Matt, you have a shamanistic verve. Let no one tell you otherwise.

4.1.2008

The "What Are We Talking About?" Contest

(UPDATE: Round one winner announced--Congrats, "Cheffrey Marked!" You just won 2 free tickets to American Princes' CD release party on April 12. Rounds 4 and 5 are now open.)

When I was thirteen, I gave my friends a critical analysis of the video for "The Unforgiven" by Metallica. I went on at length about how there were various layers of meaning, each relating to disenfranchisement of the individual in the modern age. My friends pointed out that they didn't care.

I tell you that to tell you this: Yep Roc is throwing a contest, giving away prizes left and right for people who want to talk about what American Princes songs mean to them. There are even twelve chances to win! How it works is easy...

Go here to listen to a track from Other People, our forthcoming album and post your response.

Each day, a new track will be posted for you to stream. Listen to the song and post your response (video, prose, photo, drawing, etc.) as a comment on the Yep Roc blog entry that corresponds to that track (myspace.com/yeproc). For example, if the day's track is "Watch As They Go," then post a comment under the "Watch As They Go" blog entry.

A winner will be chosen for every song, receiving their choice of a pair of tickets to an American Princes show in their area or a signed and personalized American Princes poster. One grand prize winner will be announced at the end of the contest (presumably, to receive a grand prize ... TBD, my friends).

Fun, right? Okay, get cracking. But before you do, let me tell you a little bit about this Metallica video...

4.1.2008

David's SXSW Journal, Part 5

DAY FIVE

The drive home is more or less a blur of Gameboy playing (Castlevania) and half-hearted attempts at starting these journal entries. Initially, I try to come up with some sort of perfect distillation South by Southwest, something that succinctly encapsulates the experience for everyone. I get depressed when all I end up with is: “A week of, probably, too much music, alcohol, and barbecue.” Certainly, I think it’s more than that, but I also feel that the event becomes further demystified with each passing year. A few years back, when we first went, I was under the impression that this was something that would somehow catapult our band into the stratosphere, placing our name on the lips of tastemakers throughout the world. The next year, I was convinced that, if nothing else, we could deliver an electrifying show and, through hard work, muscle our way into a better echelon of band-ness. Now, leaving Austin, I think it’s more a matter of this: almost always, the festival won’t make or break anybody in and of itself; The bands that leave South by Southwest with a buzz are probably the bands that came into it with a buzz. That said, though, this frees up the experience to be something better, namely, a week-long celebration for a ton of people who are, for whatever reasons, completely committed to a bunch of different aspects of music, from making it to selling it and all the points in between. All different folks turn out, lions or lambs, poseurs or the real deal, true believers or washed up cynics, and it’s great…it shows just how wide a sampling of cultures throughout the world is affected by pop music – to the point where people will travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles just to celebrate its existence (and to hype their own little piece of the cake, but still, I want to end this on an up note). I vehemently believe in the glory and goodness of an art form that each person in this world can participate in, and pop music is as close to that Platonic ideal of “Everyman Art” as we’re going to get. When you trim away the periphery of South by Southwest – the Urban Outfitters chic and the fake British accents – what you’re left with, I would argue, is a testament to this fact.

See you next year,

David

This concludes the overly long, poorly rendered South By Southwest recap. If you are a glutton for punishment, and would like to read the whole, sordid mess, complete with photos of Jesus Jones, Simon & Simon, Collins turning down free hugs, Gary Sinise (and people who look like him), beer cozies that have a homonymic rendering of David's last name, and Collins' shoes, then click here.

3.20.2008

SXSW Recap Coming Soon, But Until Then...

From the Times this week:

   American Princes, “Other People” (Yep Roc Records, April [15]) Far and away the best record yet by Little Rock's favorite upwardly mobile rockers, “Other People” retrofits the Princes' whip-smart lyrics and taut instrumentation (now with a third guitarist, Will Boyd!) with nods to your favorite '80s music — new wave, post-punk, even a little Tom Petty open road.

Link

And a SXSW wrap-up from Lady Chavez and Fluffgirl Blog:

    …American Princes, did a few songs off of their new album, Other People, at the Planetary Group day party. These guys might be the best rock band in America.

