Just shy of three years on from delivering his Birds with Broken Wings LP, Ben Caplan has lifted the curtain on a new full-length effort. Titled Old Stock, the album is set to arrive June 15 through Rhyme and Reason Records.
Thirteen tracks in length, Old Stock is a concept album inspired by the true story of two Jewish Romanian refugees coming to Canada in 1908. The album was adapted from musical theatre piece Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, a production from Caplan, Hanna Moscovitch and Christian Barry in which the songwriter starred.
After opening in Halifax, the production has since been featured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at New York City's 59E59 Theaters for a seven-week residency.
Caplan has also shared a first taste of what's to come from the new album with "Widow Bride," a song about colonialism penned by Geoff Berner.
Caplan expanded on the song's place on the record in a statement:
I wanted to put this song on album because it was important to me that the album include a nod to the First Peoples who were in this land before colonists, settlers, and various waves of immigrants and refugees arrived. The song quotes Queen Victoria "looking for a strong young man to match up with these virgin lands." The tragedy of the song is the central lie of North America. These were not "virgin lands". The bride was indeed beautiful, but she already had a groom, and he was still very much alive.
To go along with the new album, Caplan has also mapped out an extensive tour of North America and Europe. It will start in Canada this May.
Read through the tracklisting for Old Stock to find a complete tour itinerary and "Widow Bride" below.
Old Stock:
1. Traveller's Curse
2. You've Arrived
3. Intermezzo 1
4. Truth Doesn't Live In A Book
5. Old Yishama
6. The Happy People
7. Minimum Intervals
8. Widow Bride
9. Intermezzo 2
10. Plough the Shit
11. Lullaby
12. Fledgling
13. What Love Can Heartbreak Allow?
Tour dates:
05/01 Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware
05/02 Toronto, ON - Great Hall
05/03 Montreal, QC - Bar le Ritz
05/04 Quebec City, QC - L'Anti
05/05 Burnstown, ON - Neat Cafe
05/06 London, ON - Rum Runners
05/22 Krakow, Poland - Alchemia
05/23 Poznan, Poland - Meskalina
05/24 Warsaw, Poland - Hydrogazadka
05/25 Prague, Czech Republic - Futurm
05/26 Ettiswil, Switzerland - Stimmen Festival
05/28 Budapest, Hungary - Dürer Kert
05/29 Vienna, Austria - Porgy & Bess
05/30 Zurich, Switzerland - Papiersaal
05/31 Lausanne, Switzerland - Bleu Lézard
06/12 Buffalo, NY - Buffalo Iron Works
06/13 Pittsburg, PA - Club Cafe
06/14 Washington, DC - Pearl Street Warehouse
06/16 Kennett Square, PA - Kennett Flash
06/17 Richmond, VA - The Camel
06/19 New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall
06/20 Boston, MA - City Winery Boston
06/21 Portland, ME - Empire Dine & Dance
06/22 Northampton, MA - The Parlor Room
06/23 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
09/12 Moncton, NB - Cathedral Church
09/14 Halifax, NS - Rebecca Cohen Auditorium
09/20 London, UK - The Lexington
09/21 London, UK - The Lexington
09/22 London, UK - The Lexington
09/23 Paris, France - Les Etoiles
09/25 Nijmegen, Nijmegen - Merelyn
09/26 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown
09/27 Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli/Vrede
09/28 Cologne, Germany - Luxor
09/30 Munich, Munich - Ampere
10/01 Berlin, Germany - Bi Nuu
10/02 Copenhagen, Denmark - VEGA
10/03 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
10/05 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
Thirteen tracks in length, Old Stock is a concept album inspired by the true story of two Jewish Romanian refugees coming to Canada in 1908. The album was adapted from musical theatre piece Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, a production from Caplan, Hanna Moscovitch and Christian Barry in which the songwriter starred.
After opening in Halifax, the production has since been featured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at New York City's 59E59 Theaters for a seven-week residency.
Caplan has also shared a first taste of what's to come from the new album with "Widow Bride," a song about colonialism penned by Geoff Berner.
Caplan expanded on the song's place on the record in a statement:
I wanted to put this song on album because it was important to me that the album include a nod to the First Peoples who were in this land before colonists, settlers, and various waves of immigrants and refugees arrived. The song quotes Queen Victoria "looking for a strong young man to match up with these virgin lands." The tragedy of the song is the central lie of North America. These were not "virgin lands". The bride was indeed beautiful, but she already had a groom, and he was still very much alive.
To go along with the new album, Caplan has also mapped out an extensive tour of North America and Europe. It will start in Canada this May.
Read through the tracklisting for Old Stock to find a complete tour itinerary and "Widow Bride" below.
Old Stock:
1. Traveller's Curse
2. You've Arrived
3. Intermezzo 1
4. Truth Doesn't Live In A Book
5. Old Yishama
6. The Happy People
7. Minimum Intervals
8. Widow Bride
9. Intermezzo 2
10. Plough the Shit
11. Lullaby
12. Fledgling
13. What Love Can Heartbreak Allow?
Tour dates:
05/01 Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware
05/02 Toronto, ON - Great Hall
05/03 Montreal, QC - Bar le Ritz
05/04 Quebec City, QC - L'Anti
05/05 Burnstown, ON - Neat Cafe
05/06 London, ON - Rum Runners
05/22 Krakow, Poland - Alchemia
05/23 Poznan, Poland - Meskalina
05/24 Warsaw, Poland - Hydrogazadka
05/25 Prague, Czech Republic - Futurm
05/26 Ettiswil, Switzerland - Stimmen Festival
05/28 Budapest, Hungary - Dürer Kert
05/29 Vienna, Austria - Porgy & Bess
05/30 Zurich, Switzerland - Papiersaal
05/31 Lausanne, Switzerland - Bleu Lézard
06/12 Buffalo, NY - Buffalo Iron Works
06/13 Pittsburg, PA - Club Cafe
06/14 Washington, DC - Pearl Street Warehouse
06/16 Kennett Square, PA - Kennett Flash
06/17 Richmond, VA - The Camel
06/19 New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall
06/20 Boston, MA - City Winery Boston
06/21 Portland, ME - Empire Dine & Dance
06/22 Northampton, MA - The Parlor Room
06/23 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
09/12 Moncton, NB - Cathedral Church
09/14 Halifax, NS - Rebecca Cohen Auditorium
09/20 London, UK - The Lexington
09/21 London, UK - The Lexington
09/22 London, UK - The Lexington
09/23 Paris, France - Les Etoiles
09/25 Nijmegen, Nijmegen - Merelyn
09/26 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown
09/27 Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli/Vrede
09/28 Cologne, Germany - Luxor
09/30 Munich, Munich - Ampere
10/01 Berlin, Germany - Bi Nuu
10/02 Copenhagen, Denmark - VEGA
10/03 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
10/05 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
