If you're in the one and only Nashvegas, be sure to hit up the basement this Thursday to see the lovely Amy Lavere. 'She’s touring in support of her new album, Stranger Me (out July 19th), produced by Craig Silvey (The Arcade Fire – The Suburbs), which is a follow up to 2007’s Jim Dickinson-produced Anchors & Anvils.'


I love a girl with a stand up bass! Be sure to check her out on NPR's The Mountain Stage here

And treat yourself to a little interview action:

These guys have been featured in Rolling Stone as an "artist to watch," and I will be the first to admit that I could not take my eyes off their video "Bang."(Granted, it is a video where two people hook up the whole time and someone sings in the forefront. Still, though, it's a sexy background to a sexy song.) --They were also in Rolling Stone's 'Choose The Cover' contest, but were eliminated in round three.

Also, check this out: 'Since their formation, Empires has tenaciously written, engineered and produced every track they have created, allowing their fans to download their music for free. Through an organic word-of-mouth, Empires have reached over 70,000 album downloads and counting.'



The guys will perform at Nashville's The Basement this Friday (7/15) and then continue on through a winding tour of the U.S.





July 14 Charlotte, NC The Casbah at Tremont Music Hall United States
Time: 8:00pm. Admission: $8. All Ages BUY TICKETS

July 15 Nashville, TN The Basement United States
Time: 9:00pm. 21+ BUY TICKETS

July 16 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade United States
Admission: $7 / $10. Age restrictions: All Ages. BUY TICKETS

July 18 Austin, TX Stubb’s BBQ (Indoor) United States
Time: 9:00pm. Admission: $10. All Ages BUY TICKETS

July 19 Fort Worth, TX Lola’s United States
Time: 9:00pm. Admission: $8/$10. All Ages BUY TICKETS

July 20 Oklahoma City, OK The Blue Note United States
Admission: $5. 21+

July 21 Kansas City, MO Record Bar United States
Time: 10:00pm. Admission: $7. 18+ BUY TICKETS

July 22 St. Louis, MO The Firebird United States
Time: 6:00pm. Admission: $8. All Ages BUY TICKETS

July 23 Chicago, IL Wicker Park Fest United States
Admission: $ Donation. Age restrictions: All Ages.

September 07 Cleveland, OH Case Western Reserve University (students only) United States

September 08 Grand Rapids, MI MXTP United States
Time: 6:00pm. Admission: $8 / $10 door. Age restrictions: All Ages. BUY TICKETS

September 09 Dekalb, IL Middle West Fest United States
Admission: $30 festival pass or single show. BUY TICKETS

September 15 Iowa city, IA Blue Moose Tap House United States
Add
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: $6.00. Age restrictions: All Ages. BUY TICKETS

September 16 Ames, IA The Maintenance Shop United States
Admission: $5 / $6. BUY TICKETS

September 17 Decatur, IL Millikin University United States

September 21 Grantham, PA Messiah College United States


September 29 Minneapolis, MN 7th St. Entry United States
Time: 9:00pm. Admission: $7

October 07 Ewing, NJ The College of New Jersey United States

Paul Dempsey's first solo album, Everything Is True out now:

If the flagrant parodoxical title of this album wasn’t enough to intrigue me, then this album hooked me with the melodic surge into the first chorus. At first his voice seemed somewhat generic for my liking, creeping too close to radio-melted pop and stereotypically angsty. But then, there’s a crescendo of lyrics and melody in “Bats,” that leads into the most misleading lyrical hook I’ve ever heard:

“Nobody’s ever gonna break your heart again.”

And he’s singing it so convincingly, I nearly believe him. In fact, if he were singing it directly to me in person, I’d be certain of this ‘truth.’

(from www.pauldempseymusic.com)


And it’s just this that makes Everything Is True so infectious. Dempsey, the lead singer for Australian group Something For Kate, writes and sings with the confidence of a well-established rock star--which is clearly the case. But there is still something extremely vulnerable and breathtaking about this album. With “Bats” opening up the album and bleeding into a more upbeat “Fast Friends,” it’s immediately easy to want to listen to the album on repeat.

He seems to have achieved a strange balance: where indie meets mainstream and starts to blur into folk and back to basic rock. How does this work? Dempsey keeps melodies simple and familiar, building memorable moments that stick in your head, and weaves lyrics in that are intriguing, thought-provoking, and yet still something you could hear yourself saying. Except you weren’t clever enough to write it.

“Fast Friends” keeps my lyrical interest with deceivingly simple lines and moments of brass instrumentation: “It must be good to know people who know so many people. It must be good to be somebody, good to be somebody they know.” When he slips closer to the folk scene in “Out of the Airlock,” with a sexy finger picking background and an unforgettable melody--I really start to lust the album as a whole. The acoustic guitar dominates the basis of the album, throwing me through everything from the moments of Goo Goo Dolls we secretly love and touching the parts of our memories that get lost between Wilco’s finest moments and toss in The Replacements so we’re sure we’ve covered the gamut of all our musical appreciation.

There are moments later in the album where I’m afraid Dempsey’s voice slips into something I’ve heard too many times before, but he usually manages to call me back to him with a concise and visceral line that nearly irritates me with its poignancy.

"Have You Fallen Out Of Love:"




The songs flow well together, sometimes blending a little too closely into each other, making it difficult to distinguish the tracks you like and the ones that sound just the same--or wait, do you like those too? This describes the way I feel about “Safety in Numbness,” a track I was sure I’d heard earlier in the album, but knew I hadn’t yet heard the lyric: “Are you missing a stranger that you might have loved?”.... This reflects something I think Dempsey does best: sporadically tossing in lyrics that make perfect sense whilst also making no sense at all. Just like the title, these words are the perfect paradox.

Strong lyrics, catchy melodies. I’m down. Listen to this when you’re sweating out the summer on somebodies back porch you just met.

Overall, I’ll be listening to this for a while and I suggest you do too.


Solo Tour Dates:

19.Jul.11
Arlene's Grocery
New York BUY TICKETS / INFO
02.Aug.11
Beachland Tavern
Cleveland, Ohio BUY TICKETS / INFO
03.Aug.11
Schuba's
Chicago,IL BUY TICKETS / INFO
04.Aug.11
University Of Wisconsin At Madison
Madison, WI FREE SHOW / INFO
05.Aug.11
Freeport Music Summer Concert Series
Port Washington, Wisconsin FREE SHOW / INFO
12.Aug.11
Smiths Olde Bar
Atlanta, GA BUY TICKETS / INFO
13.Aug.11
Local 506
Chapel Hill, NC BUY TICKETS / INFO
14.Aug.11
The Red Palace
Washington DC BUY TICKETS / INFO
15.Aug.11
Kung Fu Necktie
Philadelphia PA BUY TICKETS / INFO
16.Aug.11
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY BUY TICKETS / INFO
18.Aug.11
Brighton Music Hall
Boston MA BUY TICKETS / INFO
19.Aug.11
Casa Del Popolo
Montreal, QC BUY TICKETS / INFO
09.Sep.11
Burlap & Bean
Newtown Square, PA BUY TICKETS / INFO
06.Nov.11
Palais Theatre
Melbourne BUY TICKETS / INFO
07.Nov.11
QPAC
Brisbane BUY TICKETS / INFO
11.Nov.11
Thebarton Theatre
Adelaide BUY TICKETS / INFO
12.Nov.11
Fremantle Arts Centre
Fremantle BUY TICKETS / INFO
17.Nov.11
Sydney Opera House
Sydney BUY TICKETS / INFO