Alberta Cross

The Rolling Thunder

In the winter of 2010 the band rehearsed new material at a closed-for-the-season artists' hotel in the Byrdcliffe Artist Colony in the Catskill Mountains above Woodstock, New York, which Stakee described as "something out of The Shining." Stakee moved to Silver Lake, Los Angeles in early 2011 to continue writing, and Wolfers and the rest of the band soon joined him. Recording sessions with producers Joe Chiccarelli and Mike Daly at East West and Sunset Sound studios did not satisfy Stakee and Wolfers, who parted ways with drummer Austin Beede and guitarist Sam Kearney.

Wolfers said that "bringing other guys into the band on the last record changed things" and that they wanted to bring back their original sound, with Stakee adding that "we always wanted to be two." Keyboardist Alec Higgins remained. The band returned to Brooklyn to work with producer Claudius Mittendorfer and revised the earlier tracks. The Rolling Thunder EP was released in September 2011 as a tour and US indie record-shop-only release.

Songs of Patience

The band's second full album Songs of Patience was released in the United States in July 2012 via ATO Records and in September 2012 via Ark Recordings/PIAS in the UK and Europe. Stakee described the album as "more colourful and a little less dark than our last record. It's a little warmer, maybe." Wolfers said it was a struggle to finish the record due to problems with management, label and other band members.

The previous band members were replaced by former Jeniferever drummer Fredrik Aspelin and guitarist Aaron Lee Tasjan. The band toured extensively across the United States, UK and Europe. In September 2012 Wolfers said he and Stakee were already working on songs for the next album and hoped to release it as soon as possible, stating that "it's been far too long between releases and we're not going to let industry or anyone get in the way again." Stakee said he had about 20 new songs and wanted to "bash it out."

In March 2013 Stakee debuted a short-lived new lineup at a low-key gig at Drom in New York. In May 2013 new press shots were posted online, and in June it was announced that Wolfers had left the band amicably, leaving Stakee as the only permanent member.

2015-2026

In late July 2014, following an unplugged acoustic residency at the Randolph in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and at 11 Street bar in the East Village through May and June, Stakee began work on a new studio album in a former church converted to a studio named Dreamland, near Woodstock, New York. The self-titled album was released in October 2015 and the band toured North America in early 2016. Stakee sang backing vocals on Norah Jones' album Daybreaks and Stakee, Jones and Valerie June sang backing vocals together on an Aloysius 3 album.

Alberta Cross was invited to play Ringo Starr's birthday party outside the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles. Stakee also did a solo tour through North America with Erika Wennerstrom from Heartless Bastards. Alberta Cross toured with Norah Jones and was also the backing band for two songs on Ringo Starr's new album that Stakee also produced. After rolling out several new songs over the course of 2019, Alberta Cross released the digital-only album What Are We Frightened Of? on 26 June 2020.

All songs on the album were co-written by Stakee and the album's producer, Luke Potashnick. A new album, Sinking Ships, was released on 31 March 2023, followed by singles "Nothing Out There" on Sept. 29, "Crooked House" on Nov. 17 and "So Far Out Of Reach" on Dec. 15. In 2024, Alberta Cross released singles "Never Going To Walk Way" on Feb. 2, "Watch Me Fall Down" on March 1, "Born In Amazement" on April 5 and "Vagabond" on May 3. Several more singles were released in 2026.

Popular culture

The song "Low Man" is heard at the end of episode 8 of Season 2 of Californication, in episode 2 of Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy, and in Season 1, Episode 4 of Longmire. "Lucy Rider" appears in the series premiere of Survivors, episode 3 of Season 1 of Dirty Sexy Money, and in Elementary. The band performed "ATX" and "Rise from the Shadows" on Last Call with Carson Daly, and "ATX" was used as the rejoiner bumper during the 2009 BCS Championship Game telecast. The band appeared on the Cinemax Tour Stories program.

Did You Know?

• Stakee originally claimed the name 'Alberta Cross' was an anagram, but later admitted they were 'just saying it's an anagram to piss people off'.
• The song 'Low Man' appears in three different TV shows: Californication, Sons of Anarchy, and Longmire.
• The band's debut album Broken Side of Time was recorded in Austin, Texas with producer Mike McCarthy and was described by Stakee as 'kind of a desperation album, a darker album; it's definitely angrier.'