American Tourist
Folk / Indie / Pop
Harrisburg, VA
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About
"Whole," Filmed by Patrick Stinnett on a porch in Harrisonburg, VA bright and early new years eve
AMERICAN TOURIST IS
the blanket name for a project fronted by Matt Leech from wherever his car is parked, which is typically somewhere in central or western Virginia. American tourist has been touring nationally for three years in various shapes and forms. The band will be headed south for the entirety of March, stopping in Austin for South by Southwest.
ABOUT AMERICAN TOURIST
Everyone knows the adjectives carelessly thrown around for singer/songwriters who decide to strip to the barebones armed with only one guitar or banjo. "Simplistic", "Introspective", "Reflective", "Honest"....you get the tired picture. But there's nothing more honest than a grown man who can barely get through his own songs while stooped on a porch during the middle of a rainstorm at 2 am. Harrisonburg, Virginia's Matt Leech, American Tourist himself, has risen above the typical trappings of an American singer/songwriter by releasing "American Tourist Plays Outside", a rare look into the spontaneous beauty of songwriting and the dynamics which environment can provide for such a typically stagnant musical medium.
One rainy night, Leech held a recording session by Ben Schlabach (Mild Winter) and John Hostetter (Rose Montroise) on the porch of the Leech family farm in Lexington, Virginia between the hours of 1 and 3 a.m. while cars drove home from town. The result was a batch of songs originally unintended for release yet was too important to those at the farm not too. "Sink" and "House Mountain" were selected to make up "Plays Outside," a limited to 100 tour-only book, cd, and download release preceding American Tourist's first full-length, "Sink." However, the product begs the dilemma of whether such a release is too self-indulgent on the artist's part and alienating towards a listener who has no connection with those involved. The reason that "Plays Outside" works from an artistic and listening point of view is because most recent records are being recorded in a vacuum of Protools and slick mastering tricks in hopes to top the Pitchforkmedia charts. "Plays Outside" is one of the rawest records ever recorded. Period. Equipped with an occasional cracking voice and a stomp-the-porch metronome, the unplanned environmental sounds are, in fact, the strongest point of the record as they highlight Matt's crafty songwriting abilities in such a way that a recording engineer pressing a spacebar never could. And that makes American Tourist more interesting, a word underused with good reason for singer/songwriters.
After graduating from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA in May of 2008, Matt has essentially playing the nomadic part by living out of his car writing, recording and touring in support of his upcoming full-length "Sink"; available May 5, 2009. "Sink" serves as a culmination of a year's worth of songs, stresses, and high spirits that was documented and produced by Ben Schlabach and John Hostetter over the course of January 2009. "It's clearly a break-up album," says Leech. "But this record, to quote my friend Tim, is about the wonderful things that come from the worst situations."
While "Plays Outside" highlighted the accidental magic music can create, "Sink" is more deliberate with its recording process, experimentation, and its purpose. That is not to say the music holds any less musical presence or power than its predecessor. Dual themes of giving up and feeling reborn weave effortlessly throughout the record giving the listener a chance to revel in something they secretly don't mind: an opportunity to be bummed about something yet stoked that it happened.
An American Tourist will be touring relentlessly this coming year in hopes to inspire audiences and put off paying rent all across America.
"Sink" Tracklisting:
1. You'll Tend To Eden
2. Meredith and the Winter
3. Whole
4. Deep Sea Shallowed
5. Tuesday (Thursday Version)
6. Sink
7. Float
8. Sugar Cookie
9. House Mountain
10. End
"Plays Outside" Tracklisting:
1. Sink
2. House mountain
"Sink" and "Plays Outside" were both recorded and produced by John Hostetter and Ben Schlabach at Leech Hereford's Farm in Lexington, Virginia. Additional recordings done in Harrisonburg, VA and Gordonsville, VA.
Release date on CD/LP/digital download - May 5th
Article by Jeff Byers
HERE ARE SOME WAYS TO CONTACT US
Booking Inquiries // booking@americantouristmusic.com
General Inquiries, Promotion, Interviews // matt@americantourist.com
Some More Information // www.americantouristmusic.com
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD SOME SONGS HERE
Download House Mountain here.
Download End here.
Download Sink here.
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