Excerpt from Press Release: “The Telephone Line, Led By Addi Twigg, to Release Second and Final Soulful Pop-Rock Album, How’d We Get This Far?”
This press release, excerpted below, helped the band obtain an Artist of the Week recognition and airplay on Pittsburgh radio station 91.3 WYEP, as well as airplay on 105.9 The X.
Album artwork by Pierce Marratto
THE TELEPHONE LINE, LED BY ADDI TWIGG, TO RELEASE SECOND AND FINAL SOULFUL POP-ROCK ALBUM, HOW’D WE GET THIS FAR?
March 17, 2023 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Telephone Line, How’d We Get This Far? (Album) – Independent Release
Album Release Date: March 31, 2023
Lead Single: “Why Don’t You Call Me?”, Release Date March 31, 2023
Track List: 1) Why Don’t You Call Me?, 2) Caving In, 3) All Mine, 4) Back Off, 5) So Fine, 6) How’d We Get This Far?, 7) Those Golden Days, 8) Jealousy, 9) You Can’t Stand It, 10) Forever
PITTSBURGH, PA—The Telephone Line announces their first new studio material in seven years, and their final release before disbanding after ten years together: the soulful pop rock record How’d We Get This Far?. Fans of Fleetwood Mac, Carole King, and Linda Ronstadt will find plenty to appreciate on the Pittsburgh band’s second album. Locally renowned powerhouse vocalist Addi Twigg, recently seen onstage at Mr. Smalls Theatre for Randy Baumann’s Ramble, fronts the group as its lead singer. This ten-track release is a follow-up to their first album, Tied Up (2015), and their 2017 single, “Caving In” (which also appears second on this track list.) The album’s rollicking, Blondie-reminiscent lead single, “Why Don’t You Call Me?,” drops on all major streaming platforms along with the full-length album on Friday, March 31, 2023.
With no release show planned, this album serves as The Telephone Line’s farewell after a decade together. The band’s dissolution is amicable, prompted by a member’s withdrawal in order to prioritize their family.
Twigg, also of local psychedelic roots-rock group Cisco Kid, leads a dynamic and talented group of musicians: guitarist/backing vocalist Jason Krivanek, drummer Brad Crouse, guitarist/keyboardist Jojo Gustafson, and bassist Lacey Volk. Sarah Siplak (who, like Twigg, has been seen in Randy Baumann’s Rambles and Jon Bindley’s Honky Tonk Jukebox) adds backing vocals on all tracks, contributing enticing harmonies and call-and-responses.
Together, The Telephone Line delivers striking power, vulnerability, and musicianship on this new album. It explores a range of emotions, from the virtuous to the sinful: heartbreak, infatuation, self-respect, nostalgia, lust, jealousy, and more. Classic yet fresh and filled with catchy hooks, grooves, and riffs, How’d We Get This Far? shows that the band knows how to rock and how to allure. From the fierce, soulful stomp of early songs like “Why Don’t You Call Me?” and “Back Off,” to the smoky slow burn anguish of standout track “Jealousy,” and the self-aware, heart-wrenching closer “Forever,” the years put into creating this album prove worthwhile.
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After years of local shows and notoriety (including main stage spots for Three Rivers Arts Festival and Deutschtown Music Festival), The Telephone Line is excited to share their final piece of “pop rock on the edge of soul” with the world.
“It’s bittersweet to be so proud of a project when you realize late in the game that it’s your last. I look back on this record now and I see it as a labor of love,” says Twigg. “We titled it How’d We Get This Far? because that’s a question we’ve seriously asked ourselves at times. We’ve been a band for ten years! We did a lot of learning and growing, sometimes together and sometimes apart. We really had to fight for it, and I think it was worth the fight.”
Photo by Michele Vottero