On the heels of their acclaimed LP As Long As Your Eyes Are Wide and new single “Nothing Makes Me Happy”, Vancouver trio Said The Whale have announced a string of US tour dates. The chart-topping, JUNO Award-winning outfit will be taking their dynamic live show down the west coast in support of their fifth studio album – released earlier this year. Previously operating as a five-piece, the current trio has created their most collaborative, focused record to date. Earlier releases highlighted the contrast between the two founders’ eclectic rock influences and salt-of-the-earth folksiness. Here their styles become one, which makes for their most captivating live performances yet.
A decade since the band’s formation, Said The Whale have now taken the project back to its freeform roots while simultaneously venturing forward into uncharted art-pop territory. Despite the new album’s many adventurous sonic forays, it remains true to the spirit of their classic work. At its core, As Long As Your Eyes Are Wide is a singer-songwriter record, guided by introspective lyrics and alchemical group harmonies from Ben, Tyler, and Jaycelyn.
After so much change and uncertainty in recent years, Said The Whale has emerged as a unified force. They’ve evolved, but the DNA is the same, and the group’s musical partnership is more fruitful than ever.
England’s most distinctive, multiple award-winning, platinum-selling, hugely entertaining rock gods – and one-time saviors of rock’n’roll turned national pleasures – The Darkness are back with their fifth album Pinewood Smile, due for release October 6th through Cooking Vinyl.
Marking the announcement, the band has today unveiled the spectacular album opener “All The Pretty Girls” across all streaming platforms. It’s also available for download with pre-orders of the album for the instant gratification of fans.
“All The Pretty Girls” is a glorious, hard-rockin’, autobiographical anthem intellectually examining the fact that when you’re a rock star you get a lot of attention from ladies and discussing the ethical conundrums that come with that.
As Justin Hawkins so eloquently sings with trouser-splitting vocal magnificence; “All the pretty girls, like me for who I am / All the pretty girls, when the record goes platinum / Plenty of action, massive attraction, when you’re selling out stadiums / All the pretty girls… and their mums”.
Addressing the forthcoming album and The Darkness’ undoubted relevance in 2017, Justin asks, somewhat rhetorically of the world at large, “Why should anybody care? Because if you don’t, we’re fucked!! History will remember us as the apathetic generation who negligently ushered in a dreadful dystopian age that may or may not come to be known as ‘The Rise of the Arseclowns’. We cannot allow this to continue! You may not give a shit about Brexit or Trump, but PLEASE… give a shit about The Darkness otherwise the last bastion of cultural sensibility will fall and our airwaves will be polluted by meaningless pop purveyed by arseholes and morons… Oh wait!”
In addition to the cerebral treatise of “All The Pretty Girls”, the album boasts the swashbuckling “Buccaneers Of Hispaniola”, the expletive-strewn howl of frustration that is “Southern Trains”, the hugely emotional “Why Don’t The Beautiful Cry?”, the globally anthemic “Japanese Prisoner Of Love”, and the ode to pumping out smash hit after smash hit “Solid Gold”, which finds The Darkness addressing the turbulent nature of the music industry and how they have enjoyed its flamboyant highs and spectacular lows.
Written in Putney, recorded in Cornwall and produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Adrian Bushby (Foo Fighters, Muse), the compositions have all the crucial elements of classic Darkness fare, but with added layers for the ears to peel away at… like a sonic onion but a lot tastier. It also features the drumming and vocal talents of gorgeous new band member Rufus Tiger Taylor, son of Queen legend Roger Taylor, who shares vocal duties with Justin on two of the tracks.
To celebrate the release of their comeback album Pinewood Smile, The Darkness will be touring extensively at the end of this year playing 17 dates in the UK throughout November and December including a headline show at London’s Hammersmith Eventim Apollo on December 10th (see dates below). The shows are part of a wider European tour, full dates can be found at http://www.thedarknesslive.com/tour-dates/
The Darkness has returned revitalized, re-energized and ready to take the world by the balls once again with Pinewood Smile.
PINEWOOD SMILE TRACKLIST
All The Pretty Girls
Buccaneers Of Hispaniola
Solid Gold
Southern Trains
Why Don’t The Beautiful Cry?
Japanese Prisoner Of Love
Lay Down With Me, Barbara
I Wish I Was In Heaven
Happiness
Stampede Of Love
The album will be released on CD, limited edition Deluxe CD (featuring four bonus tracks), Gatefold Heavyweight Vinyl, cassette and in both Standard and Deluxe digital versions.
