A collaborative project from critically acclaimed musicians Aimee Mann and Ted Leo, it came from a friendship forged while they were on tour together last year. It was Leo’s solo sets that piqued Mann’s interest in getting on stage with him and writing music together. Of the project, Mann notes, “Honestly, I feel like for the first time, I’m part of a rock band.”
The band’s all original songs were written as back-and-forth collaborations between Mann and Leo. With their differing musical vocabularies and mutual admiration for one another, the duo found working together to be a boon.
“We were just like ‘Fuck it, let’s push and make it happen,’” notes Mann. “You really just have to go, ‘You know what, I have to trust that this other person’s instincts are good.’” Leo furthers, “I think as Aimee and I have gotten closer, we have realized how much in common we have and how much respect we have for what the other person does and what they’re bringing to the table. The writing process has largely been long distance, but it’s been line by line, verse by verse, part by part; we’ll send each other something and go back and forth until it’s finished.”
The album was recorded in Los Angeles with Ryan Freeland, between stretches of touring in 2013, and produced by Mann’s longtime friend and band member Paul Bryan.
This new collaboration follows Mann’s eighth studio album Charmer.
Punk/indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Leo is best known for his work with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists over the past 15 years. His most recent album The Brutalist Bricks was released in 2010. Leo began playing with Mann in February 2012.
THE BOTH TRACK LISTING
1. The Gambler
2. Milwaukee
3. No Sir
4. Volunteers of America
5. Pay For it
6. You Cant Help Me Now
7. The Prisoner
8. Hummingbird
9. Honesty is No Excuse
10. Bedtime Stories
11. The Inevitable Shove
THE BOTH TOUR DATES
June 11 Napa, CA City Winery
June 12 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
June 13 Pomona, CA The Glass House
June 14 Los Angeles, CA The El Ray
June 15 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
August 9 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
August 10 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen
August 16 Omaha, NE Maha Music Festival
August 30 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival
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