Petra CD (Autographed)

Purchase includes signed booklet.

PETRA was written, produced, and performed by acclaimed multi-instrumentalist/ songwriter Anthony LaMarca, also known for his role as guitarist in The War On Drugs. Like so many Midwestern musicians before him, LaMarca left his beloved hometown of Youngstown, OH for Brooklyn but returned in 2014 and began work as The Building, often joined by his brother Angelo (guitar) and wife Megan (cello) on a series of EPs and albums including 2018s acclaimed RECONCILIATION released via Peppermint Records.

PETRA which shares its name with the LaMarcas beloved German Shepherd is a bare-boned, often brutally blunt, new work from a gifted musician-songwriter forced by fate to confront lifes hardest truths and consequences. LaMarca had just begun recording at Youngstowns Peppermint Productions a vintage studio facility best known for producing everything from polka superstar Frank Yankovic to the Judge Judy theme song when a spell of intense back pain led to his being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. Originally, LaMarca was diagnosed in the middle of making Reconciliation. He immediately started treatment, which brought the disease into complete remission. His disease relapsed last year while in the middle of making PETRA. The experience inspired a second meaning to the albums title, the acronym P-E-T-R-A, or Peaces Eternal Truth Renews All. Moreover, LaMarcas physical struggle has resulted in the most powerful work of The Buildings still-growing canon, a vivid series of deeply personal songs such as Purifer and the LP-opening Transformed, made even more impactful through strikingly simple arrangements and raw, heartfelt performance.

He spent his time at the treatment center with headphones on editing and mixing the recordings. Imagine me listening to these recordings, LaMarca says. IV needle in the top of my hand. Headphones blaring. I always sit by the window. Its beautiful out. Just a window away. Outside. Free. Not in there. Not with the needle. But out in the woods with my dog, with the tree that I like, that makes such a calming sound when the wind blows, and its leaves sort of sparkle too. Thats part of how this album was made. It seems dramatic or maybe tragic, but its not. Or more importantly, I dont see it that way and I dont intend for the music to be heard that way. Its just the truth of what was happening in my life while I was recording these songs.