THE DARKNESS UK TOUR DATES NOVEMBER
11/23 – Southampton, O2 Guildhall
11/24 – Manchester, Academy
11/25 – Blackburn, King George’s Hall
11/27 – Leeds, O2 Academy
11/28 – Newcastle, O2 Academy
11/29 – Glasgow, O2 Academy
DECEMBER
12/1 – Stoke-On-Trent, Victoria Hall
12/2 – Nottingham, Rock City
12/3 – Norwich, UEA
12/5 – Guildford, G Live
12/6 – Margate, Winter Gardens
12/7 – Southend-On-Sea, Cliffs Pavilion
12/9 – Birmingham, O2 Academy
12/10 – London, Eventim Apollo
12/11 – Brighton, Dome
12/13 – Cardiff, St David’s Hall
12/14 – Bristol, Colston Hall
2003 gave birth to one of the most extraordinary and best-loved bands in the UK. The Darkness released their debut album Permission To Land to overnight success, topping the UK charts, going 5x Platinum and selling over 1.5 MILLION copies in the UK alone. It spawned a series of hit singles including “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”, “Growing On Me”, “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” and “Love Is Only A Feeling”. It clocked up a series of awards including three BRIT Awards, two Kerrang Awards and an Ivor Novello for ‘Songwriters Of The Year’ amongst many others.
The Darkness played a number of landmark shows, including a headline set at the 2004 Reading & Leeds Festivals, as part of a whirlwind career of global touring as international sensations. The band then built upon the success of their debut with their 2005 follow up One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back, which produced the Top 10 hit “One Way Ticket”.
In 2006 Justin Hawkins left the band, checking into rehab and The Darkness fell apart. Following successful treatment, the band reformed in 2011 touring Europe and South America in 2012 with Lady Gaga. They released their comeback album Hot Cakes that year and Last Of Our Kind in 2015.
The band have now returned in 2017 with Pinewood Smile, their first album to come through Cooking Vinyl. Ahead of the album’s announcement, The Darkness toured Europe in support of Guns N’ Roses and are playing a number of festivals in the UK and Europe during the summer.
Surfer Blood has announced their fourth studio album, Snowdonia, due out February 3rd via Joyful Noise Recordings. A sonic departure for the band, Snowdonia is Surfer Blood’s first release since the tragic loss of guitarist Thomas Fekete to cancer in May 2016.
Snowdonia was written shortly after the band’s first long tour without Fekete, as lead singer John Paul Pitts struggled with Fekete’s absence and the weight of getting older. Featuring a talented new lineup that sees Michael McCleary on guitar and Lindsey Mills on bass — both high school classmates of Pitts and drummer Tyler Schwarz — Snowdonia marks the first time since the band’s debut album, 2010’s Astro Coast, that Pitts has written and mixed a Surfer Blood record alone. Though the album features plenty of Surfer Blood’s signature hooks, it also incorporates heavier themes. One of the record’s darkest songs, “Six Flags in F or G,” was written as Pitts grappled with Fekete’s illness and his absence on tour.
Shortly after Fekete was diagnosed with cancer, Pitts’ mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and began undergoing chemotherapy. Her illness inspired him to write “Carrier Pigeon” — Pitts notes it is the most narrative and autobiographical song he’s ever written, and it embodies his attempts to reconcile the love he has for his parents with not always loving how they choose to see the world.
Other tracks on the record attempt to deal with aging in a more playful way. “Matter of Time” is a straightforward pop song that focuses on the decision of when to get married, something Pitts is now considering at age 30. “Taking Care of Eddy” can be taken literally: it was written about Pitts’ girlfriend’s great uncle, Eddy, an 84-year-old who suffered stunted development after a car accident as a child. As a result, he thinks and acts like an eight year old, has Parkinson’s disease, and can’t get around by himself, but maintains a childlike sense of wonder. While taking care of him hasn’t been easy, Pitts tried to inject some of Eddy’s playfulness into the song.
While Snowdonia grapples with heavier material, Pitts likens some of the more complex songs to Astro Coast track “Anchorage,” though the new songs were written specifically with the band’s current lineup and new strengths in mind. Wanting to play up McCleary and Mills’ vocal skills, he wrote layers of vocals into almost every track and added call-and-response parts between himself and Mills throughout the album.
