For Immediate Release
\nAugust 9, 2018<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alt-Folk collective Alright Alright set to release debut full-length album in October<\/p>\n
<\/b>Denver-based alt-folk collective Alright Alright \u2013 driven by the powerhouse husband-and-wife songwriting team of Seth and China Kent \u2013 is set to release its debut full-length album,\u00a0Nearby<\/em>, on October 5, 2018 via Hooves and Sugar Record Co.\u00a0 The seductively atmospheric record was produced by the duo with Eric Dawson Tate and Ben Wysocki, mixed by Eric Dawson Tate, and mastered by Alan Douches of West West Side Music.<\/p>\n From the strings-and-choir-driven wishing-well aspirations of \u201cBe Kind\u201d to the slow-building smoky-twangy revelations of \u201cBy the Bed\u201d to the zeitgeist temperature-taking of \u201cLuckiest Girl in America\u201d to the harmonic bent-truth yearnings of \u201cThe Liar,\u201d\u00a0Nearby\u00a0<\/em>deftly carries the listener through each gripping, successive chapter of the ever-growing, ever-evolving Alright Alright saga.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery song on\u00a0Nearby\u00a0<\/em>is a combination of who produced it and who recorded it,\u201d observes China, who gifts the music they make with vocals, piano, keyboards, and string arrangements. \u201cAnd the challenge,\u201d adds her partner Seth, who performs vocals and acoustic and electric guitar, \u201cwas in making it all into something cohesive.\u201d\u00a0Nearby\u00a0<\/em>also serves as a companion piece to Alright Alright\u2019s 2016\u00a0Faraway\u00a0<\/em>EP, the titles of which China gleaned after reading Rebecca Solnit\u2019s insightful 2013 essay collection,\u00a0The Faraway Nearby<\/em>. Points out Seth, \u201cOur songwriting has become more and more personal. Each song on\u00a0Nearby\u00a0<\/em>was more directly, yet sometimes obtusely, about us. The writing mode we\u2019re now in fuses material about place with material about the personal.\u201d<\/p>\n Each Kent channels an impressive C.V. into Alright Alright\u2019s musical DNA. China attended Vanderbilt University and is a classically trained pianist, while Seth has spent time on record and on tour as a guitar tech with the super-successful Denver-bred alt-rockers The Fray (\u201cOver My Head (Cable Car),\u201d \u201cHow to Save a Life\u201d). Together, the Kents have also helped compose the scores for a number of fine independent films including\u00a0Brick<\/em>,\u00a0Blue State<\/em>,\u00a0The Brothers Bloom<\/em>, and\u00a0Jam<\/em>. The sonic scope of these scores, well, underscore just how adept the married duo are when it comes to bringing such cinematic sensibilities into their own work.<\/p>\n Both China and Seth grew up in self-described \u201cmusically conservative\u201d households before eventually finding common ground in their mutual love of U2\u2019s 1991 game-changing and genre-challenging\u00a0Achtung Baby<\/em>. \u201cHearing that album on endless repeat opened up the idea that you could make a simple song say something really powerful,\u201d Seth reports. Concurs China, \u201cIt was a total shift, especially for someone classically trained like me. I forced myself to listen to\u00a0Achtung Baby<\/em>\u00a0over and over again because it sounded so dissonant to me, but I had to make my ears comply with what I was hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a brief period of time the Kents contemplated throwing in the towel altogether as they raised their kids, but something inside just wouldn\u2019t give. \u201cThe creative pull was ultimately too strong,\u201d admits China. \u201cIt was an epiphany to realize this was what I have to bring to the world.\u201d\u00a0Seth had his own creative epiphany following the end of a different outside gig. \u201cWhy go through the pain and agony of reinventing myself when I could do music with someone who I like?\u201d he muses. \u201cMusically speaking, we come from very different backgrounds, but we make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps there\u2019s no better indication of Alright Alright being on the exact right path than the live audience response they\u2019ve been getting to the recast version of \u201cLuckiest Girl in America,\u201d a onetime Song of the Month entry from 2016 that has since taken up a rightful position on\u00a0Nearby<\/em>. \u201cWe put that song back in the setlist a few months ago, and that was the one that brought total silence to the room,\u201d marvels China. \u201cPeople need that song right now. I mean, I could talk about America for so long. America is less a place and more an idea. We are right in the middle of this huge Venn diagram of what we believe about America, and what we think it should be.\u201d Seth agrees, then adds, \u201cWe\u2019re also saying to people that it\u2019s okay to have that emotion \u2014 it\u2019s okay to feel and care about this place we live in, and someone else doesn\u2019t get to choose that we don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Concludes China, \u201cI feel like the music on\u00a0Nearby\u00a0<\/em>is our way of reclaiming these ideals by saying, \u2018Nope \u2014 I live here too, and this is my way of doing things.\u2019 And that\u2019s the magic of music, isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s why I also love playing house shows and in small community listening rooms. We\u2019re all experiencing this musical moment together. We sing these songs that pierce the heart. I mean, there are many, many tears at our shows sometimes, but it\u2019s all part of this experience we have together that you can\u2019t get outside of music.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharing the musical magic in a live setting is in the cards, as the twosome plans to support the album with shows (see confirmed tour schedule below). Already they\u2019ve enjoyed touring opportunities this year as varied as the Nowhere Else Festival over Memorial Day weekend, and in July, Seth, China, and their kids paddled the Colorado River for several days with the acclaimed Centennial Canoe Outfitters; each evening, the duo performed a combination of original songs, campfire songs, and beloved covers for the other river travelers.<\/p>\n Alright Alright Tour Schedule:<\/strong> http:\/\/alrightx2.com<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/the_alrightx2<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alrightx2<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAug. 18 \u2013 Silver Plume, CO \u2013 Bread Bar
\nOct. 5 \u2013 Fort Collins, CO \u2013 Magic Rat
\nOct. 11 \u2013 Lincoln, NE \u2013 Zoo Bar (w\/Andrea Von Kampen)
\nOct. 13 \u2013 Denver, CO \u2013 Syntax
\nOct. 19 \u2013 Taos, NM \u2013 Adobe Bar at Taos Inn
\nOct. 26 \u2013 Topeka, KS \u2013 Last Minute Folk
\nOct. 27 \u2013 Kansas City, MO \u2013 Californos
\n\u2026 more dates to be announced soon!<\/p>\n