NASHVILLE |DATE: APRIL 28, 2000
FROM: TODD BRODGINSKI/MITCH SCHNEIDER/MARCEE RONDAN
EVERCLEAR
SET TO RELEASE FIRST OF TWO CDS
'SONGS FROM AN AMERICAN MOVIE, VOL. 1/LEARNING HOW TO SMILE'
JULY 11 ON CAPITOL RECORDS;
FIRST SINGLE 'WONDERFUL'-WITH VIDEO DIRECTED BY
FRONTMAN ART ALEXAKIS-SET TO DEBUT MAY 22;
GROUP TO PERFORM AT SELECT RADIO SHOWS WHILE
RECORDING SECOND CD
Things are heating up for EVERCLEAR. The multi-platinum group-singer/songwriter ART ALEXAKIS, bassist CRAIG MONTOYA and drummer GREG EKLUND-are in Los Angeles putting the finishing touches on SONGS FROM AN AMERICAN MOVIE, VOL. I/LEARNING HOW TO SMILE, the first of two CDs to be released this year on Capitol Records. An ALEXAKIS-directed video for the first single "Wonderful"–which will hit radio beginning May 22–was shot in Los Angeles this week, with the full CD due out July 11.
The "Wonderful" single-like a lot of EVERCLEAR songs-is culled from the personal experience of ALEXAKIS. The subtly poignant song is a view of divorce from a kid's eyes and relates the subsequent emotional upheaval, matched with a defiantly upbeat melody. A sample lyric: "I go to school and I run and play/I tell the kids that it's all OK/I laugh a lot so my friends don't know that/When the bell rings I just don't want to go home."
EVERCLEAR will be performing only a few select radio shows this spring-kicking off April 29 in Dallas, TX and running through June 16 in San Francisco–as they begin work in June on the second CD, SONGS FROM AN AMERICAN MOVIE, VOL. II/A GOOD TIME FOR A BAD ATTITUDE. The LEARNING HOW TO SMILE CD has a melodic, layered sound, while the second album is a "rock record more like our older stuff but at the same time it's different because the songs are better," ALEXAKIS has said. Both albums "show two sides of the same coin," he continues. "What we do is very pop-y at times, and then there's a part of us that's very noisy."
In other EVERCLEAR news, ALEXAKIS will make his feature film debut April 28 in "Committed" (Miramax), starring Heather Graham and Casey Affleck. In the Lisa Krueger-directed film, ALEXAKIS portrays a drug-addicted car thief who, in his words, "finds redemption." The singer and songwriter also took time out in March to testify before a Congressional sub-committee in Washington, DC. ALEXAKIS was there in support of a bill promoted by ACES (Association for Children for Enforcement of Support), which helps collect financial support owed by deadbeat dads. "I told them my story a little bit-about the fact that my dad had left-and about the song 'Father Of Mine,'" ART says. "I explained that I'm a father, and this is something I take very seriously. Children's issues are really important to me–I urged them to pass this bill." Specifically, the bill is about the obligations and the disbursement of such support and would require the IRS to collect child support through wage withholding.
Here are EVERCLEAR's radio show dates:
DATE CITY VENUE RADIO STATION
Apr 29 Dallas, TX Coca Cola Starplex Amp kdge
May 5 Phoenix, AZ Blockbuster Desert Sky kedj
May 6 Tucson, AZ Pima County Fairgrounds kfma
May 7 Honolulu, HI Turtle Bay Hilton kpoI
May 20 Chicago, IL New World Music Theater q101
May 21 St. Louis, MO Riverport Amp. kpnt
May 25 Providence, RI Station Park WBRU
May 27 Foxboro, MA Foxboro Stadium wbcn
May 28 Minneapolis, MN Floatrite Amp. KXXR
May 29 Pittsburgh, PA Star Lake Amp. WXDX
June 16 San Francisco, CA TBA Live 105
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