The Bowery Presents

Terminal 5 upcoming shows

2010 CMT On Tour

Miranda Lambert
Revolution

special guest Eric Church and introducing Josh Kelley

Venue:
Terminal 5
Date:
Wed 9/29
Notes:
all ages
Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 7:30 PM
$29.50 advance / $30 day of show
Tickets
Miranda Lambert
official website
myspace
Her 2005 freshman effort, Kerosene, put her in an exclusive club, as one of only seven artists in the history of SoundScan to come out of the box at No. 1 on the country sales chart with a debut album. Critical support was immediately forthcoming: It was named one of the year’s 10 best albums by the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and CMT.com, among many others. She picked up key nominations for the CMAs, Grammys, CMT Awards, and other honors, beating fellow newcomers Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler to be named as the ACMs’ top new female vocalist.

In 2007, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend also debuted at No. 1 on the country chart. After a slew of top 20 singles, the sophomore album generated her first top 10 hit, “Gunpowder and Lead.” It was named one of the top 10 albums of the year by Entertainment Weekly, Blender, and “dean of rock critics” Robert Christgau. In the Village Voice’s annual all-genre poll of America’s music critics, it placed No. 15, the highest showing ever by a country album amid the usually rock- and hip-hop-favoring survey. It fared even better—No. 1, to be exact—in the Nashville Scene’s annual poll of national critics who specialize in country. “This year, our 96 voters handed Texas singer Miranda Lambert one of the most dominating victories in the poll’s history,” the Scene wrote in announcing the results. (The critics also named “Famous in a Small Town” the year’s best single, as well as
naming Lambert female vocalist of the year, songwriter of the year, and artist of the year.) It wasn’t just journalists handing out the accolades, but the music industry, as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend won the coveted album of the year trophy at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards.

What to do for a three-peat?

To some degree, “we went with the school of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’,” she says. “We worked with the same guys to do the record that did my last two—same musicians, same producers.” In the latter category are Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke. “Frank is such a great song guy… And Wrucke’s the total brain behind the way my records sound.”

But there are crucial differences, too. For one thing, Revolution includes 15 tracks instead of the Nashville- standard 10 or 11. “To me, if there’s a story to tell in 15 songs, then people get 15 songs. I really wanted it to feel like a piece of art—a real body of work, a musical journey if you will. And it is an album. The whole album is this huge circle with a picture of my face at the end. If you don’t have the whole thing, then you don’t have the complete picture.”

To ensure the album had both cohesiveness and spontaneity, the vast majority of it was recorded in one whirlwind session in early 2009 (excepting two tracks that were laid down last November). “It was old school,” says Lambert. “We went in and cut the whole project in a week. I didn’t want to go record two songs one day and then two weeks later go record some more, and so on. We did it all as a single project, a vibe record. Usually the studio is really stressful, and this time it was just fun. It just felt like making music… not work.”

Stylistically, she says, “This record is country—a lot more country than the other two. And I’m so glad about that. I didn’t plan on writing more country songs or go into it with a style in mind, I just wrote what I felt and put it on the album.” Of course, diehard traditionalists should be warned that, while she’s capable of getting as pure honky-tonk as any young performer out there, Lambert is definitely a volume dealer. “My bass player brought up a good point: ‘You write country songs and put a rock beat to ‘em.’ So ‘Maintain the Pain’ is definitely a country lyric, but it’s got a classic rock sound to it.”
Eric Church
official website
myspace
Church's songs are as straightforward as he is. His is music that looks its listener in the eye and speaks plainly about the human condition. It is a line that passes through Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings to John Prine and Steve Earle, and is finding a handful of torchbearers in this new century.

"Honesty is my number one responsibility," Church says. "If you listen to this, you'll find out who I am"

He had quickly formed a band with his roommate, his brother, and another guitarist, and temporarily picked the name the Mountain Boys. The first night they knew just 14 songs, but they faked their way through a four-hour set and held onto enough of the crowd to help launch them as a regional act. In a year or so, Eric was throwing original songs into the set mix and not long afterward was selling CDs of his own material. They were playing four or five nights a week in bars, at frat and sorority parties in Asheville, Hickory, and Boone.

