LA-based singer-songwriter Ernie Halter released his latest album, “Franklin & Vermont,” on June 29, 2010, on Rock Ridge Music. Featuring 11 tracks – nine originals and two covers – the album was recorded with engineers Spenser Bishop and Carson Liccardi at MixOne Sound in Mission Viejo, CA. In addition to playing most of the instruments on the record, this is also Halter’s first self-produced album. Halter says, “Many people love the early recordings for their laid back, raw, acoustic vibe, and I wanted ‘Franklin & Vermont’ to be a studio record with the same soul. It’s easy to lose something in translation, easy to lose the magic of a live performance when it comes to making a record. But for the first time, I feel like I really got it.” continue reading...
Singer-songwriter Ernie Halter went through a real “shit storm” this year.
“The new record is called ‘Starting Over’ for a reason,” says Halter. “I wanted the title to be direct, simple, and set the tone for the album. In this past year, I experienced the ending of a marriage and the birth of my first son. It was during this year that I wrote the material for the new record and performed over 150 shows.”
“More than ever I think it’s important to be as open and honest as possible, both as a songwriter and as a person,” Halter continues. “One positive side to the tumultuous year I’ve had is this new-found freedom to say it as it is, to admit who I am and where I’ve been. I feel this is a total crossroads for me.”
Since signing on the dotted line with ICON MES in September of 2006, THE GRADUATE have gone from virtual unknowns to gracing the cover of CMJ magazine in a matter of just a few short months. After several years of heavy touring with previous bands, these Springfield, IL natives have created quite a buzz and amassed a following that feels more like a family than a fan base.
THE GRADUATE eagerly awaits hitting the road and sharing the new material with fans. Best described as solid, mature pop-rock showered with sincerity and honesty, ANHEDONIA, a name chosen for its reference to ‘lack of emotion’, reflects the idea of just existing. Singer Corey Warning notes that the guys came into their own during the recording process and the finished product encompasses everything they were striving to achieve.
“I think that the people who liked the EP are going to like the full-length [album], I’m pretty confident about that. I think it’s progressive for us. I feel like we’re really starting to define our sound and what we’re trying to do as a band with our music.” continue reading...
Ernie Halter also has an ongoing cover video series on YouTube.com (http://www.youtube.com/erniehalter), popular with his fans who submit requests on an ongoing basis. It was this, as much as Halter’s penchant for performing covers during his live shows, that prompted him to include three covers on the album: “Just Friends” (Musiq Soulchild), “Pretty Girl” (David Ryan Harris – a song that Halter wishes he had written himself and calls it “the most beautiful song ever”), and “Cyclone” (Baby Bash). Halter explains: “‘Cyclone’ is a hip-hop song, you hear it in clubs, and it’s not the kind of song you’d hear an acoustic songwriter singing. I basically flipped it – added some chords and arrangements that weren’t there, rather than just trying to copy it. There’s no skill in that. Incidentally, I noticed it was getting a lot of traffic on YouTube. One night, I was looking on MySpace and Baby Bash had written me a message there just to tell me he dug it. And I found out later that a radio station in Phoenix had picked up the song and had put it in rotation. People were telling me they heard it on the radio. I just decided have some fun with it.”
For an artist four albums, one dvd, a handful of live records into his career, having had songs placed in several prime time TV shows, (including the critically acclaimed ABC series, Brothers and Sisters and NBC’s Friday Night Lights) and having shared the stage with everyone from *NSYNC to Marc Anthony, Joss Stone to Chris Whitley, you would think Tony Lucca might be a household name by now. Instead, Lucca manages to stroll casually under the radar, patient though persistent and seemingly content with his place in today’s ever-evolving music business. continue reading...
