FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHRIS PUREKA TO SUPPORT JAY BRANNAN ON EAST COAST TOUR The five date run begins on July 11 with stops in major East Coast markets.

"Pureka sings about love and loss and rambling along back roads. her voice is arrestingly raspy and soulful and her guitar strumming lets loose with unusually powerful sparks." --Time Out NY

"Chris Pureka quickly captivates with her skilled guitar and rapid-fire lyrics. The entire album puts a novel's worth of imagery into every song." --Performing Songwriter Magazine

On July 11th, Northampton, Ma-based singer-songwriter Chris Pureka will begin a series of dates supporting Nettwerk Recording Artist, Jay Brannan- whose star has been rising after a role in the cult film hit, "Short Bus." The tour begins in Boston at The Paradise Rock Club and makes stops in Brooklyn, New York City, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Pureka will be supporting her critically acclaimed sophomore effort, Dryland. About Pureka and Dryland The LA Daily News said, "A New England folkie with a parched, wounded voice and a mean way with an acoustic guitar, Pureka makes romantic depression seem, somehow, invigorating."

Pureka spent much of 2007 on the road in the US and abroad headlining a tour to support Dryland. In 2008 she supported Martin Sexton, Dar Williams and a few other notables. Her troubadour lifestyle has paid off: In addition to selling over 3,000 records without distribution or a record label, Pureka has garnered a few industry accolades. Last summer, Chris was awarded ASCAPLUS awards, which has been given each year since 1960 to, ".reward writers whose works have a unique prestige value for which adequate compensation would not otherwise be received." The following month, she was nominated for Outstanding Folk Act by the Boston Music Awards. This tour will mark Pureka's first appearance in such notable rooms as the 9:30 club (D.C), The Music Hall of Williamsburg (Brooklyn) and Vinyl (Atlanta).

Dryland, was recorded at Slaughter House Studios in Westhampton, Ma by Mark Alan Miller and was produced by Pureka.

Jay Brannan/Chris Pureka Tour Dates:

• Friday, July 11th @ The Paradise Rock Club (Boston, MA)
• Saturday, July 12th @ The 9:30 Club (Washington, DC)
• Monday, July 14th @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg (Brooklyn, NY)
• Wednesday, July 16th @ The Highline Ballroom (New York, NY)
• Friday, July 18th @ Vinyl (Atlanta, GA)

New album release from The Amity Front

The Amity Front's latest release, Border Towns, is now available on CDBaby.com!

Read some of the first reviews:

Indie Sounds NY (NYC)
Epinions.com
The Times Argus (Montpelier, VT)
The Valley Advocate (Northampton, MA)

New merchandise - fpp hoodies

Performing Songwriter Review of As Blue as Your Dying Eyes

Performing Songwriter, by Eric R. Danton: Western Massachusetts has produced a steady supply of talented musicians, and scene veteran Matthew Hebert has earned a spot at the forefront with the first album from his latest project, Haunt. As Blue as Your Dying Eyes is a collection of elegant, rootsy tunes marked by gritty electric guitar fills and subtle vocal harmonies as Hebert ponders life with a world-weary air that's as much a part of New England as colorful autumn foliage.

He sings in a tousled voice that sounds like it has known the loving touch of whiskey, sighing over the past on "Run Run Run," wondering at his own behavior on "Poisoner" and singing with quiet, earnest devotion on "Love Song," which aired on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. All in all, a collection that will leave you marveling at its finesse with no time to be blue.

New Reviews for Chris Pureka and Andrea Gibson

Hybrid Magazine , by Dan Warren: From Woody Guthrie's tales of "Tom Joad" and "Pretty Boy Floyd" to more contemporary voices like Tracy Chapman, there is a rich storytelling tradition running through the history of American music. Today, as always, few songwriters are able to channel emotion into tales of universal heartbreak, struggle, and redemption. Massachusetts native Chris Pureka is among that rare breed of artist. With her second full-length album, last year's Dryland, she displays an uncanny ability to express her own joy and sorrow and reflect something much bigger than herself - an ability that is the hallmark of the most affecting American folk and country music.

Her songs, a skillful blend of those two genres, are held together by her weathered vocals, understated acoustic guitar, masterful songwriting, and the soul of poet much wiser than her 27 years. Dryland is breathtaking from the opening bars of the instrumental introduction through her solo acoustic performance on the captivating title track. Pureka's affecting alto can be fragile or defiant, disquieting or inspiring, capable of sounding broken and then of transforming that sorrow into hope. And, while her songs are largely introspective, the record feels timeless and universal. Her evocative lyrics are a large part of the record's appeal. "Dryland" is just one example of the poetry found in all of Pureka's songs: "I'm holding myself, waiting and waiting in the belly of a boat, praying for dryland / I can slide through the days or drink them like water / hope I'll wake up again to a morning song."

