Fulton 55 Presents:
Mat Kearney
Zach Heckendorf
Mon, April 9, 2012
Doors: 8:00 pm / Show: 9:00 pm
Fulton 55
Fresno, CA
$20.00 - $25.00
Tickets
This event is 21 and over
Tickets go on sale Friday Feb. 24 at 10am! Limited capacity, so get your tickets early!
http://www.ticketfly.com/event/100229/
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Mat Kearney
MAT KEARNEY
Young Love
Mat Kearney didn't set out to write just another collection of songs for Young Love, his third full-length album and first for Universal Republic Records.
Instead, he penned a pastiche of honest, heartfelt, and hypnotic stories that'll make you move your feet and put a smile on your face. Kearney gives a piece of himself on every tune, while building timeless tales for listeners to follow as they dance and sing along.
The Oregon-born and Nashville-based artist made a conscious decision to approach songwriting differently this time around. Each phase of his career has been marked by genuine evolution. In 2004, the world was introduced to his unmistakable croon and vibrant writing style on the independently released Bullet. Signing with Columbia, he dropped his first formal full-length, Nothing Left to Lose in 2006 garnering critical acclaim and widespread recognition, moving over 450,000 units to date. Embracing a full band-fueled style, 2009's City of Black & White saw him debut at #13 on the Billboard Top 200.
He continued winning over crowds on tours with everyone from John Mayer and Sheryl Crow to Keane and The Fray. All the while, Kearney's music became appropriated by 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, The Hills, Friday Night Lights, Scrubs, NCIS, and numerous other television shows and films like Soul Surfer and Catch and Release. Over the course of these records, Kearney had 4 Top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 chart. After all of this success, Kearney wanted to try something new for Young Love.
As a fan of hip-hop since childhood, Kearney actually turned to the genre for a little inspiration. "I approached Young Love like a singer-songwriter would approach a hip-hop record," he says. "We would start with beats or grooves that your body already responds to. It was a fun and fulfilling experiment."
The lead-off single "Hey Mama" ignited that experiment. The album's opening song brings listeners up close and personal with this fresh sound and into Kearney's world, introducing Young Love perfectly. "Hey Mama" describes the first meeting between Kearney and his new wife at the Anthropologie store in Tennessee that she was working at. After courting her for a few months, he stole her heart, and now it's all in the tune.
About the song he says, "The album really began with 'Hey Mama'. After clapping into my laptop and programming this beat, I was dancing around the room actually freestyling words. This wasn't me sitting around with some friends and an acoustic guitar. It was this visceral writing experience. I tried to find a way to write stories to these beats."
One of the most gripping stories on the album comes on its finale, "Rochester". Paying homage to Kearney's father, the final song also gives listeners a slice of Americana. Kearney reveals, "It's this very folk song that I wrote about my dad. My grandpa ran an illegal gambling ring in Rochester, NY out of a cigar shop, and my father lived through that. Then, he became a lawyer, went into the army, followed Pink Floyd through Europe and moved to Hawaii where he met my mother. I wrote about my family, friends, and loved ones. This album is a documentary not a drama."
To build this sonic documentary, Kearney went back to square one. In 2001, he moved out to Nashville with longtime collaborator Robert Marvin. They worked on each of Kearney's albums together; however, they managed to harness the same fervor of Bullet. Recording in Marvin's basement studio along with Jason Lehning, it was an exhilarating process. "It was like making a record in your buddy's house," continues Kearney. "The three of us played everything. We rekindled the spark we had at the beginning."
In the midst of recording, Kearney found a new home in Universal Republic Records, officially signing to the label in early 2011 and setting sights on a late summer release date for Young Love. Kearney opened up like never before on this album, and he didn't hold anything back. He declares, "Lyrically, I had to bleed every line if I was going to record it."
In the end, Kearney crafted stories that will be handed down for generations to come. He concludes, "There's a sense of joy, honesty, vulnerability, and wisdom in this record. I've experienced pain, but I still want to feel like that high school with butterflies in his stomach who loves life and has hope."
