On June 4th, 2022, the band will perform songs from new album, “Red Beets And Horseradish” while raising funds for the MLT Juniors.
“Our last major show in the Pittsburgh-area was at Moondog’s on the eve of The Super Bowl in 2020. The room was packed!”— Robert Andrew Wagner, The Little Wretches
On March 18th, 2022, Pittsburgh folk-rock veterans The Little Wretches released their latest, and according to local press, “greatest” album, “Red Beets and Horseradish.” The 13 song set picks up where 2020’s “Undesirables & Anarchists” and 2021’s “Live at the Mattress Factory: Songs from the Land of Pit Bulls & Poker Machines” left off. Since 2020, the band has amassed more than 150K Spotify streams, while topping international iTunes charts.
On June 4th, 2022, Robert Andrew Wagner and The Little Wretches return to their stomping grounds for an exclusive One Night Only live showcase of “Red Beets and Horseradish” at McKeesport’s Little Theater. The performance will raise funds for the MLT Juniors. The band will also remember the Massacre at Tiananmen Square and honor the memory of David Flynn.
Wagner notes, “The inaugural performance of The Little Wretches in the mid-eighties was a benefit for The New Group Theater, at what was then their recently acquired space, a defunct bowling alley in Garfield. The Little Wretches shared the bill with The Five. Our last major show in the Pittsburgh-area was at Moondog’s on the eve of The Super Bowl in 2020. The room was packed!”
According to Robert Wagner, “RED BEETS AND HORSERADISH’ is inspired by a relish or side-dish usually served around the holidays of Easter or Passover by various ethnicities of Eastern Europe. For the Serbs, for example, the red of the beets is symbolic of the blood of their people, and the horseradish the bitterness of their suffering. For others, the symbolism involves the blood of their savior and the bitterness of His suffering. People in the Jewish tradition also enjoy the dish, but there is no blood involved—the beets are merely for flavor—but the horseradish does represent the memory of bitter suffering in bondage. The songs on the album involve vignettes and portraits of people who’ve suffered—old people, sick people, crazy people, people who are alone—but the heart of the songs lies not in the suffering of the characters but in the indomitable faith and humor that sustains them.”
Watch the video for the first single, “Palms And Crosses” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53PzZDhT3Ho
https://littlewretches.com
https://www.facebook.com/thelittlewretches