Cursive got huge boost from TV show

• By JOHN WIRT
• Music writer
• Published: Nov 27, 2009

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Part of the Omaha, Neb., music scene that’s included Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes, Maria Taylor and Azure Ray, the Faint and the record label Oberst co-founded, Saddle Creek, Cursive’s 14 years in the field of adventurous rock produced an escalating series of breakthroughs.

Cursive’s second album, 2000’s Domestica, brought the band underground acclaim. Building on the momentum, 2003’s The Ugly Organ inspired widespread praise and coverage from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Esquire and Spin. Prestigious gigs ensued, including a performance at the 2004 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and an opening-act slot for the Cure.

 Another enthusiastically received album, Happy Hollow, appeared in 2006, followed by this year’s Mama, I’m Swollen. Despite all that Cursive had achieved, the band’s minutes-long appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman in March became the most exposure its ever had.  

“It was one of those big moments,” Cursive guitarist Ted Stevens said from Omaha. “Even months later it’s still a big deal that we did that.”

Stevens especially noticed the reaction to the Letterman appearance back home in Nebraska.

“It’s like everything is different,” he said. “Suddenly my family, and my extended family, they’re all aware of what my band looks like and what we sound like. We came home and were validated for all these years that we’d ‘wasted’ in this futile pursuit.”

Stevens would love to make the Letterman show — the most musically sophisticated of the late night TV chat shows — a regular stop in the days or weeks after Cursive releases new albums.

“That would be a cool tradition, because none of the other talk shows invite us on,” he said. “And its such a big promotional tool for bands, especially at our level. I’m so grateful to David Letterman and his whole staff. And then they gave us Will Ferrell night on top of that! We’re still glowing.”

Other 2009 Cursive highlights include the band’s fifth trip to Japan.

“It was incredible,” Stevens said. “It always is. And we’re starting to feel more comfortable around Tokyo, knowing the neighborhoods a little better.”

Cursive’s Japanese record label is wonderfully supportive, despite the economic downturn that’s gripped much of the world since 2008. 

“Everyone around the world is scaling back their budgets for touring,” Stevens said. “But our Japanese representative wants to see us succeed there. He keeps bringing us back. This trip I noticed that his wife and his close friends were our road crew, our interpreters and drivers. They’re really sweet people. I think we’re friends to the end.”

Stevens isn’t an original member of Cursive, but he built a natural bridge to the group. He and singer-guitarist Tim Kasher and bassist Matt Maginn were musician peers during high school but never official band mates. Stevens also contributed to Kasher’s solo work during their college years. After the two of them were both living in Lincoln, Stevens suggested himself as the replacement for departing Cursive guitarist Stephen Pederson. In another link to Cursive, Stevens studied guitar informally with Pederson when they were high school students.