Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Norman Music Festival announces main stage and Jack Daniels stage lineups.

Fifth-annual festival to take place in Norman, Oklahoma from April 26th - 28th.

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NMF5 to feature Portugal. The Man, Other Lives, Hayes Carll and more!

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On April 26th, 27th and 28th, Norman, Oklahoma will rock to some of the best indie bands in the nation when the Norman Music Festival kicks off its fifth year.  The three-day event will take place on over a dozen local stages and includes headliners Portugal. The Man on the festival’s Main Stage and Hayes Carll on its Jack Daniels stage.

“The festival has lined up some incredible bands and we can’t wait to share them with the public,” says Norman Music Festival Chair, Steven White.

Downtown Norman (home to the University of Oklahoma and located approximately 30 minutes from Oklahoma City) will transform into one of the nation’s largest music festivals (last year’s attendance topped out at about 35,000) on the event’s third night.

In addition to headliner Portugal. The Man, the Main Stage lineup includes Other Lives (fresh off of a support tour with Radiohead), self-proclaimed American rock band Red Wanting Blue, The Weekend Hustler and Oklahoma-based artists including Tulsa’s Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Oklahoma City’s Modern Rock Diaries and Norman’s Rainbows Are Free and Crown Imperial.

The Norman Music Festival’s Jack Daniels Stage includes nationally known artists Hayes Carll, Alejandro Escovedo, The Giving Tree and The Possum Posse as well as locally-based artists Parker Millsap, The Damn Quails, Krystal Keith, Camille Harp and John Calvin.

A full list of bands performing at the 2012 Norman Music Festival will be available in April. The mission of the Norman Music Alliance is to promote live events for the community of Norman, Oklahoma, and the surrounding area that celebrates original music of many genres produced by local, regional and national musicians.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: The Norman Music Festival would like to invite all media professionals to come out for the three-day event. This year, press and photo passes are not required. For bios and photos of the bands included in this release, please email Jen.Tregarthen@gmail.com.

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Norman Music Festival Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

Monday, March 26, 2012

Last.fm Presents: Red Wanting Blue. Check out the band’s acoustic session and interview streaming now.

Group added to Norman Music Festival, Summer Camp Music Festival, All Good Festival and more TBA.

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Red Wanting Blue (L-R): Greg Rahm, Dean Anshutz, Mark McCullough, Scott Terry, Eric Hall Jr. Photo: Jason Tanaka Blaney.

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“White Snow” is the latest single from Red Wanting Blue’s new album “From The Vanishing Point”.


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“…solid, powerhouse musicianship…” – Relix

“…enduringly bright, promising and wonderful.” – Blurt

Red Wanting Blue truly delivers the goods.” – Performer

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Columbus, Ohio-based band Red Wanting Blue taped a session for Last.fm Presents on the morning of its sold-out show at Rockwood Music Hall in NYC on February 22nd.   The session has now been posted as the main feature at http://lastfmpresents.radio.com and can also be linked to directly here: http://lastfmpresents.radio.com/2012/03/23/last-fm-presents-red-wanting-blue. Among the songs the band performed is its single “White Snow” which is currently climbing the AAA radio charts.

Red Wanting Blue continues to tour behind its new album From The Vanishing Point (see dates below) and can now announce that it has also been added to the Norman Music Festival as a main stage headliner with Portugal. The Man and Other LivesRed Wanting Blue will also perform at the Summer Camp Music Festival which features headliners Umphrey’s McGee, Jane’s Addiction and Primus.  Ohio’s All Good Music Festival will also welcome the band on Saturday, July 21st which will be headlined by the Allman Brothers Band and The Flaming Lips.

Since the release of Red Wanting Blue’s latest album From The Vanishing Point in January, the band has seen a steady increase in attention being paid to the sound that band leader Scott Terry has been bringing to America for over a decade.  The majority of shows on the band’s tour in support of the album have been sell outs, including the 1400-capacity House of Blues in Cleveland which was sold-out in advance of the band’s February 4th show there. See photographs of the performance here.

