VANCOUVER’S LIMBLIFTER RETURN TO THE ROAD AFTER OPEN HEART SURGERY IN SUPPORT OF NEW LP LITTLE PAYNE
The illustrious Vancouver-based alt-rock outfit Limblifter is heading back on the road in support of their latest LP Little Payne. The tour marks an inspiring comeback for the band after Little Payne’s rollout was cut short by front-man Ryan Dahle’s unexpected hospitalization and subsequent open-heart surgery. Limblifter is happy to report that Ryan has made a full recovery, and couldn’t be more excited to get back on the live stage. The upcoming tour features stops in Mayne Island, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Toronto, and Burnstown.
“For about a year, we weren’t sure if the doctors would give me the green light to play shows again,” says Dahle. “Now I am fully recovered and ready to test out my new bovine and titanium heart valve. I feel like a bull or sometimes a cow.”
He adds, “After not playing guitar for a solid year, I have a renewed sense of joy that the instrument brings me. I hear it differently, I understand it in a different way. I definitely have a new appreciation for the fact that I can kinda sing and kinda play this instrument, and that I’ve written all these songs and made these recordings. It seems so basic but when you sink that much of your life into something it tends to pay off even if it’s just personal and private.”
Little Payne’s genesis was years of improvised recordings of Ryan Dahle and drummer Eric Breitenbach and occasionally other band members in recRoom Studio in Vancouver. Hours of recordings would then be sifted through to form full songs. The task of choosing the right songs out of this mountain of ideas, editing the arrangements, overdubbing additional instruments, and finishing the production was shared by the four band members. Says Dahle,
“This album would not have existed without the efforts and energy of each of us.”
Eric Breitenbach contributed the music for two songs, “Dish” and “Impulse Control”, that were recorded at his studio in Chinatown in Vancouver called The Spot. Ryan then added vocals and the rest of the band added parts to finish the recordings. Many keyboard, synth and vocal overdubs were done by Gregory Macdonald at his home and at his other band Sloan’s studio in Toronto. The record was finished and mixed and mastered at Ryan and Megan’s Mayne Island Sound.
Special guests rounding out Little Payne include Stefania Dubroski, who overdubbed some electric piano, synth strings, organ, and acoustic guitar from her home in San Jose. Mark Petersen, a frequent Limblifter collaborator who often shows up in the live format, overdubbed some lead guitar on “Subtitles”. Donny McCaslin, the celebrated American saxophonist with whom Dahle toured with and recorded on McCaslin’s acclaimed 2018 release Blow, overdubbed a few saxophone solos from a studio in Brooklyn.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
May 2 – Mayne Island, BC @ The 44
May 3 – Victoria, BC @ Wicket Hall
May 4 – Nanaimo, BC @ The Queens
May 5 – Vancouver, BC @ The Green Auto (all ages)
May 25 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
May 26 – Burnstown, ON @ Neat Cafe