Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Memorializing his mother with Margaret Chavez stage name, Marcus William Striplin of Pleasant Grove goes solo with masterful LP, “A Loupe.”

Produced by Erik Wofford (Explosions In The Sky), album adds fevered fuzz to sound UNCUT calls “a mark of excellence in modern Americana.”

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Margaret Chavez (Marcus William Striplin) as photographed by Marcus William Striplin.

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 “Strange Buoy’s” by Margaret Chavez is the “Song of The Day” at Austin’s NPR-affiliate KUTX, 98.9.

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Margaret Chavez – Live


1/26/2018: Fort Worth, TX @ Twilite Lounge
1/27/2018: Denton, TX @ Dan's Silverleaf
1/28/2018: Deep Ellum, TX @ Twilite Lounge

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“Surrounding you in a dirt devil of a sound that lies somewhere on the spectrum between Americana and psychedelia.” – KUTX 98.9, Austin

“A Loupe,” the upcoming solo debut of Pleasant Grove co-founder Marcus William Striplin (performing under the name Margaret Chavez in memorial tribute to his mother), is everything a fan of Striplin’s songwriting and arrangement ideas (here realized by producer, Erik Wofford [Explosions In The Sky, The Black Angels]) would expect and more.


Striplin’s name is familiar to anyone who has followed the indie rock scene that emerged out of Texas in the early 2000’s, specifically Dallas, where Striplin co-founded the band named after the suburb Pleasant Grove in 1999.

In its relatively brief half-decade-or-so initial run, Pleasant Grove earned praise for the “simmering psychedelia” (KUTX 98.9) of its “songs of broken hearts and broken voices” (Dallas Observer) that, according to MOJO, mixed the “down and out ache of Texas country as well as the sonic outbursts of Neil Young.” In a four-star review, UNCUT dubbed Pleasant Grove a “mark of excellence in modern Americana.”

Consequence of Sound called Pleasant Grove’s return “triumphant,” the glossy Dallas-based monthly D Magazine proclaimed The Heart Contortionists “beautiful,” describing songs with “an intensity that sneaks up on you and a heat that never goes away,” and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram summed things up with a nod to Striplin specifically, saying Pleasant Grove’s “melancholy folk-rock, blessed with shadows, brass and Striplin’s plaintive voice — are breathtaking.”

Striplin, now based in Austin, has made a record that surpasses his best work. “A Loupe” by Margaret Chavez (Marcus William Striplin) arrives on Jan. 19th, 2018 via Goliad Media Group. Striplin is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Margaret Chavez
“A Loupe”
(Goliad Media Group)
Jan. 19th, 2018
  

Track Listing:

01. Boy Mumble
02. American Fashion
03. Gone Gone Gone
04. Call For Cull (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
05. A Loupe
06. Grackles and Crows
07. Strange Buoy’s (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
08. Black Ambulance
09. Two Talons
10. Missing People

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Margaret Chavez Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Monday, December 18, 2017

Moon Darling’s “bewitching psych rock of the 70s” is “spun into the modern world” on upcoming “By The Light of The Moon” EP, out Jan. 26th.

eattle foursome’s “gently hallucinogenic” synergy anchored by arena-level solos, vocals of Michael Julian Escobar, drumming of Michelle Nuño.

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Moon Darling (L-R): Matthew Buckner, Michelle Nuño, Michael Julian Escobar, Jack Jay. Photo credit: Spacecraft Presents.

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“The spirit of ’70s-era rock ‘n’ roll. Climactic and mesmerizing, with some stellar guitar solos,” says Treble about “Learned Amongst The Sky” by Moon Darling!

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Moon Darling – In The Press

“Reminiscent of the bewitching psych rock of the 70s; An infectious tune that won’t leave your head.” — Tom Tom Mag

“A fluid, controlled strain of psych rock” — The Stranger (Seattle)

“Superb, groovy music. On repeat for the rest of the week.” — MAGNET

“The psychedelic ’70s gets spun into the modern world. Dreamy and fluid. Intense and captivating.” — The Big Takeover

“A bluesy sound that harkens back to that classic ’70s rock howl.” — Nooga.com

“Gently hallucinogenic.” — The Revue

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Seattle! See Moon Darling live on 1/25/2018 @ Fred Wildlife Refuge w/ Kingdom of the Holy Sun

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Seattle-based foursome Moon Darling is racking up early attention for its muscular psychedelic 70’s sound ahead of the release of a new EP, “By The Light of The Moon” scheduled for Jan. 26th. The band has also announced a record release show in its hometown at Fred Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 25th.