For more information please contact Stunt Company:
Sue Marcus – 718-222-8963 or sue@stuntcompany.com
Alexandra Comito – 718-222-1746 or Alexandra@stuntcompany.com
Mike Jones – 718-222-1746 or mj@stuntcompany.com
Young Love
Mat Kearney didn't set out to write just another collection of songs for Young Love, his third full-length album and first for Universal Republic Records.
Instead, he penned a pastiche of honest, heartfelt, and hypnotic stories that'll make you move your feet and put a smile on your face. Kearney gives a piece of himself on every tune, while building timeless tales for listeners to follow as they dance and sing along.
The Oregon-born and Nashville-based artist made a conscious decision to approach songwriting differently this time around. Each phase of his career has been marked by genuine evolution. In 2004, the world was introduced to his unmistakable croon and vibrant writing style on the independently released Bullet. Signing with Columbia, he dropped his first formal full-length, Nothing Left to Lose in 2006 garnering critical acclaim and widespread recognition, moving over 450,000 units to date. Embracing a full band-fueled style, 2009's City of Black & White saw him debut at #13 on the Billboard Top 200.
He continued winning over crowds on tours with everyone from John Mayer and Sheryl Crow to Keane and The Fray. All the while, Kearney's music became appropriated by 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, The Hills, Friday Night Lights, Scrubs, NCIS, and numerous other television shows and films like Soul Surfer and Catch and Release. Over the course of these records, Kearney had 4 Top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 chart. After all of this success, Kearney wanted to try something new for Young Love.
As a fan of hip-hop since childhood, Kearney actually turned to the genre for a little inspiration. "I approached Young Love like a singer-songwriter would approach a hip-hop record," he says. "We would start with beats or grooves that your body already responds to. It was a fun and fulfilling experiment."
The lead-off single "Hey Mama" ignited that experiment. The album's opening song brings listeners up close and personal with this fresh sound and into Kearney's world, introducing Young Love perfectly. "Hey Mama" describes the first meeting between Kearney and his new wife at the Anthropologie store in Tennessee that she was working at. After courting her for a few months, he stole her heart, and now it's all in the tune.
About the song he says, "The album really began with 'Hey Mama'. After clapping into my laptop and programming this beat, I was dancing around the room actually freestyling words. This wasn't me sitting around with some friends and an acoustic guitar. It was this visceral writing experience. I tried to find a way to write stories to these beats."
One of the most gripping stories on the album comes on its finale, "Rochester". Paying homage to Kearney's father, the final song also gives listeners a slice of Americana. Kearney reveals, "It's this very folk song that I wrote about my dad. My grandpa ran an illegal gambling ring in Rochester, NY out of a cigar shop, and my father lived through that. Then, he became a lawyer, went into the army, followed Pink Floyd through Europe and moved to Hawaii where he met my mother. I wrote about my family, friends, and loved ones. This album is a documentary not a drama."
To build this sonic documentary, Kearney went back to square one. In 2001, he moved out to Nashville with longtime collaborator Robert Marvin. They worked on each of Kearney's albums together; however, they managed to harness the same fervor of Bullet. Recording in Marvin's basement studio along with Jason Lehning, it was an exhilarating process. "It was like making a record in your buddy's house," continues Kearney. "The three of us played everything. We rekindled the spark we had at the beginning."
In the midst of recording, Kearney found a new home in Universal Republic Records, officially signing to the label in early 2011 and setting sights on a late summer release date for Young Love. Kearney opened up like never before on this album, and he didn't hold anything back. He declares, "Lyrically, I had to bleed every line if I was going to record it."
In the end, Kearney crafted stories that will be handed down for generations to come. He concludes, "There's a sense of joy, honesty, vulnerability, and wisdom in this record. I've experienced pain, but I still want to feel like that high school with butterflies in his stomach who loves life and has hope."
