RADICAL FACE: INDIE POP-FOLK ARTIST RETURNS WITH ‘THE FAMILY TREE: THE ROOTS’ OCT. 4 ON BEAR MACHINE; RARE U.S. SHOWS COMING

DT:      JULY 29, 2011

FR:      LIBBY COFFEY/MITCH SCHNEIDER–MSO
            LCoffey@msopr.com / 818-380-0400 x224

 RADICAL FACE
INDIE POP-FOLK ARTIST RETURNS WITH
‘THE FAMILY TREE: THE ROOTS’
OCTOBER 4 ON BEAR MACHINE

PERFORMANCE WITH THE EASTERLY SINGERS
SET FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11 AT
BOOTLEG THEATER IN LOS ANGELES

NEW LA FOLK FESTIVAL
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6
AT ZORITHAN PARK (ALTADENA, CA)

NEW YORK CITY SPECIAL POST CMJ PERFORMANCE OCTOBER 25
AT WEBSTER HALL

RADICAL FACE, photo for download:
http://www.msopr.com/files/MAIN%20Photo%201.jpg.

On October 4, indie, pop-folk artist RADICAL FACE will return with his sophomore album The Family Tree: The Roots on Bear Machine. After four years of honing the concept, artist BEN COOPER, aka RADICAL FACE, recorded the album–depicting a family from the 1800’s–alone in a tool shed in his native Jacksonville, FL, only using instruments of the era. Hauntingly beautiful, The Family Tree: The Roots glimmers with folk, pop and Ben’s wide-open spacious vocals. RADICAL FACE–who has generally shied away from traditional live performances–will give U.S. fans a rare concert experience this fall with a unique live show encompassing a full choir backing him. On October 11, he will perform live with the Easterly Singers at the Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles. Before hitting the road, RADICAL FACE will join Ferraby Lionheart, Amanda Jo Williams and others for the New LA Folk Festival on Saturday, August 6 at Zorithan Park (3990 Fair Oaks Ave. Altadena, CA): http://lafolkfest.com.

Don’t be fooled by Ben’s uniquely understated voice and the simple beginnings. The new album is the follow-up to his 2007 debut indie triumph Ghost, and the first installment of three stand-alone records all tied to the theme of a Family Tree: each song on The Family Tree: The Roots builds in layers much like the depth of its characters. From soaring tracks like “A Pound of Flesh” and “Severus and Stone,” eerily dark pieces like “Black Eyes” and “Kin” to warm, enlightening gems like “Always Gold” and “Mountains,” the songs flow together with mindful artistic clarity, allowing you to fully escape into the album as the stories unravel.

Ben limited the songwriting to instruments that would have been accessible in the 1800’s–piano, acoustic guitar, a floor tom, and voices–only bringing in additional instruments during tracking when needed. He says: “I’m a storyteller, and wanted that to be the focus. I looked up genealogy charts and studied American history for a frame of reference and put it all together.” Such concepts and stories come naturally to Ben, whom wrote fiction before turning to music. He switched to music after a hard drive crash where he lost two novels.

Chances are you're already familiar with Ben’s music; he is one half of the band Electric President among other side projects. Meanwhile, “Welcome Home” the RADICAL FACE song has garnered over 5.5 million Youtube views. It appeared as the soundtrack for the I AM NIKON campaign and in such movies as Humboldt County, The Vicious Kind and the Reel Rock Documentary, listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8a4iiOnzsc. Further RADICAL FACE television support has come from shows like “Private Practice,” “Skins,” “Eddie Izzard” and “Weeds,” as well as Current TV which nationally aired a documentary piece on RADICAL FACE in 2008.  Most recently, Ben lent his music to support the “It Gets Better” Google Chrome Campaign against bullying and the “Ride 4 Water” charity raising funds for clean drinking water in Africa.

RADICAL FACE U.S. Shows:

DATE              CITY                            VENUE
Sat      8/6       Los Angeles, CA       NEW LA FOLK FESTIVAL
Thu     10/6     San Francisco, CA    BRICK AND MORTAR (with Albatross Choir)
                                                          -1710 Mission St. San Francisco, CA
Tue     10/11   Los Angeles, CA       BOOTLEG THEATER (with Easterly Singers)
                                                          -2220 Beverly Blvd. LA, CA

Sat      10/22   Arlington, VA             TBD (with Yorktown High School Vocal Ensemble)
Tue     10/25   New York, NY            WEBSTER HALL (Studio with Special Guests)
                                                         -125 East 11^th St. New York, NY

1. Names
2. A Pound of Flesh
3. Family Portrait
4. Black Eyes
5. Severus and Stone
6. The Moon Is Down
7. Ghost Towns
8. Kin
9. The Dead Waltz
10. Always Gold
11. Mountains