The Lost Weekend Band

Most folks might not expect the frontman of a gritty country band to go by Hardcore Dave, but the nickname tells the story of the evolution of a punk kid gone country. We’re talking working-at-CBGBs, touring-with-Agnostic-Front punk. And that’s how it all started for The Lost Weekend.

When the NYC hardcore scene began to get too violent for comfort, Dave found himself thinking about his next move while falling in love with the outlaw country of Merle Haggard at Hogs And Heifers over a cold beer. After so many years in the punk scene, the rebellious spirit and wayward tales of country and blues resonated deeply with the 20-something, and made perfect sense. So he hightailed it to Los Angeles to DJ country music while writing original music on an old acoustic guitar, and very soon The Lost Weekend was born. In fact, they played their first show just a couple short weeks after forming, which exemplifies the band’s tenacity and dedication.

Collaborating with like-minded musicians who shared his passion, the group entered the studio with engineer/producer Paul Fig (Rush, Deftones, Alice In Chains) and, in a single day, recorded the raucous The First E.P. After a stint touring Europe and the US, including an unexpected collaboration with Alec Empire of Atari Teenage Riot in Berlin, Nashville became a temporary home for Hardcore Dave, providing an opportunity to further develop his songs in (country) Music City.

The songwriter returned to Los Angeles in 2010 to rebuild his band and recruited Parker Richey on guitar, Joey Ponchetti on drums, Eliot Lorango on bass (Corey Taylor, Dorothy), and Carl Byron on piano (Hot Club of Los Angeles, Sin City All Stars, Jim Lauderdale), and The Lost Weekend emerged as a cohesive unit. A Place To Rest My Head, the band’s first full-length album, was recorded, engineered and produced by Paul Fig at Plyerz Studios (Wilco, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash) as well as Fig’s own Dave’s Room and was mastered by Michael Hately at Lotus Studios (REM, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Linda Ronstadt). The songs encapsulate Fisher’s travels, experiences, and the universal themes of life on the road and the band quickly gained a reputation for their ability to crank up the energy from 0 to raging honkytonk level in record time.

The Lost Weekend’s forthcoming 5-song EP (out in early 2024), titled One Hell Of A Time, was produced, mixed and mastered by the same dream team as their previous release and speaks to the progress the band has made in terms of a more filled out, rich and dynamic sound. For example, the introspective “In The Morning”, gracefully builds from a bittersweet ballad to a soaring, mesmerizing climax, where standout track “Sunlight” is a rollicking roadhouse soon-to-be-classic, complete with wailing harmonicas. It’s an enjoyable roller coaster ride that leaves listeners misting up with nostalgic wonder for one song and yearning to holler and dance on the bar on the next.  To sum up, The Lost Weekend’s music is a celebration of life’s highs and lows, painted with guitars, harmonica, piano, drums and bass amid hues of punk and Hank, as only a custom made cowboy hat-wearing honky-tonker named Hardcore Dave can create.

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