‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Kick and the Hug’ by Kick and the Hug | Album Premiere

Exclusive album premiere of ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Kick and the Hug’ by indie rockers, Kick and the Hug.

---

Kick and the Hug is unapologetically passionate about the creative and connective parts of music. The band’s debut album features 10 indie pop rock songs. The title suggests an introduction, not just to the band and the music, but to what they hope becomes the LIVE experience.

The members of Kick and the Hug lived through a different time in Boulder, CO, when the vibrant live music scene, and plentiful basement apartments, was a great place for a musician to make a living. The band is scattered across the country now, stretching all the way from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, and Denver. Such is the case these days; they collaborate via file sharing…but when it’s time to get in a room and create the real thing, Boulder seems as good a place as any to congregate and create, with its proximity to nature and the creativity that flows through the city. Lead singer / guitar player Doug Murray and Sam Young (drummer, keys) played together in the early 90’s Boulder stalwart the Wine bottles, before Young went on to serve stints with the Samples and Devotchka. The band is also joined by multi-instrumentalist Mike Ferguson on bass, strings, and vocals.

The band’s sound is glued together by lead guitarist and in-house producer Tyler Skye. Skye is picking up steam as a producer and is best known for his work with indie upstarts FRND CRCL and The Idea.

Doug Murray, the lead vocalist and guitar player for Kick and the Hug, says:

“When I first heard the term dad-rock, I was a little turned off by it. It seemed to be used in a negative connotation…a way to describe guys that were too old to be making relevant music. It seemed the music was dated just by association to the word. Well, I’ve recently learned (smirk smirk), that it’s a code word, for a tribe of people that dig all sorts of music, love live shows, and don’t box themselves in with genre specific playlists. They’re guys AND girls that make music a big part of their life. They hold onto the stuff they were brought up on. They support those bands from yesteryear, but they also seek out new music that qualifies to sit alongside those songs they cherish. And I have to tell you, when I heard this, there was a sigh of relief on my part. I mean the description the guy was giving was much more in depth, but it just convinced me that there are ears out there that will embrace Ladies and Gentlemen, Kick and the Hug, and we can’t wait for them to hear it. KNTH is #dadrock to the core. So many influences it would blow up a phone. This is one of those albums that had to be made. All circumstances were working against us. I mean ALL of them. There was a little fate in play when we met Tyler (Skye, guitar, producer). I found him online when I was fanboying over a song that had just been posted (The Idea’s, Gucci Bag) that he had produced. When we connected, it became pretty evident that he was going to make the record. I told him we wanted to make something as good as Bon Iver, Band of Horses or The National. He was like, ‘sure, yeh, are those bands?’ After two years of fighting for it to exist, we’re super stoked to finally push this thing out into people’s ears. Do you like Ween, Wilco, Phish, AC/DC, Yo La Tengo, The Feelies, Fountains of Wayne, The War On Drugs, Band of Horses, Wet Leg, Willy Nelson, Kamasi Washington, The Beastie Boys? Well, if you answered yes to all of the above, you’re probably gonna dig this record.”

---

Headline photo: Kirby Gladstein

Kick and the Hug Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Spotify / Soundcloud