blair

Blair now lives in Brooklyn, but until recently, gigged in and around the Silver Lake and Echo Park neighborhoods of Los Angeles. But this story doesn’t begin on the west coast, far from it actually.
Blair grew up in the Deep South, New Orleans specifically, and in a town as soaked in gin as it is jazz, brass and funk, an adolescent Blair alternately drifted towards the sounds of Neil Young and Bob Dylan drifting out of her mother’s turntable. But she is no folkie. Born in the ‘80s it was inevitable that the pop sounds of ‘90s FM radio would seep into her musical DNA; remember, these were the days when Nirvana and Beck dominated the airwaves. A quick study, Blair taught herself guitar by listening to and learning the tunes on John Frusciante's first solo records and by her late teens was opening for the likes of Cat Power and Bright Eyes.
Fast forward to 2007. At 22, Blair self-releases her debut EP, Pluto. At four songs the EP is a quick dash through the past four decades of pop music as filtered by someone who grew up with a healthy collection of Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, Replacements, Velvets and Pavement.
Die Young, Blairs first full-length, is a collection of songs written and re-recorded over the span of five years. Half of the record was written in New Orleans, and half while living in California. The songs have turbulent titles: “Kamikaze”, “Murder”, “Rampage”, “Die Young”, etc. It’s a record about violence and daydreaming – it’s the angst of heart, and dreamy escapism, of a 20 something girl all wrapped up in melodies. It’s vague as to which ones are real and which ones are daydreams. Perhaps that is the point. As a kid, Blair repeatedly watched “Die Hard” and listened to her walkman alot -- maybe that explains it.
Recorded in New Orleans in the middle of an especially hot summer the album was produced by Keith Ferguson and uses all New Orleans based musicians. It was crafted in studios and in the homes of friends creating vocal booths out of closets with borrowed equipment. Die Young will be released on Autumn Tone Records (Henry Clay People, J. Tillman, Roadside Graves) on January 26, 2010.



"Neil Young lovin', New Orleans-gone-Brooklyn singer/songwriter, with a dash of hipster neon. BEST OF WHAT'S NEXT
" Paste Magazine
"Blair cites Neil Young as a primary influence, but she owes as much to early Liz Phair, with whom she shares a meandering singing style and a lyrical bluntness that sounds at once suggestive and wounded." NPR
"Die Young is a pop album for this generation.one of the year’s most promising surprises" Muzzle of Bees
"Die Young oozes with upside and showcases Blair's artistic strengths while maintaining the free-spirited edge so crucial to her success." I Guess I'm Floating
"Ultimately Die Young is a gem of an indie-pop record in the vein of Feist, Stars and Mirah." Radio Free Silver Lake
"Often compared to Neil Young, this songwriter in her mid-twenties has definitely got a lot ahead of her." BeatCrave



".a push from her simpler stuff I’d heard before, but as tracks like “Candy in the Kitchen” prove, that’s really only for the best.Is there anything cuter than a girl singing about dancing and encouraging others to dance?" You Ain't No Picasso
".an impressive collection of alt-country and jagged indie-pop that hovers somewhere between the bristling force of early Liz Phair and the melodic tw-angst of Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis." Direct Current
"hottest, newest indie album to kick off the New Year." Girls Life
"Young, driven, and filled with Southern goodness, Blair's alt-country cuts are packed with the same sorrow and hope as indie-folk brethren like Bright Eyes and Cat Power" Flavorpill
"Despite the former ninth planet’s humiliating reclassification as a mere asteroid, the arrival of Pluto (the CD) is a welcome consolation prize." LA Weekly
"Die Young never abandons its tone and the album keeps a cohesive feel. It always seems to be going somewhere, even if the destination is as uncertain as the lyrics’ narrator." An Aquarium Drunkard
".comparable to the likes of Jenny Lewis." My Old Kentucky Blog



Contact Blair:
Blair blair.there@gmail.com



Press:
Scott Simoneaux scott@aquariumdrunkard.com
International Booking:
Ross Morisson ross@primary.uk.com
U.S. Booking:
Ryan Craven ryancraven@theagencygroup.com