presents
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for all inquiries please contact: foursix@foursix.net
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"Pattengale's songs are done
with a subtle but significant wink
of the eye, as if to tacitly
acknowledge the passage of
time ... and the resulting
challenge in dealing with them in
anything but ironic terms.
Pattengale tosses the songs into
a big grab bag of musical history,
and delivers each with a wise
eye, yet -- crucially -- a sincere,
simple affection..."
- LA Weekly
"Songwriter/film composer
Pattengale is often evocative of
avowed heroes Tom Waits and
Randy Newman, thanks largely
to some twisted vocal affects, his
eclecticism, odd meter shifts and
taste for unusual musical
narratives..."
- Pasadena Weekly
"California son Kenneth Pattengale's
sense of frontier
musicianship is at once evocative
of Tom Waits and the
tumbleweed troubadours of the
American West..."
- Flavorpill
Pattengale exhibits "a jolt of
folksy wisdom well beyond his
years."
- LAist
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 -- ten brand new songs including --
A vocal duet with GRAMMY® Award winning producer and artist Joe Henry
A cover of Alphaville’s hit song Forever Young
The song Laredo appears in the indie feature film Peach Plum Pear to which Pattengale also provides the score.
release date: DECEMBER 1, 2009
Kenneth Pattengale’s new
album Speak! is a tightly-knit
collection of ten songs that
exhibits the songwriter and film
composer’s ability to combine
unique lyrical narrative and
anachronistic voices to create a
sound that is at once modern
and referential. As Pattengale’s
seventh full-length studio
record, Speak! is fuelled by a
maturity of the performer hinted
at previously but not fully
revealed.
Los Angeles Record Release Performance:
(free copy of the album with admission) WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2, 2009 Kenneth Pattengale (with full band) at the Hotel Café 9PM / 21+ / $10 1623 1/2 N. Cahuengua Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
Ventura Record Release Performance:
(free copy of the album with admission) WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 9, 2009 Kenneth Pattengale at the Zoey's 8PM / All Ages / $5 451 E. Main St. Ventura, CA
Live Radio Performance
SATURDAY DECEMBER 5, 2009 at 12PM Live interview and in-studio performance with Chris Douridas on KCRW (89.9FM LA/Orange County, 89.1FM Ventura, KCRW.COM worldwide )
Additional performances both with a full band and solo are planned in and
around Los Angeles in Winter 2009. Current schedule is as follows:
additional artist biographical information:
Kenneth Pattengale works outside—or at least on the fringes—of what the music industry might traditionally call its own. Over the last eight years, Pattengale has taken inspiration from the career paths of artists like Randy Newman, Elvis Costello and personal hero Joe Henry by exploring what it means to wear the differing hats of film composer, record producer and performing songwriter. The music called into question is hard to classify. It runs the gamut from swamp music to rhythm & blues, lullaby to country & western, folk song to piano ballad and beyond. The songs take direction from the stories they tell, not necessarily held together by a clear musical style but by the authenticity with which the stories are told. Along with the artists that Pattengale looks towards for career inspiration, he hopes to follow Tom Waits, Gillian Welch, Chris Smither and Loudon Wainwright in their ability to conjure a unique American voice by transforming emotional experience into narrative. Beginning with Downtown LA in 2001, Pattengale has independently released six full-length albums of original material. He has just finished recording a new collection of material entitled Speak! The record is to be released on December 1, 2009 independently through Pattengale's own indie imprint Four Six Productions. Pattengale spent 12 weeks at the beginning of 2007 writing and recording what would become the score for the German animated film Die Drei Rauber, which was produced by Tom Tykwer's production company X-Filme. Shortly after, he started to perform his own material for live audiences in Los Angeles. "I hadn't played live for almost four years. I was always scared of not having enough control over the performance environment, or lacking the textures only available in the studio. In many ways, working on the film—being collaborative in nature—forced a re-evaluation. It made me yearn to make a connection with people beyond what the recordings alone have to offer." He continues to perform live sets of original material often in his native Los Angeles. In addition to countless short films, two features and six albums, Pattengale has produced records for a varied group of artists, from hardcore sensation From First to Last for major label Interscope to rootsy Americana newcomers Matt Taylor and his Laurels for Pattengale's own indie imprint. In 2009, Pattengale has continued producing work for macabre noir-baladeer Erich Von Kneip and pop-wiz Evan Vidar. It's the balance between the three arenas Pattengale works within that drives his career. He explains, "Upon seeking advice from a hero of mine, I was urged to simply do the work that lay in front of me. I've found a tremendous personal and emotional success in following that advice—putting myself in situations that reward a hard work ethic and a healthy imagination but, above all, a commitment to honesty in your work." Pattengale holds a degree in history from the University of Southern California and "fights [himself] for elbow room among stacks of books, scraps, instruments & computers" in Los Angeles, California. |
Links
Publicity Photo 1
Full Size Print Image(1800px x 2400px - 1.6 MB) Full Size Web Image (750px x 1000px - 63.6 KB) photographer: Brendan Pattengale
Album Cover
Full Size Print Image(1500px x 1500px - 1.6 MB) Full Size Web Image (750px x 750px - 348.6 KB) photographer: Brendan Pattengale
Publicity Photo 2
Full Size Print Image(1650px x 2550px - 1.8 MB) Full Size Web Image (750px x 1159px - 118.1 KB) photographer: Brendan Pattengale |