The fierce fretwork on the new collection by Michael Julian Escobar is matched by his Madison Square Garden-level vocals, and Moon Darling’s compelling presentation doesn't stop there.

The not-so-hidden ace is likely drummer, Michelle Nuño, as heard in the EP’s title track, premiered via Tom Tom Mag (the publication with the tag line: “Drummers | Music | Feminism.”) Rounding out Moon Darling’s sound is bass guitarist, Jack Jay laying down sneaky, winding, and always in the pocket lines, along with keyboardist, Matthew Buckner.

“Learned Amongst The Sky,” the second official single from “By The Light of The Moon” is also streaming now after recently premiering viaemerging music discovery website Treble.

“By The Light of The Moon,” the latest from Seattle-based band, Moon Darling arrives on Jan. 26th, 2018. Members of Moon Darling are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Moon Darling
“By The Light of The Moon EP”
Jan. 26th, 2018


Track Listing:

01. Soul Mine
02. Don’t Rise
03. Right All The Time
04. By The Light of The Moon (YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | APPLE | MP3)
05. When The Morning Comes
06. Learned Amongst The Sky (YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | APPLE | MP3)
07. She Said (The Key)

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Moon Darling Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Thursday, December 14, 2017

Mark Bryan shares “Forgetting About Me” video, shot throughout Hootie guitarist’s home base of Charleston, featuring locals, friends, fellow musicians.

New season of Bryan’s co-produced, Emmy award-winning “Live at the Charleston Music Hall” series set to debut on regional PBS-affiliates, Jan. 22.

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Mark Bryan as photographed by Jonathan Boncek.

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“Leaves us with one amazing feeling: community,” says Popdust in its premiere coverage of the new Mark Bryan music video.

“Forgetting About Me” was shot in and around Bryan’s home base of Charleston, SC and features many locals, friends, and fellow musicians.



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Mark Bryan stopped by Paste to perform songs from his Songs of the Fortnight solo album, out now.



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Mark Bryan – In The Press

“A driving, full-on pop masterpiece.” — Popdose

“Proves yet again that he’s more than the guitarist from Hootie.” — Free-Times (Columbia, SC)

“Through Mark’s effervescent delivery, you can tell that he’s right where he loves to be.” — Popdust

“Steady, whimsical optimism.” — MAGNET

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“It’s satisfying. It’s a chance to take what I have learned from my experiences within the music industry and convey it to the next generation,” says musician Mark Bryan, best-known as co-founder and guitarist of the multi-platinum, Grammy award-winning band Hootie and The Blowfish. On the heels of the recent release of his third solo album Songs of The Fortnight, Bryan recently chatted with the Charleston City Paper about his work beyond being a songwriter and performer.

Songs of The Fortnight itself actually evolved from Bryan’s work helping out aspiring musicians. As he began to amass production credits on dozens of recordings, Bryan launched a three-year long blog project, which saw him posting a new song of his own, or an artist he was playing with or producing, every two weeks over the course those years. Eventually, there was enough of Bryan’s own material for an album.

Now, Bryan’s sense of community comes full circle in the just-released music video for the Fortnight single “Forgetting About Me” which was shot in and around Charleston, South Carolina where Bryan focuses so many of his efforts.

“The idea of an object getting passed around randomly (a key, which is seen being forged as the video opens) and leading to a connected event, felt like a good story,” Bryan says of the clip’s concept. “We asked some of our fellow musician friends to be the key-passers, and some of the kids in the audience are students from my class.”

Along with helping to establish the College of Charleston’s concentration on the Music Industry, which he continues with as a professor (the “class” he refers to above), Bryan is also involved in Carolina Studios, a non-profit recording studio that allows children in low-income areas to have a songwriting and recording experience free-of-charge. Bryan also manages the emerging Charleston-based rock band Stop Light Observations, and by teaming up with the esteemed local venue, the Charleston Music Hall, has co-produced and launched the television show “Live at the Charleston Music Hall,” which recently won a regional Emmy Award.

