Thursday, December 7, 2017

WILL JOHNSON (OF CENTRO-MATIC, ETC.) AND JUSTIN PETER KINKEL-SCHUSTER (OF WATER LIARS) FORM NEW BAND MARIE/LEPANTO, TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM ‘TENKILLER’ ON BIG LEGAL MESS (FAT POSSUM) ON JANUARY 26

FIRST TRACK PREMIERED VIA NO DEPRESSION: http://nodepression.com/article/will-johnson-and-justin-peter-kinkel-shuster-premiere-new-track-inverness

NATIONAL TOUR DATES SUPPORTING PEDRO THE LION ON SALE TOMORROW

Will Johnson (of Centro-Matic, New Multitudes, South San Gabriel) and Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster (of Water Liars) have collaborated to form “super duo” (No Depression) Marie/Lepanto and will release their debut album ‘Tenkiller’ on January 26 on Big Legal Mess (Fat Possum imprint). No Depression has premiered crunchy first single “Inverness,” praising the band’s “rich vocal harmonies… and careful attention to melody”: http://nodepression.com/article/will-johnson-and-justin-peter-kinkel-shuster-premiere-new-track-inverness

Tickets for a 2018 tour supporting Pedro the Lion go on sale tomorrow.

In the sunken lands of Arkansas along I-55, there’s a road sign that directs you to a pair of tiny, hardscrabble towns in the Delta. It reads: Marie/Lepanto and resides roughly between where each artist grew up: Justin in Arkansas and Will in Missouri. Alternating between lofi folk and distorted indie rock, ‘Tenkiller’ finds their two voices shadowing one another, with Johnson’s battered vocals and Kinkel-Schuster’s wavering tenor complementing one another. Many of the songs then funnel into expansive instrumental breaks. “Inverness” segues into the fingerpicking, creaky “Rest Be Mine.” The widescreen waltz “High Desert” coexists with the ghostly title track, named for a lake in Oklahoma and inspired by Justin’s reading the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Long mutual admirers, Johnson and Kinkel-Schuster co-headlined a living room tour, only sparking the idea of working directly together when they toured Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis with producer Jeff Powell (Big Star, The Afghan Whigs). Memphis was then earest big city for both artists growing up.

Johnson has released some seventeen albums in his two-decade indie rock career, including as frontman of Centro-Matic and South San Gabriel, member of New Multitudes (with Jay Farrar and Jim James), as Molina and Johnson (with Jason Molina), as official member of Monsters of Folk (with James, Conor Oberst and M. Ward), with Overseas (with David Bazan), and with the Undertow Orchestra (with Bazan, Mark Eitzel, and Vic Chestnutt). NPR has praised Centro-Matic's "superb rock records" and Johnson's own "great images" and "superb songwriting."

Julien Baker listed Kinkel-Schuster’s 2016 solo album among her top ten albums of the year. The NY Times said that Kinkel-Schuster’s prior band Water Liars’ "dark, lonely roots-minded indie rock is affecting, all the more for its sparseness." NPR called the band "a low-key triumph... prone to fits of stark gorgeousness" and Consequence of Sound said, "Kinkel-Shuster's painted howl will stop you in your tracks."

Marie/Lepanto Tour Dates With Pedro The Lion

February 8 - St Louis, MO – Old Rock House
February 9 - Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
February 10 - Tulsa, OK – The Vanguard
February 12 - Dallas, TX – Trees
February 13 - Austin, TX – Mohawk
February 14 - Houston, TX – Rockefeller’s
February 16 - New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s
February 17 - Birmingham, AL – Saturn
February 18 - Gainesville, FL – High Dive
February 19 - Orlando, FL – The Social
February 21 - Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
February 22 - Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
February 23 - Nashville, TN – Exit/In

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