Thanks, Lady Chavez!! Or is it Fluffgirl?

Link

3.17.2008

American Princes on Fearless Music TV

If you live in the right location you may have seen American Princes performing Watch As They Go on your local FOX station Saturday night. Unfortunately, many local broadcasters choose to air reruns of American Idol (yes, we're talking about you, KLRT). But you can still vote and see the video at the Fearless Music website.

For those of you who missed American Princes’ performance on Fearless Music this weekend you still have a chance to see another performance this coming weekend if we get enough votes. You can vote for American Princes at:

http://www.fearlessmusic.tv (in the right hand column).

And you can watch last weeks performance of "Watch As They Go" here:

http://www.fearlessmusic.com/view_video.php?viewkey=9a4022a2c4c5a5ca3ee1&page=1&viewtype=&category=mr

 

 

3.7.2008

Some nice words this week about American Princes from two fine regional news and culture outlets.

First, from the beloved Arkansas Times:

"...American Princes' new record, “Other People,” doesn't come out until April 14, but it's been done for months, and you've got to think the fellas are ready to start playing it live. Recorded with Chuck Brody, who's worked with the likes of Peter, Bjorn and John and the Wu-Tang Clan, the album has a sparkly '80s sheen to it, full of buoyant guitar work and dozens of sing-a-long hooks. The lyrics are as sharp as ever. Collins Kilgore and David Slade continue to split vocal duties, and relatively new guitarist Will Boyd offers up a way-impressive vocal contribution on one track. It's easily the band's best release. For a home crowd at White Water, expect plenty of back-catalog material, too. Most everyone will know the words."

http://arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=45779c4c-7cbb-416a-af1e-8d969e55cc6b

And from the excellent Northwest Arkansas site The Fayetteville Flyer:

"If you live in or near Little Rock Arkansas, we strongly advise you to run for your lives. Especially around April 15th of this year. That’s because we expect shortly thereafter, Little Rock band American Princes are about to blow the f*** up. The American Princes are one of Arkansas’ most talented bands, and their long awaited fourth album Other People will hit stores, and iPods everywhere on the 15th or April, or tax day, of this year. We’ve heard the record, and we think it’s the best yet. We’re equally excited about the fact that they’ll be playing in town this weekend, at the O.P.O. with Catfish Haven and the Good Fear on Sunday night, March 9th."

http://www.fayettevilleflyer.com/2008/03/06/artist-profile-american-princes/

3.4.2008

AP is in the media!!! The wheels of the hype-machine are begining to grind and we're reaping the benefits. From our Canadian neighbors:

http://starweb.blogs.com/podcasts/2008/02/anti-hit-list-1.html

And our New Yorker neighbors:

http://blog.limewire.com/posts/1331-SXSW-Band-American-Princes

More to come, but in the meantime, chew on those snippets of goodness. If you're in Austin next week for South By Southwest, feel free to come to one of our many shows, or to join us as we try and see the Breeders.

2.6.2008

Welcome to our new, improved, yet-still-under-construction website!!! We're hoping to roll out most of this beast in the coming days, so keep on checking in with us as we upload stuff from all major media food groups (audio, visual, and print for starters, but our scientists are working on touch, taste, and smell too...keep all five senses at the ready).

But before we roll out videos and mp3s, let's catch up: 2007 was a mighty fine year for us, as we recorded what promises to be our most kickass album to date. It's name is Other People, and it hits stores worldwide on 4.15.2008 (making it an Aries).

In honor of this luscious piece of sonic wizardry, we're doing multiple tours nationwide this Spring and Summer, so check back here as we will be furiously updating our "shows:" text block (look to your right).

Not getting ahead of ourselves, though, March promises to be fun times as well, with a slew of South by Southwest dates, as well as shows with some road brosephs: J. Roddy Walston and the Business (Baltimore, MD), and Catfish Haven (Chicago, IL), and oh so much more.

Past that, we've got contests, giveaways, etc. being rolled out in the coming weeks so, to repeat one of the sentiments of paragraph one: keep on checking back with us.

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