Ted Leo

Numbers, Jake

WHAT A MONTH!

And I don’t just mean the last two weeks.  Jumped immediately from the tour in June into a full week of home improvement tasks, then was the stupid July 4th holiday week, then we had some family from overseas in town, during which time I also spent a truly lovely week in Asbury Park, eating at Cat’s Luck Vegan in Neptune every day while producing the new TAMI HART record!  You may know Tami from her many years as TAMI HART and as a member of MEN, and if you d...

DOG EAT DOG

Adam and the Ants Pride jam, live at The Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco, 2018. Stellar aggressive harmonies by Ralph and our dear friend who we're missing on this tour, Adrian Berry. Crank it!

INTERVIEW: James Canty

You know who doesn't get enough ink, both for the Pharmacists and his many other endeavors? James Canty. I sat down with him to talk about his first, earth-shaking band, The Nation of Ulysses. Corner and ask him more about them when you see him with us on tour this year!

MAY 2024 - SHAKE THE SHEETS INFLUENCES

Coming in under the wire!  With all the thinking about, and practicing of, and archival-materials-adjacent-to Shake The Sheets combing-through, I’ve been thinking about the writing; I’ve been thinking about what I was thinking about while recording; and like the longest tape delay, set on a single repeat, looping back, forgotten and unlooked for, from the depths of my unconscious, came the chorus of a song the other day: “In a Whirlpool,” by Cactus World News.  I got into Ca...

IN A WHIRLPOOL

by Cactus World News

MP3 also attached

BOYS IN THE GANG

by 999

MP3 Also attached

VITAL SIGNS

by Rush

MP3 also attached

SCRAPE AWAY

by The Jam

MP3 also attached

SHAKE THE SHEETS: The Demos 2003-2004 on Bandcamp

Hey, folks - this is just a heads-up to you Patreon supporters that after digging around and finding that Little Dawn demo I posted here a couple of months ago, I found demos for the rest of the album, and will be putting them up on Bandcamp tomorrow (Fri. May 3, 2024). As with all my Bandcamp stuff, I'm working with a "free if you need it/happy to accept if you want to pay for it" model, and YOU, as Patrons, should feel absolutely entitled to download it for free. I did some writing about t...

DELIVERING LETTERS FOR VIVIAN

I’m into this idea of putting my thoughts for these posts at the bottom, hoping you can have your own experience with the song first, and so that’s what I’ll do here again.

DELIVERING LETTERS FOR VIVIAN

I was working for a roofing crew ’til back in ’94

Somebody took my roofing tools and threw them

Off of the roof, right down to the floor

Cover blown, I know what they’re thinking

All alone, on this roof I’m sinking

And now I...

APRIL 2024 INFO VIDEO

DELIVERING LETTERS FOR VIVIAN

song and info in separate post!

JUBILEE

Again, as mentioned in the other posts here, encouraging everyone to listen to the songs before reading my meandering thoughts about them, but they meander around below the lyrics here, if and when you’re ready.

JUBILEE

All out on the old railroad, all out on the sea

All out on the old railroad, as far as I can see

Swing and turn, Jubilee

Live and learn, Jubilee

Hardest job I ever had was working on the farm

Easiest job I ever h...

The True Sam Patch

As I mentioned in the overview post, encouraging everyone to take the song in before reading my overlong and overwrought thoughts about it, which, should you find yourself GENUINELY CURIOUS about (that’s a joke that will reveal itself in the writing bit), you’ll find below the lyrics

THE TRUE SAM PATCH

Up from the roil came the true Sam Patch

Having crossed the planes of men

From earth, to air, to water, and then

Back to earth and air again

MARCH 2024 OVERVIEW

Apologies for the lateness this month - big post, and a lot going on!

1. Chit chat about it all in this video (including some #GearTalk), and a live version of Irish song, “The Freedom Fighter”

2. New song, “The True Sam Patch.”

3. Traditional song, “Jubilee”

4. (coming) “Podcast” interview about the Erie Canal with Landscape Architect (and friend), Justine Heilner, who’s working on the future of the canal for the New York Power Authority.

MARCH PREVIEW AND SOME HOUSECLEANING

Yo! I talked for way too long in the above video, but let me try to boil it down for you here:

1. Tickets for these June shows are kind of going fast. NYC is already sold out, DC and Chicago are on their way, the rest are moving along at a clip that both happily surprises AND slightly frightens me. No editorial on that - just letting you know! Ticket links, as always, can be found at tedleo.com/tour

2.JUST TO SAY, that next month’s monthly is going to incorporate music, writing,...

Little Dawn demo '04

I guess I waxed on a little too much in the previous post, because it wouldn't let me add this to it, but here's a demo that, even after culling a ton of demos for my MIXTAPE OF DEMOS a few years ago, I literally had no idea existed until I found it buried deep on an old hard drive tonight. Probably hasn't been listened to, even by me, since before we made the record. It's not terrible! Vocal timing still being worked on, but MORE soul backing vocals, which i kind of like. It's a demo!

STS20

FOLKS, an announcement! Greater detail in the above video, plus a performance, BUT I wanted to let you know that TOMORROW, Tuesday, Feb. 13, we will be announcing some tour dates: full band, playing Shake the Sheets in its entirety (plus more, obviously).  Now, this is where it gets a little complicated, though - the ANNOUNCEMENT is Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 12 PM HIGH NOON EST; there is a...

#2 Competition at Calvary

This is a reworking of a song that I wrote back in 2016 for a series that the great Ben Arthur was doing, in which he placed songwriters with authors and had us write something sparked by a story.  I had the honor of being paired with Joyce Carl Oates, and jumping off from her story, "Deceit," wrote a maudlin thing about martyrdom and family dynamics.  As I mention in the video, I don't think she liked it! But that's ok. I thought it was cool, and now that I've revisited and rewritt...

SONG: How Can I Tell You It's Not Fair

In the video, I repeat a lot about "why Patreon" that you can read in the "About" section of my page; but re. the song, something new that I finished writing, recorded, mixed, and "mastered," on Wed., Feb. 7, 2024. It sounded like a number of other things to me at first, and I almost gave up on it, but then all of a sudden, it started just sounding like itself, and I'm into it! Hope you will be too. This one's free and public - future posts will be for subscribers. Lyrics (if they fit), below...