Legendary NH rock band Say Zuzu return to Portland, ME to perform at Bayside Bowl w/s/g Whitney Walker on Saturday, August 8th | all-ages
ABOUT SAY ZUZU ( SAYZUZU.COM )
A pandemic-inspired reconnection with old friend and longtime label owner George Fontaine —-New West Records/Strolling Bones Records in Nashville, TN and Athens, GA respectively —-resulted in ‘ZuZu signing a multi-layered, multi-album recording contract with Strolling Bones to release five of their past records, and two new ones. “Here Again: A Retrospective” is the band’s first offering on the label - a selection of tracks from five of the band’s earlier records. “No Time to Lose'' is the band's first album of new material in nearly twenty years.
In the early 90s, Newmarket, NH based Say ZuZu found their sound in a growing alt-country movement which spawned artists like The Old 97s and Wilco, and inspired a generation of artists including The Avett Brothers, Kacey Musgraves and others. In their road warrior days, the band toured tirelessly from Maine to Chicago, Texas and Georgia, but found their greatest success abroad as minor stars in Italy, developing a European fanbase and signing with Germany’s Blue Rose Records. After more than 10 years, 10 albums, and logging more than 2000 shows in 25 states and four foreign countries, Say ZuZu called it a day, amicably, in 2003. Until now.
ABOUT WHITNEY WALKER ( WHITNEYWALKERMUSIC.COM )
The critically acclaimed alt-psych-freak-folk songwriter and RascalZ RecodZ recording artist, Whitney Walker, has spent the past few years touring behind the success of his debut album and recent EP release in 2024, and has truly embraced the role of bandleader and pirate captain. With the forthcoming release of his third studio record, a full-length album entitled Blood Harmony (RascalZ RecordZ 2026), Walker, in conjunction with producer and bandmate Dan Capaldi (Demos For All), have captured a rare essence, an authentically odd, awesome energy that exists somewhere between a late night rousing with Tom Waits knocking over garbage cans on a suburban school night and a date-night dinner and a movie with your future killer. There is a real sense that anything goes and it's all likely to do so, if it hasn't happened already. Either way, you'd better pay attention!
Walker, himself began grabbing the attention of music writers and fans with the release of his debut full-length album, A Dog Staring Into A Mirror On The Floor (RascalZ RecordZ 2023), which featured prominent contributions from legendary baritone saxophonist Dana Colley of the band Morphine and Vapors of Morphine. With praises from the likes of Paste Magazine, ChorusFM, and Glide Magazine, to name a few, the COVID-era lockdown release garnered Walker a much wider audience. Colley would continue collaborating with Walker and again was featured on the 2024 Whitney Walker EP release, Where To Go And How To Get There (RascalZ RecordZ 2025), with the four songs on that release now included in the ten-song forthcoming LP, Blood Harmony(OUT 5/10/26 on RascalZ RecordZ).
Blood Harmony, unlike Walker's debut LP, is the sound of a real working band. The album breathes and pulses with a tribal heartbeat, and drummer Robert Mitchell's steadfast rhythm feels like a big top tent holding an entire circus within its walls. On the album opener, and holdover from the recent EP release, "Orangutan", Walker sings that "...her name is an apostrophe!" while a gospel wall of organ sound drowns out the proclamation with a haunting atonement.
This is the music of wild people, living wildly and then having to come to terms with what has been done or what is being done. Wild, with an even wilder imagination. Dangerous stuff indeed.
"My mission statement for what I'm trying to achieve is chop philosophic vs. bubblegum rock, which is the first sentence in the chorus to Ladina. Poetry over compelling music basically. My dad got me two tapes when I got locked up in my first psych ward, both best of. Lou Reed Walk On The Wild Side and Ramones Mania. So I'm attempting to combine those two vibes most often." - (Walker, 2026)
The somber and even macabre "Death Row Dinner" is glued together by Dana Colley's sleek noir-inflected baritone sax melodies and also features innovative production work by Dan Capaldi, helping to create a more defined narrative. The synth-folk-punk "Lorena Bobbit" feels like a Violent Femmes b-side while the track "Narcotics Brigade" harkens a return to the stripped-down but spacious sound that made Walker's debut so enchanting. Other highlights on the album include the two singles, "Ladina, and "Solar Princess," both of which arrive with stunning accompanying music videos. On"Drowning In A Mirage", Walker sings that "...Santa Claus is real," and at that point, it's safe to say that this haunting is going to stick with you, and the world that is occupied by this music has become surreal; the imaginations have started to feel real. In this magical and mystical setting he has created, Walker's compositions truly shine. There is hardly an archetype to hang your ear on. Choruses...well, maybe? As Walker has established, anything goes. All expectations are always defied. It is this defiance that is his true earmark - what makes this music punk. It's what makes Walker's songs so absolute in their uniqueness and eccentricity.
Walker's success in bringing these peculiar and sometimes idiosyncratic visions to life certainly starts with his adroit but sometimes outlandish lyricism, a thread that has never deviated too far from the eldritch throughout his career. Walker spent decades struggling with addiction and sometimes homelessness, and it's on this desperate edge that almost every song seems to teeter on. There is always an urgency, a motive, and a purpose to illuminating the obscure. If you are one of these people who have tread upon or even loitered these shadowy avenues, this album will become a companion for you. A good portion of credit, however, in achieving this distinctive radiance comes from the motley crew of sonic wizards that Walker assembled to record Blood Harmony. Walker explains that touring over the past few years helped his core band bring a much more live approach to the studio, as well as continued collaborations with the likes of Colley and the other all-star guest musicians featured on the album, many who now perform live regularly with Walker and his band.
"The live band, since the first album, has been mainly Rob, Dan, and I. We have always wanted a keyboard player. We are working towards embedding Gabrielle Raymond into the band, and she is all over the album. We also worked with Tyler Quist for the first time, which was super inspiring and gives off an eighties / David Lynch/ I don't know exactly what vibe. Really inspired by playing. Dana joined us again on this one, and as long as he keeps agreeing to play on stuff, he will be recording with us. He is a genius and a warm and generous father figure whom everyone wishes they had. We also had many other friends and loved ones on the album as well." - (Walker, 2026)
The album closes out with the song "George Jetson's Wife", the oldest of the tracks, written decades ago. The song features an ever-present Farfisa organ melody performed by Tyler Quist (Jaw Gems), who masterfully peppers the entire album with exquisite keyboard arrangements, fully supported by Dana Colley's signature baritone-saxophone wall of sound. Despite having explored the dark paths of melancholy and regret throughout the album, Walker and crew remind the listener that this is the sound of a band, that no matter how murky the waters are, there is always a lighthouse somewhere to guide us, no matter how absurd or preposterous the voyage may seem to be!
Currently Whitney Walker and his band are preparing for the upcoming release of the two singles, “Ladina” (Out 4/10/26) and “Solar Princess” (Out 4/24/26) both of which are accompanied by stunning music videos created by Calvin Atkinson and Kelsie Steil respectively, and the forthcoming album drop. Walker and band will also be performing select US tour dates in support of the release.
