Recent ELM interviewee Franz Nicolay announced his departure from The Hold Steady yesterday. On his website, the multi-instrumentalist said “”You should know: I’ve left the Hold Steady. I told the band I’d be leaving in early September, played my last show with them in Minneapolis around Thanksgiving, and dotted the t’s and crossed the i’s this week. Five years seemed like a nice round number. Thanks to everyone who was a part of the experience.”
The clues were there if you cared to look. We asked him what plans he had in the year as a solo artist, a producer and with the band. We received fulsome answers to the first two and none to the third.
From a Hold Steady point of view, Franz was the a vitalpart of their armoury (debut album Almost Killed Me, the only not to feature Nicolay’s signature keyboard and vocal flourishes, seems colourless in comparision to later work.) Still, his solo album Major General was a belter and we look forward to hearing what he does next.
And I suppose Steady fans will just have to Stay Positive.
Filed under: General Stuff Tagged: | franz nicolay, the Hold Steady
Aw, he’s the best one. Live show won’t be the same without him.