R.E.M. Sideman/Posies Member Stringfellow To Get 'Touched'

LA (Reuters) - R.E.M. sideman and Posies co-founder Ken Stringfellow will step into the spotlight as a solo artist with the release of Touched, due September 11 from Los Angeles-based independent label, Manifesto Records. The 11-song effort mines a similar pop-rock vein of Stringfellow's Posies, a longtime Seattle cult favorite perhaps best known for the early '90s songs, "Golden Blunders" and "Dream All Day."

"If you are the brick-throwing mouse, then consider me your Krazy Kat, emanating 11 hearts for you to consider or ignore, while the brutish dog/policeman that is 'good' taste looks on, too confused to interfere," says Stringfellow.

While no member of R.E.M. performs on the album, the connection remains intact, if somewhat tenuously, thanks to Stringfellow's choice of producers--Mitch Easter, perhaps best known for having produced the Athens, Georgia group's first EP, Chronic Town, and its first two albums, Murmur and Reckoning.
Stringfellow performs on R.E.M.'s latest album, Reveal, and has been a part of the group's expanded touring lineup since it hit the road to support 1998's Up. He is also a member of the resurrected version of the '70s pop-rock cult favorites, Big Star.