Denison Witmer to release album and tour

Asthmatic Kitty releases Denison Witmer's The Ones Who Wait on
March 6, 2012!


Fifteen years and nine albums into his career, Denison Witmer is familiar with the unexpected and often quixotic intersections that can take place between life and musical career. His newest album, The Ones Who Wait, is a reflection of this understanding of self and the growth that comes through life experience. It is an intimate reflection on the meandering path of life, on family and friendships, on death balanced with new life, on endings and beginnings.

Much like any one of Denison’s previous eight records, this ninth record started as a collaboration. He and fellow producer/engineer Devin Greenwood casually started working on an EP.

In the midst of this new start, however, Denison found himself pulled back to his native Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His father, who was diagnosed with cancer 3 years previously, had taken a turn for the worse. Denison says of that time that “those are months that I would never trade for anything. I stopped making music. I stopped doing everything. I just spent time with him.”

A few months later, his dad passed away. Denison grieved with his family, and remembered.

He returned to the studio with a new approach to the EP he had first started building the previous winter. What began as an EP grew into a full-length album, as Denison added songs that reflected the changes in the intervening year.

Denison’s albums have always been markedly personal, each one a significant milestone in his life. But The Ones Who Wait marks a whole new level of intimacy with listeners. Getting married, starting a business, and watching his dad close the final chapter on his life have helped Denison tell his own story better, to be more delicate, and confident. Bringing things full circle, as he wrapped up post-production on The Ones Who Wait, Denison found out he was going to be a father too.

The sound of The Ones Who Wait indicates a new maturity in Denison’s musical career, a subtle sense of confidence in his voice and music. His guitar and voice sit front and center in the sound, evoking a melodic warmth reminiscent of 70s-era singer-songwriters like Paul Simon and Jackson Browne. Denison reined in his well-established network of musicians to fill out the sound of the record, including CJ Camerieri (Bon Iver, Rufus Wainwright), Devin Greenwood (Norah Jones, Amos Lee), James McAlister (Sufjan Stevens), Charles Staub (Melody Gardot), and Rosie Thomas.

A Lancaster, PA native, Denison first picked up the guitar at age 16, and was writing his own songs shortly after. Mentored by Don Peris (Innocence Mission) and influenced by Neil Young, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen, Denison forged a compelling ambient folk sound that CMJ called “deceptively powerful” and Pitchfork said was “lavish but restrained.” Rollingstone.com called Denison their “favorite underrated singer-songwriter.”

The Ones Who Wait is also Denison’s first release for Asthmatic Kitty Records, whose employees and much of its roster have been long-time fans and collaborators with Denison. Asthmatic Kitty will also be releasing a “part two” of the record later in the summer of 2012.

Put all together, the album marks a big change for Denison: a life without his dad, a new label, a new worldview as a parent. As Witmer looks forward to the next phase of “the cyclical life” of writing-recording-touring, he is philosophical, as always, but confident about releasing an album in an overcrowded marketplace, “Your fans pick you. My biggest concern is I want people to feel like I’m being honest with them, and for me, to know that I’ve created something that I really believe in.”

Tour Dates with William Fitzsimmons:


02.09.12 - Ann Arbor, MI
@ The Ark
02.10.12 - Toronto, ON
@ The Great Hall
02.12.12 - Quebec, QC
@ Le Cercle
02.13.12 - Montreal, QC
@ La Sala Rossa
02.14.12 - South Burlington, VT
@ Higher Ground
02.16.12 - Northhampton, MA
@ Iron Horse
02.17.12 - Boston, MA
@ Royale
02.18.12 - New York, NY
@ Bowery Ballroom
02.19.12 - Philadelphia, PA
@ World Cafe Live
02.20.12 - Pittsburgh, PA
@ Rex Theater
02.22.12 - Rochester, NY
@ Water Street Music Hall
02.23.12 - Washington, DC
@ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue

03.08.12 - San Diego, CA
@ Anthology
03.09.12 - West Hollywood, CA
@ Troubadour
03.10.12 - San Francisco, CA
@ The Independent
03.12.12 - Fresno, CA
@ Neighborhood Cafe
03.15.12 - Eugene, OR
@ W.O.W. Hall
03.16.12 - Portland, OR
@ Mississippi Studios
03.17.12 - Vancouver, BC
@ Biltmore Cabaret
03.18.12 - Seattle, WA
@ The Triple Door
03.21.12 - Salt Lake City, UT
@ Urban Lounge
03.24.12 - Denver, CO
@ Swallow Hill Music Association
03.27.12 - Minneapolis, MN
@ The Cedar Cultural Center
03.29.12 - Madison, WI
@ Majestic Theater
03.30.12 - Chicago, IL
@ Lincoln Hall
03.31.12 - St. Louis, MO
@ Firebird