AMOS LEE



The Album
Amos Lee

The Track
"Arms of a Woman"

The Label
Blue Note/EMI

Native
Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, NJ

Liner Notes
Meet Amos Lee. Just a guitar and that voice. Original and soulful. Okay, if it sounds a bit like he's channeling '70s-era singer-songwriters, it should. Lee reels off a diverse list of early influences, including Bill Withers, Neil Young, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, John Prine and Dave Van Ronk, and aspires to "bring the same sort of spirit I hear on those records.” The 27-year-old former schoolteacher truly does possess a rare talent, deeply rooted in a fine American/Philadelphia folk and soul tradition.

In the mid-90's, Lee headed down to the University of South Carolina where he learned to play the guitar and polish his songwriting. After graduating with a degree in English, it was back to Philly to teach elementary school for awhile. He agonized over dropping his teaching career, and then finally pulled the trigger on his new life as a struggling musician. While tending bar, he kept writing songs and was enthusiastically received at a handful of small area gigs. With just a self-released five-song EP, the Philadelphia Inquirer was already hailing Lee as “one of the area's most-talked-about emerging talents.” Soon he was opening for Bob Dylan, B.B. King and Mose Allison. By 2004, label mate Norah Jones invited Lee to open her European tour and her subsequent U.S. tour. The Amos Lee album, released last month to heavy acclaim from press and radio, picked up initial airplay on WFUV Bronx/New York, Lee's hometown station of WXPN, XM's The Loft, DMX and WFPK Louisville, among others. Lee just launched a U.S. tour April 12th in Detroit, where WDET was another early believer in his music.

Spin the great opening “Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight," the funky "Give It up" (broadcasters beware of repeated f-word!), "Dreamin'" (check that Stevie Wonder-sounding falsetto!) and the instant-classic ballad, “Arms of a Woman." Norah Jones plays keyboards on "Keep It Loose" and "Colors." She also contributes backing vocals to "Colors." Other standout tracks are "Soul Suckers” and "Black River" but there is not a mediocre song on the
album. Try a late night or early morning segue from Fleetwood Mac's old "Albatross" instrumental into the record's closing cut, "All My Friends."

Site
www.amoslee.com

On
KFOG San Francisco-San Jose
WFUV Bronx-New York
KCRW Santa Monica-Los Angeles
WXPN Philadelphia
WDET Detroit
KMTT Seattle
WCBE Columbus
KPIG Freedom-Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz/San Luis Obispo
WDST Woodstock
KGSR Austin
WNCW Spindale-Asheville-Charlotte-Greensboro
XM The Loft
KTBG (The Bridge) Warrensburg MO-Kansas City
WFPK Louisville
KUT Austin
DMX
KSUT Ignacio-Durango
WRSI (The River) Northampton/Greenfield/Springfield MA
WUIN (Carolina Penguin) Wilmington NC
KOZT Ft. Bragg-Mendocino County CA
KXCI Tucson
WNKU Highland Heights KY-Cincinnati
WUTC Chattanooga
KUNC Greeley/Ft. Collins
KRCC Eugene
KLCC Eugene
WNRN Charlottesville
WFHB Bloomington
MPB Maine
KRCL Salt Lake City
KUWR Laramie/Cheyenne
KNBA Anchorage
WSYC Shippensburg PA
WUKY Lexington
WYCE Grand Rapids
ACCA
KVNF Paonia CO
WMVY Cape Cod
WKZE Sharon CN/Poughkeepsie
MSPR
KDNK Carbondale/Aspen
WBJB Lincroft-Monmouth NJ
KFAN Fredericksburg TX
KUNI Cedar City/Des Moines/Dubuque/Quad Cities
WMWV Conway NH

Press
“On Lee’s self-titled debut, the former teacher takes an old-school approach, favoring brisk arrangements with folk and blues textures. Artfully walking the line that divides sensitivity from sentimentality, most will agree that the educational system’s loss is music’s gain.”
—USA Today

“Philadelphia has a long and storied music tradition. Folk-soul troubadour Amos Lee now adds his own chapter to that history with his self-titled debut…a simple showcase for Lee’s melancholy yet deeply emotive tenor... Lee is at his sorrowful best on ‘Arms of a Woman.’ Following in the tradition of legends Ray Charles and Bill Withers, he encompasses the pain, passion and power that love has over a man with an ease that is uncompromising and raw.”
—Billboard

"When you get to track 3, the beautifully tender 'Arms of a Woman,' on Amos Lee's self-titled debut, you know this singer-songwriter is something special. It's a spare, acoustic-guitar-driven ballad that, with its rootsy blend of country, gospel and blues hues, you could almost imagine Ray Charles crooning in his heyday…With his reedy but rich voice and evocative lyrics, this Amos deserves to be famous."
—People Magazine

"…consice, soulful songs with a warm palette of acoustic colors...youthful abandon for the wise and wide-eyed."
—Entertainment Weekly

"Amos Lee, the new soul-folk sensation sweeping NPR stations across the country, is actually worth the hype."
—New York Post

“Amos Lee looks a bit like a young Bob Dylan and sounds at times like Otis Redding in his prime.”
—The New Yorker

“Amos Lee will rock your 2005.”
—Elle

Retail
As of March 1, Amos Lee is now in stores as of March 1.

Tours/Performances
Amos Lee was featured on NPR's All Things Considered on March 18.