With enormous attention to detail, the eight tracks on Snowdonia make the album Surfer Blood’s most ambitious release yet.
Snowdonia Track Listing: 1. Matter of Time 2. Frozen 3. Dino Jay 4. Six Flags in F or G 5. Snowdonia 6. Instant Doppelgängers 7. Taking Care of Eddy 8. Carrier Pigeon
On 11/11, Bergen, Norway-based band The Megaphonic Thrift will release their album Få meg til verden i tide via Old Flame Records. The band has premiered their track “Pilene,” which you can check out now:
Last monthSPIN Magazine premiered the album’s first track “Hendene,” calling it “pulverizing noise rock.” Earlier this year, the band won a Spellemann Award (equivelant of a Norwegian GRAMMY Award) for best indie album. Få meg til verden i tide is The Megaphonic Thrift’s fourth album, and it’s the band’s first to feature lyrics in Norwegian. Much less guitar orientated than previous albums, Få meg til verden i tide is filled with synthesizers, and it’s their first with new collaborators Njål Paulsberg (neo Tokyo/Young Dreams) and Emil Nikolaisen (Serena-Maneesh).
“The four members in Megaphonic have become more unison for each record we’ve made together,” says guitarist and vocalist Richard Myklebust. “After the third record, making new music felt like giving each other a hug. We wanted to bring in someone who had a more radical approach to making music. We needed disagreement, and boy did we get it.”
A lot has happened since the summer of 2015 when The Megaphonic Thrift filled a car with synths and boxed wine, isolating themselves in a cabin far up in the Norwegian desolate mountains to write what would become Få meg til verden i tide.
“We thought we were just heading into the studio to make the final adjustments and thought it was going to be easy. All the songs were ready. It didn’t turn out easy at all,” says bassist and vocalist Linn Frøkedal.
The band describes the studio process as a long road trip, where a new driver can take the wheel at any moment. “Nikolaisen is based in Oslo (on the other side of the mountains), and guitarist Clementsen was on a Japanese tour with his other band Electric Eye, so sketches and new ideas were thrown back and forth on seemingly endless mail threads,” says guitarist Njål Clementsen. “This record is proof that it is possible to make a really cool record in a really hard way. It doesn’t have to be easy!”
Byron Nash, a Pittsburgh based musician, has been doing this music thing for a long time. While playing lead guitar of the band Formula412, he worked on writing and recording some ideas and keeping them on the “back-burner” you could say. This “back-burner” was called ‘Plan B’.
After collecting over 10 years of songs and ideas, Nash took some music production courses and eventually started his own music company, BNDEEPendent Music. He and his friend Evan Thorsen had been jamming and hanging out together for years; when they finally decided to play some of their songs live in 2014. After great reception, they were asked the following year to play at Kayafest, a restaurant that was having it’s 20th Year Anniversary block party. They put together a makeshift band of talented musicians and again were met with great praise…enough that they finally decided to go forth full throttle as a band.
All they had to do was come up with their name. It was suggested that their name simply be ‘Nash’, but Byron felt weird about it being just his name. So — ta-da!!! Byron Nash & Plan B it is!
And they’ve got a little bit of something for everyone, too! The band is “a well-balanced fusion of rocking dual-guitars, funk-and-soul, straight-forward and emotional vocals, simple songwriting, and a little bit of jam-band and fusion mixed in there.”
The band is having a very special release party for their very first EP, The Late Bloomer, this Friday at The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls.
UK band SSHH, made up of Sshh Liguz and Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr’s son and drummer for Oasis and The Who) is teaming up with TONS of amazing musicians (members of Oasis, Sex Pistols, Marilyn Manson, Amy Winehouse’s band, and more) for their upcoming album ISSUES. The album is a collection of covers using the members of the original bands! Heads up — it kicks ass!
The first single just premiered — it’s a cover of Sex Pistols’ “Problems”, featuring Glen Matlock, Pistols bassist, and Paul Cook, Pistols drummer.
ISSUES is a modern homage to all of the epic bands that made SSHH what they are today. The idea behind the record was simple. Zak and Sshh had been asked to do a radio series on SiriusXM, chatting through the music that has influenced them. But why not go a step further? Why not find the original rhythm sections from those bands and play with them? Why not make an album in the process?
