FROM:       MITCH SCHNEIDER/MARCEE RONDAN/LYNSIE CAMPBELL

GRAMMY, PEOPLE’S CHOICE 

AND BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS

BUILD ON MATCHBOX TWENTY’S

REMARKABLE YEAR

In a year where they’ve performed headlining sold-out concerts at three of the premiere rock venues in the world–New York’s Madison Square Garden, London’s Wembley Arena and Los Angeles’ Staples Center–things are heating up even more for matchbox twenty.  With their “Unwell” video being declared the #1 Video of The Year on VH1’s year-end countdown, more accolades–including two Grammy nominations last week–are rolling in for the group, whose double-platinumMORE THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE album has spawned a third hit single, “Bright Lights,” on the heels of “Unwell” and “Disease,” both #1 hits. 

·  The group earned two Grammy Award nominations:  “Best Pop Performance by a Group or Duo” for the track “Unwell,” and “Best Rock Album” for MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE.

·  A People’s Choice Award nomination for “Favorite Musical Group or Band.”

·  Two Billboard Music Award nominations:   “Duo/Group Artist of the Year” and “Hot 100 Duo/Group Artist of the Year.”   

·  Two American Music Award nominations: Favorite Band, Duo or Group–Pop or Rock Music and the Fan’s Choice Award.

Coming off a powerful performance of “Bright Lights” at the VH1 “Big In ’03” show–where they were backed by an array of horn and string players as well as a full boys choir–matchbox twenty are continuing to tour the country.  ROB THOMAS(vocals), KYLE COOK (lead guitar, background vocals), ADAM GAYNOR (rhythm guitar, background vocals), BRIAN YALE (bass) and PAUL DOUCETTE (drums, percussion) will wrap up this year’s tour with two performances in Colorado:  December 15 (Fort Collins) and 16 (Colorado Springs). 

matchbox twenty are also charted with their special limited edition enhanced EP simply titled EP, released November 11 on Atlantic Records.  This specially priced EP is geared to the band’s loyal fan base.  Its six tracks are a mix of various live songs from each of the band’s three multi-platinum albums, plus a never-before-released studio song: “Suffer Me,” penned by lead singer  Rob Thomas and recorded at the sessions for their second album Mad Season.  

The visual element of the EP consists of five live songs–“You’re So Real,” “Hand Me Down,” “Long Day,” “Push” and “If You’re Gone”–filmed April 16, 2003 at a special sold-out club show at the historic Troubadour in Los Angeles.  Titled “Live at the Troubadour,” it was produced and directed by award-winning Gillian Grisman (11th Hour Productions & Entertainment, Inc.) and the footage includes band interviews along with documentary scenes of the event.  Grisman won the Newport International Film Festival for Best Documentary for “Grateful Dawg,” a Sony Pictures Classic release, portraying the deeply rooted musical friendship between Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. 

What inspired the group to release an EP after three albums that have sold over 22 million copies?   

Says ROB THOMAS:  “Your fans only get pieces of you–little twelve-song increments–every couple of years when you put out an album.  So it’s nice to give them a little something extra.  I’m a real fan of music, so I love to hear live stuff, really bad crap, the original recordings of stuff.  The EP is for the fans and the music geeks out there.  We were talking about it last night–we have vaults and vaults of live stuff and covers and other things because we’ve recorded almost every show.  Brian (Yale, the band’s bassist) will be going through more recordings after this tour–maybe we’ll release more of this stuff to our fans.”

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