Brooklyn’s café rambler and celebrated songwriter releases debut EP
“Nate is a force to be reckoned with. He manages to successfully balance his artistic credibility in
the indie world while unapologetically being a lover and creator of pop records.” – Billy Mann
“Smooth silky vibes over a country-pop vibe, with the result being, not just listenable, but rather adorable” –Subba Cultcha
Pop bohemian, civil-war fanatic and Charles Dickens obsessive, Brooklyn-based alt-country-pop-folk singer/songwriter Nate Campany has woven homespun tales of broken hearts, lost love and missed opportunities together with beautiful melodies, unaffected textures and accomplished arrangements in his debut EP. The Only Bridge I Need combines prairie winds and urban sprawl rolled up in an Americana-pop package, bound together by his rag-tag band of musical brothers, The Serenade. Release date is June 1st 2009.
The Only Bridge I Need is a rare beast which combines Americana roots with undeniably pop leanings. Beautifully realised by The Serenade, the sound is defined by Nate’s rich voice, which belies his 26 years, and takes you on a journey through territories both real and imagined. If the Mason Dixon Line* was the division between pop and traditional American music, Nate Campany would be that line. As a well-known and notable face on New York’s guitar-culture scene, Nate regularly plays sold-out shows in dimly lit corners of the Big Apple.
Nate’s musical obsession began with a piano his parents salvaged from an abandoned school and a guitar he bought on credit. Now a professional songwriter by trade (he’s penned hits for artists as diverse as The Backstreet Boys, Grammy-nominated Brandon Heath, Multi-million-selling The Click Five and Holland’s platinum artist Ilse Delange), this is Nate Campany’s awaited debut offering.
“I wanted to write songs for my voice, for the way that I felt about certain things,” says Nate. “It’s easier to write whatever you want when someone else is singing it, but these songs, these are me. This is my life.”
Inspired by history and pop songs, Nate embarked on “The Estella Sessions” – the recordings for Nate’s forthcoming album – and from these sessions came the tracks for The Only Bridge I Need. In an age of virtual instruments and music technology, Nate decided to get back to basics and record the old-fashioned way – 12 musicians, in a room, all playing at once.
“I recorded live because of the way it feels to catch a performance all at once. Sometimes when you layer and layer, you lose the moment, but live, everyone is standing next to each other, listening and playing. It’s nice to think, we did that, that’s us, and we can look back one day and remember that day and how it felt”.
Making The Only Bridge I Need has been a labour of love for Nate. Devising an ingenious way to raise funds for the record, he set up the website www.helpnate.com. Here, he encouraged friends, family, fans and strangers to donate to the cause:
“Have you ever been to one of those 99-cent stores, going up and down the aisles, not really needing anything but trying to find something to buy because it only costs 99 cents?” writes Nate on the website. “My name is Nate, and you can consider me your neon green plastic hand-shaped backscratcher”.
Offering a thank you on the record to all who contributed, the donations poured in, allowing his songs to come to life.
Nate will be embarking on a month-long solo acoustic tour of the UK in May to support the release of The Only Bridge I Need. Some dates will be supporting the highly acclaimed Kim Richey, Thomas Dybdahl and Great Lake Swimmers. Nate is available for interviews upon request. The album ‘Estella’ will be released in late 2009.
Nate Campany’s solo acoustic tour continues at the following dates:
7th May – HAY-ON-WYE – The Baskerville Hall Hotel (supporting Kim Richey)
9th May – FARNCOMBE – Farncombe Music Club, St. John’s Church (supporting Kim Richey)
11th May – LONDON – Pure Groove, Clerkenwell (In-store performance, 1.15pm)
11th May – MAIDSTONE, KENT – Maverick at Zebra
13th May – LONDON – The Borderline (supporting Thomas Dybdahl)
14th May – IPSWICH – PJ McGinty’s Blue Room
17th May – LONDON – The Cross Kings
20th May – NEWCASTLE – Jumpin Hot at the Cluny (with Great Lake Swimmers)
21st May BRISTOL – The Prom
22nd May KELVEDON, ESSEX – The Institute
29th May LONDON – 333 Motherbar, Old Street
30th May BATH – Porter Cellar (Bath Arts Festival, supporting Kim Richey)
Further dates TBA. (Stage times 8.15 approx for each show)
For all media enquiries and please contact A Star PR +44 (0) 20 7836 1122
ben.allen@astarpr.com tom.green@astarpr.com sara.boughton@astarpr.com
www.natecampany.com www.lojinx.com
Notes to the Editor:
*The Mason–Dixon Line (or “Mason and Dixon’s Line”) was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line between four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (then part of Virginia).