The first call went out to Glen Matlock and Paul Cook, the bass and drums, the meat and veg of the Sex Pistols. If they were up for it, everyone would be up for it, and they were. And thus, during the last week of November in Los Angeles, the project began. Clem Burke, Blondie’s drummer, turned up in the studio on day one to cut an unorthodox “One Way or Another”. Day two, Marilyn Manson’s rhythm men, Twiggy Ramirez and Gil Sharone, arrived for their turn. Fellow musicians Santa Davis and Fully Fullwood (of Peter Tosh’s Word, Sound and Power) also came forward and re-recorded Tosh’s original version of “Get Up Stand Up”, with an added touch from Eddie Vedder.
The duo moved on to London and got back in another studio for “one of the most intense recording sessions of [her] life,” according to Sshh. They began with “Babylon’s Burning” and “Jah War” with the rhythm section of The Ruts, followed by “Back to Black” with Amy Winehouse’s drummer, bassist, and musical director. Darren Moonie and Simone Butler of Primal Scream showed up for a full-on, no-holds barred take on “Shoot Speed Kill Light”. Guests also include Martin Chambers (The Pretenders), Mick Ralphs (Mott the Hoople), and Kenney Jones (The Small Faces, The Who), and production credits include Youth and Ian Brodie, among others. “Of all the people who’ve taught me drums – Keith Moon, my dad [Ringo Starr], all of them – Kenney showed me the most,” says Zak.
Zak and Sshh first came together in March 2006. Zak, playing drums on tour with Oasis, played a guitar riff down the long-distance line, Sshh recorded it, built it, and put it together, and their first track “Jet Engines” was born. Years passed as Sshh was in a different kind of studio as an award-winning visual artist and Zak was touring with Oasis and The Who. In 2008, the pair played a few gigs in East London under various band names, opening for Kasabian. The two eventually settled on SSHH, the call came from Sirius, an idea was hatched, and SSHH had ISSUES.
The result of those two mad, unpredictable, spontaneous, serendipitous weeks of phone calls, new handshakes, old hugs, musical conversations, long shots and crossed fingers is a record which straddles a huge swathe of modern music history. From the original rock ’n’ roll of the sixties through punk, reggae and dub into modern soul and electronica, this is a wild journey in just eleven steps. And despite all that, it exists as its own work, knitted together with the unique sound of SSHH – a fortnight in the making but a decade in its evolution. ISSUES will be released later this month, and proceeds from album sales will go to Teenage Cancer Trust.
1. Problems
with Paul Cook and Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols (producer Chris Thomas)(mix Thom Panunzio) 2. Jah War
with Dave Ruffy and Segs of the Ruts (producer Ian Broudie) 3. Shoot Speed Kill Light
with Darren Moonie and Simone of Primal Scream (producer Youth) 4. All The Young Dudes
with Mick Ralphs of Mott The Hoople and Martin Chambers and Glen Matlock (mix Thom Panunzio) 5. Dominoes
duet with Sshh and Robbie Furze of Big Pink with Twiggy Ramirez and Gil Sharone from Marilyn Manson (producer Nick Launay) 6. One Way Or Another
with Clem Burke of Blondie and Steve Fishman (Mix Thom Panunzio) 7. Back to Black
with Dale Davis and Nathan Allen of Amy Winehouse band (producer Ian Broudie) 8. Private Life
with Martin Chambers of The Pretenders and Glen Matlock (mix Youth) 9. Get Up Stand Up
with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Santa Davis and Fully Fullwood of Peter Tosh, Word Sound & Power (mix Youth) 10. Babylon’s Burning
with Dave Ruffy and Segs of The Ruts (producer Ian Broudie, mix John Gray) 11. Tin Soldier
with Kenney Jones of The Small Faces, Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols, Gem Archer of Oasis (mix Shel Talmy)
After fifteen years performing together around the world and carrying on the family’s musical traditions, The von Trapps; Sofia, Melanie, Amanda and August, are closing this chapter in their lives as full-time musicians to pursue individual dreams and interests.
The von Trapps are the great-grandchildren of the family depicted in the musical, The Sound of Music. Their extensive career has taken them everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to Beijing’s Forbidden City to Carnegie Hall; they have performed with Wayne Newton, Rufus Wainwright and many major symphonies across the globe. The most meaningful highlights of their career together have been their time teaching music in Rwanda, singing to Colo the gorilla with Jack Hanna, and creating Dream a Little Dream, their 2014 collaborative album with Pink Martini & Thomas Lauderdale.