Every track on Dryland is inspired. The restrained and reflective "These Pages," the orchestrated and spirited "Momentary Thief," the emotionally rich "31 And Falling" are highlights, but the record washes over like a single wave of feeling and disarming beauty. Pureka also proves a master interpreter with her cover of Gillian Welch's "Everything Is Free." The record doesn't break any new ground, but Pureka's classicist approach is what makes her music so vital. She is a synthesist, not an innovator, and this stellar record proves that preserving our musical traditions is as important as creating new ones - and is a welcome reminder of the enduring power of America's folk and country music heritage.

FeministReview.org, by Amy Wooten: If you love poetry—scratch that--if you love powerfully articulate, passionate prose meant to stir up your inner emotions and inspire you to stand up and create change, then you’ll love the brilliance that queer poet/activist Andrea Gibson serves up aplenty in Swarm.

Primarily recorded in a bedroom, Swarm also contains a handful of live tracks that allow the listener to taste the raw energy of her live performance.

The self-released album came out in 2004, yet the poignant words, occasionally accompanied by a backdrop of acoustic guitar, cut into you like knives and remain just as relevant today—particularly today. Gibson takes it all on—patriarchy, ignorance (the angry, powerful "Wal-Mart"), gender norms (the comedic "Sidewalk Chalk")—without a bat of the eye, and takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions in just one piece.

Check it out, if not just for the jaw-dropping live track, "Dive," a brutally honest peek at life and what Gibson pens "the most honest poem I’ve ever spoken in my life." She speaks passionately of the horrors of life—the stuff that doesn’t make sense, "doesn’t rhyme"—from patriarchy and hate to anti-gay violence. Another gem is "Blue Blanket," a fierce portrait of patriarchy: "I am generations of daughters, sisters, mother/our bodies battlefields/war grounds/beneath the weapons of your brother’s hands."

This album will not disappoint. It will change your life.

New Review from the UK's Pop Matters

PopMatters.com, by Michael Metivier: Haunt's Matthew Hebert is a firm believer in the power of songs, a conviction that garnered his former band, Ware River Club, increased attention and accolades over the course of three records. Now Haunt is poised to bring his gruff, melodic voice and sturdily constructed tunes to a wider audience thanks in part to a crack band that features former members of the Scud Mountain Boys and other western Massachusetts heroes. Indebted to the distinctive vocals and respected canons of Bob Mould, Grant Lee Buffalo, and Tom Waits, Hebert writes songs like an altruistic city planner, building each track with care and consideration to ensure listeners will want to return. "Run Run Run" opens the record at an easy gait, a handful of banjo plucks embellishing a gently rolling guitar pattern. The first words on the album are "Somebody believe me when I say", a fitting summation of the ethos here: earnest, guileless, country-flavored rock, of the type that has hopefully been shorn by now of hokey pretenders and is now left in the more capable hands of folks like Hebert. The chiming shuffle of "Love Song", for example, could easily lapse into cloying sweetness if it weren't performed with gentle, unassuming grace. Similarly, the blustery, rocking "Poisoner" with provocations like "I'm a poisoner / And I say things like / Jesus forgives you" works as a condemnation of disingenuousness in large part because there's no mistaking Hebert's penchant for telling it like it is, however it is.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Northampton, Ma-based, Haunt featured on CBS hit, "How I Met Your Mother."

The show will air on Monday, May 7th at 8 pm ET/PT during May sweeps.

For more information
Please contact:
Christen Greene or Russ Marks
faux pas productions
PH: 212-766-8040 or 508 331-3846
E: christen@fauxpasproductions.com
russ@fauxpasproductions.com

Northampton, Ma-based artist, Matt Hebert, (recording as Haunt), will be lending a track to CBS this May for the season finale episode of, "How I Met Your Mother." The show, which will air on Monday, May 7th at 8 pm (ET/PT) will feature Hebert's composition, "Love Song," found on the recent (April 2007) release, As Blue As Your Dying Eyes.

"Love Song" is a well-crafted shuffle that blends melancholic chords with Hebert's bittersweet lyrics and raspy vocals. The song reveals a lighter side of the album while demonstrating Hebert's role as an established songwriter.

While this will be Hebert's television debut, he is no stranger to the entertainment industry. The ex-frontman of the Ware River Club has released 5 records over the last 7 years and has toured the US many times over. This is Haunt's second placement from the new record. The first track on the album, "Run, Run, Run," appears in Illumination Pictures Inc's recent feature-length release, "Anderson's Cross," which is touring the festival circuit and recently captured the award for Best Picture at The Independent Black Film Festival in Atlanta, Ga.

"How I Met Your Mother" is a comedy narrated by Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) that takes place in the year 2030. The show documents Ted's trials with love and features an all-star cast that includes Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris.

