(UTG) Johnny O'Donnell O'Donnell headlines a record release party on June 30th at the Echo in Los Angeles. West Coast tour dates follow in September. O'Donnell issued his double-EP debut, Masquerade / Korean Debutante this week on L.A.'s White Noise Records. Accompanied by backing band Sacramento (who also play on Masquerade),
O'Donnell writes songs as cleverly restless as himself. Having leapt in recent years from rural Louisiana to Seattle to South Korea to currently settling in Los Angeles, O'Donnell pens brilliantly skewed classic pop songs that likewise shift and morph from one style and sound to the next. His talents as a composer and storyteller echo those of legends like Paul McCartney, Harry Nilsson and Elliott Smith.
O'Donnell is the former guitarist in avant pop band Holy Ghost Revival. After that band's breakup, he moved to Seoul, South Korea, where he penned songs for his first EP, Korean Debutante. Later moving to the City of Angels, he mentored with Van Dyke Parks prior to assembling his band, Sacramento and completing a second EP, Masquerade. The double-EP assembles all nine songs into a single LP/digital format.
On Masquerade, the Golden Era of Hollywood gets the full cinematic treatment on a tripping journey amongst the relics of glamour, adventure and globetrotting that once made entertainment immortal. "The Gothic Singer" introduces a swashbuckling songwriter who honors Fairbanks and Errol Flynn by way of rhythmic hi-jinks and a few melodic leaps of faith. Korean Debutante is a compact collection of pop diamonds written by an incorrigible rake living in a spiritual hellhole, a singing postcard to America, sung through the blurred lips of a drunken ex-pat.
Where there's syrupy romance, a haunting mystery, a haughty swagger and an amusement park's worth of harmonic twists and turns, you're probably in the company of Johnny O'Donnell & Sacramento.
JOHNNY O'DONNELL & SACRAMENTO LIVE:
06/30 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo (Record release show)
07/08 Los Angeles, CA @ The Redwood
07/17 Los Angeles, CA @ La Cita
09/05 Long Beach, CA @ The Rocketboat
09/07 San Francisco, CA @ TBA
09/08 Portland, OR @ TBA
09/09 Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
