The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady were one of the most classically American rock & roll bands to hit in the 2010's, combining the E Street Band's anthemic grandeur and the Replacements' shambling nature; like both they were known for go-for-broke live shows. Frontman Craig Finn was born in Boston and grew up in Minneapolis, where he fronted Lifter Puller, a "hard luck band" by his own admission. As a songwriter he was already telling stories of the bohemians and lost souls in his audience, a trademark he'd carry into his next band. The Hold Steady was born after Finn and Lifter Puller guitarist Tad Kubler moved to Brooklyn, getting some musical inspiration by watching The Band's Last Waltz movie. Galen Polivka who worked as a bartender alongside Finn, joined on bass and the group would expand to a six-piece with the addition of drummer Bobby Drake, keyboardist Franz Nicolay and the later addition of guitarist Steve Selvidge. 2004's debut album Almost Killed Me made the Hold Steady instant critics' darlings, which continued with the following year's Separation Sunday. Finn carried some of the same characters to both albums, writing about religious epiphanies and near-death experiences. The group was a hit at South by Southwest in 2004, where the Village Voice put them on the cover and declared them the standout of the festival. With 2006's Boys & Girls in America they began working with notable '90s indie-rock figures, including Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner and former Hole studio vocalist Dana Kletter; the latter featured on "You Can Make Him Like You" which continued Finn's empathy for desperate characters. With 2008's Stay Positive the band finally had commercial success to match; the album went Top 30 in America and Top 20 in the UK. Now nearing 40, Finn took a more reflective tone in his songwriting; the theme of hanging on to youthful ideals as middle age approached would recur on the next two albums, Heaven is Whenever and Teeth Dreams. Both were more smoothly produced than before, the latter album introducing guitarist Selvidge and including the nine-minute, Radiohead-inspired "Oaks," the longest song in their catalogue. The band took a five-year recording break afterward though they remained active as a live band. During 2016 they celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Boys & Girls in America by playing multiple nights in Chicago and Brooklyn, with a different set each night. During this period Finn released a trilogy of solo albums that put his stories into more stripped-down musical settings. The Hold Steady returned in 2019 with Thrashing Thru the Passion, which was greeted as a return to the shorter and more immediate songs of old.