Los Angeles-based trio Fairground Saints are set to join Carly Rae Jepsen's "Gimmie Love" tour supporting her new record E•MO•TION this February and March.
Fairground Saints' self-titled debut album-produced by Matthew Wilder (No Doubt/Christina Aguilera)-is out now on Verve Records. In premiering the new record, PopMatters noted "Fairground Saints are on to something very, very good on their debut album" and went on to say "the end result is a quietly beautiful album with enough ambition to try new things."
"Warning: Joining the group love affair is inevitable," says The Huffington Post in a recent interview with the band. "In only about a year, they already have developed a polished sound and exquisite three-part harmonies...it's apparent Fairground Saints know how to have a good time." Read the full interview on The Huffington Post HERE.
Band members Mason Van Valin (vocals and guitar), Elijah Edwards (vocals, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, Dobro, accordion) and Megan McAllister (vocals, guitar, dulcimer) met by chance. "We gelled quickly and started making music together right away," says McAllister, "it was almost like we were already family." The trio began getting songs together for their debut album and in 2014 landed a deal with The Verve Music Group/Universal Records to release it.
In making Fairground Saints, the band shook off all inhibitions in their creativity, taking a playful approach in writing and recording. This allowed them to hold true to their vision of creating what McAllister calls a "very love-driven album." "There's no filter on the emotion coming through in our songs," notes Edwards, "they're all based in visceral feeling, and the lyrics are as real as a conversation you could be having with an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend." For instance, "'Ain't Much for Lyin' is a song about being with somebody else while you're dating somebody," says Van Valin, "it was my lack of bravery to have that conversation with my girlfriend at the time so I put it in a song." However, in "Turn This Car Around," where all three members wrote the lyrics, you get both sides of the story. "It's kind of that back and forth story where you get it from his perspective and then her perspective," McAllister explains.
"If the upside of focusing in on something you don't necessarily like about yourself is that other people might eventually benefit from it, then that's all right with us," says Van Valin. "Music has made me realize I wasn't alone more times than I can count, and I want to put that back into the world."
FAIRGROUND SAINTS TRACK LIST1. Ain't Much for Lyin'
2. Can't Control the Weather
3. All For You
4. Church
5. Still
6. Gossip Land
7. Wish I Was
8. Until Then
9. Sunday Lover
10. Made to be Forgotten
11. Turn this Car Around
12. Somethin' from Nothin'
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Photo credit: Jen Rosenstein
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