LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Snack Bar Records) - Singer-songwriter Mike Doughty has formed his own independent microlabel, SNACK BAR, and will release HOTSHOT'S BOY, the debut EP by THE PANDERERS, in early March. The Panderers are the project of
Indiana singer-songwriter SCOTT WYNN; PETE MCNEAL (drummer for Mike Doughty's Band) co-produced the EP with DAVE WILDER (bassist for
Macy Gray and Liz Phair, among others). HOTSHOT'S BOY will be available via the iTunes
Music Store and other digital retailers, and as a CD at The Panderers' live performances. See below for a tracklist.
Says Doughty, "I was looking for a band to sign to my new microlabel, and I loved Scott's sound when Pete played the record for me - it's like Quentin Tarantino at a hoedown."
The Panderers will support all dates on Mike Doughty's March-April 2008 tour, with Wynn backed by McNeal and Doughty's bassist, Andrew "Scrap" Livingston. See below for a complete list of tour dates.
- THE PANDERERS IN THEIR OWN WORDS -
I'm Scott Wynn. I was born the son of a one-eyed, 8th-grade-educated coal miner and ironworker. He helped his dad make moonshine as a kid. He left Kentucky as soon as he could hitchhike, went to Ohio, and married my mother, a hot little number who worked in a secretarial pool.
My dad's nickname was "Hotshot" after an old Wolfman Jack-type radio DJ. I was known as "Hotshot's Boy."
Many old school Appalachians believed that children were farm assets. So, we farmed tobacco. Kids were sometimes encouraged to smoke tobacco and quit school to work the farm. 1987 was 1937. My dad gave me a mule and a plow at age 15. There was Neil Young and AC/DC blaring as we turned the earth, planted seeds, harvested, sold at market, and repeated repeatedly.
I left the farm and worked construction. But I wanted to learn more about the world than a hammer could teach me. I was more into sociology and physics. I gigged in biker bars, and was an Air Force reservist for college money. I got exposed to a wider variety of more obscure and eclectic music. Things started to take shape for me. I started writing songs.
I have a couple of degrees, AS and BS in Industrial Technology, a minor in political science. I've been a corporate salesman, an applications engineer, a lead programmer. None of this means much, but I'm not un-bright. I wouldn't exactly mind letting the world know that rural humans are not all dumb. They may at times even be hipper than those from more organized environments. A bit unkempt, fewer rules, more space, rugged individuals, polite and helpful. Though, granted, a good many are unenlightened.
I always posted my DIY recordings on the web seeking people's opinion, but not so much a career, at first. I ended-up with two production deal offers in the first month or so of posting music to MySpace. I wanted to work with Dave Wilder and Pete McNeal, and see L.A. for the first time. I called the project "The Panderers" because I kind of felt that my local bandmates back home in Indiana wanted to keep our band name in use and that I could perhaps find another one. Our local band name was a name that I came up with and had used as a solo artist early on. So I "pandered", in a sense, and made up a new name. "Panderer" has at least two cool meanings: "a pimp/madame" or "a person that appeases another so that they may move forward."
I am no Johnny Cash. I'm small. But I identify with the historical Johnny very much, and was raised on his music. And raised like him, both being dirt farmers. "Dirt farming" is where you seem to grow nothing but dirt as your yield is seemingly nothing. We received nothing visible for our farming efforts. Certainly not "better off." All the while, I found myself at odds with a mean-assed, one-eyed, drunk dad. He died when I was 18 or so. Life began.
I am sincere and honest. My music is honest. I like the simple and under-complicated. I prefer vibe and attitude. I find "lackluster" to be "believable." I don't like sparkle or sheen - on me. It's fine for somebody else, though. Very open-minded.
Like the British Invasion, it's my desire to do an American re-invasion of itself. Brand new old songs. Old recipes with fresh ingredients. I'm bringing back the ditty - the lo-fi, no-ego-on-top, old-school skating rink music. Brand new old songs with nothing to prove
THE PANDERERS 2008 TOUR DATES
(All dates supporting Mike Doughty's Band)
March 12 - Northampton MA - Pearl Street
March 13 - Rochester NY - German House
March 14 - Montreal QC - Saints Montreal
March 15 - Toronto ON - Mod Club Theatre
March 16 - Ann Arbor MI - Blind Pig
March 18 - Cleveland OH - Beachland Ballroom
March 19 - Indianapolis IN - Music Mill
March 20 - Chicago IL - Vic Theatre
March 21 - Milwaukee WI - Turner Hall Tavern
March 22 - Minneapolis MN - First Avenue
March 23 - Minneapolis MN - First Avenue
March 25 - Omaha NE - The Slowdown
March 26 - Kansas City MO - Beaumont Club
March 27 - St. Louis MO - The Gargoyle
March 28 - Nashville TN - Exit/In
March 29 - Atlanta GA - Variety Playhouse
March 30 - Asheville NC - The Orange Peel
March 31 - Carrboro NC - Cat's Cradle
April 2 - Charlottesville VA - Satellite Ballroom
April 3 - Lancaster PA - Chameleon Club
April 4 - New York NY - Highline Ballroom
April 5 - Washington DC - 9:30 Club
April 8 - New Haven CT - Toad's Place
April 9 - Somerville MA - Somerville Theater
April 10 - Brooklyn NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
April 11 - Philadelphia PA - The Fillmore at TLA
April 12 - Troy NY - Revolution Hall
April 13 - Millvale PA - Mr. Small's
April 15 - Newport KY - Southgate House
April 16 - Memphis TN - New Daisy Theatre
April 18 - Dallas TX - Granada Theater
April 20 - Austin TX - Antone's
April 22 - Santa Fe NM - Santa Fe Brewing Company
April 23 - Boulder CO - Fox Theatre
April 24 - Salt Lake City UT - Urban Lounge
April 26 - Portland OR - Wonder Ballroom
April 29 - San Francisco CA - The Fillmore
April 30 - Los Angeles CA - El Rey Theater