For more information please contact Stunt Company:
Sue Marcus – 718-222-8963 or sue@stuntcompany.com
Alexandra Comito – 718-222-1746 or Alexandra@stuntcompany.com
Mike Jones – 718-222-1746 or mj@stuntcompany.com
Zach Heckendorf
ZACH HECKENDORF
The Cool Down
Offstage, up-and-coming singer, songwriter, and guitarist Zach Heckendorf appears to be an ordinary teenager: a hip-hop-loving, T-shirt and jeans-wearing, shaggy-haired kid with a shy smile and modest demeanor. But when Heckendorf grabs a guitar and jumps on a stage, the 18-year-old Denver native is transformed. During shows in New York and Los Angeles in December, Heckendorf mesmerized crowds with original songs like “All The Right Places,” the first single from his debut album The Cool Down, and silenced the hold-outs chattering in the back with an astonishing cover of Dr. Dre’s “Forgot About Dre,” spitting every line with impressive intensity and speed.
The duality in Heckendorf’s personality is reflected on The Cool Down, which Heckendorf released independently in November 2011. On songs like “One of Them,” “17 Circles,” “Traffic,” “Tie Dye March,” as well as the title track, Heckendorf wraps his considered themes — the pursuit of freedom, the interconnectedness of human beings and nature, and a dismay for the environmental destruction that previous generations have wrought — in a rich, acoustic-driven sound, one that takes its cues more from hip-hop than from the traditional troubadours Heckendorf has already been compared to. Nothing is delivered with overt anger, but rather with a deliberate ambiguity that leaves the words open to interpretation. Heckendorf isn’t being cagey, he just appreciates the power of mystery.
The transformative quality of music has always been a strong lure for Heckendorf, who knew he wanted to be a performer at age nine after picking up his dad’s acoustic guitar for the first time. He began taking lessons and writing songs immediately. As a kid, Heckendorf was enamored with pop-punk bands like blink-182 and Green Day, but his taste began to shift after he was introduced to Aesop Rock and other indie acts like Broken Social Scene, Dilated Peoples, Modest Mouse, and Postal Service. Heckendorf recalls,“It was the first time I heard music that wasn’t easily accessible, and the hunt for it became just as exciting as the tunes themselves. I felt like we were in some kind of club where only we understood the power of real, thoughtful music.”
Heckendorf began writing the songs on The Cool Down as a freshman in high school and making a name for himself locally around Denver as a live performer. He played to thousands at Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre and has shared stages with John Butler Trio, Brandi Carlile, Guster, Mat Kearney, Barenaked Ladies, Big Head Todd And The monsters, and Jakob Dylan. In February 2011, Heckendorf entered a studio in Los Angeles to record The Cool Down with fellow singer-songwriter Brett Dennen.
Though still evolving as a songwriter and recording artist, Heckendorf has come out of the gate with a charming debut that flaunts his distinctive voice, jaw-dropping guitar talent, and knack for crafting sophisticated melodies and rhythms. As he travels the U.S. on tour in 2012 to support The Cool Down, Heckendorf is motivated by purpose at two ends of the spectrum: “Sometimes I am out to change opinions or reveal flaws that I observe,” he says, “and other times I just want to write a song that makes you feel a deep yet simple happiness that doesn’t need to be analyzed, just enjoyed.”
Zach's debut album, 'The Cool Down' was produced by Brett Dennen. "Working with Brett felt as comfortable as I could have asked for and the final product is something that I am very proud of," Heckendorf says of his first release. Zach first met Brett over a weekend of songwriting together. Shortly after Brett signed on to produce the album. Brett then enlisted LA musicians Dave Wilder, Pete McNeal and Zac Rae. "I am beyond lucky to have worked with such intelligent musicians on my debut. I think this album is a beautiful first step towards becoming the musician I want to be."
