THEIR BACK...

After several years of solo and other projects, Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor are once again touring and recording as Azure Ray. Following a one off show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles this past November, Azure Ray are planning their first run of US dates in over five years! The tour starts tonight in Portland and runs through Omaha on July 24, where they will play a free outdoor show with Cursive and Flowers Forever. Full tour dates are listed below.

Orenda Fink has spent the time off from Azure Ray recording a solo record (Invisible Ones, 2005), while also forming two separate band projects, Art In Manila (Set the Woods on Fire, 2007) and O+S (O+S, 2009), all released via Saddle Creek. Maria Taylor has released two solo records for Saddle Creek (11:11, 2005 and Lynn Teeter Flower, 2007) and one for Nettwerk (LadyLuck, 2009).

Following the tour, Orenda and Maria plan to use the fall and winter months to begin writing and recording the fourth Azure Ray full-length for a tentative 2010 release.

***Press for the upcoming tour is being worked by Saddle Creek. Please drop a line to jeff@saddle-creek.com with any questions you may have. Music, preview interviews and guest list spots for shows are available!***

Azure Ray - Summer 2009
Fri-Jul-10, Portland, OR, Mississippi Studios
Sat-Jul-11, Bellingham, WA, The Nightlight
Sun-Jul-12, Seattle, WA, Neumos
Tue-Jul-14, San Jose, CA, Nickel City Arcade
Thu-Jul-16, San Francisco, CA, Great American Music Hall
Fri-Jul-17, Santa Barbara, CA, Velvet Jones
Sat-Jul-18, Pomona, CA, Glasshouse
Fri-Jul-24, Omaha, NE, Wild About Omaha at Slowdown/Film Streams
7/24 with Cursive and Flowers Forever

KCRW WELCOMES MARIA TAYLOR

Maria Taylor stopped by KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic and gave the world a taste of her angelic voice.

KCRW has some AMAZING artists coming up in the next few weeks. Take a peek at who's coming...

Thursday, May 14 -- Extra Golden
Friday, May 15 -- The Decemberists
Monday, May 18 -- Loney, Dear
Tuesday, May 19 -- Other Lives
Wednesday, May 20 --Zee Avi
Thursday, May 21 -- Sara Watkins
Friday, May 22 -- Passion Pit

All live performances begin at 11:15am PST on KCRW and KCRW.com (audio and videocast). Sessions are available in the archives within 24 hours.

WORLD PREMIERE VIDEO - MARIA TAYLOR

The official video for "Cartoons and Forever Plans" by Maria Taylor with very special guest vocalist Michael Stipe. Watch Maria mend broken hearts in this video that also features Soko.

TIME LAPSE LIFELINE

Yesterday was new music Tuesday and one release in the spotlight is the new Maria Taylor. Maria is currently touring Europe, but will be back in the US and immediately hitting the road on April 4th.

Maria's new single with Michael Stipe (Cartoons and Forever Plans) will soon be released, and feature a video for it the near future. But, in the meantime, if you haven't had a chance to check out the "Time Lapse Lifeline" video, check it out below!
It features cameos from Neely Jenkings of Tilly and the Wall, Morgan Nagler of Whispertown 2000, Har Mar Superstar and Brett Anderson of The Donnas.

LUCK BE A LADY

MARIA TAYLOR'S THIRD SOLO EFFORT LADYLUCK TO BE RELEASED APRIL 7 THROUGH NETTWERK MUSIC GROUP

"TIME LAPSE LIFELINE" WILL BE AVAILABLE DIGITALLY JANUARY 13

"Listen in a dark room, with a candle or two with headphones, maybe in the bath, but definitely horizontal" -Maria Taylor


January 12, 2009 (Los Angeles, CA)-- Critically acclaimed songstress MARIA TAYLOR is set to release her third solo album titled LADYLUCK on April 7. Teaming up with producer friends Andy LeMaster (Bright Eyes, Azure Ray and a host of Saddle Creek label mates), Mike Mogis and Lukas Burton and featuring collaborations with Michael Stipe, Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes and Mckenzie Smith of Midlake, LadyLuck showcases Taylor's ability to pull at your heart strings while proving she's not a woman down on her luck.

Additionally, two tracks from the forthcoming album, "Time Lapse Lifeline" and "Orchids," will be available digitally prerelease on January 13. "Time Lapse Lifeline," with its orchestral strings and grand melody, tells the story about fast life moves and how everything can change in one moment. Appropriately, the song is punctuated by both a driving beat and lingering plaintive vocals, with breaks of near silence for poignant turns of phrase. "Oh we dreamed a life/ it was just like that was just like that/ and just like that and just like that it's done," Taylor sings as lone strings fade out.

"Orchids" will also be available exclusively on iTunes on January 13. You'll hear the song on the January 22 episode of Private Practice. The two tracks from the album will be a sneak peek of Taylor's most stunning effort to date. For those who can't wait until Tuesday to listen to the new songs, check out Myspace.com/mariataylor.

MARIA TAYLOR will also be touring in support of LadyLuck. Stay tuned for dates.