NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ LAW Records) - PEPPER had an amazing time with
Slightly Stoopid and legends Sly & Robbie on this summer's TAILGATE 2008 summer tour, playing massive sold-out shows throughout the land including Red Rocks in Colorado, Pacific Amphitheatre in
Orange County, CA, The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA, Bank Of
America Pavilion in
Boston and Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The musical merriment continues as the Hawaiian-bred, Southern California-based veteran touring band supports the July release of their fifth album PINK CRUSTACEANS AND GOOD VIBRATIONS with the announcement of their own headlining LAW Records "HERE COMES THE LAW TOUR 2008" for this fall plus extended tour dates in the U.K.
The first half of the tour happens October 9-31 and takes KALEO WASSMAN (vocals/guitars), BRET BOLLINGER (bass/vocals) and YESOD WILLIAMS (drums) through 18 markets in the south and mid-west. Next, PEPPER will join Less Than Jake for a tour of the United Kingdom during the month of November. In January the trio will return to the road to complete the Pacific Northwest portion of the LAW Records tour (dates TBA).
Joining PEPPER on the 'HERE COMES THE LAW TOUR' are LAW Records label mates Passafire from Savannah, Georgia and The Supervillains from West Palm Beach, Florida. After spending the last two years supporting Grow Yer Own with non-stop touring, the buzz for The Supervillains has been growing for their long awaited follow-up release MASSIVE. Set for release November 25 on Hawaii's own LAW Records, the label owned by longtime tour mates Pepper, MASSIVE aims to be as huge as its title. The record was the result of a six-week stay at Orlando's Fighting Records Studios with producer James Wisner and features guest appearances from Slightly Stoopid's Kyle MacDonald and ex-Inner Circle vocalist Kris Bentley. The most polished and definitive Supervillains' CD to date, it includes re-creations of the most classic Villain anthems, explosive new songs, two dub tracks and a must-hear cover of Billy Joel's "Movin' Out."
Passafire join the tour in support of their 2007 release Submersible which was produced alongside Steve Nall at Long Island Recording Studios in Lexington, Kentucky. Their first self-titled release routinely receives spins on 99X, WNNX in Atlanta GA, WOCM 98.1FM Irie Radio in Ocean City MD, Sirius Radio Jam On, Roots On Sky.fm and on Reggae Redemption Radio in Wilmington NC. Tracks from their first release were also featured on the 2007 Jeep Hawaii Pro Windsurfing DVD distributed internationally by Sportshows TV Ltd.
This summer has been strong for PEPPER, having garnered rave reviews for Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations:
"...is chock full of winning excursions away from the standard rock/reggae template. When the band merge generous portions of funk and soul with their classic-style SoCal dub on 'Lucy', 'Davey Jones Locker' and the Living Colour-esque 'Stand& Fall', some truly electric moments are the result...a fine choice for backyard keggers, beer pong and fumbled, drunken sexual encounters." - Brendan Manley, ALTERNATIVE PRESS, August 2008
"Pepper have delivered another album full of Southern Californian charm...their fifth outing contains more reggae-funk channeled into sweet, funny love songs...listen to this when you're lying on the beach, spinning out under the stars or lighting a backyard barbeque." - Eleanor Goodman, ROCK SOUND (U.K), August 2008
"Guitarist Kaleo Wassman lays down deep-pocket skanks and clean-toned single-note melodies that go a long way toward filling the void left by Sublime's demise." - Matt Blackett, GUITAR PLAYER, August 2008
"Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations is filled with mellow tunes that are perfect to listen to after a surf session...if you enjoy laid-back surf rock, you've got to check out Pepper." - Shannon Del Valle, CONNECTIONS (Orlando, FL), July 2008
In other PEPPER news, sadly their annual Kona Town Music Festival in Hawaii has been cancelled due to the environment as well as increasing fuel costs. The very active volcano on the Big Island has been spewing out toxic sulfuric acid, causing respiratory problems for residents and more so for tourists who are not accustomed to it. The band apologizes and is working on getting out to the islands for a tour in the spring on their own.
PEPPER has amassed a large and loyal following through their non-stop touring since arriving in the Southern California after leaving Hawaii's Big Island 11 years ago. The trio has sold over 400,000 records independently; their music has appeared in many movie, television and video game soundtracks; and they've had a couple of singles appear on the Billboard "Hot Modern Rock Tracks" chart. Their fifth studio album PINK CRUSTACEANS AND GOOD VIBRATIONS-released via their self-run label LAW Records, in association with Controlled Substance Sound Labs/MRI distribution-is filled with the band's trademark rock-funk-reggae hybrid grooves. It was produced by Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers-who also took to the boards on the band's fourth album No Shame-and engineered by Wyn Davis at Total Access Studio in Redondo Beach.
PEPPER's tour dates are as follows:
DATE CITY VENUE
Thu 10/2 Fresno, CA Big Fresno Fair
Sat 10/4 Las Vegas, NV X-Fest
U.S. Tour w/ Passafire and The Supervillains
Thu 10/9 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
Sat 10/11 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre
Sun 10/12 Flagstaff, AZ Orpheum Theater
Wed 10/15 Corpus Christi, TX House of Rock
Thu 10/16 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
Fri 10/17 Dallas, TX House of Blues
Sat 10/18 Austin, TX Stubb's
Sun 10/19 Houston, TX House of Blues
Mon 10/20 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Landing
Wed 10/22 Orlando, FL House of Blues
Thu 10/23 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
Fri 10/24 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
Sat 10/25 Towson, MD Recher Theatre
Sun 10/26 New York, NY Fillmore
Tue 10/28 Detroit, MI St. Andrew's Hall
Wed 10/29 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
Thu 10/30 Covington, KY Madison Theater
Fri 10/31 Chicago, IL Metro
United Kingdom Tour w/ Less Than Jake and Beat Union
Sun 11/2 Norwich UEA
Mon 11/3 Northampton Roadmender
Tue 11/4 Swansea Brangwyn Hall
Wed 11/5 Exeter Great Hall
Thu 11/6 Bristol Carling Academy
Sat 11/8 Nottingham Rock City
Sun 11/9 Birmingham Carling Academy
Mon 11/10 Southampton Guildhall
Tue 11/11 Oxford Carling Academy
Wed 11/12 London Astoria
Sat 11/15 Leeds Academy Leeds
Sun 11/16 Manchester Manchester University
Mon 11/17 Newcastle Northumbria University
Tue 11/18 Aberdeen Moshulu
Wed 11/19 Glasgow ABC
