Murder By Death

This band has always been a jumble of contradictions. On the one hand, we’ve had a long-running career where we got to make art for a living. But on the other hand, we have always eluded any kind of traditional success.

We weren’t covered much in the press, we never had a song that had a lot of radio play, nothing ever went viral, we didn’t have a big social media presence, we never played a good festival spot where there was a sea of people in the audience, not once opened an arena or even a big shell auditorium show or tour. We constantly lost opportunities because of the band name and were somehow always treated like nobodies or yesterday’s news by most of the industry. But you, you gosh dang wonderful audience, managed to keep us growing, and we never had a career slump.

When we were our busiest — playing over 200 shows a year — we were chronically underpaid and always barely scraping by. But people kept writing to us or telling us how much we mattered and kept showing up, and we started to believe it a little. And then over the years, we grew to a more manageable place and it seemed possible to carve out a niche in this massive, mean world of entertainment.

When I reflect on how good our career was and how lucky we were, I’m left with just gratitude for the small team of folks who have worked with the band and this grassroots fan following that has lifted us up the entire time. I feel like we owe any and all our success to you.

I never called us DIY — despite taking on much of the work ourselves — because there are always people behind the scenes helping: it takes a village. Thank you to the promoters, clubs, bands, managers, agents, artists, publishers, lawyers, publicists, crews, etc. etc. etc. who believed in us and everyone who made this work for so long. An enormous thank you to those of you who helped us through the many difficult periods.

Thank you for your relentless support, your passionate listening, and your generosity. It’s been the honor of my life to write, record, sing and perform for you. We are currently in the studio pouring ourselves into a new album — stay tuned for it. After this tour, we plan to continue to do our cave shows so we can have a way to meet up once a year, but that’s it. Excited to see you all on this last trip out.

Laura Jane Grace

American musician Laura Jane Grace is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me! In 2012, she publicly came out as a transgendered person and announced she would be transitioning to life as a woman. Leaving the name Tom Gabel behind, Laura Jane Grace has become a public ally for the acceptance of transgendered people.

Grace formed Against Me! in 1997 when she was 17. After transforming into a traditional four-piece a few years later with the crucial addition of guitarist James Bowman, they quickly became a driving force in the punk scene–despite facing an abundance of unsolicited danger. Their first major label album, New Wave, debuted on the Billboard 200 and was named Spin’s “Album of the Year.”

The band has released seven albums and toured all 50 states and 29 countries. In their 2014 album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues, Grace shared her lifelong struggle with gender dysphoria.

In 2011, Grace bought an abandoned post office in Elkton, Florida and converted it into a studio. Along with the recording studio, which she named Total Treble, she launched an accompanying record label, Total Treble Music. The label released its first album in 2012, Cheap Girls’ Giant Orange, which was also Grace’s first credit as a record producer.

Grace saw another career milestone in 2013, as she co-wrote “Soulmates to Strangers” with rock royalty Joan Jett for Jett’s Unvarnished album.

In late 2016, Grace released the memoir Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout. Tranny provides a searing account of her search for identity and her true self. That same year, Against Me! released their seventh studio album, Shape Shift with Me The band is set to tour behind the new record.