The Hold Steady Announce Franz Nicolay’s Return

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The Hold Steady have announced the return of keyboardist Franz Nicolay.

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Fantastic news. I've always thought what their last two LPs missed the most were Nicolay's contributions. Especially that last record whewwwwww

 

What has he been up to? I remember when he did keyboard for Against Me a few years back. Did he do a solo album?

 

He's done a few. His most recent came out a couple years ago and is called "To Us, The Beautiful!" and it's pretty great. He also toured solo to a tonnnnnn of off the grid places and just put out a book about it. Check that out here.

Here's a taste of one of his solo records. Definitely dig deeper than this though, he definitely digs into some eclectic sounds. Here's his bandcamp with (I think) all of his solo stuff.

 

Also, I encourage people to come nerd out with me in the Hold Steady Thread.

 

Best news. Albums with Franz were among my favourite records ever. Separation Sunday is borderline top 10 all time for me. Their last two both had some good stuff, some not so good. But adding Franz (and stopping it with that flat production/reverb vox) will give this fantastic band a real boost.