THE NEW EMPIRES and THE CUMBERLAND COLLECTIVE Perform at Rhythm & Brews 4/04

On Wednesday April 4, the bands The New Empires and The Cumberland Collective will perform together at Rhythm & Brews in Chattanooga at 9:00 PM.

Tickets are $7 and can be purchased online by clicking here.

The New Empires is the product of a six year journey taken up by a number of longtime friends and collaborators from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee. Drawing on diverse influences ranging from the classics to classical composers, they produce a big sound incorporating guitars, keyboards, brass, strings, driving percussion and tight harmonies that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Broadway stage.

Songwriter and lead singer Matt Brown, violinist Elise Ziegenbein and drummer Steph Hughes began playing together as college freshmen in 2004, experimenting with folk tunes and bits of Americana. In 2006 and 2007, through two musical trips to Dublin, Ireland, they began playing with musicians David and Ellie Henry. David’s pop feel on the bass and his jazz sensibilities with the trumpet complemented Ellie, a classically trained vocalist with experience in jazz, art songs and musical theatre. In summer of 2010, Jeremy Weber joined as the Empires’ keyboardist and sixth vocalist, and the band was complete. By November of 2010 they were ready to take their songs to the studio.

Their first album was recorded at The Engine Room in New York City, and the album was produced by J Chris Griffin, whose past work includes songs by Madonna, Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and many other artists. After a marathon of seventy-two hours of recording in five days, The New Empires left the Manhattan studio with ten songs full of pop hooks, soaring choruses and the big sound they were looking for. Their self-titled LP was released on December 1, 2011.

The Cumberland Collective band members say that their music is a combination of "Soul, R&B, Pop and an eensie weensie bit of Country music." The members include MIke Willis, Clay Evans, Connor Rand, Jason Eskridge, Isaac Hayden, Debra Gordon, Philip Lowman, Reggie Sullivan, Brendan Bull, De Marco Johnson, Kerry Greene, Noah Collins, TEd Pennington... and regular featured guests.

Rhythm & Brews is located at 221 Market Street Chattanooga, TN 37402

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/TheCumberlandCollective/info#!/events/290219334381767/.

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