While in the studio with Pink Martini, the four siblings began to write original material. In 2015, they released Dancing in Gold, an EP of original songs inspired by their travels as young adults.
In a celebration of new beginnings the The von Trapps will be throwing a final farewell concert at Star Theater on May 3rd(cake-lover Melanie von Trapp’s birthday) in their hometown, Portland Oregon.
“Our family story as been shared in nearly every corner of the world. It has been a surreal honor to continue this musical tradition and be a part of such a hopeful message to the world for these last 15 years. We want to thank our family and friends who have supported and encouraged us throughout all of these adventures.”
Check out the new video for “Gone” from JR JR (formerly known as Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jr.)
TOUR DATES
September 12, 2015 – NeoCycle Fest – Cleveland, OH
September 13, 2015 – Chill on the Hill – Sterling Heights, MI
September 25, 2015– Midpoint Music Festival – Cincinnati, OH September 29, 2015– Turf Club – St. Paul, MN October 1, 2015– Firebird – St. Louis, MO October 2, 2015– The Bottleneck – Lawrence, KS October 3, 2015– Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO October 6, 2015– Neumos – Seattle, WA October 7, 2015– Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR October 9, 2015– Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA October 10, 2015– Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA October 14, 2015– The Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ October 16, 2015– Mohawk – Austin, TX October 18, 2015– Warehouse Live Studio – Houston, TX October 20, 2015– One Eyed Jacks – New Orleans, LA October 22, 2015– Mercy Lounge – Nashville, TN October 23, 2015– Terminal West @ King Plow Arts Center – Atlanta, GA October 24, 2015– Downtown Milledgeville – Milledgeville, GA October 26, 2015– Club Downunder – Tallahassee, FL October 27, 2015– State Theatre – St. Petersburg, FL October 28, 2015– Culture Room – Ft. Lauderdale, FL October 30, 2015– The Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC October 31, 2015– Haw River Ballroom – Saxapahaw, NC November 2, 2015– Jefferson Theater – Charlottesville, VA November 3, 2015– Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA November 4, 2015– Webster Hall – New York, NY November 5, 2015– The Sinclair – Cambridge, MA November 6, 2015– 9:30 Club – Washington, DC November 7, 2015– The Hollow – Albany, NY November 11, 2015– The A&R Music Bar – Columbus, OH November 12, 2015– Deluxe @ Old National Center – Indianapolis, IN November 14, 2015– Metro – Chicago, IL
The following is a letter from Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. — explaining their decision for a name change.
Dear Friends, Fans, Internet Users, And Everyone Else Out There
We wish to address you one final time as Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr.
A bit of backstory is probably in order…
What started out as a basement recording project in 2009 has become a full time career for us, and we are eternally grateful for the opportunity that it has given us to make music and work on art the past few years.
As we prepared to release our first full length album on Warner Brothers Records back in 2011, our band name became a topic of concern among people who work with us. The concerns were y’know… legal ones. Bands stuck in courtrooms have a tough time touring and making records so it was decided that the name needed to be addressed, and possibly even changed. As much of a hail mary as it seemed as the time, our solution was to just write Dale Earnhardt Jr himself and explain we were in no way making light of him or his family, that we were fans of his and hoped he wouldn’t take offense to our existence.
What’s crazy is he actually wrote us back…
The exceptionally good natured spirit of the man himself lifted everyone’s spirits about the name. We were proud to keep it, and create under it. To this day, Dale Earnhardt Jr has been nothing but gracious and cool about things. And y’know…he didn’t have to be. It was perfectly within his right to look at these two weird kids from Detroit and say ‘no way’, or to just have an intermediary shut things down on his behalf. But he didn’t. He was a legitimately warm human being about it all. He was kind. A couple of times when asked about us, he even mentioned that he likes the music we make. This, we thought, was the best case scenario.
When we initially chose the name Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, the feeling was that it gave us an amazing flexibility. We were just meeting as people, and hadn’t begun to scratch the surface of knowing what our voice, as a band or each individually, would be. Band names are a weird thing to begin with, but we figured if we named our band Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr there would be no expectations for what we were meant to sound like. Something that bizarre would just have to be listened to and judged without preconception. And realistically, we never thought so many people would be up for taking that sort of a listening experience on.
But people really did. You guys did. And since then we’ve been continually overwhelmed by seeing so many people around the world having such a passionate connection with the things we have made. What we’ve been able to do, as a result of our amazing fans, fills us with a lot of pride.
