Ted Leo Signs to Touch and Go

from pitchfork. this is just super news. leo's absolutely one of my favorite musicians. now if he would just come to the twin cities, i could interview him.

Ted Leo Signs to Touch and Go

Kati Llewellyn and Amy Phillips report:
Following last summer's Lookout! Records meltdown, several of that label's artists have been forced to find shelter elsewhere. Mary Timony recently signed to Kill Rock Stars, and it was announced last evening that Ted Leo has inked with Touch and Go. So now he'll be rubbing elbows with !!!, TV on the Radio, Calexico, Quasi, Dirty Three, and the like, instead of a bunch of pop-punk bands.

In a press release, Leo said, "As sad as I am that circumstances have forced a move from Lookout! Records, I'm insanely happy and thankful to be able to make that move over to Touch & Go. T&G is a label that has provided me, personally, with amazing music for 25 years; over those years, I have become friends with many of their artists and staff, and it's an honor to now be a real part of their ongoing ruling-ness." Awwwww.

"T&G's history is my history, like Lookout!'s history is my history, like [Leo's first label] Gern Blandsten's history is my history -- American Punk Rock, True Believers, the Real Deal," he continued. "In a world that seems hell-bent on driving itself further and faster down the shitter every day, these things remain not just important, but the absolute core of our endeavors."

Lookout! wrote on their website, "All of us here at Lookout Records wish Ted Leo & Co. the best with their new label."

So no hard feelings.

Pitchfork spoke to Leo earlier today, and he added, "I felt like there was not only a comfort level with Touch and Go, but that when it all came down to it, honestly, it really was just of those things that felt like it just made the most sense as the next step in a logical progression."

Leo is tentatively aiming for a fall release of his T&G debut. "I have close to a pretty solid amount of songs that would constitute a record, but I feel like I have some more ideas and I don't know if just because I have the right amount of songs that they should necessarily be the songs that come out on the next record. For the first time in my life, I actually want to give myself a little bit of time to make sure that I feel like it's the right batch of songs to put out."

When we spoke with Leo last month, he was putting the finishing touches on songs for a musical tentatively titled Red Bananas. "I actually played some of the songs in New York this last Sunday night," he said. "Actually performing them a little bit gave me a little more confidence in them, so you know, I feel good about that."

Leo said there's a chance that the Red Bananas songs will show up in his set when he and Pharmacists head out on the road in March. That tour now includes a three-day SXSW stint and a Coachella performance.

Buzzy British PJ Harvey-ish band the Duke Spirit were recently added as the opening act on Leo's March tour. Their debut album, Cuts Across the Land, will be released in America on March 7.