Red Wanting Blue’s story is noted as a textbook case of local boys making good.  Terry, the sole constant in the band’s 15-years-and-running career, has seen Red Wanting Blue amass a loyal following in and around the Midwest in that time.  It’s these loyal fans that helped Red Wanting Blue achieve a career milestone as From The Vanishing Point, the band’s first record recorded for a label, made a Top 10 debut on the Billboard Heatseekers chart upon its release on January 10th.

Scott Terry of Red Wanting Blue is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Red Wanting Blue Live

03/31 York, PA @ Capitol Arts Center
04/06 Canton, OH @ The Auricle
04/06 Akron, OH @ WAPS The Summit 91.3 Live In-Studio
04/06 Cleveland, OH @ WJCU The Heights 88.7 Live In-Studio, 1PM
04/07 Huntington, WV @ V Club
04/07 Huntington, WV @ WCMI The Planet 92.7 & 98.5 Live In-Studio, 2PM
04/21 Toledo, OH @ Headliner's
04/28 Norman, OK @ Norman Music Festival w/ Portugal The Man, Other Lives, Hayes Carll and more.
05/05 Bloomington, IL @ Castle Theatre w/ Dan Hubbard and The Humadors
05/11 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
05/12 Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
05/25 Lexington, IL @ Kemps Festival
05/26 Chillicothe, IL @ Summer Camp Music Festival w/ Umphrey's McGee, Jane's Addiction, Primus and more.
06/01 Indianapolis, IN @ The Rathskeller
06/02 Aurora, IL @ Ballydoyle Pub
06/15 Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
06/16 Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
06/29 Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Rocking On The River
07/21 Thorneville, OH @ All Good Festival w/ The Flaming Lips, Allman Brothers Band, Michael Franti & Spearhead and more.
07/26 Kearney, NE @ Buffalo County Fair
07/28 Washington, MO @ Otis Campbells
08/17 Akron, OH @ Musica
08/18 Deshler, OH @ Corn City Festival
08/22 Rochester, NY @ The Bug Jar
08/25 Buffalo, NY @ Jammin in the Vines III Fest

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Red Wanting Blue
From The Vanishing Point
(Fanatic Records – Out Now)


Track Listing:

01. Stay On The Bright Side
02. Audition (STREAM | MP3 | VIDEO)
03. White Snow (STREAM)
04. Playlist
05. Love Remains
06. Cocaine
07. Walking Shoes (STREAM)
08. Dinosaur
09. Running of The Bulls
10 Ballad of Nobodies
11. Hope On A Rope
12. Pour It Out
13. My Name Is Death

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Red Wanting Blue Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

Friday, March 23, 2012

French duo UNISON added to prestigious Printemps de Bourges festival. “Brothers & Sisters” video out now.

Parisian label Lentonia (also home to Video Love, Phoebe Jean, EDH) scores US distribution deal with Nail.

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UNISON (L-R): Melanie Moran, Julien Camarena. Photo Credit: UNISON.

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“Brothers & Sisters” is the first single and video from the upcoming US release from UNISON.

 


 


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The music of French duo UNISON has been described variously as death-gaze, death-trance, ethereal wave, gothic, industrial rock and witch house.  With so many labels being placed on the band, the one thing the European press can agree on is that the band is “good,” with influential publications such as Les Inrockuptibles, Elegy, Standard, Noise, Start Up and Modzik praising UNISON.

The attention has resulted in UNISON being added to this year’s edition of the prestigious Printemps de Bourges festival, which takes place over five days each spring in Bourges, France.  The festival which typically draws over 200,000 people, is now in its 35th year.

In addition to the attention that UNISON is receiving in Europe, the band has also been finding fans in the US, even though it has yet to release an album here. This will change on April 10th, 2012, when UNISON’s self-titled debut is released in America by the Paris-based Lentonia Records label.  Lentonia, also home to like-minded artists Video Love, Phoebe Jean and EDH, recently struck a distribution deal with Portland, Oregon-based Nail Distribution which will bring Lentonia’s artists to the states.