The flip side is that as things have grown, so has the amount of confusion caused by the name Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. Some of it is no big deal and easily cleared up. But sometimes we get sad and bizarre requests sent to our social media sites or emailed to people we work with. We’ve had people drive long distances to shows only to be disappointed when they realize it’s a neurotic Jew and wild haired gentile from Detroit they’ve paid to see. A number of times now we’ve received hope filled inquiries from people who have dying relatives that only want to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr (the driver) before they pass. Those sorts of interactions feel a little voyeuristic and eerie, and even attempting to simply clarify the situation means you’ve added a moment of embarrassment to someone’s day when they’re already going through a lot.
We recognize that we created this situation and that the name has been a part of getting to where we are now. It stirred up some attention for us in the modern internet world of over-stimulation, and we aren’t complaining about any of it–good and bad. The name has become it’s own personality, though. Almost, another member of the band.
But as time has passed, we have grown into ourselves, both as artists and individuals. Each of our perspectives have gotten stronger, and we’ve found that there is no longer room for a third, ubiquitous member of the project.
So recently, after a lot of thought and discussion, we made the decision to shorten our band name to the much more brief moniker of…
JR JR
We hope this doesn’t bum you guys out too much. In our mind, changing our name to JR JR allows us to take back our voice in a way. To us It is all about empowerment, and being who we feel we need to be moving forward.
At the same time, we don’t want to run away from what we’ve done under this name with all of you in the past. If you need us to remain Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr for your own reasons, we have no problem with you calling us that. After all, nobody is forcing us into this change, so we’re able to do it at our own pace. Functionally, we will go on performing as Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr for a short while longer so that nothing feels imminently different when we announce shows. We probably even have a few t-shirts with the old name left that we’ll burn through the last of in the coming months.
But in the long run we’re going to transition into just being JR JR. We encourage you all to come out to the next show near you and celebrate another phase of life with us. The past is passed, and we are so excited about the future. We hope there is nothing mournful about this.
ESPECIALLY… because we’ll have another announcement very very soon. One that we hope gives all of you out there a reason to move forward with us as JR JR.
Ok, this has gotten lengthy so we’ll leave it at that for now.
Thank you for allowing us into your worlds…We are eternally grateful for the privilege
yours truly,
Josh & Daniel
who at times have referred to themselves as Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr
but are now going to be known as the much easier to say…
Kelis’ love affair with food started as a child. A native New Yorker, her mother worked as a chef in her own catering business, run out of their home in Harlem. Driven by the speed and the intensity in the kitchen, Kelis’ passion behind watching her mother cook inspired her to roll up her sleeves, willing do to what anyone asked of her. Every detail was clear and defined: Red lips, red nails, perfume, earrings and a military demeanor, Kelis felt in the presence of a master while watching her mother work.
At age 17, Kelis signed her first recording contract and began to travel the world. She discovered local outdoor markets and tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurants and considered them the hidden treasures of her journeys. After 10 years in the music business, Kelis decided to attend Le Cordon Bleu. Attending the famous cooking school gave Kelis the confidence to call herself a chef and to write her first cookbook.
MY LIFE ON A PLATE: RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WORLD (Kyle Books; September 28, 2015; Hardcover; $24.95) tells Kelis’ personal story through the food she creates. Her style has been molded by her culture, her travels, and all the people she met along the way. “My Life On A Plate is my first cookbook, and like the title says, it really is a reflection of my life through food. It includes my version of recipes I grew up eating and things I’ve picked up that have inspired me along the way,” says Kelis. “It’s an exploration of tastes and cultures, and my experience as a chef, musician, mother and wife. It’s a lifestyle, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you.”
This book is a collection of her favorite recipes. It features a mix of foods from her Puerto Rican heritage, such as Pernil (Puerto Rican Pork Shoulder), Arroz con Gandules, and Shrimp Alcapurias along with dishes she created after discovering them on her travels around the world such as Malay Curry Chicken and Swedish Meatballs. Food lovers looking for a new kind of food fusion experience will love MY LIFE ON A PLATE.
“The music world is full of foodies, from Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos to Action Bronson and his penchant for rapping about barbecued venison. Kelis out-foodies them all.”-Observer Food Monthly
Pre-order “MY LIFE ON A PLATE” now at Amazon,Barnes & Noble and all other book retailers ahead of its September 28th release.
Musically Amusing 