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Bio- Videos - Press
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Bio
Without releasing an album, 23-year-old Tom Schraeder garnered critical praise from his live performance at Lollapalooza, CMJ, and from demos which began circulating the States. After the positive response, Schraeder booked his third headlining show and released the compilation of demos to a sold out Chicago crowd. The EP was titled, "The Door, The Gutter, The Grave" because those are the three things Schraeder continues to have one foot in. Chosen as one of the Onion A.V. Club's "Top 5 Artists to Watch in 2008," his songwriting has been called, "earnest" and "adventurous" by CMJ.com. It inspired Chicago Magazine's Noah Isackson to declare, "Tom Schraeder [is] on the brink of stardom," and prompted Jim Derogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times to write, "sophisticated.a real talent."
In 2008, Schraeder took his music to the limit again: He skipped his flight home and turned a 3-day trek to SXSW into a 12 week tour of the couches and floors of Austin, TX. With little concern for the trappings of a comfortable life, Schraeder lived in various places as stories flowed freely from his fingertips. And something remarkable began to take shape: the unplanned sabbatical prompted what many are calling Schraeder's finest work yet. "Lying through Dinner" is a stark, honest, and achingly pure follow-up to "The Door, The Gutter, The Grave." Entirely written, arranged, mixed, and mastered over the course of the 23-year-old’s stay in Texas. "Lying through Dinner" is a confident reinvention of a young songwriter who is unafraid to swirl caustic stories and atmospheric melody with a clever, hollerin' devotion to early rock 'n' roll. Part moody, harmonic folk-pop and part raw, stomp 'n' roll, "Lying through Dinner" is 17 minutes of barroom piano, buzzing Telecasters, marching bands, barking dogs, clinking glasses, textured profanity, and Schraeder's maturing voice. Colloquial and lofty, wild and passionate, the EP is alive with strong melodies, singalongs, and the innate warmth of the analog tape used exclusively in the recording process.
Proving to be as accomplished onstage as he is off, this Chicago newcomer is the sort of well-rounded artist who arrives on the scene infrequently. This may be the first time you've heard of Tom Schraeder & His Ego, but we'll bet you a whiskey shot that it won't be last.
"Needle Will Bite" single:
http://www.enpriseentertainment.com/tomschraeder/needlewillbite.mp3
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Videos
Tom Schraeder - Tomorrow We'll Know Why (featuring Kenley Collins)
(Filmed by Jimmy Giannopolous of Pretty Good Dance Moves)
Tom Schraeder - Tied To The Bedpost
Tom Schraeder - Letters to Douglaston
(Filmed by Pool of Frogs)
Tom Schraeder - Needle Will Bite
(Filmed by Pool of Frogs)
Tom Schraeder - Duct Taped Ladder w/ Eric Quinlan
Tom Schraeder - Back To You
(Filmed by Jimmy Giannoppolous of Pretty Good Dance Moves)
Artist: Tom Schraeder & His Ego
Song: The Whiskey Song
Director: Joshua Meyerson
Executive Producer: Stephen W. Basedow
Copyright 2008 Fresh Cut Media Interview Schubas Tavern in Chicago February 12, 2008www.getfreshcut.com
Copyright 2008
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PRESS
"Number 1 Local Record of 2008: On his latest EP Schraeder often mixes Americana with the feel of a humid New Orleans bordello. Boozy, swinging strains spill out of darkened nightclubs into puddle-splashed streets. Rouged nipples brush inches away from the unshaven crevices of a miner’s chin on the boozy sing-along “When You’re Not Around,” an excellent compliment to the soaring hopeful organ strains permeating “Guadalupe Cries.” Schraeder expertly mixes the dark with the light creating a chiaroscuro effect on his compositions." Jim Kopeny (Chicagoist)
"Top Ten Local Artists To Watch in 2008" Jim Derogatis (Chicago Sun-Times)
"Lying Through Dinner was also made possible by a number of local Austin musicians. While the heart of the record is clearly derived from Tom Schraeder, the rich Texan heritage that was brought to the table certainly added to the already excellent song writing. The challenge for Schraeder was not only to follow up to 2007's release The Door, the Gutter, the Grave with a record as equally honest and soul soaked, but to also to step up the presence of a defined artisanship. Tom Schraeder has succeeded in this endeavor with Lying Through Dinner." Frederick Foxtrot
"Schraeder is apparently part of burgeoning songwriter scene that is building in Chicago, taking conscious notes from Austin in doing so, and if Schraeder is any indication of talent their producing up north, there is a lot to look forward to." Austin Sound
