Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Southerly debuts “songaweek” website showcasing leader Krist Krueger’s up-to-the-minute marathon-style songwriting -- first month of tracks available.

Portland-based record label Greyday Records has launched http://www.songaweek.greydayrecords.com/ hot on the heels of Storyteller & The Gossip Columnist, the latest album by Krist Krueger -- Portland's one man orchestral songwriter known as Southerly. The label has been quietly debuted a new Southerly song at the site for the past four weeks. The tracks -- written and recorded in the middle of the night, sometimes mere hours before posting, will continue to surface throughout the remainder of the year, with the last posting on New Year's Day, 2008.

How is it possible to focus creative energy in this way with such concrete and looming deadlines attached? Krueger explains, “It’s kind of my own personal exercise in songwriting. Like training for a marathon of sorts. Sharpening my songwriting wits and forcing myself to spew out whatever it is that I feel like putting down.” For those who take the time to check in each week, they will find an up-to-the-minute dance with creativity that is a perfect compliment to the accomplished album Southerly released on Greyday Records earlier this year.

The first month of tracks in the “Southerly's Song-A-Week” series (“Oh Claire,” [MP3] “Young William Snow,” [MP3] “Split-Lipped Lullaby” [MP3] and “Stay Awake” [MP3]) are now available for streaming and download at http://www.songaweek.greydayrecords.com/. Visit the site for more info, production notes and lyrics for these first four sprints in Krueger’s ongoing artistic regimen.

More about Southerly and Storyteller & The Gossip Columnist:
“Krueger’s compositions… approach sheer genius.” 9.5 / 10 -- Lost At Sea

There are few true auteurs in pop music. The closest most so-called pop auteurs come to multi-tasking is mustering a balance between singer and songwriter. However, not only does Krist Krueger sing, write and arrange the music of Southerly, he's a seasoned recording engineer, record label manager and professional booking agent. He remains hands-on in all aspects of his music.

Krueger recorded the second Southerly album Storyteller & The Gossip Columnist, with his own full orchestra and horn arrangements. The arrangements of sweeping and swooning violins, horns and backing vocals that surround Krueger's every note flesh out the songs, which center on Krueger's otherwise intimate singing style.

Southerly's sophomore release is the latest edition in Krueger's catalogue of ornamental and skillfully crafted albums. As with Best Dressed and Expressionless (2004), Krueger's debut, Storyteller plays as an entire album keeping with the tradition of conceptual musical works. Storyteller was recorded in two separate rounds (necessitated by Krueger's rigorous touring schedule) at Haywire Studios in Portland, OR in 2006 and 2007. The release sees the close of 3 ½ years of full-time touring, both as a solo artist and full band.

Storyteller & The Gossip Columnist features an array of players including Ryan Heise (System and Station), Cory Gray (Desert City Soundtrack) and Ryland Bouchard (The Robot Ate Me). The album was engineered by Robert Bartleson (Wilco) and co-produced by Krueger and Bartleson.
Fans of The National, Brendan Benson, Richard Ashcroft and The Weakerthans take note.

Southerly Live:
10/26 Malaga, Spain Cervantes Festival
11/16 Seattle, WA Sunset Tavern
11/17 Missoula, MT The Badlander

Storyteller & The Gossip Columnist Tracklisting:
Stream The Album HERE

01. Visage Sans Expression
02. Close to the Crime
03. Soldiers (MP3 VIDEO)
04. A Coarse Design
05. Taking Stock
06. For the Speechless Coward
07. How To Be a Dreamer
08. If We All Forget
09. Pistols in Paradise
10. Cold Caller
11. Dreams That Make Men Free (MP3)
12. Breath of My Youth
13. When We Have To Go
14. Simple Simon

On The Web:
www.myspace.com/southerly
www.greydayproductions.com
www.songaweek.greydayrecords.com
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/southerly_storyteller.html

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