The next season of “Live at the Charleston Music Hall” will begin airing on PBS-affiliates in the south, starting Jan. 22nd.

 “Charleston is an amazing city in the middle of a remarkable renaissance,” Bryan says of his adopted hometown (he is originally from Bethesda, Maryland). “I’m lucky to be part of its growth.”

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As a member of a nearly 20 million album-selling group Hootie and the Blowfish, Mark Bryan’s guitar playing was ubiquitous in 1995 (and in last week’s episode of South Park, too!) Hootie and The Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View earned the biggest album sales of any release that year, and is now ranked as one of the biggest selling albums in music history. Success at that level brings all sorts of pre-conceptions, so when first hearing the tunes on Bryan’s just-released third solo album Songs of The Fortnight (Chucktown Music Group), listeners will be surprised at the down-to-Earth songwriting that sounds like Southern hospitality.

Mark Bryan’s third album Songs of the Fortnight is out now via the artist’s own Chucktown Music Group. Bryan is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Mark Bryan
Songs of the Fortnight
(Chucktown Music Group)
Out Now
  

Track Listing:

01. Mybabyshe’sallright (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
02. If You Saw Her (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
03. Almost Loved Me
04. A Little Bit of Everything
05. The Great Beyond
06. Forgetting About Me (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3 | VIDEO)
07. Whole Lotta Lovin’ (feat. Hank Futch)
08. Sweet Love (feat. Kathy Dempf)
09. Only Love Can Satisfy
10. A Song For Maryland
11. Maybe Then (Acoustic)

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Mark Bryan Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Friday, December 1, 2017

MOTORCADE debut album out Jan. 19th. Band members have recorded, been in touring bands with St. Vincent, The War On Drugs, Daniel Johnston.

Latest single “Desertion,” out today, follows-up Dallas band’s local hit song “Recover;” RIYL: Depeche Mode, New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen

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MOTORCADE (L-R): James Henderson, Andrew Huffstetler, Jeff Ryan, John Dufilho. Photo credit: Jerome Brock.

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“Doses of ‘80s-like brooding co-mingle with uplifting choruses. Suggests great things to come from the Dallas-based outfit.” — PopMatters



Listen to “Desertion” by MOTORCADE via PopMatters or at the links below.





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MOTORCADE – In The Press

“A Britpop-flavored, love-at-first-listen.” — KXT, Dallas

“A charming piece of indie rock that recalls Phoenix and Tame Impala.” — MAGNET

‘Recover’ is an 80’s pop wonder. Brilliant.” — Somewherecold

“The kind of thing we could see folks nationwide latching onto.” — Central Track

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“I like that there’s some nice psychedelia in this one,” says James Henderdson of Dallas-based band MOTORCADE about “Desertion,” the foursome’s new single, out today. “That was the original aim of the whole record, to mix post-punk and 60's psychedelia.”

The track, premiered this week via cutting-edge music discovery website PopMatters, is the follow-up to the local hit “Recover,” which has been in steady rotation via Dallas’ nationally recognized community radio station KXT for nearly a year.

The members of MOTORCADE bring years of experience to the band. Andrew Huffstetler (Voice), Henderson (Guitar, Keyboards, Voice), John Dufilho (Bass, Voice), and Jeff Ryan (Drums) -- have previously recorded and/or been in touring bands with St. Vincent, The War on Drugs, Daniel Johnston, The Apples in Stereo, Pleasant Grove, and many more.

The fruit of these dues paid is a fine and fluid debut album that hits on every pressure point of late 80s-early 90s songcraft ala Depeche Mode, New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and so on. The self-titled debut album arrives via Idol Records on Jan. 19th, and MOTORCADE has just-announced a record release show in Dallas for the following evening, Jan. 20th. See below for more info.

“When we first started actively playing together, we had a couple of my ideas and just played them to see if we could do it,” says Henderson, which ultimately led MOTORCADE to become an actual thing. “It worked out alright, but then I realized we’d need more songs,” he continues. “So that was the impetus to start writing.”

The rest of the album is no afterthought. Everything here is sent over the moon by serious production chops and musicianship, owing again to the substantial pedigree that these guys came to the studio with. It’s an aspect of record-making that is seemingly ignored by younger bands making music influenced by this era.

