Today, Cordovas released the collective’s fourth studio album, The Rose of Aces via ATO Records. Produced by Cory Hanson (Drag City, Wand, Ty Segall), the unfettered country rock album encapsulated the timeless craft of Cordovas’ current rotation of musicians, led by singular storied frontman, Joe Firstman. Listen to the album HERE.
Arriving 20 years on from the formation of Cordovas, The Rose of Aces is the grandiose of the band’s true rock spirit and all of the conjuring tales along the way, receiving support with premieres and reviews from tastemakers including All Music, No Depression, Glide Magazine, Holler, Nashville Lifestyle, Bluegrass Situation and many more.
The instant classic album shares stories of surviving getting low down in the high roller room, resisting the allure of the fallen angels of rock ’n’ roll, and being inspired by the landscapes they inhabit from the southern rivers of Nashville to beautiful beaches of Baja. “We started to catch a flow.” said Firstman of their process, “We set the songs to the wind. And slowly the figure emerged from the block of clay.”
Breezing in with a celebratory, honey-smooth melody, the highlight track “Sunshine” arrives like sweet destiny. Mining timeless funky folk rock and bluesy rings from the yesteryears, Joe Firstman sings of shadowless happiness and rainbow-lit sanctuary. Grounded by a groovy bass line, carefully tucked away to compliment the sprightly guitar lyric orchestrated by Lucca Soria, “Sunshine” is refreshingly illuminated by percussion and organs with the brightest tones. Listen HERE.
On “Sunshine,” Firstman stated: “‘Sunshine’ is a song that seemed like it was always there. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t and that it was ours.”
Continuing their U.S. headline run, Cordovas is set to play their album release show tonight at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado. New additional tour dates include a New York City show at Hill Country on August 19, as well as a second show at the iconic Garcia's At The Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY on August 23. Remaining dates of Cordovas’ 2023 tour included below.
The story of Cordovas is fueled by the long strange trip of frontman Joe Firstman, who had a circuitous path through his young adulthood. Raised by a weed dealing veteran father and an opera singer mother in Charlotte, the young Firstman took a Greyhound to Los Angeles in the early ‘00s and quickly became a buzzy young songwriter opening for Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson. His era as a chaotic “drunken nightmare” and industry famous Atlantic Records drop-out is the stuff of legend. Landing on his feet with a stint as Carson Daly house band host, Joe eventually became the fearless leader of Cordovas. Now 43, Firstman is at a reflection point in his career, finding peace in the insights that come with accepting the bumps in the road on the long strange trip that is life. “Everything is victory as long as you can pull it out of the trash and polish it off and identify it as such,” says Joe.
Cordovas is a state of constant flow: Firstman, guitarist Lucca Soria, and their various co-conspirators gathering in their twin outposts — a farm in Nashville, and a hideout in the artist community and spiritual home of the Baja California town Todos Santos — to jam out ideas. Drawing on fragments of various American and classic traditions, from The Grateful Dead to Marcel Proust, the musical result is as refreshing as a summer breeze blowing through the palm trees.
Firstman will be the first to credit the great results to the collective. Cordovas are made up of co-conspirator guitarist Lucca Soria, plus a revolving cast of characters who feature in the live band or join in the studio as well as songwriting contributions from singer songwriter Mark Cline Bates to the studio magic of CH McCoy, Kelsey Lepperd, Colton Stephens, Tyler Nuffer. There are all kinds of characters in Cordovas’ orbit, including the namesakes of the album — hotel owners Ace and Rose down in Mexico, who Firstman paid tribute to via an imagined Tarot card of an album name.
Torch bearers of rock and roll’s spirit, joints are still lit and roads are still rambled down, finding contentment in the sunshine, healing in the music and the knowledge that love is all it takes. Cordovas ramble with purpose, seeking salvation from the sordid corners of life, paying homage to the friends back in the day who didn’t make it, and changing brains to make them useful for society. Firstman says. “What happens when you let that stuff in and you become it? What does your brain tell you then? Go feel that, and the standard you set and the call you make to your friends and the thing you said you were gonna do that mattered. How did you feel the next morning? What song did you write?”
Track List
Fallen Angels of Rock 'n' Roll
What Is Wrong?
High Roller
Sunshine
Sky, Land & Sea
Deep River
Stone Cold Stoned
Change The Way You Talk
Last To Know
Skyline
Love Is All It Takes
Somos Iguales (feat. La Marisoul)
TOUR DATES
Fri-Aug-11-23 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
Sat-Aug-12-23 - Denver, CO - Ophelia's Electric Soapbox
Sun-Aug-13-23 - Fort Collins, CO - Aggie Theatre
Wed-Aug-16-23 - Indianapolis, IN - HI-FI
Thu-Aug-17-23 - Hamilton, OH - RiversEdge at Marcum Park
Fri-Aug-18-23 - Harrisburg, PA - Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center
Sat-Aug-19-23 - New York, NY - Hill Country
Sun-Aug-20-23 - Morristown, NJ - The Homestead
Tue-Aug-22-23 - Port Chester, NY - Garcia's
Wed-Aug-23-23 - Port Chester, NY - Garcia’s
Fri-Aug-25-23 - Evanston, IL - SPACE
Sat-Aug-26-23 - Moline, IL - Mo Live
Sun-Sep-17-23 - Albuquerque, NM - KiMo Theatre
Fri-Oct-13-23 - Roswell, GA - From the Earth
Sat-Oct-14-23 - Macon, GA - Capitol Theatre
Sun-Oct-15-23 - Nashville, TN - Eastside Bowl