How I Met Your Mother airs on Monday nights on CBS. The show will air on Monday, May 7th at 8 pm ET/PT during May sweeps.

For more information on Haunt and Matt Hebert, please visit:
www.myspace.com/hauntmusic
www.hauntmusic.net
and/or contact
Christen Greene, faux pas productions.
PH: 212-766-8040
christen@fauxpasproductions.com

Two more reviews of Dryland are in!

Feminist Review: The intro softly walks us into the quiet genius of Chris Pureka. She gracefully takes us through ordinary, heartbreaking, scenarios and conversations, beginning with "These Pages," in which she perfectly describes a painful encounter with a past lover. Pureka even tackles the subject of death - a hard subject to cover without cliché, but there is not a hint of the trite in "So It Goes," accompanied with a banjo-driven sweeping melody that will bring tears to your eyes.

Pureka's voice has this tremulous, ephemeral quality that will make you stop breathing and listen closely and her guitar playing is as steady as an oncoming train, but ten times as gentle. Lyndell Montgomery, of Ember Swift fame, makes a guest appearance on "Momentary Thief," adding the perfect touch of intensity with bass and violin. If you are a Gillian Welch fan, you will be far from disappointed with Pureka's rendition of "Everything is Free." The title track, "Dryland," falls at the end, taking us out with just Pureka's guitar and vocals, highlighting her lyrical mastery, subtly gorgeous voice and the structural simplicity that allows it all to shine through.

Review by Shana Scudder

The Brattleboro Reformer:

There's no place like road
Thursday, March 8
NORTHAMPTON, Mass.

"I'm holding myself/Waiting and waiting in the belly of a boat/Praying for dryland."

Perhaps it is because Chris Pureka and I share the same home town, but I can't help but hear those lyrics from the title track of "Dryland" -- her second and most recent record -- as the yearning for home of a young singer-songwriter who spends a huge chunk of her time on the road.

As it turns out, Pureka really doesn't really have a home these days. "Well, I don't have an actual 'apartment' right now," she said in a recent e-mail exchange. "I do have a car. I also have some wonderful and accommodating friends and relatives. For the most part, though, I still consider Northampton my home. I probably spend the most time there overall, and it is where I lived for the last four years." It has been during those years that Pureka has begun to make her mark on the national acoustic circuit, burning up the miles while slowly building a small but fiercely loyal fan base with her hushed, emotive vocals, self-reflective compositions and nimble fretwork.

Like most young indie artists, she has had to scratch and claw her way to make a modest living as a touring performer, yet the former biology lab assistant at Smith College holds no second thoughts about of her career choice.

"In general, I think that being an independent musician is pretty challenging, but it is even more rewarding," she explained. "One of the most challenging aspects for me is touring. Sometimes I will be gone for two or three months at a time. That definitely makes it difficult to maintain a normal home life. It definitely puts a strain on relationships."

Pureka is a quietly commanding performer, but without the muscle of a label, she is left to play smallish venues with little advance publicity.

"Sometimes no one shows up, or people show up but you don't get paid," she said. "Oftentimes you are never in the same place for more than 24 hours. But on the flip side, sometimes people will drive six hours to see a show. People will come out in Iowa and thank you so much for stopping in their town. It can be very rewarding. You get to meet all kinds of amazing people. You get to travel the whole country. And I love all of that."

And she is getting some love in return. During a recent stop in Ann Arbor, Mich., Pureka had her beloved acoustic guitar stolen. But her fans rallied to her aid.

"There is a contingent of very loyal listeners. Several of them set up a fan site for me a couple years ago (www.chrispureka.net). When my guitar was stolen this past October, the guy who runs the fan site set up a fundraiser to help me pay for a new instrument. It was really amazing and I feel extremely grateful.

"Overall, it is really very moving that people appreciate what I do and connect with my music enough to want to help me out so much. Sometimes fans will drive six hours to come see a show. And it's moments like that that help make it all worth it for me."

Pureka, who counts Gillian Welch, Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin, Kris Delmhorst, Paul Simon, Josh Ritter and Peter Mulvey (for whom she will be opening at Bocelli's in Bellows Falls tomorrow night) as major influences, has grown over the past decade into a confident, often riveting performer. But it did not start out that way.

"I used to have terrible stage-fright. I used to get so nervous before shows that I couldn't even talk to anyone before I went on. I used to feel nauseous.

"I remember when I opened for Erin McKeown back in 1998 I was so nervous that I couldn't eat for about two days before the show. But after almost 10 years of performing, for the most part, I don't get very nervous anymore. Being able to be comfortable onstage is really important in being able to connect with the audience. So, I am very glad that I have been able to get to that place with it."

