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Mt. Joy announce debut self-titled album and first ever UK shows – Hear track ‘Silver Lining’

May 16, 2018

MT. JOY

DEBUT, SELF-TITLED ALBUM OUT VIA DUALTONE 27TH JULY

BAND RACK UP OVER 30 MILLION SPOTIFY PLAYS

HEAR ALBUM TRACK ‘SILVERLINING’ ON SOUNDCLOUD AND SPOTIFY

DEBUT UK SHOWS JULY

 

 “your new folk-rock heroes…” Rolling Stone
“well-crafted songs that drip with nostalgia.” NPR Music / WXPN
“a powerful statement against all that is wrong with current-day America.” Ones To Watch
“an intense blast of Americana beauty” KCRW
Released in the U.S. to widespread critical acclaim earlier in the year, LA-via-Philadelphia five-piece Mt. Joy will release their self-titled, debut album in the UK through Dualtone/Entertainment One on 27th July. The band, who have racked up an incredible 30 million Spotify plays to date, have also confirmed their first UK shows in July. Album track ‘Silver Lining’, an ode to friends lost to addiction, can be heard here:

July
Weds 18th – Paper Dress Vintage – London – TICKETS
Thurs 19th – Rivertown Festival at Thekla – Bristol  – TICKETS
Fri 20th  – Larmer Tree Festival – Salisbury  – TICKETS
“These dreams are more than paper things,” sings Matt Quinn on Mt. Joy’s infectious folk-rocker ‘Astrovan,’ a warm, yearning bit of road-trip philosophy that posits the existence of a Deadhead Jesus cruising the dusty highways of the countryside, nursing a roach on his way to only He knows where. It’s an auspicious line from a band predicated on the revival of teenage dreams.
Mt. Joy started off as a rekindling of shared musical ambitions between Philadelphia high school friends Matt Quinn (vocals, guitar) and Sam Cooper (guitar). Reunited in Los Angeles thanks to the ebbs and flows of adult life, the pair met multi-instrumentalist Michael Byrnes through a Craigslist ad. They named themselves Mt. Joy as an ode to a mountain in Valley Forge National Park near Sam’s childhood home, and together, with Byrnes’ roommate Caleb Nelson producing, they recorded three songs and sent them out into the world, hoping for the best. “I knew I still wanted to write songs, but the realities of life made that dream seem pretty impossible,” Quinn says.
Much to the band’s amazement, ‘Astrovan’ accomplished the impossible. Without initial promotion or fanfare, the song took off on Spotify, enjoying over 5 million streams . “The irony of ‘Astrovan’ was that song was really about being stuck in a life and wanting to have the opportunity to pursue a dream, and in an instant it gave us that opportunity. ” Quinn says. Mt. Joy quickly transitioned from a part-time calling into a full-fledged band rounded out by Byrnes on bass, Sotiris Eliopoulos on drums and Jackie Miclau on keyboard.
Come 2017, Mt. Joy hit the road. They played tour dates alongside the likes of The Shins, The Head and The Heart, The Lone Bellow, and Whitney, and popped up at some of the summer’s biggest festivals, including Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza and Made In America. “We were put on some big shows very quickly,” Quinn says. “The growth for us has been exponential – we’ve really just become a family that’s constantly pushing each other and the live show to be great.” They eventually caught the attention of Dualtone Records and began work on their debut album with producer Jon Gilbert (The Kills).
Mt. Joy’s debut is a startlingly open document, wracked with the anxieties and fears that come just as life seems to start working out. It’s a natural reaction from a wary band like Mt. Joy – the result of a sort of professional vertigo, as they’ve gone from virtual unknowns to hot young commodity in little over a year. But there’s a sense of hope underlying everything, girded by the fact that the Mt. Joy LP is an impressive, honest portrayal of a young band facing that moment where dreams become reality, and finding beauty in the exhilarating uncertainty of it all.
www.mtjoyband.com
www.twitter.com/MtJoyBand

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