BUTCH WALKER TO PLAY FULL ALBUMS AND TWITTER REQUESTS AT FOUR SOLD-OUT SCHUBA’S TAVERN SHOWS

‘I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart’ (One Haven Music) Out 02/09 On Vinyl And 02/23 On CD/Digital

LA-based singer-songwriter and producer Butch Walker returns to Chicago January 5, 6, 7, and 8 for a career-spanning series at Schuba’s Tavern. Walker will play a different album from his back catalog in its entirety each of the first three nights. On January 8, he will treat fans to a special set of brand new songs from his just announced album ‘I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart’ (One Haven Music) plus other requests and one cover, submitted by fans via Twitter using the hashtag #butchwalkersetlist.

After Chicago, Walker will play another sold-out, four-night run in his hometown Atlanta, January 13-16 at 7 Stages Theater. He completed similar residencies in LA and NYC in December, both of which sold out instantly.

Butch Walker in Chicago:
Jan 5 – Performing ‘Letters’
Jan 6 – Performing ‘The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker…’
Jan 7 – Performing ‘Sycamore Meadows’
Jan 8 – Performing new songs and fan favorites

Butch Walker in Atlanta:
Jan 13 – Performing new songs and fan favorites
Jan 14 – Performing ‘Letters’
Jan 15 – Performing ‘The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker…
Jan 16 – Performing ‘Sycamore Meadows’

Butch Walker on The Web:
http://www.butchwalker.com/
http://twitter.com/butchwalker
http://maybeitsjustme.biz/
http://www.shorefire.com/clients/bwalker
http://www.onehavenmusic.com/butchwalker

About ‘I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart’:
Butch’s new album ‘I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart’ (One Haven Music) is about beginnings, endings, and the long journey in between. The album, featuring eleven new songs co-written by Walker and his new songwriting partner Michael Trent, will be released exclusively on vinyl on February 9, followed by a CD/digital release on February 23.

Unlike Walker’s previous, critically acclaimed solo works, ‘I Liked It Better’ was recorded quickly and collaboratively, with his band The Black Widows. “We literally went into the studio the day after our tour ended,” recalls Walker. “So the wheels were greased.” The album was recorded mostly “live” over just five days, using first and second takes. Strings were subsequently added at Abbey Road Studios in the UK, providing some of the album’s most interesting textures.

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Lights
Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
October 31, 2008

• What makes your songs and album (Lights – EP) stand out from some of the rest?  I’ll go back a little bit. I was raised a home-schooled kid, all right? Everything I did, artistically to educationally, was never based on what was around me. It was just based on my own ambitions and on my own perception of what success was. Even to this day, I make what I make and it happens to be in that genre and it happens to be whatever people want to put it in. I’m just doing my own thing. I’d probably be the last person who would know what makes it stand out. I suppose that’s up to the listeners.

Read the rest of my interview with Lights after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

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METRIC RELEASES VIDEO FOR “HELP I’M ALIVE”

Metric has teamed up with Deco Dawson to create a video for “Help I’m Alive.” This is not a music video, but a short film. Click HERE or the image below to view the film. Also below is what Metric had to say about the partnership.

So check it out. Before Christmas we did a tour across Canada in conjunction with a kids’ charity and made a limited edition 7 inch vinyl single of “Help I’m Alive” originally to be sold only at the December shows. The world being what it is, the song got leaked onto the internet from the pressing plant and took on a life of its own. Suddenly, we were getting calls from radio stations all over the world, from Australia to Ireland, saying they were playing the hell out of “Help, I’m Alive”. This totally caught us off guard. We never could have guessed that this song would be a radio contender! It’s success proved our theory that programmers and listeners are more open minded than anyone gives them credit for! Meanwhile, we were all set to release “Gimme Sympathy” as our logical first single but “Help I’m Alive” continued to amaze & confuse us by climbing all the way up to the top of the charts. The song became Metric’s first #1 hit and we thanked the mysterious universe.

What came next only makes sense in such a scenario. When I was working with Winnipeg cult-filmmaker Guy Maddin on visual projections for my Soft Skeleton tour, I met Maddin’s editor and co-cinematographer Deco Dawson. Guy Maddin is known as the Canadian David Lynch and I love Deco’s editing of “Heart of the World”. Deco has since become one of the country’s foremost experimental film makers and a friend of the band. He edited Metric’s live concert DVD “Live at Metropolis” and we brought him along to oversee the live filming of Fantasies on our December tour. A few weeks ago, as we were scrambling to keep up with the unexpected radio momentum of Help I’m Alive, we got a call from Deco saying he had a surprise for us: He had taken the concert footage of “Help I’m Alive” and turned it into something that looks like Yo Gabba Gabba on acid. Jimmy held a late night test screening of Deco’s creation at Giant Studio to rave reviews and now we have decided to share it with the online world.

