Premiere: Oliver Hazard release 'Take Me Back'

8/29/2018
BY GEOFF BURNS
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Today we’ve teamed with Waterville’s indie/folk trio Oliver Hazard to premiere the band’s newest song “Take Me Back.”

Guitarist/vocalist Michael Belazis said “Take Me Back” is the band’s first song lyrically about Ohio and will be featured on Oliver Hazard’s second full-length album, which will be released in 2019.

“The song is about being a stranger in your hometown and also being a stranger elsewhere and wanting to come back to that place you know that is very nostalgic,” he said.

You can listen to “Take Me Back” below.

The band, including Michael Belazis, Devin East, and Griffin McCulloch, will host its own Oliver Hazard Day on Friday in downtown Waterville, a music and craft beer festival. The festival will include local breweries offering beer samples, a raffle, a cigar room from Third Street Cigar, and performances from Vester Frey, Violent Bloom, and Oliver Hazard.

All beer proceeds will be donated to the Whitehouse Library. Other proceeds will be to help the band during its “Take Me Back” east coast tour, which starts Sept. 1 in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and ends Sept. 22 in Indiana.

The festival is from 7-11 p.m. Friday and $10 admission at the gate.

Look for an in-depth story on Oliver Hazard Day in Friday’s print edition of the newspaper, and online.

The band released its debut album 34 N. River in June, which includes its song “Caesar Knows” that currently has more than 1.2 million streams on Spotify.

The Blade was also recently invited to the band’s practice space in Waterville to record Oliver Hazard playing “Take Me Back” live. You can watch the video below.

Contact Geoff Burns at gburns@theblade.com or 419-724-6054.