UNISON’s debut is is full of uncompromising, dark, layered sounds. The album’s first single “Brothers & Sisters” is now streaming and available for download.  A video for the song has also been posted.

Of the clip, UNISON’s Julien Camarena says, “I made this video with found family film footage. The idea was to take the existing intimate and personal images and shift the meaning to something more cryptic and open to interpretation.” Camarena continues, “I wanted to illustrate the lyrics about strong bonds that unite members of a family, soul mates, or human beings in general. The departure of the intimate and the arrival of universal thought, all in a kaleidoscopic aesthetic approaching the Hindu and Tibetan mandalas.”

Camarena’s partner in UNISION is Melanie Moran. “We have to make music,” Moran says. “It’s a vital need. We need to create and to find a way to share our feelings, even if no one cares. We want our music to be sensual, dark, noisy, melodic, and plain loud. Very loud.”

The debut self-titled album by France’s UNISON will be released by Lentonia Records in the US on April 10th, 2012.  Julien Camarena and Melanie Moran of UNISON are available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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UNISON
S/T
(Lentonia – April 10th, 2012)


 Track Listing:

01. BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD
02. Heartcore
03. Harmless
04: OMER
05. Lost Generation
06. Brothers & Sisters (STREAM | MP3 | VIDEO)
07. OUTSIDE
08. Arp Quad Rollerskate
09. DARKNESS
10. Intimacy
11. First Degree
12. Put Your Hands In The Air

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UNISON Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

Monday, March 19, 2012

Former Apples In Stereo Moog-man McDuffie to release debut solo album as Whitejacket April 3rd.


Chicago-based artist’s single “Medinah” influenced by “Satanic Majesties,” “Magical Mystery Tour”.

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Chris McDuffie of Whitejacket. Photo by Lisa Pekarek.

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“Medinah” is the latest single from the upcoming debut album “Hollows and Rounds” by Whitejacket.




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“…wonderfully upbeat piano-driven pop that sounds something like a cross between Stackridge and The Beach Boys. TOP PICK.” – Babysue

Chris McDuffie’s musical career began when he was lured away from his graduate studies to play keyboards and percussion in The Apples in stereo. Despite a propitious beginning, the rigors and temptations of touring took their toll on McDuffie who was abruptly and publically dismissed from the band after blowing a tambourine cue onstage in Albuquerque.

Cast out of the Elephant 6 garden, McDuffie packed up his tambourine and retreated to Chicago where he eventually began work on Hollows and Rounds, his debut album as Whitejacket due April 3rd. While the album’s latest horn-heavy single “Medinah” shows the influence of Their Satanic Majesties Request and the funhouse feel of Magical Mystery Tour, McDuffie admits, “I fear the chorus may owe a little debt to The Cardigans.”

Of the song’s title, McDuffie explains, “Medinah is, among other things, a town in Illinois.  Though, to me, it sounded like an interesting name for a woman.  The song is about a beguiling but difficult love object – someone who simultaneously fills you with fears of abandonment by them and fantasies of escape from them.”

As for the other songs on Hollows and Rounds, McDuffie claims the influence of many obscure artists from the sixties and seventies such as Margo Guryan and Billy Nicholls, but cheerfully admits the obvious: “The Beatles are my first love. These days, I feel like indie types demand a certain literary seriousness from songwriters, but Paul McCartney’s example reminds me that a song doesn’t need to be absolutely sincere or lyrically sublime to succeed. It’s okay to occasionally indulge yourself in a silly love song.”

Chris McDuffie’s debut album as Whitejacket is scheduled for release on April 3rd, 2012. McDuffie is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Whitejacket
Hollows and Rounds
(S/R – April 3rd, 2012)


Track Listing:

01. Versus Angel
02. Those Are Pearls
03. The Modern (STREAM | MP3)
04. Walkin’ Blues
05. Single Seagull
06. River's Song
07. Medinah (STREAM | MP3)
08. Dregs
09. Easy Now
10. Inside Out
11. Sangfroid
12. Missing
13. Like it Warm

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Whitejacket Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion