The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady had just risen from the ashes of Lifter Puller to release their first album Almost Killed Me when they swung by Schubas in 2004. The album would go on to appear at #31 on Village Voice's influential Pazz & Jop listing and on the Voice's front page, an even greater honor when one considers that they were the first band to grace that page in 15 years. The Hold Steady released their second album, Seperation Sunday, in 2005 and signed on with Vagrant Records later that year. Then came Boys and Girls in America, a record which catapulted The Hold Steady into new realms of hugeness. Ranked 8th on Rolling Stone's Best Albums of 2006 and #1 in The Onion A.V. Club's year-end list, Pitchfork Media's Scott Plagenhoff wrote "[Craig Finn] not only has a commanding, rousing voice but he also says something worth hearing, displaying gifts for both scope and depth that are all too rare in contemporary rock-- indie or mainstream." The Hold Steady has drawn huge crowds at dozens of music festivals, including England's Glastonbury Festival. From our intimate music room to playing for thousands all over America and overseas, the Hold Steady boys have done anything but stay the course, taking what some have called "The best bar band in America" out of the bar, overseas, and into the ears of millions of music lovers.