Dan Kaplan press photos

FOR BREAKOUT ALBUM 'BATTLES,' KINGSLEY FLOOD TAPS PRODUCER SAM KASSIRER, WHO "HAS SHAPED SOME OF THE FINEST RECORDS IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICANA MUSIC" (BOSTON GLOBE)

Sam Kassirer – the producer who has helmed three albums by Josh Ritter as well as projects by David Wax Museum and Langhorne Slim – speaks highly of his experience working with band Kingsley Flood on their breakout album 'Battles' (out now). He says, "What excited me about working with Kingsley Flood was their ability to write songs that one can sink their teeth into but also just bob their head to in the car. 'Battles' dips in and out of those musical depths in a really rewarding way for me."

The producer was recently the subject of a Boston Globe feature, which goes into depth about the Great North Sound Society, Kassirer's farmhouse/studio in southern Maine. Of the Kingsley sessions, he recalls, "The whole band spending two weeks in a farmhouse in rural Maine really brought everyone together creatively to make the most powerful statement possible and I think this comes across on 'Battles.'

Kingsley Flood will make its Newport Folk Festival debut this summer and has seen tracks debut at Rolling Stone and MTV.com.

NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL ADDS FAST-RISING KINGSLEY FLOOD AS ROLLING STONE PREMIERES MP3

THE BOSTON GLOBE: " BLISTERING… ROWDY AND PROPULSIVE… KINGSLEY FLOOD IS READY FOR THE NATIONAL STAGE."

Called "the future of American music" by Esquire, Kingsley Flood are emerging on the national stage in 2013. They've been added to the lineup at Newport Folk Festival and Rolling Stone premiered the song "Down" from 'Battles,' which was released February 5.

From throbbing, fuzzed-filled psychedelic, garage rock to lo-fi folk, Kingsley Flood has been compared to Lucero, Deer Tick, The Clash, Wilco, and Okkervil River. Listen here.

The two-time winners at both the Boston Music Awards and the Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll have upcoming shows in the northeast.

"[KF] crackles with the Spaghetti Western swagger of new-school blues-rock acts such as the certifiably massive Black Keys to recent breakthroughs like Alabama Shakes and up-and-comers such as L.A.'s Vintage Trouble, all rusty mic'd vocals gift-wrapped in barbed wire." - MTV Buzzworthy

"Great live show." – NPR.org

"It’s not too early to declare an album as my favorite of the year right? Kingsley Flood is it." – HearYa

"Kingsley Flood play salt-of-the-earth type of music that doesn't strive for authenticity -- it claims it." - Spinner

"Finger-picked guitar slams into the garage stomp." – Boston Phoenix

Dan Kaplan - "Sink or Swim" Remix

Kingsley Flood - "I Don't Wanna Go Home" music video

Kingsley Flood bio

Boston and Washington, DC based six-piece Kingsley Flood released their first full-lenth Dust Windows in 2010, generating both critical acclaim and a passionate fan base. In 2011, the band issued the six-song EP Colder Still, with tracks that were touted by NPR, Esquire, and Paste.The band, described recently by the Boston Herald as a “Rolling Thunder Revue with a punk rock sneer,” has supported Grace Potter and Nocturnals, Angus and Julia Stone, Langhorne Slim, and Brett Dennen, among others, and is a two-time winner at both the Boston Music Awards and the Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll.

In 2013, Kingsley Flood has no plans to sit still. Battles, their latest full-length (released Feb. 5), is the band’s most honed, complex, and meaningful project to date. Recorded with producer Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Langhorne Slim, David Wax Museum) at Great North Sound Society in rural Maine, Battles amplifies the band’s pension for dynamics — rock songs that can fill music halls, quiet songs that sound two feet away.The resulting sound blends Dylan-esque storytelling, Kinks-inspired melodies, and the urgency of the Clash. With songs inspired by everyone from delusional dictators to spray-tanned politicians to laid-off workers trying to get back on their feet, Battles winds a deliberate path from self doubt (opener “Don’t Change My Mind”) to quiet determination (closer “This Will Not Be Easy”).The band is:

• Naseem Khuri: vocals, rhythm guitar
• Jenée Morgan: violin, saxophone, vocals
• Chris Barrett: trumpet, keys, percussion, vocals
• George Hall: lead guitar, vocals
• Nick Balkin: bass, vocals
• Travis Richter: drums, percussion

BLACK BOOK, ESQUIRE & LONDON TIMES PREVIEW MISSISSIPPI-BORN, FAULKNER-RELATED, AVANT-NOIR NEWCOMER JOHN MURRY AT SXSW

ESQUIRE: MURRY AMONG THE "BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR FROM SXSW"

THE LONDON TIMES: "HE LOOKS SET TO BECOME ONE OF THE INDUSTRY EVENT'S BREAKOUT STARS"

BLACK BOOK: "WITH AN ARRESTING SENSE OF HONESTY AND HUMAN INSIGHT, MURRY IS A MAN YOU SHOULD CERTAINLY GET TO KNOW"

Esquire, Black Book, and the London Times have all previewed avant-noir newcomer John Murry's SXSW this week on the strength of his forthcoming album 'The Graceless Age' (April 2 / Evangeline Recording Co.). Esquire named Murry among the "bands you need to hear from SXSW."

Postable streaming song "The Ballad of the Pajama Kid."

"California" music video.

Meanwhile, The London Times called 'The Graceless Age "images of broken-hearted gutter life over ten elegant and spacious songs." Here's a scan.

London Times direct link (password required).

Black Book Magazine ran a fascinating Q&A with the songwriter yesterday. Hillary Weston writes, "With an arresting sense of honesty and human insight, Murry is man that you should certainly get to know… his songs cut straight to into the heart of man steeped in emotion, with the psychological undercurrent of soul in distress. Born from the pain of loneliness and a desire for expression, Murry's solo debut The Graceless Age is a raw and emotional collection of autobiographical stories. Sonically exercising his demons, his voice croons through a record that amalgamates the bleak and the beautiful, the desolate and the serene, and the questions of existence that plague us all."

Murry plays Friday at 2:45pm at the Daily Havoc Day Party, Hole in the Wall, 2538 Guadalupe St. (front stage). RSVP or more info here.