Here are a few new tunes we're working on, captured by Braedon Flynn, braedonsblog.com:
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Honey in My Veins
Hope in the Air
Here's some bootleg footage from the GIVE EVENT, caught by our good friend Todd Merriman. It's pretty much going to be the new ad campaign for Ann Taylor Loft . . .
BUY STUFF HERE!!! BUY STUFF HERE!!! BUY STUFF HERE!!!
CHECK OUT OUR SWAG FOR SALE.IN THE NEW PAWNSHOP!!!
BIO:
Driven by formative, familial experiences on their Arkansas plantation, born in Texas, and raised on the beach in southern California, PawnShop kings play American music with equal parts rock, soul, and pop. Their inspiration stems greatly from the brilliant musical sounds and honesty of the Beatles alongside the melodic sensibility and purpose of both the Staple Singers and Bob Marley. Early exposure to the Southern black church during their childhood fostered a deeper lyrical significance.
“We play everywhere we can: bars, clubs, churches, street corners. In every environment there are people,” explains Scott, “ourselves included, looking to each other for a lift. That’s what we try and sing into. It’s okay to hold onto hope, even when it doesn’t seem possible.”
“The way we see it,” adds brother Joel, “no matter how hard it’s been or ever gets for us, somebody always has it worse. And it goes beyond music. We have a responsibility to look out for one another.”
With the broad span of influences that contributes to the PawnShop kings’ sound, the brothers reach a vast audience. But the lowercase “k” in the band’s name suggests a traditional, southern-borne propriety that keeps them as friends and from straying too far from faith and family.
“We love that pawn shops give people a second chance whether or not they use or deserve it,” remarks Scott. “Our music and the ability to build upon the traditional roots of our childhood play as our voice to that spirit of reinvention.”
PawnShop kings EP released in August of ’09
PawnShop kings documentary "brother's keeper" released in August of ‘08.
PSk debut album, Locksley, released January of ‘07
All are available through www.pawnshopkings.com
Contact: pawnshopkings@gmail.com.
-- PSk --
- Keep Your Beaches Clean -
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FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/music-kings-pawnshop-1879093-beach-guys
ORANGE POP: PawnShop kings offer secondhand charm, firsthand music.
The local brother duo shares a mix of rock, folk, and gospel.
By KELLI SKYE FADROSKI
SQUEEZEOC.COM
Comments | Recommend
The PawnShop kings' music has a rich and soulful rock sound. The two brothers, Scott and Joel Owen, draw inspiration from artists like the Staple Singers, Bob Marley and the Beatles.
Although the Owens grew up in Newport Beach, they spent a lot of summer vacations on their grandfather's plantation in Arkansas, where they were exposed to Gospel music in local churches. The Owens, now both in their late 20s, dabbled in music for years, then decided to take their love for music a step further and formed the PawnShop kings four years ago.
"We got the name 'PawnShop' because we spent a solid block of time only shopping in secondhand stores and developed a kind of kinship with the pawn shops and it ended up being a lot of our identity – buying jackets for like $5," Joel said. "And we added 'kings' to it but we're not trying to claim to be royalty. There is an interesting dichotomy between a pawnshop and kings; it's like the line between good and evil."
The guys moved to Los Angeles to shake a little of the "O.C." stigma (specifically, the rest of the world's view of the county thanks to the popularity of shows like "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County" and "The O.C.") and to focus on their song writing, while working out their live show in various L.A. clubs. In January of this year, the duo independently released its first album, "Locksley." The songs on the album are musically a blend of rock, folk and gospel and lyrically the guys strive for more depth and meaning than descriptions of a drunken night out, strippers, grills and cars.
"It seems so cliché but we're just trying to write about things that we personally go through and the things that we feel," Scott said. "It's nothing spectacular; we're not trying to change the world. Ultimately if you're doing art right, you're expressing you. If it's compelling, it will sell. If it's not, it won't, but at least it's being true to yourself."
The PawnShop kings have a laissez-faire attitude about mainstream exposure or signing to a major label at this point in their career. Instead, the guys are working on new material and finding themselves in the process.
"The record was a nice cross section of the different influences that we have and it landed us in a place where we're starting to spread our wings and go deeper into the gospel cultural influence and heavier into the ballads," Joel said.
"The writing is forming in a new way for us and it's really fun and now we're starting to find our voice a little more."
Recently, the guys settled back in Orange County and when they aren't working on their music, they're usually hanging out at the beach, surfing the stretch of ocean between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach.
Contact the writer: kfadroski@squeezeoc.com or 714-796-3570
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An exerpt from a Filter mag write-up on Rocco Deluca from a show we jumped up in at Spaceland in SilverLake:
by Matt Elder | 04.24.2008
http://filter-mag.com/index.php?id=16668&c=11
Walking the fine line between Americana revival and commercial success, Rocco Deluca’s Mississippi Delta originates from Southern California’s swagger and sunshine. It’s an identity crisis that needs no resolution, where Deluca’s closed-eyed delivery Tuesday night at Spaceland proved that seeing is indeed believing. Teetered between balladry grace and the raunchiness of a southern front-porch session, Deluca flourished in a soundscape as organically intense and pure as any musician wearing his soul on his sleeve could hope for. . .it wasn’t until midway through the take that the crowd remembered they were at a rock show; and that one man could provide such extremities in the most intimate of settings.
Then things got even quieter. Joined by brothers Scott and Joel Owen from SoCals’ own act the Pawnshop Kings, Deluca dropped his guitar for the quieter nuance of foot stompings. Deluca lead the a-cappella charge of early blues pioneer Son House’s “John the Revelator,” with both brothers following with call-and-response in full harmony. Deluca’s likening for southern gospel and spiritual music shined full force in the same fashion as the latter Buckley’s cover “Be Your Husband,” also hauntingly recorded over the clanking of bottles and stray conversations. . .Americana music is alive and well in Deluca’s hybrid, and it needs no southern delta for merit.
