MAGGI,
PIERCE AND E.J. STRIKE GOLD WITH 5TH CD
Critical
Acclaim Mounts as Spring Tour Begins
PHILADELPHIA
� MAGGI, PIERCE AND E.J.�s fifth CD is striking gold,
just like they ordained it, as the far-out Philly funk trio
mounts its spring U.S. tour.
As the band
is touring the East Coast and Midwest, GOLD (EMPrecords),
the latest and most intriguing example of MAGGI, PIERCE AND
E.J.�s self-described �down-home farm-city junk music� is
beginning to score with critics and some of the nation�s
most prestigious adult radio programmers.
Citing
�harmonies that recall the Roches, a daffy sense of humor
that reminds you of the Barenaked Ladies and a hipster
drollness that echoes Beck,� the Cineman Syndicate
declares: �GOLD is an album that should go gold.�
Playback St. Louis, in its April issue, calls
GOLD
"Gregarious, inclusive, whimsical, charming,
psychedelicate, organic, fat-free, unpredictable,
neighborly, fizzy, wide-eyed, folksy, energized, propulsive,
sweet, celebratory, multi-purpose, wry, hams on rye,
therapeutic, uplifting, unzipped, stir-fried, ineffable,
focused, romantic, touching, rib-tickling, unselfish,
inspired, musically freewheeling and unforgettable."
�Flame,�
which opens GOLD as a metaphor for the love of
nature and the need for romantic commitment, with a mournful
trumpet arrangement, has become a high-ranking �Open Mic�
favorite on NPR�s All Songs Considered. �Flame�
also has become a favorite track at Philadelphia�s
award-winning Triple A station WXPN, home of the nationally
syndicated World Caf�, where GOLD has been receiving
regular airplay for most of the first quarter of 2004.
GOLD
earned additional early buzz from the
Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia City Paper
and Philadelphia Inquirer, which ranked the album on
a short list of �homemade discs that exhibit not just
talent, but heart and passion, and an easygoing confidence.�
Like the
previous four albums in their catalogue, MAGGI, PIERCE AND
E.J. have once again applied their lush harmonies,
unshakeable melodies, seat-of-the-pants spontaneity and
Chinese fire drill-style multi-instrumentation to GOLD.
With a vast arsenal of instruments, including tuba and saw,
and the help of numerous guest players, MAGGI, PIERCE AND EJ
have created their most intimate and organic album to date
-- a marriage of the love of nature, spiritual enlightenment
and damn fine playing, the GOLD album is the
glittering moment in their estimable career.
Recorded and
produced by MPE at their rural Pennsylvania farm house, and
mixed by Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Kathy Mattea, Peter
Wolf), who produced the band�s heralded 2002 Jeff Buckley
tribute CD, For), the album takes us through
the loss of a lover, the answers sought in the light of the
Moon (�Mr. Moon�), and a sensual trip to the Sun with an
invitation to �Visit Me.� With a breakneck pace, �Fate
Train� metaphorically questions our choices in life, and
then the album closes with a beautiful remembrance of E.J.'s
�Dear Grandfather,� a plea to �Kiss Me� and to join on the
�Porch� for a sit and a song.
Following a
pair of sold-out CD release parties for which the band
members showed up with gold-dyed hair, MAGGI, PIERCE AND
E.J. crossed the �Big Pond� and embarked on a six-week
European tour that drew such tremendous response, the band
will be returning to spend the entire summer there on tour.
Later this
year, MAGGI, PIERCE AND E.J. plans to release a documentary
chronicling the band�s �Whole Steps Toward Peace� � a 216
mile, 16-day walk from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia
last summer.
All has
never been more right in the �right now� eclectic of world
music surrounding MAGGI, PIERCE AND E.J. In crafting their
fifth album, they have indeed struck
GOLD.
Don�t
miss MAGGI, PIERCE AND E.J�
