Friday, May 19, 2017

Little Reader debut “The Big Score” out today! Hear “Speed of Light” single in new episode of Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” then go to Iceland!

“Put on your dancing shoes,” as vet songwriters Kate Tucker, Ross Flournoy team up for collection of pop tunes “with the ability to part the clouds.”

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Little Reader (L-R): Kate Tucker, Ross Flournoy. Photo credit: Dan Long.

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The Big Score by Little Reader (produced by Mark Watrous of The Shins) is out today. Stream it at Spotify!

Grab a four-track Little Reader album sampler “Selected Readings From The Big Score at Noisetrade!

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“Put on your dancing shoes and go on the trip of a lifetime.” — Conan O’Brien Presents: Team Coco

Go to Iceland with the footwork of Shan Turner-Carroll in the music video for “Speed of Light” now!



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“Did you know we had a song on Brooklyn Nine-Nine?! Neither did we ;) Catch ‘Speed of Light’ in Season 4 Episode 16.” – Little Reader

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“All praise the pop song with the ability to part the clouds.” — Buzzbands.la

Little Reader have laboriously cemented their sun-bleached version of pop.” — Popdust

Little Reader is Nashville-based singer-songwriter Kate Tucker’s new and unexpected pop music collaboration with Los Angeles-based songwriter and guitarist, Ross Flournoy, late of Merge Records bands The Broken West and Apex Manor. The duo’s debut album The Big Score, produced by Mark Watrous of The Shins, is out today. Stream The Big Score at Spotify here.

The world is quickly discovering the pop songwriting superpowers of these two, with Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco premiering the addictive music video for Little Reader’s first single “Speed of Light” (featuring the life-affirming dance moves of Shan Turner-Carroll cutting a rug in Iceland), and the song recently surprising the duo by popping up in an episode of Fox’s award-winning sitcom hit “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”

The fun vibes of Tucker and Flournoy’s songs reflect their personalities, as heard in this Spotify playlist of “Pajama Jams” that they listened to while making The Big Score, and as seen in the first edition of their “Real Talk With Little Reader and The Big Score” YouTube series.

Kate lives in Nashville. Ross lives in LA. Communication is key, so they talk every day” explains the premise of their daily Skype interactions, which they record, edit, and then share. How did they arrive at the name Little Reader, and how did they choose to call the album The Big Score? All is revealed in the first episode!

In addition to working on their own projects, Tucker and Flournoy have both found success writing for others in recent years. If you’ve watched Jake Tapper’s CNN show, then you’ve heard Flournoy’s theme music, and Tucker has found herself on stage at the Sundance Film Festival for her work in film scoring and soundtracks. Between the two of them, dozens of television shows have used Tucker and Flournoy’s songs.

So, when these two met for the first time, in the hills over Los Angeles, it was merely to try writing together at the request of their publisher Rough Trade, or as Tucker jokes, “It was basically as blind a date as a co-write can be.” But, as we now know, the pair ultimately decided to take it all the way, and soon, Flournoy was in Nashville recording with Kate and her mates.

The Big Score by Little Reader is out today. Little Reader is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Little Reader
The Big Score
Out Now



Track Listing:

01. Speed of Light (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3 | VIDEO)
02. Running Toward the Sun
03. Burn Eternal (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3)
04. Give It
05. Light as a Feather
06. Disappearing One (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3)
07. Love Lust Life
08. Strange Lightning
09. Best Regret
10. Here Forever
11. Point of No Return (Bonus Track)

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Little Reader Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Lead singer of Lexington, Kentucky-based ten-person ensemble Big Fresh doesn’t do much lead singing on upcoming “Fall Preview” EP.

Robert Schneider of Apples In Stereo takes the mic for “Paralyzed” single at Brooklyn Vegan, Band launches week of tour dates on June 2nd.

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Big Fresh (clockwise fr. upper left): Faith DiamondMatthew Clarke, Brian Conners Manke, John FergusonNick Coleman, Kim Smith, Ben Phelan, Dave Farris, Ben Fulton. Photo credit: Chad Stockfleth.

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Hear the Big Fresh single “Paralyzed” (feat. Robert Schneider) at Brooklyn Vegan or the links below!




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Big Fresh – In The Press

“Tuneful, quirky pop.” — Brooklyn Vegan

“Big Fresh throws the listener one curveball after another.” — PopMatters

“Proud purveyors of exotically down-home art pop.” — Ace Weekly (Lexington)

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“We got tired of hearing ourselves singing lead on every track,” explains John Ferguson of Lexington, Kentucky-based ensemble Big Fresh. “So we invited a few of our talented friends to join us.”

Big Fresh, one of Lexington’s most venerable pop music institutions, is proud to announce the upcoming release of “Fall Preview,” one of two EPs that the ten-member band has scheduled for 2017 on its own Desperate Spirits label. “Fall Preview” represents the first Big Fresh release in six years, following up the band’s third full-length, 2011’s Moneychasers, and will be available on collectible limited vinyl, and digitally, on June 2nd.

One of “talented friends” appearing on “Fall Preview” is Robert Schneider, co-founder of the Elephant 6 Recording Co., and Ferguson’s bandmate in The Apples In Stereo. Schneider sings lead on the first “Fall Preview” single “Paralyzed,” recently premiered via Brooklyn Vegan.

Drawing from musical touchstones near and far, “Fall Preview” synthesizes the breezy harmonies of The Free Design, the lush arrangements of David Axelrod, and the gleeful deconstructionism of XTC.

In addition to Schneider’s vocal contributions, “Fall Preview” features vocals in Mandarin by Bianbian, lead singer of the Beijing pop band Candy Monster, on its opening cut “Tongku,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Beans” features the stylings of Hair Police founder, Trevor Tremaine, “Yes Yes Yes” is voiced by former Big Fresh singer, Kate Pope, and closing track “Like Swayze” (yes, that Swayze) features Lexington-based Hip-Hop and Soul singer, Michelle Hollis.

In June, Big Fresh will hit the road (all ten band members!) for dates in the Northeast and Midwest (see below for itinerary), and the second EP in this series, “Sweeps,” will follow closely behind in the fall. “Sweeps” will also feature guest vocalists, this time including Ken Stringfellow of The Posies, Per Sunding of Eggstone, and Karen Hover of Sound of Ceres.

The “Fall Preview” EP by Big Fresh arrives on collectible limited vinyl, and digitally, on June 2nd. John Ferguson of Big Fresh is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Big Fresh – On Tour

6/02/17: Huntington, WV @ The Press Club (w/ ATTEMPT, Letters)
6/03/17: Washington D.C. @ Seventh Stanine Festival (w/ ATTEMPT)
6/04/17: Baltimore, MD @ EMP Collective (w/ Hanna Olivegren, ATTEMPT)
6/05/17: New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge (w/ Matt Duncan, ATTEMPT)
6/07/17: Pittsburgh, PA @ Howler’s (w/ Delicious Pastries, ATTEMPT)
6/08/17: Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog (w/ ATTEMPT)
6/09/18: Columbus, OH @ SpaceBar (w/ Val Glenn, ATTEMPT)

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Big Fresh
“Fall Preview” EP
June 2nd, 2017
(Desperate Spirits)
  

Track Listing:

01. Tongku (feat. Bianbian)
02. Paralyzed (feat. Robert Schneider) (SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
03. Rock ‘n’ Roll Beans (feat. Trevor Tremaine)
04. Yes Yes Yes (feat. Kate Pope)
05. Like Swayze (feat. Michelle Hollis)

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Big Fresh Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Friday, May 12, 2017

Wales-based five-piece folk group Calan continues to make unprecedented international impression with deliberate presentation of traditional music.

 “The sound has translated to a modern audience on a grand scale,” says Yahoo! New album “Solomon,” out today. See the “Kân” music video at Blurt.

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Calan (L-R): Angharad Jenkins, Sam Humphreys, Bethan Rhiannon, Patrick Rimes, Alice French. Photo credit: Richard P Walton.

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Read all about “Kân” by Calan via Elmore Magazine and see the music video at Blurt.



[SOUNDCLOUD]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/calan-kan




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Calan – In The Press

“Grace, daring and sheer joy.” — The Daily Mirror (UK)

“Stunning. Gorgeously crafted songs, sprightly foot-tappers, verve and raw excitement.” — The Belfast Telegraph (UK)

“A fantasy of fiddling and harp, a downright theatrical piece of traditionally stylized folk music.” — MAGNET

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“Welsh-based band Calan may have its music anchored in ancient roots — traditional Welsh music incorporating accordion, fiddle, pipes, and harp — but the sound has translated to a modern audience on a grand scale.” – Yahoo! Music

The untraditionally traditional Cymru, Wales-based group Calan is the only Gwerin (translation: Folk) band to be held in a detainment cell at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport alongside a death metal band from Estonia. Calan is also the only band of any genre to follow-up that experience by performing alongside Sting at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the 50th birthday celebration of famed opera singer, Sir Bryn Terfel Jones.

These facts, even without listening to a note (or a foot stomp) from Calan, makes them rock stars, albeit rock stars on a mission to prove that traditional music, based on folklore and taught and performed through the generations, actually does rock. With 2017 performances in Australia and China following several months touring the US and UK supporting the new album Solomon, out today, Calan is on its way to accomplishing that.

Despite the ancient roots of Calan’s music, this brash, young group is comprised of a new generation of ambassadors, striving to take their sound to new audiences, raising some eyebrows with their deliberate presentation, while also raising the international profile of traditional Welsh music. Get used to this: accordion, fiddle, pipes, harp, and the percussive sound of clogs are the new guitar, bass, and drums.

To date, Calan has gone from busking in the streets of Cardiff to introducing Welsh traditional music to curious music fans in the UK, Belgium, Italy, France, and on several tours of North America, playing festival shows on huge stages to tens-of-thousands, as well as at local folk club shows, unrestricted by sound systems, while standing on tables and jumping off chairs.

Solomon’s latest single is Kân,” ​​a patriotic song about the future of the Welsh language and culture. The track features the sampled voice of famed poet, Nigel Jenkins, the late father of Calan member, ​​Angharad Jenkins.​​ The chorus of this song is based on the style of traditional psalm chanting popular in west Wales at one time.

Solomon, the latest album by Calan, is out today. The band is currently mid-way through an extensive UK tour, with dates in Australia, North America, and China to be announced.

Members of Calan are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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See the video for “Apparition” at Yahoo! and read all about the song via Atwood.






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Calan
Solomon
Out Now
(Sain Records)
  

Track Listing:

01. Kân (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE | MP3)
02. Ryan Jigs
03. #DeportationSelfie
04. Apparition (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE | MP3)
05. Hayes and Quinn's
06. Madame Fromage
07. Pe Cawn I Hon (If She Were
Mine)
08. Yr Eneth Ga'dd Ei Gwrthod
(The Rejected Maiden)
09. Synnwyr Solomon
(Solomon's Wisdom)
10. Dennis, Polca!
11. Yr Hwiangerddi (The
Lullabies)
12. Big D

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Calan Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Thursday, May 11, 2017

Tree Machines shares “Waiting On The Sun” video that “looks like vintage L.A., like ‘The Terminator,” Reveals new single from “Up For Air” debut.

“For all its electronics and mechanics, ‘Weights and Stones’ is viciously human,” says Atwood Magazine of latest track from band’s upcoming full-length.

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Tree Machines (L-R): Douglas Wooldridge, Patrick Aubry. Photo by Kasia Nawrocka.

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Tree Machines – In The Press

“It’s some LA soul that indie pop needs.” — Popdust

“An extended vocal-synth crescendo of hope and illumination.” — The Vinyl District

“Emotionally staggering.” — Diffuser

“Grips you in such a beautifully brutal way.” — Innocent Words

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See the music video for “Waiting On The Sun” by Tree Machines!






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Hear “Weights and Stones,” the latest single by Tree Machines!





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“Kansas-bred, Los Angeles-based duo Tree Machines are a band you should get familiar with. With vocalist Doug Wooldridge leading the way, the clip looks like vintage L.A., you know, from the ‘80s like ‘The Terminator’. Oh, and the song rocks too.” – PureVolume on the “Waiting On The Sun” music video by Tree Machines

“Raw feeling that comes from a deep, dark void within. For all its electronics and mechanics, ‘Weights and Stones’ is viciously human.” – Atwood Magazine on “Weights and Stones” by Tree Machines

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After releasing a debut EP in 2015 that contained its hard-to-ignore, first-ever single “Fucking Off Today,” the members of then Lawrence, Kansas-based band, Tree Machines left mid-western malaise behind to move into a house in the tiny Los Angeles neighborhood of Canoga Park.

There, vocalist and lyricist Doug Wooldridge, his bandmate Patrick Aubry, and producer, engineer, and drummer, Mike Giffin (all three contribute to the various instrumentation and music of Tree Machines), turned the house’s garage into a tracking room, and began creating the first full-length Tree Machines album Up For Air, scheduled for release in late 2017.

Two years since the release of that first EP, Tree Machines presented “Waiting On The Sun,” the first single from Up For Air, followed by the song’s lyric video, a remix from emerging producer :DFACE, and now, the track’s epic music video.

“The shoot began after a couple drinks at a dive bar near the Paradise Motel,” explains Wooldridge about the music video’s sequences which prompted PureVolume’s references to “The Terminator” in its premiere coverage of the clip. “We had just wrapped up a few establishing shots when some patrons of the motel left the room we were parked in front of and left the door wide open. We spent 30 minutes filming inside a room we hadn't paid for hoping that the couple that had left weren't gonna drop back in,” he says.

With the completion of Up For Air drawing near, Tree Machines is also sharing a second track from the album, “Weights and Stones”.

“In our old band, Doug and I had always talked about an electronic component to our songs,” explains Aubry of the track. “We were listening to Radiohead’s The King of Limbs, Alt-J’s debut, and Glass Animals. Needless to say, after forming Tree Machines, and as we were working on 'Weights and Stones,' we were enjoying taking it to an electronic, clubby type of sound. And then we heard Lewis Del Mar’s song ‘Loud(y),’ and it really opened our eyes. I think of ‘Weights and Stones’ as our official ‘hello.’”

Up For Air, the debut album by Los Angeles-based band Tree Machines, arrives in 2017, preceded by the singles “Waiting On The Sun” and “Weights and Stones”. Members of Tree Machines are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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 Read about “Waiting On The Sun” at Popdust and see the lyric video at The Vinyl District or the links below!






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Hear the :DFACE remix of “Waiting On The Sun” via Last Day Deaf or the link below!




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Tree Machines Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion



Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Vet songwriters Kate Tucker, Ross Flournoy are Little Reader; Debut “The Big Score,” produced by Mark Watrous of The Shins, out May 19th.

Hear “Disappearing One,” a “pop song with the ability to part the clouds,” courtesy of Buzzbands.la, Check out episode one of band’s “Real Talk”.

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   Little Reader (L-R): Kate Tucker, Ross Flournoy. Photo credit: Dan Long.

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Listen to “Disappearing One” by Little Reader at Buzzbands.la or the links below!





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Little Reader – In The Press


“All praise the pop song with the ability to part the clouds.” — Buzzbands.la

“Put on your dancing shoes and go on the trip of a lifetime.” — Conan O’Brien Presents: Team Coco

Little Reader have laboriously cemented their sun-bleached version of pop.” — Popdust

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Kate lives in Nashville. Ross lives in LA. Communication is key so they talk every day.


See “Real Talk with Little Reader and The Big Score,” Episode 1 now!


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PLAY, POST & SHARE


Hear more “Selected Readings From The Big Score,” i.e. more Little Reader tracks to share, at Noisetrade!

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Little Reader is Nashville-based singer-songwriter Kate Tucker’s new and unexpected pop music collaboration with Los Angeles-based songwriter and guitarist, Ross Flournoy, late of Merge Records bands The Broken West and Apex Manor. The duo’s debut album The Big Score (out May 19th) was produced by Mark Watrous of The Shins.

The world is quickly discovering the pop songwriting superpowers of these two, and “Disappearing One,” the latest single from The Big Score, continues along that path. Hear the song now via Buzzbands.la or Spotify.

Of the track, Tucker says, “When I met Ross I remember thinking, ‘this guy is so sunny.’ He was literally golden from sitting in his garden every morning smoking cigarettes, and when we started writing together, it came through almost immediately in the form of pop melodies from a brighter place than any I’d known.”

As the song’s producer, Watrous remembers, “By the time we got around to ‘Disappearing One,’ the full record was starting to reveal itself. Kate, Ross and I sat down to arrange the song and we wound up at this point where it just wanted to explode and then let all the dust settle, which seemed very appropriate given the lyrical content.”

One thing that has remained unclear until now is how Tucker and Flournoy arrived at the name Little Reader, how they chose to call their album The Big Score, and how a duo who lives in the disparate cities of Nashville and Los Angeles manages to work together. All is revealed in the first episode of “Real Talk With Little Reader and The Big Score,” streaming now.

Also streaming now by Little Reader is the catchy “Burn Eternal” single that Flournoy accurately describes as “an early 80’s Pretenders kind of thing,” as well as Little Reader’s first single “Speed of Light,” and its addictive music video featuring the life-affirming dance moves of visual artist Shan Turner-Carroll cutting a rug in Iceland. Two additional pre-release tracks from The Big Score are also available now as part of the Little Reader’s recent Noisetrade offering “Selected Readings From The Big Score here.

In addition to working on their own projects, Tucker and Flournoy have both found success writing for others in recent years. If you’ve watched Jake Tapper’s CNN show, then you’ve heard Flournoy’s theme music, and Tucker has found herself on stage at the Sundance Film Festival for her work in film scoring and soundtracks. Between the two of them, dozens of television shows have used Tucker and Flournoy’s songs.

So, when these two met for the first time, in the hills over Los Angeles, it was merely to try writing together at the request of their publisher Rough Trade, or as Tucker jokes, “It was basically as blind a date as a co-write can be.” But, as we now know, the pair ultimately decided to take it all the way, and soon, Flournoy was in Nashville recording with Kate and her mates.

The Big Score by Little Reader arrives May 19th. Little Reader is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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PLAY, POST & SHARE


Go to Iceland with Shan Turner-Carroll in the video for “Speed of Light” by Little Reader at Team Coco!






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Listen to “Burn Eternal” by Little Reader at Popdust or the links below!





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Little Reader
The Big Score
May 19th, 2017
  

Track Listing:

01. Speed of Light (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3 | VIDEO)
02. Running Toward the Sun
03. Burn Eternal (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3)
04. Give It
05. Light as a Feather
06. Disappearing One (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | MP3)
07. Love Lust Life
08. Strange Lightning
09. Best Regret
10. Here Forever
11. Point of No Return (Bonus Track)

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Little Reader Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion