definitely gives me hope for what
 ever happens next.”// Words by Patrick Hosken\n\nTickets: https://www.ti
 cketmaster.com/ratboys-when-the-sun-explodes-tour-columbia-missouri-10-1
 6-2026/event/060064C4FBF12B1D\n\nhttps://findlocal.community/event/470c6
 7a3-b7ef-400b-b774-129b3b254d5b
LOCATION:The Blue Note\, Columbia\, MO
URL:https://findlocal.community/event/470c67a3-b7ef-400b-b774-129b3b254d5
 b
STATUS:CONFIRMED
SEQUENCE:0
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