"The music has a breezy, effortless charm, and Schraeder definitely knows how to pen a catchy melody. It all leaves the listener wanting more." Decider
"This release has it all and I mean it - this in fact could be the “Coles Notes” of Tom Schraeder. While I tend to shy from raukin’ in the local tavern, I believe Schraeder is no stranger to this, but can shy away and keep the attention of the indie-melancholy in the very next breath."You Crazy Dreamers
"Tom Schraeder is 24 years old, but sings with the sorrow of a man twice his age" Gapers Block
If you’re in Chicago and haven’t passed by Schraeder on the scene yet, you should do yourself a favor and check both of these gentlemen out. HearYa
"If brevity is the soul of wit, then Tom Schraeder's got to be the savviest motherfucker around. The first track from his upcoming Lying Through Dinner clocks in at a minute-and-a-half, but manages to accomplish quite a lot in that time. Guided By Voices had short songs. Why shouldn't Tom and His Ego get right with the hit-it-and-quit-it spirit? Inspired by comparisons of himself to Ryan Adams (which, uh, I haven't really helped to rebut), Schraeder wrote this alt-country ode to frustration—"somethin's gotta give/or the needle will bite"—and it just happens to stand up to some of Ryan Adams' best. Listen to it at the top of the post." Minneapolis Fucking Rocks
"Schraeder's is a down-home, down-to-earth songwriting style, the kind that encourages arm-in-arm barroom sing-alongs, even among strangers. The untrained ear may hear his happily drunk "Whiskey Song," which is set against a backdrop of clinking glasses and rowdy voices, as similar to Ryan Adams' "The Bar Is A Beautiful Place." It's far less corny, though, and its songwriting is more earnest, more adventurous." CMJ
"Tom Schraeder’s acoustic-based music has an emotional realism that puts him in the same vein as David Gray and Shawn Mullins. Most of the seven tracks on his impressive debut, The Door, The Gutter, The Grave, are reflections on busted relationships and binge drinking, but his rough-hewn vocals and descriptive lyrics keep things interesting. “Weeping Willow,” a haunted, honky tonk duet with Sarah Holtschlag, serves as the CD’s high point." Illinois Entertainer
"Tom Schraeder and his Gram Parsons-Wilco-Paul Westerberg-Tim Booth-inspired sound, fresh off Lollapalooza, are on the brink of stardom." Chicago Magazine
"The strength of tracks such as "The Whiskey Song," "Porcelain Doll" and "An Easy Way to Cry" from "The Door, the Gutter, the Grave" is that they recall all of Schraeder's varied influences without resorting to mere imitation, thanks to the sophisticated melodies and arrangements and the surprisingly insightful and world-weary lyrics." Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times)
"On songs like the bitterly funny "Which Excludes You", Schraeder writes like Ryan Adams woke up one day and forgot to tell everyone how big of screw-up he is; as a result, finally got his shit together and wrote a song with the orchestral grandeur of The Beatles.This is the one ego that actually deserves to be inflated." Minneapolis Fucking Rocks
"Top five artists to watch.The world needs another dude with a guitar like it needs a planet-destroying asteroid, but Tom Schraeder has been perking up ears all year, which a memorable performance at Lollapalooza perpetuated. (The Sun-Times' headline: "Schraeder, LCD, Daft Punk Soar" - not bad for a dude who played at 12:30 in the afternoon on the first day.) But the booze-soaked songs on The Door, The Gutter, The Grave show that even a style that's been done to death can work when it's done well." The Onion
"Schraeder delivers his slightly gritty vocals with a sharp, emotive range, delving from bittersweet remorse (the lilting "Easy Way to Cry") to just plain bitter (the sing-along chorus of "Whiskey Song" UR Magazine
"It's of little surprise that the 23-year-old, who counts Goldie's and Hungry Brain among his favorite dives, frequents smoky bar rooms long after most of the city is deep in slumber. His self-released debut EP, "The Door, the Gutter, the Grave," is the sound of one-too-many late nights -- a musician doing his best to mask his heartbreak with the bottle. "Easy Way To Cry" finds Schraeder haunted by visions of a former lover. ("[She's] dancing like an angel in my head," he sings.) "The Whiskey Song," which sounds like it was recorded amid the clatter of a local tavern, is a boozy anthem for the downtrodden; the spartan "Porcelain Doll" is every bit as fragile as its namesake." Chicago Tribune
"Schraeder, LCD, Daft Punk soar." Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times Lollapalooza headline)
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