FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

From Ottawa to Memphis and Back Again

A few months back, Ottawa rockabilly band The Kingmakers headed south to the birthplace of rock and roll, Memphis Tennessee, to soak in some musical mojo and it bring back to the great white north. On their musical pilgrimage they visited Elvis' fabled Graceland, recorded at the legendary SUN Studio, and got to play live on world-famous Beale Street - all in the same day!

Recording at SUN Studio, the band decided to stick to their roots and record some of their favourite songs from the era ranging from obscure but significant tunes like Tiny Bradshaw's "Train Kept A-Rollin'" to more well-known classics like the Carroll Brothers "Red Hot" and, of course, Elvis' "That's All Right".

Lead vocalist Clark Lawlor relates the tale... "One of the first things [SUN Studio head engineer] James Lott said to us in his cool southern drawl was 'How old-school do you want to be?' Well, we went old-school all the way - everything recorded live off the floor, no headphones, no overdubs, with a local drummer who we had only met an hour earlier who as it turns out, happened to be playing the same kit that U2's Larry Mullen Jr. played on their Rattle and Hum sessions, as if there wasn't enough mojo already!" This raw, live-off-the-floor feel duplicates many of the quick, rapid-fire sessions of early artists like Elvis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, who all recorded some of their earliest work there.

The result is The Kingmakers' forthcoming CD, "The SUN Session". As Lawlor stood in the same spot Elvis stood when he made his first recording, over 50 years earlier, the rest of the band took their spots, surrounded by pictures of all the great artists who had gone before. "I've never been so nervous in my life," says upright "doghouse" bass player Steve Donnelly. "Here was some little unknown band from nowhere playing at one of the world's most famous studios, in front of an engineer who was friends with Scotty Moore (Elvis' first guitar player) and had probably seen a thousand lame Elvis-wannabes come through. But once we found our groove he warmed up to what we were trying to do and in the end seemed to genuinely appreciate the songs and our ability to interpret them and give them their due respect while still making them our own."

Added guitarist John Cormier "It was a rare experience to make music is such a revered place but it shows how accessible the music is. We walked out of the session on cloud nine". While continuing the tradition of appropriating and reinterpreting other artists songs, the band also wanted to flex its own creative muscle so they've added on a few original bonus tracks recorded in their own studio, using much the same methods learned at SUN. Using a minimum number of microphones on the drums, doing backing vocals simultaneously into one microphone rather than recording everything separately, and even writing, arranging and recording songs in one session recalls the SUN Studio vibe with an original feel and gives listeners a taste of The Kingmakers second, all-original album, which is already in the works.

The Kingmakers play their Sun Session CD Release at Elmdale House Tavern, Friday June 6 2008.

For more information contact:

The Kingmakers Clark Lawlor 613-867-6744 Steve Donnelly 613-889-0042