Maryland rockers CLUTCH will perform very special sets on their annual run of dates between Christmas and New Year's Eve. The upcoming dates in D.C., Sayreville and Philadelphia will feature three completely different sets — 54 songs total. In addition, the band will play "Blast Tyrant" in its entirety for the first time ever on New Year's Eve at Union Transfer in Philadelphia. Tickets are on sale now. "We've been having a blast over here in Europe playing a ton of songs spanning our 28-year career" states CLUTCH drummer Jean-Paul Gaster. "Nuremberg marks the fourth night of the tour, and so far we've played 62 different songs. It is for this reason we've decided to play three completely different sets for the final three CLUTCH shows of 2019. "ClutchMas" dates: December 29 - 9:30 Club Washington DC December 30 - Starland Ballroom Sayreville NJ December 31 - Union Transfer Philadelphia CLUTCH recently released a David Brodsky-directed video for its cover version of CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL's "Fortunate Son". The track, along with CLUTCH's previously issued rendition of the Willie Dixon 1950s classic "Evil" (later recorded by CACTUS) and ZZ TOP's "Precious And Grace", along with a reworked version of "Electric Worry", comprise a collection of newly recorded songs, "Weathermaker Vault Series". "Fortunate Son" was mixed by six-time Grammy Award winner and CLUTCH collaborator Vance Powell (WOLFMOTHER, THE RACONTEURS, ARCTIC MONKEYS). Gaster told Cory Blose of TotalRock Radio's "The Valley" about "Weathermaker Vault Series": "We got into the studio early this year. After we finished another U.S. tour, we jumped in the studio and we recorded a selection of songs. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a full album. But the idea is just to release a few things throughout the rest of the year. And these will be completely just digital releases as well. We're sort of experimenting with that format — just releasing stuff for streaming purposes. And we'll see how that goes." He continued: "It was fun to get in the studio, and we picked some songs that sort of all meant something to us in different ways. We also re-recorded a few CLUTCH classic songs, so those will be coming out as well. I suppose maybe in some ways it's sort of just a way to tide us over until we really get the juices flowing to record another album." Gaster said that CLUTCH's insistence on recording and releasing new music comes from a pure place. "As we all know, there's not a tremendous amount of money to be made in releasing albums anymore, so you have to do it because you wanna do it," he said. "And also too, it just gives us an opportunity to play some new stuff when we get out there on the road and play shows. We do not wanna be a band that gets up there and just plays the hits and that would be the end of it. This is not a nostalgia thing for us. For us, this is still very much a live working rock band. We have the desire to be creative and to play music, so we try to foster that in whatever way we can." He added: "I can say a scenario where we'll release this collection of singles and maybe a few more, and then eventually we might put these all on a vinyl record and put them out. CLUTCH's latest album, "Book Of Bad Decisions", was released in September 2018. The record sold 26,000 copies in America during its first week of availability, giving the group its third consecutive Top 20 album on the Billboard 200. "Book Of Bad Decisions" was recorded was completed at Sputnik Sound studio in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Vance Powell.
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