Jonny (featuring Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub and Euro’s Child of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci) + Apex Manor June 12, 2011

Jonny, the new musical partnership between Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub and Euros Childs of the now-defunct Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, will bring their charming live show to the United States beginning June 3 in Toronto with a second leg of dates planned for later this fall.

Intertwining the musical DNA of two of Britain's most gifted songwriters - Norman Blake & Euros Childs, Jonny's self-titled debut album proclaims the advent of an irresistibly infectious new strain of psychedelic pop. With their respective bands Teenage Fanclub and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Norman Blake and Euros Childs were prime movers in (to pick a couple of obvious highlights from their extensively illustrious back catalogues) Bandwagonesque and Barafundle-two of the best albums of the last twenty years. Now, they've pooled their resources to create a record bursting with exactly the kind of instantly memorable melodies their admirers have come to expect, but translated into a fresh and vibrant new setting.

Too modest to be a supergroup, too whole-hearted to be a side project, "Here's Jonny...."

Jonny is available from your favorite digital outlets including iTunes, Amazon, and the Merge digital store. The CD version will include the 4-song Free EP and will be in stores on April 12. You can now stream the whole Jonny album in the Merge store, and be sure to check out the video for "Candyfloss," too!

"Jonny is a good-natured, light-hearted collection of bubblegum pop, with one foot in the garage." ~The Guardia


Ross Flournoy founded Apex Manor after the 2009 demise of The Broken West. Named after his Los Angeles "zen place," Apex Manor was the idyllic apartment of his close friend and long-time collaborator Adam Vine.

Having relocated from the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles to Pasadena, Flournoy was enjoying suburban tranquility, but his car wouldn't start and he found himself isolated. He whiled away the days cleaning the house, sitting on the porch, and splitting tallboys with the gardeners who worked nearby. And battling a case of writer's block.

Enter an unlikely source of inspiration: an online songwriting contest. NPR's Monitor Mix was soliciting original songs from readers, giving the prospective songwriter one weekend to write, record, and submit. Flournoy decided to give it a go and set about writing and recording at home. At least he would be doing something with his time. The song, "Under the Gun," turned out to be about the process itself.

Now feeling inspired for the first time in months, Flournoy began writing at a feverish clip, penning more than 25 songs, nearly a third of which were co-written by Adam Vine. Flournoy then teamed up with former Broken West bandmate Brian Whelan to record some proper demos, and Apex Manor was born.

The Year of Magical Drinking was recorded at three different studios around LA and was produced by Dan Long (Film School, Local Natives) and Brian Whelan.
http://www.apexmanor.com/

Official Website: http://www.jamminjava.com/