April 12 Detroit, Masonic Center
April 13 Buffalo, Shea's PAC
April 15 Boston, Orpheum Theatre
April 16 Boston, Orpheum Theatre
April 16 Cambridge, Lizard Lounge, 9:30pm
April 17 Boston, Orpheum Theatre
April 18 Newark NJ, NJPAC
April 20 Verona NY, Turning Stone Casino
April 22 Mashantucket CT, Foxwoods Casino
April 24 Atlantic City, The Borgata Hotel and Casino
April 25 New York, Beacon Theatre
April 26 New York, Beacon Theatre
April 27 Brooklyn NY, Southpaw
April 28 New York, Beacon Theatre
April 29 New York, Beacon Theatre
April 29 New York, Tower Records in-store, Lincoln Center
April 30 New York, Beacon Theatre
June 3 Princeton NJ, McCarter Theater (double bill with Aimee Mann)

TV
Amos Lee appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman (CBS) on March 3 and The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (NBC) on March 23/25.

Contact
Dan Connelly, Blue Note/EMI Music Collective

AQUALUNG



The Album
Strange and Beautiful

The Track
”Strange & Beautiful (I’ll Put A Spell On You)”

The Label
Slightly Bigger/Red Ink/Columbia

Liner Notes
Check your antique images of one-legged flutists at the door. And meet Aqualung. Beautiful lush and stately orchestrated angst, from dreamy '60s Pet Sounds-pop to stark minor key Radiohead/Coldplay modern melodies. The man behind the curtain of Aqualung, U.K. songwriter/crooner Matt Hales, did the impossible. The young classically-trained pianist and composer was finally able to give up his odd day jobs after his song "Strange & Beautiful" was used in the background for a Volkswagen Beetle TV commercial and went on to become a major U.K. hit in 2002. The North American release of Strange & Beautiful is a compilation of the first two Aqualung albums (Aqualung and Still Life), previously released in Britain. After a recent appearance at SXSW in Austin, Aqualung has blown up in the U.S. Led by early major market airplay on WFUV, "Strange & Beautiful" is now impacting AAA radio.

Site
www.aqualung.net

On
WXPN Philadelphia
WFUV Bronx/New York
KCRW Santa Monica/Los Angeles
KEXP Seattle
WTMD Baltimore
XM The Loft
WDET Detroit
WFPK Louisville
KUT Austin
DMX
KCLC St. Louis
KMTT Seattle
WMNF Tampa
WNRN Charlottesville
WCBE Columbus
World Cafe
KRCC Eugene
KTBG Kansas City
KUWR Laramie/Cheyenne
KXCI Tucson
Maine Public Radio
Music Choice
WAPS Akron
WBJB Lincroft NJ
WBSD Burlington WI
WRAX Birmingham
WSYC Shippensburg PA
WFHB Bloomington
WKVL (West 105-3) Knoxville
WYCE Grand Rapids

Press
"Matt Hales, the former child prodigy behind Aqualung, boasts major vocal, instrumental and compositional chops on his American debut, a combination of remixes and tracks from his two U.K. albums. Uniting Radiohead-ish British rock and symphonic pop in the masterly mold of Burt Bacharach, the Beatles and the Beach Boys, tenor Hales delivers keenly focused keyboards-based drama that blows away all pretenders trailing in Coldplay’s wake. Garden State soundtrack fans take note. "
—Rolling Stone

“With the soft vocals of Matt Hales and heartfelt lyrics, Aqualung shoud hold instant appeal to fans of David Gray and John Mayer, but the duo’s arrangements are far more sophisticated than either of the aforementioned artists. Instead of taking the wishy-washy way out, Aqualung will unexpectedly cut it’s two instruments in and around one another, and Hales has a tendency to bleed a falsetto into a guitar squeal.”
—Billboard.com (SXSW daily diary)

“Not a Tull Tribute, but a set of gorgeous, lo-fi-Coldplay swoons by British balladeer Matt Hales, highlighted by the must-hear title track. Even when he sings about “Falling out of Love,” he sounds enraptured. A-
—Entertainment Weekly

Retail
Strange & Beautiful is now in stores as of March 22.

Tours/Performances
Aqualung opened for Coldplay at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on March 12. While in LA, they also performed on Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW.

April 5 Asheville, NC, Orange Peel
April 7 Myrtle Beach, SC, House Of Blues
April 8 Chestertown, MD, Washington College
April 9 San Francisco, Red Devil Lounge
April 17 Charleston, WV, Mountain Stage taping
April 23, San Francisco, West Coast Live taping
April 26 Indianapolis, Patio
April 27 Louisville, Uncle Pleasants
April 28 St. Louis, Blueberry Hill
April 29 Chicago, Martyrs
May 1 Kansas City, MO, Grand Emporium
May 2 Minneapolis, Ascot Room/The Quest
May 4 Milwaukee, The Pabst Theatre
May 5 Detroit, Magic Bag
May 6 Pittsburgh, Club Cafe
May 8, Philadelphia, World Cafe taping
May 9 Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
May 10, New York, Irving Plaza
May 11 Boston, Paradise Rock Club

TV
Performed on Last Call With Carson Daly (NBC) on March 29
Upcoming performance April 15 on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (CBS)

Film/Soundtrack
Aqualung’s ”Brighter Than Sunshine” is featured in A Lot Like Love (Touchstone Pictures/Beacon Pictures), opening April 22.

Contact
Danny Buch, Red Ink
Trina Tombrink, John Vernile, Columbia