At this point in her career, Pureka simply wants to build on her modest success. "Right now my plan is to just keep plugging away at it," she said. "I would really like to earn recognition and respect from my peers and influences. I would like to be able to play shows with musicians that I admire. I would love to be able to continue to see progress, to see more people coming out to my shows. I hope to simply continue to write and play music."

And to make enough to have a place she can truly call home.

Dave Madeloni writes a weekly music column for the Arts & Entertainment section. He can be reached at madeloni@aol.com.

Andrea Gibson takes 3rd in the iWPS

Congratulations to Andrea Gibson who took 3rd place in the prestigious Individual World Poetry Slam competition in Vancouver, BC Canada.

Please check Andrea's tour dates as she is touring to support her new album, When The Bough Breaks.

fpp announces Haunt as a new management client

Haunt is a project from the ex-front man of The Ware River Club, Matthew Hebert.

Hebert has irrefutably earned his place among well-known luminaries and one-time residents of where he calls home, Western Massachusetts. (I.e.: Joe Pernice, Lou Barlow and David Berman). His well-placed lyrics, bitter-sweet chords, and a vocal rasp as comforting as the melody itself, Hebert has toured the U.S. many times over and supported such artists as The Jayhawks, Dave Alvin, Marah, Blue Rodeo, Emmy Lou Harris, Bob Mould, Daniel Johnston, Richard Buckner and The Allman Brothers.

Haunt's self-titled record was recorded at Spirithouse Studios by Danny Bernini (Sonya Kitchell, Reed Fohel, Erin McKeown,) and will be released on April 3rd, 2007

Two great new reviews of Dryland are in!

AllMusic.com: Dryland's essays and musical sketches plunge the listener into sensitive and moving tales accompanied by Chris Pureka's Stevie Nicks-style guitar plucking and distinctive voice. Listen to her mournful fade on "Momentary Thief," the sixth track on her second full-length disc: it's an extraordinary tune that builds with each listen. Much like Jackie DeShannon on her underappreciated masterpiece You Know Me, this young singer/songwriter has much to offer. Introspective and deep, the landscape is akin to Neil Young's Harvest without the explosions of "Alabama" and "Words." Pureka keeps that subtle approach close to the vest from song to song -- "Everything Is Free" feeling those soulful chord changes while Allison Miller's drums and Lyndell Montgomery's bass keep pace -- and provides a solid embrace for the catchy melodies. The packaging is totally in sync with the country element, the voice and violin tightly aligned in "Compass Rose." The songs are four to five or more minutes long and Mark Alan Miller's superlative production allows them to sparkle without getting cluttered. When Ferron's Shadows on a Dime was released in 1989, it heralded a new approach. Pureka is not pioneering in that fashion, but she has definitely taken up the mantle that Ferron provided and the results are satisfying and full of musical intrigue. If Chris Pureka can continue to deliver music along these lines in the future, she will be a contender and Dryland will be a cornerstone for her fans to dip back into and enjoy. At 51 and a half minutes, Dryland is generous and important.

Curve Magazine: Even if you're not familiar with her solo music, you might recognize Pureka's name (or cute face!) from her collaborations with folk-poet extraordinaire Alix Olson. The New England-based, self-identified genderqueer co-wrote the music for and recorded several tracks on Olson's first two albums, as well as toured with her in 2001 when Olson was just getting started. Since then, Pureka released a self-titled debut in 2001, Driving North in 2004, and her third album, Dryland, just recently. Her deeply personal and passionate songwriting style draws on hardships in life and relationships for most of her fodder, with a lyrical style that's poetic while still accessible. Her hushed vocals are a little rough around the edges and richly emotive, and her guitar playing is, well, breathtaking. Very few contemporary singersongwriters pay as much attention to their guitar technique as to their vocals and lyrics, but Pureka's got the whole package. The album opener, "Intro," is an instrumental show-off of that killer guitar skill, flowing gently into "These Pages," a rambling vignette of interpersonal awkwardness. The fingerpicking "Compass Rose" is my personal favorite, but the whole album is just gorgeous to listen to. Fans of Patty Griffin and Mary Gauthier ought to give Pureka a spin.

Chris Pureka's Dryland on the cover of NE Performer Magazine!

http://www.performermag.com/neperf_covr.php

Chris Pureka and her new record, Dryland, are featured in Marked Magazine.

http://www.markedmagazine.com/2006Sept14-QA-ChrisPureka.shtml

The Amity Front and Chris Pureka have both been nominated in the 2006 Valley Advocate Grand Band Slam. TAF is up for best "Roots Rock" outfit and also have received nominations for the "Best New Band" in the Valley.

Chris has been nominated for best singer/songwriter.

Voting begins on July 20th and will end on August 6th at midnight. This year the ballot will ONLY APPEAR online at www.valleyadvocate.com.

Please cast your vote for both of these fpp artists. Thanks.