The album was recorded in just 3 days in Villa Blacksheep studios in Duisburg and produced by Bernhard Ruprecht and assisted by Jürgen Dahmen who also played hammond organ on tracks 'Things will always be the same' and 'Sticks and Stones'.
[5] Their second single 'With You' was nominated for 'Single of the Week' on BBC Radio 2's The Mark Radcliffe & Stuart Maconie Show[6] To coincide with the release of their debut album, the band played a European tour which took in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and the UK.
During the promotion of the 'Sticks and Stones' album the band shared the stage with Ocean Colour Scene[8] (during both the 'Saturday' and 'Pure Acoustic' tours), Echo and the Bunnymen, Mumford and Sons,[9] Hawkwind, Horslips, The Proclaimers, David Holmes,[10] Bon Iver, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Noah and the Whale, Jeff Beck, Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac and many more.
[20] 'Valfest' seen The Vals appear alongside Thin Lizzy founding member and guitarist Eric Bell and Henry McCullough.
During the promotional campaign of the single 'Look to the One', the band performed an acoustic version of Emily O' for the Ralph McClean show on the BBC.
[24] In 2012 The Vals announced the 'Autumn Acoustic Tour' with shows in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and finishing at the world famous Ulster Hall in Belfast.
In February 2013 the band took part in RTÉ's Other Voices Music Trail, an event which celebrated the City of Culture for that year, Derry.
On 1 February 2015 The Vals played the song "Pickepackevoll" live at the German football-themed television show Zeiglers wunderbare Welt des Fußballs.