Zach has played to thousands at Colorado's legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre and shared the stage with John Butler Trio, Guster, Mat Kearney and Barenaked Ladies, among others. 2012 will be a big year for Zach as he will tour nationally for the first time. Zach's tour will begin in late January and continue through the summer.
The Cool Down
Offstage, up-and-coming singer, songwriter, and guitarist Zach Heckendorf appears to be an ordinary teenager: a hip-hop-loving, T-shirt and jeans-wearing, shaggy-haired kid with a shy smile and modest demeanor. But when Heckendorf grabs a guitar and jumps on a stage, the 18-year-old Denver native is transformed. During shows in New York and Los Angeles in December, Heckendorf mesmerized crowds with original songs like “All The Right Places,” the first single from his debut album The Cool Down, and silenced the hold-outs chattering in the back with an astonishing cover of Dr. Dre’s “Forgot About Dre,” spitting every line with impressive intensity and speed.
The duality in Heckendorf’s personality is reflected on The Cool Down, which Heckendorf released independently in November 2011. On songs like “One of Them,” “17 Circles,” “Traffic,” “Tie Dye March,” as well as the title track, Heckendorf wraps his considered themes — the pursuit of freedom, the interconnectedness of human beings and nature, and a dismay for the environmental destruction that previous generations have wrought — in a rich, acoustic-driven sound, one that takes its cues more from hip-hop than from the traditional troubadours Heckendorf has already been compared to. Nothing is delivered with overt anger, but rather with a deliberate ambiguity that leaves the words open to interpretation. Heckendorf isn’t being cagey, he just appreciates the power of mystery.
The transformative quality of music has always been a strong lure for Heckendorf, who knew he wanted to be a performer at age nine after picking up his dad’s acoustic guitar for the first time. He began taking lessons and writing songs immediately. As a kid, Heckendorf was enamored with pop-punk bands like blink-182 and Green Day, but his taste began to shift after he was introduced to Aesop Rock and other indie acts like Broken Social Scene, Dilated Peoples, Modest Mouse, and Postal Service. Heckendorf recalls,“It was the first time I heard music that wasn’t easily accessible, and the hunt for it became just as exciting as the tunes themselves. I felt like we were in some kind of club where only we understood the power of real, thoughtful music.”
Heckendorf began writing the songs on The Cool Down as a freshman in high school and making a name for himself locally around Denver as a live performer. He played to thousands at Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre and has shared stages with John Butler Trio, Brandi Carlile, Guster, Mat Kearney, Barenaked Ladies, Big Head Todd And The monsters, and Jakob Dylan. In February 2011, Heckendorf entered a studio in Los Angeles to record The Cool Down with fellow singer-songwriter Brett Dennen.
Though still evolving as a songwriter and recording artist, Heckendorf has come out of the gate with a charming debut that flaunts his distinctive voice, jaw-dropping guitar talent, and knack for crafting sophisticated melodies and rhythms. As he travels the U.S. on tour in 2012 to support The Cool Down, Heckendorf is motivated by purpose at two ends of the spectrum: “Sometimes I am out to change opinions or reveal flaws that I observe,” he says, “and other times I just want to write a song that makes you feel a deep yet simple happiness that doesn’t need to be analyzed, just enjoyed.”
Zach's debut album, 'The Cool Down' was produced by Brett Dennen. "Working with Brett felt as comfortable as I could have asked for and the final product is something that I am very proud of," Heckendorf says of his first release. Zach first met Brett over a weekend of songwriting together. Shortly after Brett signed on to produce the album. Brett then enlisted LA musicians Dave Wilder, Pete McNeal and Zac Rae. "I am beyond lucky to have worked with such intelligent musicians on my debut. I think this album is a beautiful first step towards becoming the musician I want to be."
Zach has played to thousands at Colorado's legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre and shared the stage with John Butler Trio, Guster, Mat Kearney and Barenaked Ladies, among others. 2012 will be a big year for Zach as he will tour nationally for the first time. Zach's tour will begin in late January and continue through the summer.
