RELEASE DATE:
June 14, 2025
FULL ALBUM
PREVIEW
bandcamp
: hi-res wav :
download
stream
STREAM
select tracks
on sfpl's bay beats
PROMO PICS
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| AFTER THE PLAGUE Cover Art (hi res) |
ALBUM ART, LYRICS & CREDITS
| vagabond_empire_after_the_plague__lyrics___album_credits_.pdf |
AFTER THE PLAGUE PRESS RELEASE
| vagabond_empire_press_release_after_the_plague.pdf |
BIO
Vagabond Empire is an expansive new solo project for acoustic guitar, banjo, and vocals, born from the ashes of critically acclaimed "bluevelvetgrass" string band Three Times Bad, whose American Sojourn record was named "Album of the Week" on Mike Morrison's AmericanRoots Radio for its "huge originality (and) mastery of their instruments."
Wide-ranging and genre-elastic, Vagabond Empire's massive set list combines dynamic originals with updated classics for the 21st century. The music digs deep into 100+ years of American roots traditions and then some, from Tin Pan Alley and early jazz, to Gypsy swing, folk, blues, bluegrass, country, honkytonk, soul, rock, and more.
After the Plague, a debut studio recording of original songs, will be released in June 2025. The album is a deep dive into heartbreak, grief, compassion, and resilience that speaks to our precarious times -- and the joyful noise of collective uplift through the healing power of music.
Vagabond Empire is an expansive new solo project for acoustic guitar, banjo, and vocals, born from the ashes of critically acclaimed "bluevelvetgrass" string band Three Times Bad, whose American Sojourn record was named "Album of the Week" on Mike Morrison's AmericanRoots Radio for its "huge originality (and) mastery of their instruments."
Wide-ranging and genre-elastic, Vagabond Empire's massive set list combines dynamic originals with updated classics for the 21st century. The music digs deep into 100+ years of American roots traditions and then some, from Tin Pan Alley and early jazz, to Gypsy swing, folk, blues, bluegrass, country, honkytonk, soul, rock, and more.
After the Plague, a debut studio recording of original songs, will be released in June 2025. The album is a deep dive into heartbreak, grief, compassion, and resilience that speaks to our precarious times -- and the joyful noise of collective uplift through the healing power of music.
ABOUT THREE TIMES BAD & CRITTERS
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Epic "bluevelvetgrass" string band, Three Times Bad, and its scaled-down iteration, Critters, likened in Farce the Music to the Devil Makes Three and Shovels & Rope, were genre-bending Americana groups that brought the "ecstatic hoedown" (SF Chronicle) of their live shows up and down the Pacific Coast for nearly a decade. Three Times Bad was a fixture on the regional festival circuit, including multiple runs at SoCal’s Ink n Iron Fest (headliners Reverend Horton Heat, Iggy Pop, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings), NorCal’s Humboldt Hills Hoedown (with Brothers Comatose, Hillstomp, Dead Winter Carpenters), and San Francisco’s Hillbilly Robot (promoter Shelby Ash’s infamous annual "Urban Americana Music Event"). The band appeared at many of the Bay Area’s top music venues -- Great American Music Hall, Slim’s, Bottom of the Hill, Brick & Mortar, Café du Nord -- and supported leading indie touring acts (Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, CW Stoneking, Lydia Loveless, Old Man Markley, Larry & His Flask, Finland's Steve ‘n’ Seagulls) and world-class local groups (The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, Dirty Cello, Junk Parlor, Pine Box Boys, Mission Delirium, and many more). Their debut album, American Sojourn, was named "Album of the Week" on Mike Morrison's American Roots radio show. Ghost Town Stories documented a series of haunting live Critters performances in historic California Ghost Towns.
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