DOWNLOAD: Aaron Embry - Live on KXLU Demolisten 2-10-12





Former Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes piano player Aaron Embry will release his solo debut, Tiny Prayers, next Tuesday (Sept. 18th) on the Communion Music label. Embry wrote Tiny Prayers in the late summer and fall of 2011, at the tail end of his three-year stint with the Magnetic Zeros. He recorded the album in his Ojai, CA home over essentially four days in April 2012, playing every instrument (including tenor guitar, harmonica, piano, autoharp, octave mandolin, brushes, and guitarrón) on all songs but one.

Referencing Embry's tenure with the Magnetic Zeroes (above) may be somewhat misleading as to the musical direction of Tiny Prayers. Embry's music is predominately stripped-down folk and his acoustic arrangements (guitar and harmonica) bring to mind pre-electric Bob Dylan. Complementing this, the emotional fragility of his lyrics leads to comparisons to artists like Elliott Smith (Embry was part of Smith's touring band) and Nick Drake.

The disc starts with "Moon Of the Daylit Sky" which is a good indicator of the sound of the rest of this disc. The songs are all rustic, "road weary" folk tunes which are carried by Embry's distinctive vocals and spartan acoustic arrangements. "Moon Of the Daylit Sky" backs Embry's vocals with guitar and harmonica and this is followed by "Raven's Song", where Embry's vocals are backed by an ornate piano. "Good-Red-Road Men" adds to Embry's core sound by bringing in elements of a Western campfire under the stars and "So I Turn" adds just a hint of Southern gospel. The lyrics are all fairly introspective and self-reflective. On "So I Turn", Embry wonders "Is my happiness dependent on it's own design? Am I only wakin up to leave my dreams behind?" On "Your Heart and Mine", Embry reflects on a what appears to be a love gone wrong: "It's like we're playin out the rise-and-fall of Rome again...a saviour comes...you nail her to a tree...the pain that sets you free will turn to love..in time..."



Embry will head out on a support tour for Milo Greene in November. The 11-show run will begin on November 1st at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, MI and wrap up on November 17th at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, CA. He most recently supported Mumford & Sons on a handful of August tour dates and as part of their Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Aftershows, and previously announced September dates with Father John Misty have been canceled due to personal family matters.

Aaron Embry November '12 Tour Dates: (all dates supporting Milo Greene)
NOV. 1 -- ANN ARBOR, MI -- BLIND PIG
NOV. 2 -- CHICAGO, IL -- LINCOLN HALL
NOV. 3 -- MADISON, WI -- HIGH NOON SALOON
NOV. 4 -- MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- VARSITY THEATER
NOV. 7 -- ST. LOUIS, MO -- FIREBIRD
NOV. 8 -- LAWRENCE, KS -- THE BOTTLENECK
NOV. 9 -- DENVER, CO -- BLUEBIRD THEATER
NOV. 10 -- SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- KILBY COURT
NOV. 13 -- VANCOUVER, BC -- THE MEDIA CLUB
NOV. 14 -- SEATTLE, WA -- THE CROCODILE
NOV. 16 -- SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- THE INDEPENDENT
NOV. 17 -- LOS ANGELES, CA -- EL REY THEATER

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Aaron Embry