“For me, production and songwriting go hand-in-hand,” Henderson says. The sounds are every bit as important as the notes and chords being played.”

The self-titled debut album by Dallas-based MOTORCADE arrives via Idol Records on Jan. 19th, 2018, preceded by the singles “Recover” and “Desertion,” streaming now. Members of MOTORCADE are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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KXT’s The Local Show and Idol Records Present



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MOTORCADE
MOTORCADE
(Idol Records)
Jan. 19th, 2018
  

Track Listing:

01. Walk With Me
02. Deliver
03. When The Hit Comes
04. Overthrown
05. Desertion (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | APPLE | MP3)
06. Evaporate
07. Recover (SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | APPLE | MP3 | VIDEO)
08. Long Telegram
09. CP80
10. Not Too Dark
11. Contact Light

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MOTORCADE Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Brooklyn-based, classically-trained guitarist, Jeremy Bass to follow-up pair of critically praised 2015 EPs with lyrically-driven “The Greatest Fire.”

New LP featuring Nick Luca (Iron and Wine), Jon Rauhouse (Neko Case), Tom Hagerman (DeVotchKa), Jacob Valenzuela (Calexico) arrives Jan. 19th.

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Jeremy Bass as photographed by Skyler Smith

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Jeremy Bass – In The Press

“A stunner!” — Sing Out!

“Daring and simple all at the same time.” — Guitar World

“Sparse, delicate. Just the thing to cosy up to while the rain taps at your window.” — BBC Radio 6

“Blends the lessons of classical, bossa nova, and folk.” — Acoustic Guitar

“Hope can be heard shining through.” — Exclaim!

“Beautifully composed.” — MAGNET

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“Bursts out of the gate with clever poetry, witty imagery, and engaging guitar work.”– Atwood Magazine

Listen to “Trees for the Forest” from The Greatest Fire by Jeremy Bass via Atwood Magazine or at the links below.

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About Jeremy Bass:

The Greatest Fire (Jan. 19th, Jungle Strut Music), the upcoming new album by Brooklyn-based artist Jeremy Bass, contains numerous turns of phrase that are completely world-class, impressive for any emerging songwriter, but the rub here is that Bass actually makes his bones as a classical guitarist.

Bass has logged countless hours mastering the instrument that he was originally trained on in Italy and Spain, and his ascension as a composer ultimately led to The Secret City, the arts organization for which Bass serves as musical director, receiving an Obie Award – off-Broadway theater’s highest honor.

“I wanted this album to be an expression of everything I was capable of, to feature the best songwriting I’ve done to date and to let rock n’ roll shine through the more diverse influences of my previous records,” Bass says.

To that end, while Bass’ voice can be described as a mixture of Paul Simon, Jeff Buckley, and Thom Yorke, you’re now as likely to find walls of distorted guitars and stacked keyboards in his arsenal as you are to find a blend of banjo, ukulele, acoustic guitars and mandolin.

And while his sound bears little resemblance to one of his heroes, Bass relates wholeheartedly to this Tom Waits quote: “I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.”

The songs on The Greatest Fire take this idea as gospel, both in ideology and practice.

“I thrive on the interplay between what people think they’re hearing, and the actual content beneath,” Bass explains. “I think that’s where the best songwriting happens.” Bass mentions Hank Williams and Merle Haggard’s outlaw output as examples of this juxtaposition.

A more contemporary songwriter who was a master at this, as well, was Elliott Smith.

In fact, The Greatest Fire’s “Trees For The Forest,” premiered yesterday via music discovery website Atwood Magazine, opens with a short picking run that immediately brings to mind the opening of Smith’s Either/Or classic track “Angeles,” and contains a lyric that could have come from Smith’s canon: “But you know those people who never get lost, never learn how to find their own way,” a fine example of Bass’ ability to lay it on the line, as if playing some kind of musical rope-a-dope by weakening his audience with pretty sounds before landing a truth punch.

“What I really wanted to do was write the best songs I was capable of writing, to deliver the best performance possible, and to make the best album I was capable of making,” Bass says.

