UPDATE: It looks like the end of Puerto Muerto maybe closer than we thought. According to a post on Puerto Muerto’s Facebook page, Christa Meyer will not perform with the band at their February 13 record release show in St. Louis.

It’s usually not a good sign when one member of a duo doesn’t show. I suggest catching Puerto Muerto on February 22 at the Empty Bottle as it might be your last chance to catch the band…possibly forever. The full note from Christa is below:

Hello all!

I just wanted to let the fine folks of Saint Louis know that I will not be performing with Puerto Muerto on Saturday night. I wish I could be there, but he spirits have carried me to another place and I’ll be hanging out in a romantic cloud somewhere nice with my valentine.

I hope you have a smashing evening with Tim and the gang!

Love
Christa

There’s a lot going on in the world of Puerto Muerto, one of our 10 Chicago Bands To Watch In 2010.

Next Tuesday, February 9, 2010, Puerto Muerto will release their latest effort, Drumming For Pistols. You can check out the title track right now: Puerto Muerto – Drumming For Pistols.

The husband and wife duo, consisting of Christa Meyer and Tim Kelley, will then play two record release shows. The first show will be on Saturday, February 13, at the Schafly Tap Room in St. Louis, then a second homecoming record release show at Chicago’s Empty Bottle on Monday, February 22. Additionally, the band have released a video for Drumming For Pistols’ acoustic ballad, “Hurting Now,” which features a dancing woman in Native American garb who goes topless at the clip’s conclusion. You can check it out below.

But, most importantly, according to a story on Puerto Muerto from the Daily Herald, the band faced troubled times both societally and personally during the writing and recording of the new album.

Some personal upheaval was under way, too. Meyer said her marriage to Puerto Muerto singer and guitarist Tim Kelley went through some tumult during the making of the record, and that the two now plan to go their separate ways, both personally and professionally,

“A lot was happening to us, and I think we kind of fed off that on the record,” Meyer said. “It added some emotional juice to the music we were making,”
…
Looking ahead, Meyer said she plans to continue writing and performing music on her own.

“I’m still going to be writing as much as I can, trying to move in a more intimate direction with it,” she said. “I don’t want to be at arm’s distance from the music. I’m very happy with what we did with Puerto Muerto, but now I’m going to try to go in a new direction.”

Yeesh. That sucks. As fans of Puerto Muerto, we hope that Drumming For Pistols isn’t the last we’ve heard from them.

In the meantime, check out the video for “Hurting Now” rom Drumming For Pistols. (Maybe NSFW as their is nudity towards the end.)

“Hurting Now” Music Video for Puerto Muerto from T. Foley on Vimeo.