Bully (solo) and Craig Finn (sponsored event)
Start Time
April 8 at 8:00pm
Event Location
Stuarts Opera House
STUART鈥橲 OPERA HOUSE PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH BULLY (SOLO) AND CRAIG FINN
Kick off the with solo performances by two indie rock veterans, Alicia Bognanno (Bully) and Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) at the historic Stuart's Opera House!
Monday, April 8, 2024, 8 PM
Stuart's Opera House
Advanced Ticket Pricing:
Box Seats: $40.00
Floor Seats: $30.00
Balcony Seats: $25.00
Tickets available through
ABOUT BULLY
Lucky For You is Bully鈥檚 most close-to-the-bone album yet. It鈥檚 an album that鈥檚 searing and unmistakably marked by its creator鈥檚 experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on 鈥 and it鈥檚 all soundtracked by Bognanno鈥檚 rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that鈥檚 impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno鈥檚 put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them.
Work on Lucky For You began last year, when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. 鈥淎uthenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it,鈥 she explains while discussing their recording process together. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 doing something that doesn鈥檛 feel natural or right, I鈥檓 quick to shut it down. So it was great with J.T., because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to emphasize what鈥檚 actually good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much he cared about the project and it meant alot to me.鈥 The album came together over the course of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date: 鈥淚 was freaking out about it at first, because taking my time was so new for me. But a few months in, I realized how crucial that time ended up being. I got songs out of it that I wouldn鈥檛 have had otherwise.鈥
鈥淲ith every record, I feel more and more secure in terms of doing what I want,鈥 Bognanno continues. 鈥淔or this one, I wanted to be as creative as possible with these songs.鈥 She got her wish: A kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk鈥檚 grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for, Lucky For You鈥榮 thematic focus also zooms in on grief and loss. The record is largely inspired by Bognanno鈥檚 dog Mezzi passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis.
鈥淢ezzi was my best friend,鈥 she explains. 鈥淪he made me feel safe and empowered, she showed me that I was worth loving and never judged me or viewed me as a let down. I always felt accepted, understood and so much less alone. Mezzi was living, breathing proof that I was worthy of being loved.鈥 And the oceanic first single 鈥淒ays Move Slow鈥 was written shortly after Mezzi鈥檚 passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno鈥檚 incisive wit even while facing adversity. 鈥淭here was nothing else I could do except sit down and write it, and it felt so good.鈥
鈥淗ard to Love鈥 stomps and lurches with awesome abandon, resembling one of the most sonically left-field tunes Bognanno鈥檚 put to tape as Bully; and then there鈥檚 the passionate opening track 鈥淎ll I Do,鈥 which kicks in the door Bully-style with huge riffs atop her lyrical reflections on three years of sobriety. 鈥淚鈥檝e been living in this house for seven years,鈥 she says while discussing her current Nashville abode. 鈥淥nce I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it鈥檚 still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I鈥檝e moved on from?鈥
In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small stuff. 鈥淚鈥檓 so overly emotional and sensitive, it鈥檚 a blessing and a curse鈥 she says with a laugh, but there鈥檚 no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it鈥檚 the latest bit of evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back.
ABOUT CRAIG FINN
Craig Finn is a Minnesota-bred singer/songwriter based in New York City, best known as the singer of The Hold Steady. Finn spent the 鈥90鈥檚 leading Minneapolis indie band Lifter Puller, which released 3 albums and an EP. After relocating to New York, he joined with Lifter Puller member Tad Kubler to form The Hold Steady in 2003. The Hold Steady quickly achieved critical acclaim and a worldwide fanbase with their unique pairing of dense lyrical narratives with big rock guitars. The Hold Steady鈥檚 ninth album, The Price Of Progress, was released in March 2023, commemorating the band鈥檚 20th Anniversary.
Finn released his first solo album in 2012 with three additional solo LPs put forth from 2015 鈥 2019: Faith in the Future, We All Want The Same Things, and 2019鈥檚 I Need a New War 鈥 which coalesced into a sign-of-the-times musical trilogy. Finn鈥檚 debut book 鈥淚 Can鈥檛 Keep Saying Thank You鈥, a collection of his song lyrics, was also released in 2019. A double album of B-sides/outtakes All These Perfect Crosses was released in 2021 accompanied by a limited-edition graphic novel/comic book.
Finn鈥檚 fifth solo album, A Legacy of Rentals, was released in May 2022 to great fanfare. Pitchfork praised it saying, 鈥淭he writing remains the main attraction in Finn鈥檚 work, and both as a storyteller and a rock songwriter, he has never sounded more in control. From the beginning, he had a gift for meticulous, vivid world-building, and his wordplay has gotten tighter as his subjects have come down to earth.鈥 That鈥檚 How I Remember It is Craig Finn鈥檚 podcast series, which just started it鈥檚 third season. Co-produced and distributed by Talkhouse, the podcast series examines the connection between memory and creativity. Each episode features a discussion between Finn and one creator 鈥 including musicians, authors, filmmakers, and more 鈥 about the role memory plays in their art. These exclusive conversations reveal the different ways each creator synthesizes their remembered life experience to tell stories about themselves and the world we live in.