ROLLING STONE SPOTLIGHTS MEMPHIS’ IMPALA, FEATURING MEMBERS OF THE BO-KEYS AND AFGHAN WHIGS

Memphis’ Impala – and instrumental band that draws from surf, spaghetti western, noir, blues, and soul and features members of the Afghan Whigs and The Bo-Keys – has released ‘In The Late Hours’ on Electraphonic Recordings and it’s earned notice from Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, Memphis Flyer, Elmore, and Glide. Here’s what we’re reading:

“A truly unique sound, one that’s retro without lapsing into mimicry.”
- Robert Crawford, Rolling Stone, August 24, 2018: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/10-best-country-and-americana-songs-of-the-week-eric-church-jillian-jacqueline-715173/

“4 stars out of 5… mighty… compelling.”
- Hal Horowitz, American Songwriter, August 21, 2018

“Intoxicating.”
- Neil Ferguson, Glide Magazine, August 9, 2018

6TH GENERATION MEMPHIAN GRACE ASKEW CAPTURES HOMETOWN SOUND IN NEWLY RESTORED SUN STUDIOS TO TAPE ON VINTAGE EQUIPMENT

ASKEW TAPES PBS SUN STUDIO SESSIONS

As a sixth generation Memphian, Grace Askew decided to steep her new album ‘Scaredy Cat’ (August 11) in the sounds of one of most renowned, hit-producing studios of all time, Sun Studios. “The room, the photographs on the wall, the gear, the worn down corners on the table, the cracks in the ceiling: my heroes made that room the way it is. The energy of that history made our takes a lot more effortless. This is who I am,” she says.

Check out Rolling Stone’s Q&A with Askew: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/grace-askew-opens-her-wild-heart-20140609

Recording at Sun Studios presents specific challenges. She says, “I’m a fan of the first take and wanted to get that raw energy.” Askew played and sang live with a band, recording in the small Sun live room straight to tape, so one mistake would mean scratching an entire take. Askew completed recording all but one song in one day, with a second day set aside largely for mixing. “It is mentally and physically exhausting. You put every ounce of yourself into those four hours. It’s a very focused energy,” she adds.

The Memphis Flyer recently did a profile on Matt Ross-Spang, Sun’s engineer who has brought the equipment in the studio to Sam Phillips’ specification. Ross-Spang told the Flyer, "It's becoming exactly like it was in 1956."

Ross-Spang continues, “Everyone has to pay attention to each other instead of themselves. It's a team effort, including me. It's not very forgiving. But I think one of the reasons people come here to do that is because it makes them a better musician… There's so much more on the line. But that makes you play better too.”

The magic continued on camera as Askew returned to Sun last week to tape a forthcoming episode of Sun Studio Sessions for PBS.

Grace Askew Tour Dates.

Grace Askew clips

Rolling Stone Q&A, mp3 premiere (June 9, 2014)

Birthplace Session (April 25, 2014)

The Bluegrass Situation (July 23, 2014)

Memphis Commercial Appeal feature (July 23, 2014)

Memphis Flyer Q&A (July 24, 2014)

"BADASS" (ROLLING STONE) GRACE ASKEW TO RELEASE SUN STUDIO-CUT NOIR ALBUM ‘SCAREDY CAT’ AUGUST 11

FIRST ALBUM SINCE HER NBC THE VOICE PERFORMANCES ON TEAM BLAKE

Sixth generation Memphian and serial rambler Grace Askew stakes her claim with ‘Scaredy Cat,’ the new album recorded at Sun Studios, due out August 11. It’s her first album since her highly-touted and much beloved series of performances on NBC’s The Voice, for Team Blake, which vastly expanded the national fanbase that she earned from years behind the wheel of a pickup truck headlining shows; opening for Marty Stuart, Hayes Carll, Jesse Winchester, and Ray Wylie Hubbard; and touring with James McMurtry and Lisa Marie Presley.

‘Scaredy Cat’ highlights her smoky vocals with spare arrangements inspired by the grit and muddy Delta roots of her hometown, captured in single takes to tape. The songwriting feels as if she is letting you in on a secret world. Rolling Stone Country premiered the first single alongside a Q&A.

Askew has already earned considerable acclaim, most recently for her 2013 EP and single, both entitled “Empty Rooms,” written in New Mexico.

Huffington Post said, “Smoky with atmospheric blues and Resonator-guitar toned country licks, the EP's tunes creep under your skin and grab hold.”

Yahoo! Music called her "smoldering and searing," continuing, "Grace Askew was the fabulous 'bluntry' (blues + country) singer from 'The Voice' Season 4, the girl with the badass beehive, boots made for walkin', and velvet 'n' sandpaper vocals who would've been right at home on Jack White's Third Man Records roster."

Daytrotter raved about "her extraordinary voice," saying, "Mark our words, Memphis' Grace Askew will be the best thing to ever come out of 'The Voice…' Askew has officially taped one of the finest Daytrotter sessions of all-time. Just listen. She makes us believe in the beauty of hurt and the elixir of booze."

Here's her performance of "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" live on The Voice.

Previously, Sing Out! Magazine said, "If Tom Waits had a singer/writer daughter in Memphis, it would be Askew with her gallery of lost souls on the graveyard shift. Gutsy, bluesy, and a bit boozy, she quietly sings with jagged languor and a skewed spirituality. Discreet percussion, guitar and, on occasion, wistful lap steel notes sagely frame her rough-hewn sophistication."