STROKE 9 ACHIEVE GOLD STATUS WITH THEIR CHERRY/UNIVERSAL DEBUT ALBUM ‘NASTY LITTLE THOUGHTS’

FROM: MAGGIE WANG/MITCH SCHNEIDER (MSO) 818 380 0400

GINGER GREAGER (UNIVERSAL RECORDS) 212 373 0683

STROKE 9 ACHIEVE GOLD STATUS WITH THEIR CHERRY/UNIVERSAL DEBUT ALBUM ‘NASTY
LITTLE THOUGHTS,’
WHICH FEATURES SECOND RADIO TRACK “LETTERS”;

EARN “OUTSTANDING DEBUT ALBUM” AWARD AT THE CALIFORNIA MUSIC AWARDS;

BAND PERFORM FREE CONCERT FOR 20,000 PEOPLE IN THEIR SAN FRANCISCO HOMETOWN

Months of consistent touring and the Top 5 modern rock radio success of “Little Black Backpack” have brought STROKE 9’s Cherry/Universal Records debut album NASTY LITTLE THOUGHTS to gold status. The album’s second single “Letters”– a song “about fear of commitment and the inevitability of break-up,” says singer and songwriter LUKE ESTERKYN-is strongly impacting radio, with a video planned for May with director Chris Hafner (Methods of Mayhem, Third Eye Blind, Groove Armada).

The album-distinguished by its disarming guitar pop with a strong rhythmic undertow-has earned critical acclaim and the award for Outstanding Debut Album at Tower Records California Music Awards, which took place April 8. “Having grown up in San Francisco, going to shows at The Mab, the Kabuki and the I-beam, we were honored to receive an award at the Cammies,” said ESTERKYN. “Coincidentally, we found out that Nasty Little Thoughts went gold the day before. Needless to say, we went out and celebrated after the awards show-and the rest of the evening is a blur.”

In other news, the band performed with Chris Isaak a few days later on April 11 at the opening-day celebration of San Francisco’s new major league baseball park, Pacific Bell Park. This free concert took place at Pier 30/32 after the San Francisco Giants’ game and drew approximately 20,000 people.

Jane Ganahl of the San Francisco Examiner said, “Stroke 9 played an energetic 45-minute set from their award-winning album, “Nasty Little Thoughts,” and it must be said: what a different six months makes. Last fall, the band, their single (“Little Black Backpack”) just beginning to break, played the parking lot of Tower Records on Columbus…Now, after months of touring, their act has come together significantly. “City Life” was very good, a rumination on the difficulties of trying to make it in the music world. “Make It Last,” a classic folk-rocker, had perfectly-executed harmonies by McDermott, who is also coming into his own as a performer.”

The in-progress tour dates for STROKE 9—LUKE ESTERKYN (vocals, guitars), JOHN MCDERMOTT (guitars, vocals), GREG GUELDNER (bass) and ERIC STOCK (drums)-follow:

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