Wand

2008 was not the best of years for James Jackson Toth. During a tour set up to promote the release of Toth's studio album 'Waiting In Vain', things began to rapidly fall apart, first his whole band, which included his wife and partner of ten years, Jessica Toth, up and split, leaving Toth to finish the tour on his own. During the remainder of the tour, left with a lot of time alone, Toth set about exploring his daemons. Perhaps over celebrating his his 30th birthday, he was arrested for a driving-related incident and subsequently spent the evening in jail. By the end of the tour he had also split with both his manager and record label.

However, this extreme period in his life also produced an intense writing period, and by the end of 2008 Toth had written and recorded over 50 new songs. Perhaps the most personal, but certainly the most direct album of his career, 'Born Bad' is the first collection of material released from this period. Released under the name Wand, the record has been put out in association with the People In A Position To Know label as a limited colored vinyl release, complete with lyric sheet and hand-screened covers.

'Born Bad' sounds like a rebirth, there is a clarity in this record that has not been as acutely evident on his previous efforts both as Wooden Wand and James Jackson Toth. The recordings are uncluttered and the song-writing focused. 'Born Bad' is most certainly a triumph in the face of adversity.

2009 is set to be a busy year for Toth. He is currently in the process of recording another new album (provisionally titled 'Remembrance Of Things Trashed') with a new band (un-provisionally titled The Jescos). You can follow his progress here: www.tothtellsthetruth.blogspot.com. Before this, Ecstatic Peace is set to release 'Hard Knox or Are You Sure Hank Jr Done It This Way?' on May 26th, a collection of Wooden Wand demos and home recordings made between October 2002 and January of 2007.

MP3: Wand - Shaving Cold
MP3: Wand - Agent Of Destruction

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Previously on SOTR: James Jackson Toth