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Goldies 2008 Winner SF Bay Guardian, “Best SF Band” (20th Annual Guardian Outstanding Local Discovery Awards)

European Tour Starts This Week / Announce Australian & New Zealand 2009 Tour

NYC December 16th Show With The Walkmen At The Masonic Temple

Visiter Out Now On Frenchkiss Records

Click Here To View SF Bay Guardian

Click Here To View Recent “Take Away Shows”

Click Here To Download Recent NYC Spiegeltent Performance

NPR’s All Songs Considered Best Of 2008 List (So Far)
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Gets MTV “Band To Watch” CMJ Exclusive / Become CMJ 2008 Favorites / Perform On AOL Spinner Interface

Chunk Of Change EP Out Now On Frenchkiss Records

Play NYC’s Glasslands December 5th : Featuring No Big Deal #3 Remix Contest With Fingers On The Pulse (Details Below)
And Great Scott New Years Eve Blowout In Allston, Mass

Click Here To View Exclusive MTV CMJ Coverage

Click Here To View “Sleepyhead” Video
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Ok, so first off I should mention that I don’t watch music videos, I hate MTV, and I really don’t care for Fall Out Boy but, while channel surfing, I stumbled on Fall Out Boy’s video for “I Don’t Care.” Maybe it was the thieving nuns, maybe it was was the flasher, and it was definitely Pete Wentz getting knocked out for being a douche, but I did find the video mildly entertaining…the video people, not the song. Aside from the terrible song, the highlight to the video comes in the last 10 seconds with a guest appearance by Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Now I have no idea what they were trying to say by putting a look-alike to everyone’s favorite Alaskan soccer mom but I’m really not going to devote much time or energy to it; they lost my interest after Take This To Your Grave. After all, Chicago is so five years ago by now. You can watch the video here or click on the image above to view it.

I honestly don’t have a clue what they’re trying to get at but kudos on the Palin jab anyways, whatever it means.

If you have an idea about what it could mean, post it in the comments.

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Not sure about you, but I think that if you get booked to perform at your city’s Apple Store, then you have pretty much made it in the music business. Chicago’s very own 1997 played a gig downtown a couple weekends ago and I was there to witness it and cheer them on. I think it’s safe to say that the show was a success and sold out. Almost every seat was taken upstairs and there were people standing all around, checking out the FREE acoustic concert by their hometown heroes. After the show, I got the chance to sit down with Alida Marroni (Keys, Vocals) and Alan Goffinski (Bass, BGV) where we discussed everything from Victory Records to Sex and the City (the movie!).

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Fly By Night Featuring DJ Willy Joy
Debonair Social Club – Chicago, IL
4/17/2008

“Hey Chicago! It wouldn’t be Fly By Night if we didn’t play this,” Willy Joy told the dancing crowd at the Debonair Social Club Thursday, April 17, before launching into another brilliant, improbable mash-up. Willy Joy is an elite Chicago DJ who can be seen scratching together pop singles, the hottest rap tracks, and famous a cappella choruses from rock classics into infectious club beats nearly every weekend. The DJ caliber of the 1-Year Anniversary of Fly By Night was strong throughout, although it took some time for a crowd to form, straying from repetitive and pretentious build-ups. MIA is the mashing component of choice for nearly all DJs post-2005; during the string of sets, sampling from “Boyz,” “XR2,” and “20 Dollar” made for powerful mixes. The exhausted “I’m A Flirt” was replaced with “Hook It Up,” from R-Kelly, another artist often subject of reworking. Highlights before Dude ‘N’ Nem took stage used hooks from Iggy Pop’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” a bizarre “Hit the Road, Jack” sampling, the “Ain’t No Mountain High” club version, and the almost undistinguishable use of the Pixies’ “Hey.”

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Music plays a huge roll in our everyday lives. From the music we buy to video games, bars, restaurants, television shows, shopping, it’s even improved the feel of sporting events. My personal favorite, however, is movie soundtracks.

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