Today is the big day! Our brand new album How to Stay Afloat in Treacherous Waters has been released. Take a listen to it below! Or you can go download it for free at our bandcamp page! Just go to http://redbeard.bandcamp.com!

Here it is in all it’s glory. We would like to thank Chelsea Atwell for her brilliant work on this cover!

Also we were featured in the Buzz! Arts Magazine last week. Thanks to Joel Murray for the great article! Read it’s entirety below. Don’t forget the album comes out this Thursday and you can get it for free at http://redbeard.bandcamp.com!

Red Beard releases free full-length album, headlines Naked Party

This October is a busy month for indie-rock trio Red Beard. Along with headlining October 9th’s Naked Party in the SAC, the B-W-based band releases their first full-length album October 15th. Entitled How to Stay Afloat in Treacherous Waters, the new record “weaves the tales of the pitfalls of love and life while mapping out how to find one’s path in the world,” according to front man and Buffalo-native Matt O’Shea (the band takes its name from his crimson face mane). Also, the eight new tracks on How to Stay Afloat were entirely self-recorded and produced by the band. Engineered and mixed by bassist and Indianapolis-native Ben Meadors, the band’s new album was tracked the first week of June. Meadors describes the recording process: “Matt would show us a song, then as a band we’d make it cohesive, filling in the gaps vocally and instrumentally. Dane [Palmer, percussion major and Wisconsin-native] recorded all the drums in one day. After that, we pretty much tracked one instrument a day, and then did vocals. I mixed the entire rest of the summer.” Ben also explained to me how some of the songs came together “very, very quickly,” with O’Shea writing many of the lyrics while the rest of the band recorded drums and bass. You’d never be able to tell though. The two songs already available online reek professionalism, as O’Shea’s unique vibrato tenor slips effortlessly between croons and shrieks atop Meadors and Palmer’s richly textured Killers-esque grooves. The entirety of How to Stay Afloat in Treacherous Waters will be available online for free on October 15 via Bandcamp (http://redbeard.bandcamp.com).

If you want a taste of Red Beard before the album drops, come see them in the SAC on Friday, October 9th, as the band headlines Naked Party, celebrating the closing week of the Naked Plays Festival. A live DJ will start the party at 10:00 PM, and the band goes on at 11:00 PM, followed by another hour of dance tunes. There is $3 cover charge. Look forward to high-energy set, as O’Shea and the boys typically pace the stage like caged lions, the air practically buzzing with electricity as their instruments come to life in their hands. The emotion of Red Beard’s stage performance is raw, intense, and uninhibited—I’ve seen several bloodied guitars leave the stage—yet the band’s indie-rock chops remain tight and refined. It’s really a hell of an experience; they suck you right in. Try to keep yourself from dancing—I doubt you’ll succeed. Even if you’ve seen Red Beard before, the October 9th show has something different to offer, as Kevin Johnson and Jordan Lawson join the band live on lead guitar and keys, respectively. According to Ben, the new lineup has great chemistry. “We’re like brothers. We’re all very different and have differing viewpoints regarding how we should pursue music, and when all that comes together there’s a push and pull, but we all have the same goal. We’re all very driven, and there are fights, but that’s just because we all want to make this the best thing possible.”

Red Beard has been together two years, and has released one demo entitled Nebulous (also available for free via Bandcamp). The band’s future plans include recording this winter in Wisconsin with a Milwaukee-native who approached the band a few months ago. According to Meadors, “it’s gonna be big.” The plan currently includes re-recording fan-favorite “Nebulous” along with four new tunes. Red Beard also plans to begin weekend touring soon; “we just need to start booking.” You can find Red Beard online at www.redbeardthemusic.com, on Facebook, and at http://twitter.com/redbeardthemusic. Download their music for free at http://redbeard.bandcamp.com.