The Greatest Fire, the new album by Jeremy Bass is scheduled for release on Jan. 19th, 2018 via Jungle Strut Music. Bass is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Jeremy Bass
The Greatest Fire
(Jungle Strut Music)
Jan. 19th, 2018
  

Track Listing:

01. CA, Plz
02. The Greatest Fire
04. (So Glad) Everyone's Happy
04. 1,000 Yrs
05. ‘Till the Summer Ends
06. Halfway Sane
07. Trees for the Forest (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
08. (theme music for a desert lightning storm)
09. Like Flowers for a Funeral
10. We Will Be You

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Jeremy Bass Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Marcus William Striplin of Pleasant Grove brings his “down and out ache of Texas country” to solo debut as Margaret Chavez, a memorial to his mother.

Produced by Erik Wofford (Explosions In The Sky), “A Loupe” continues in the tradition UNCUT called “a mark of excellence in modern Americana.”

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 Margaret Chavez (Marcus William Striplin) as photographed by Marcus William Striplin.

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“Whirring, lush sonics.” – Speak Into My Good Eye

Listen to “Call For Cull” from “A Loupe” by Margaret Chavez via Speak Into My Good Eye or at the links below.

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Margaret Chavez – Live

12/14/2017: Austin, TX @ Cactus Cafe
1/26/2018: Fort Worth, TX @ Twilite Lounge
1/27/2018: Denton, TX @ Dan’s Silverleaf
1/28/2018: Deep Ellum, TX @ Twilite Lounge

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About Margaret Chavez:

“A Loupe” is a 32-minute, continuously mixed ten-track song cycle arriving under the name Margaret Chavez, a pseudonym that acts a memorial tribute to the mother of the album’s creator, Austin-based songwriter, Marcus William Striplin.

Striplin’s name is familiar to anyone who has followed the indie rock scene that emerged out of Texas in the early 2000’s, specifically Dallas, where Striplin co-founded the band named after the suburb Pleasant Grove in 1999.

In its relatively brief half-decade-or-so initial run, Pleasant Grove earned praise for the “simmering psychedelia” (KUTX, 98.9) of its “songs of broken hearts and broken voices” (Dallas Observer) that, according to MOJO, mixed the “down and out ache of Texas country as well as the sonic outbursts of Neil Young.” In a four-star review, UNCUT dubbed Pleasant Grove a “mark of excellence in modern Americana.”

Whether or not Pleasant Grove broke-up or went on hiatus is irrelevant now, because in 2016, working with Grammy-winning producer Stuart Sikes (Loretta Lynn, White Stripes, Cat Power), the band completed and released the album that it had abandoned ten years earlier.

Right on cue, the newly completed “old” album The Heart Contortionists reminded listeners of what they loved about Pleasant Grove – a folk band’s command of melody with a psych band’s command of reverb – and quickly drew the same kind of love that the band had walked away from a decade prior.

Consequence of Sound called Pleasant Grove’s return “triumphant,” the glossy Dallas-based monthly D Magazine proclaimed The Heart Contortionists “beautiful,” describing songs with “an intensity that sneaks up on you and a heat that never goes away,” and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram summed things up with a nod to Striplin specifically, saying Pleasant Grove’s “melancholy folk-rock, blessed with shadows, brass and Striplin’s plaintive voice — are breathtaking.”

Two years later, Striplin has made a record that surpasses his best work.

“A Loupe” is everything a fan of Striplin’s songwriting and arrangement ideas (here realized by visionary producer, Erik Wofford [Explosions In The Sky, The Black Angels]) would expect and more. With the very personal context of a solo album to work in, the work is indeed, very personal, and “A Loupe” is better for this controlled creative environment.

 “‘Call For Cull’ is a dystopian dance song that I wrote days after the election,” Striplin says of the album’s first single, premiered yesterday via music discovery site Speak Into My Good Eye. “I took a long walk and it kinda washed over me, this idea that modern civility could just roll over and die and that a new way of life could begin if we didn’t swivel our heads on straight and practice empathy and kindness.”

“A Loupe” by Margaret Chavez (Marcus William Striplin) arrives on Jan. 19th, 2018 via Goliad Media Group. Striplin is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Margaret Chavez
“A Loupe”
(Goliad Media Group)
Jan. 19th, 2018


Track Listing:

01. Boy Mumble
02. American Fashion
03. Gone Gone Gone
04. Call For Cull (YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
05. A Loupe
06. Grackles and Crows
07. Strange Bouy’s
08. Black Ambulance
09. Two Talons
10. Missing People

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Margaret Chavez Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion