Today, with the release of their blistering new single “Hard Times,” the Indiana based blues-rock duo The Cold Stares offer the first taste of their new set of material, slated for release in late 2021 via new label partner, Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group. With more than 20 million Spotify streams to-date, the band has amassed a rabid fanbase in recent years, including stars like Joe Bonamassa, who called the band his “favorite musical discovery.”

Composed of guitarist Chris Tapp and drummer Brian Mullins, the band has toured the country alongside artists like Rival Sons, Spoon, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and Thievery Corp, and performed at festivals like The Ride Festival, Copperhead Festival, W.C. Handy Blues Festival and more. Their music has been featured in synchs for CyberPunk 2077, ESPN, X-Games, Monster Energy, TNT Network, and the Dodge Motor Company. “Hard Times” is the band’s first release since their 2019 full-length album, ‘Ways.’

"I had written ‘Hard Times’ in December of 2019 right before the world kind of collapsed,” said Tapp. “The song is about the feeling when you just can't get on your feet no matter how you try. I had originally recorded the vocals in February, but after listening back to the track in October of 2020 I felt it was right to re-sing it. After a year of covid, elections in the US, seeing friends losing loved ones, small businesses being closed, I had a new empathy for what ‘Hard Times’ can really mean. I re-recorded the vocals with that in mind, and I think the song was directed from even more of a real place of despair. To me it's always about capturing as honest of a sentiment and vocal as possible.”

"I think Mascot has become a great home for rock and blues acts that step outside of the normal box that the word ‘genre’ tends to draw you in,” added Mullins. “We have one foot deep in the blues, but we also have a passion for heavy rock and roll.”

Stay tuned for updates in the coming months.