Press Release
On October 14th 2001 Ryan Walsh walked out of an community arts grant ceremony holding an oversized novelty check written out in the amount of $10,000. He had never been in a band, he had never recorded a song, and he had brazenly promised to deliver a sprawling, full length music LP that would actively involve anyone in his hometown of Dedham, Massachusetts who wanted to participate. With Evan Sicuranza and Eric Meyer along for the ride the three friends embarked on an unusual, ambitious, rickety recording spree incidentally funded by an institution whose typical grant amounts were usually less than one hundred dollars and were often used for Fun Runs and pumpkin carving contests. For several years Walsh, Sicuranza, and Meyer ran around Dedham, MA with a portable studio capturing everything from the town’s high school marching band to the local church choir to layer on top of their odd, original songs.
On Tuesday April 26th, 2011 both full length albums produced by The Stairs will see their first ever digital release to be distributed exclusively through BandCamp. Upon release both “Miraculous Happens” (2003) and “On Sleep Lab” (2005) achieved micro-cult status with press declarations such as “The Stairs are a natural treasure” (Nashville Scene) and “This feels like an undiscovered rock classic, written about in invisible ink on the pages of a well-worn issue of Rolling Stone” (Erasing Clouds). Upon announcing their break up in 2005, Boston media outlets caught wind of their existence writing farewell apologies such as, “Right now, I’m still trying to figure out how a band as good as the Stairs — Boston’s answer to Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel — have managed to toil in obscurity for a little over two years.” (The Boston Phoenix)
After years of being unavailable the original members of The Stairs have created both a collection of their photos and memories of their time in the band as well as delivering both full length albums for sale at bandcamp. All members of the band are available for interviews and promo copies of either album can be made available to the press upon request.