A talented athlete, he played basketball, baseball and golf in high school, but in college, he turned to music, riding those early gigs to regional acclaim and then a trip to Nashville. "I wanted to move two years before I graduated," he says, "but my dad made me a deal. He said, 'If you'll graduate, I'll pay for your first six months in Nashville,' which I thought was a pretty good offer. I graduated with a degree in marketing and he was true to his word."The first days were tough ones. "I was scared," he says. "I didn't know a soul. I didn't know what part of town was good or bad, didn't know the publishing companies or the industry. I just had something inside me saying, 'You have to be there.' That first week was terrifying. I got the phone book and started looking up publishers, thinking, 'I'll call these guys, we'll meet and I'll get a publishing deal.' Of course, once you've been here you know it doesn't work that way. I guess a lot of it was being young and stupid, but there's a lot to being young and stupid. There's a vitality to that. If you actually had waited a few years and developed common sense you probably wouldn't do it, but you're so young you think, 'I can do this. It's no big deal.'"

The financial cushion his father had given him gave him time to make contacts and take meetings. Six months in, he had to take a day job, but six months after that, he was signed to a publishing deal at Sony Tree. "When I got that first check from Sony Tree and they were paying me money to do it, I thought I had arrived, because I was getting paid to do something I'd be doing anyway," he points out.

His family and his small-town background had given him a diamond-pure work ethic, which served him well. "I just kind of threw muscle into the writing, so we had a large pool to draw from when it came time to record," he says. "I think I demoed 60 or 70 songs at Sony last year, and you probably demo one out of every four you write, so I wrote a lot. I figure they're paying me to be a songwriter and that's what I'm here to do."

He began getting cuts, including Terri Clark's "The World Needs A Drink." Then, Arthur Buenahora at Sony Tree introduced Eric to producer Jay Joyce; the two clicked instantly, and began cutting demos.

"The night I got the record deal with Capitol was a really good gig," he says. "I knew that whether I got the deal or not, this was as good as I could do. It clicked. You just have those nights. During 'Lightning,' the whole crowd was hushed and I knew they were listening. I knew they were with me on the song, and there's nothing as great as a performer as to capture the crowd."

Two days later, on his birthday, he was in Capitol's office being offered a recording deal; he and Joyce then set about capturing his essence in Joyce's basement studio. The result is a CD that launches Church with a firm identity both musically and lyrically, and gives him his own niche in a diverse country landscape.

"I think we've made an honest record. I don't think there's a song on there that's not me," he says. "It's songs about what's going on in the world--this is what I think. You can agree or disagree. I just don't want them to hear it and go, 'That's nice' and move on. I personally like music that goes way out and picks a side." (3/06)
Josh Kelley
official website
myspace
Singer-songwriter, Josh Kelley's path is one driven through Georgia dirt, Hollywood Hills, and recently landing him in the heart of Nashville. Kelley discovered his musical talents at age 11, when he started a band with his younger brother, Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, exploring the musical influences of the South were they grew up.

During his college days Kelley wrote his first hit "Amazing" which lead him to a recording contract with Hollywood Records. His debut album, For The Ride Home, was released in 2003 to critical-acclaim and his song "Amazing" soared to no. 5 on the pop charts. Following the release of his sophomore album, Almost Honest, Kelley launched his own label DNK records, which became the home for his following four albums, Just Say The Word, Special Company, Backwoods (and itunes-exclusive release), and To Remember (a Target-exclusive release).

Josh Kelley has maintained a high media profile over the past 4 years, appearing on the Emmy Award-winning NBC talk show Ellen, performing on Good Morning America, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Regis & Kelly, Carson Daly, E! Network’s E! News, Daily 10, and EXTRA! Print coveragein People Magazine, Us Weekly, Billboard, Life & Style, OK! Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Radar, Paste among others. Several of his self-penned songs were featured in primetime TV shows including Smallville (Almost Honest and Cain and Able), Scrubs (digital soundtrack), Brothers and Sisters (Opposite of Me), The Hills (Miles Away) and What About Brian (Lady of Mine).

In September of 2009 Josh Kelley signed with MCA Nashville, a Universal Music Group imprint. He is currently in the studio recording his first country album and is expected to release his debut single later this year.
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