Earlier this April Parlour Bells performed in the 2012 Rock and Roll Rumble. This was my third time in the Rumble (Delta Clutch & The Blizzard of 78) and it’s always an incredible experience. For us it was much more a music festival than a competition and the band worked very hard to prepare for our set. The end result was our best show to date and we walked off the stage a new band. The Rumble has a tendency to bring out the best in bands which was certainly true for us. Even though we didn’t advance to the semi-finals we made the most of the opportunity and turned some new people on to our thing.

For more photos check out this set by Johnny Anguish from Daykamp Music who called our set “intoxicating.”

Michael Marotta, Music Editor of The Boston Phoenix, said “Parlour Bells added a slick, moody firestorm of post-Hedwig neo-glam to the prelims and were defined by the commanding presence of guitarist Nate Leavitt.”

We’re also releasing a retrospective promo CD which includes all of the singles, “Heart Beatings” EP, Heavy Dream Remixes and our cover of Jane’s Addictions “Classic Girl.”

We’ll celebrate the release with a show at Precinct with our friends The Daily Pravda, Eddie Japan, and Crooked Streets.

Back in March I flew out to Austin, TX for a couple days to play South by Southwest with Old Jack. It was my first time in Austin, never mind SXSW, and I had a great time playing, drinking Lone Star and eating Texas shaped waffles at my Super 8 Motel.





The band played two shows on a Saturday afternoon hosted by The Outlaw Roadshow and The Weekly Dig.

A little time back Parlour Bells tracked drums at Q Division Studios for what would turn out to be a string of singles to be released every few months.

Once armed with the drum files I got to work tracking the other instruments at home under the watchful eye of our co-producer Chuco the Rabbit.

When the songs were almost complete we headed back to The Q to track vocals and anything else that needed recording.

The finished product and final track from those drum sessions is now our latest single, “I’d Like To Think.”

Very happy to be in another Rumble and this time with my long time friend and collaborator, Glenn DiBenedetto. When we started Parlour Bells it was Glenn and I completing some songs I had recorded without vocals and performing them as a duo with a laptop supplying backing tracks. Now just over a year later we have a killer band with Magen Tracy on keys, Brendan Boogie on bass and Brandon Erdos on drums. No matter what happens in the Rumble we’re just happy to be the band we are and becoming and to be recognized in a city full of great talent.

The Preliminary round begins April 1-7 followed by the Semifinals on April 12th and 13th and the Finals on April 20th.

The schedule for the Prelims will be announced Sunday, March 11th.

Following the success of last year’s Winter Rock Formal: Beautiful and Damned, we decided to start the year off right with the Winter Rock Formal 2: This Side of Paradise. Check out some of the footage below!

Photo by Johnny Anguish check out the whole set here

Photo by Sooz check out the whole set here

Gene Dante joined us for a cover of the Bowie/Queen classic “Under Pressure.”

We also debuted a new song called “You Don’t Wear That Dress, The Dress Wears You” featuring Joel Edinburg on Sax.

Of the track, Michael Marotta of the Boston Phoenix says “…the noir-pop smarts of Parlour Bells dress Bowie in red and green garland and sparkle like the Corner Tavern on Christmas night. Vocalist Glenn di Benedetto, wearing mistletoe as a halo, positions himself as a fine holiday crooner, a glam Michael Buble for the guyliner-and-flask set.”

Autumn is by far my favorite season and what better way to enjoy it than to have a ton of gigs! I’ll do my best to recount all of the activity.

Parlour Bells had an interesting October with two gigs at Boston’s best new joint Radio. The first show was a set of originals followed by a Halloween show playing as Jane’s Addiction two weeks later. Glenn and I are huge Jane’s fans and it was very cool to play dress up and play the tunes of a band which transformed us nearly twenty years ago. An interesting and unimaginable thing happened too. Glenn and I recorded an acoustic cover of their song “Classic Girl” to help promote the show and as we spread it around the internet it came across the ears of Dave Navarro who listened and tweeted that it was a great cover! Cool. Check it out for yourself.

The show as Jane’s Addiction itself was great too.

Here’s a video of us doing “Summertime Rolls”

As we roll into the Holiday season we’re working on our next single to be released soon. More details to come! In the meantime here’s a pic of Glenn tracking vocals earlier today.

In addition to keeping busy with Parlour Bells I had an equally enjoyable couple of months with Old Jack. We played 4 gigs including Oktoberfest in Harvard Square, CMJ in New York and Patriot Place in Foxboro.

We released a new Maxi Single……

And were nominated for a Boston Music Award as “Best Live Act”




Lastly, on November 18th I played my final gig with Brendan Boogie and the Best Intentions. I really enjoyed the time I spent with Brendan and he is a talented, hard working and professional musician…and a cool guy. I look forward to continuing playing with him in Parlour Bells and whatever else may come along.

Dokken was one of the first bands I cut my teeth on while learning how to play guitar. I can remember many weekend nights as an 11 year old sitting in my room learning as many songs as best I could by ear. My first guitar was a red Kramer (I wish I still had it!) like the one George Lynch used and my mom went as far as to write on the Christmas card “To the next George Lynch.” I was all about Dokken in the mid 80′s even braving a Loverboy show to see my heroes open the show. These were some of my first experiences of live music and it was fascinating to see the big lights and deafening sound….arena rock at it’s finest!

My favorite part of the shows at that time were when the bands would perform the power ballad. Dokken were no different and their song “Alone Again” was the highlight for me at their show. The video for the song was like many at the time portraying the band as a tired horse on their last legs while being on the road endlessly. Live shots of them onstage, lonely hotel rooms and fans with lighters high in the sky built up a mystery and fascination I still have today.

When I recorded my version of “Alone Again” I closed my eyes and envisioned myself on that stage.

Big thanks to Johnny Anguish from Daykamp Music for covering the show. You can check out more pictures like the one above Here.


Also here’s a video of my song “I Came Here Tonight” which Johnny shot.

Nate Leavitt – “I Came Here Tonight” @ The Rosebud 8.25.2011 from Johnny Anguish on Vimeo.

Miss the show? Read about it in Dig Boston’s The Morning After Column here!