Frank Funaro, Eric Ambel and Scott Kempner are the Del Lords.

Del-Lords Feb 20, 2010 Wakefield, RI.

After a two-decade layoff, the Del-Lords are back in gear, hitting the road again while preparing to record their first new album in two decades.  In their original 1982–1990 lifespan, the Del-Lords’ raw-nerved urban roots-rock went a long way towards restoring listeners’ faith in real rock ‘n’ roll at a time when real rock ‘n’ roll was in short supply.  Over the course of four beloved studio albums, a live disc and countless live sets, the vibrant combination of the band’s sleek, propulsive drive and ex-Dictator Scott Kempner’s provocative, personally-charged songwriting won widespread critical raves and earned the devotion of a large and loyal international fan base.

In the years since the Del-Lords hung up their spurs,  Kempner emerged as an acclaimed solo singer/songwriter, while guitarist Eric “Roscoe” Ambel accumulated extensive credentials as solo artist, hired-gun guitar hero, bar owner and go-to producer, and drummer Frank Funaro continued to ply his percussive trade in the studio and on the road with Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven.  Meanwhile, the Del-Lords’ reputation continued to expand in the band’s absence.

Now, older, wiser and as determined as ever, the Del-Lords are back to finish what they started.  As Kempner explains, the band was pressed back into service by “the echo of our own unfinished business.  Those last blistering guitar notes from the late ’80s have been ringing in the breezes, through the ether, bouncing off satellites, and wiggling through the matrix of the internet for decades, in blind pursuit of four estranged men.  Until now.  Like the Bat-signal unanswered!  Until now.

“A partnership bound by holy fire and rough and rocky roads, we, the Del-Lords, have been called upon to do what we do, one more time, Jack!” Kempner continues.  “We’re doubling down on our original bet, and our original sin, with a fiery purpose, some extra years of American know-how, two guitars, the Way (Our Way and/or the High-way), and a man in the dugout.  As a man once said, ‘Time has come today!’”