John Vanderslice Makes a Trip to the Emerald City

Poor John Vanderslice.

John wrote the bulk of his new album, Emerald City, while knee-deep in legal limbo after a visa application for his girlfriend, a French national he met in Paris, was rejected by US Immigration. The songs and themes are fueled by an era of deep insecurity and paranoia; they develop in front of a backdrop of ritualized and mythologized current events. But at its simplest, Emerald City is made up of love songs—confused and angry, afraid and defeated. The red tape tie-up for JV and his girl remains unresolved.

The album's title refers not to our fair city, but a nickname for the Green Zone in Baghdad. Cheery stuff. At least it's all served as fodder for yet another solid album from Mr. Vanderslice, who plays at Neumo's next Wednesday night. Seattlest has two pairs of tickets to give away to the 21+ show. Enter to win by filling out the form below. No worries: Your info is safe with us and will not be shared with advertisers and/or the government, yadda yadda yadda. We'll be drawing two winners Monday at noon.