Lollapalooza :: Last Band Standing 2008

Grand Prize Winner:
The Melismatics

Runner-Up Winner:
Foxtail Somersault

Ume

"May be the most promising female voice to smack the indie rock world in years" - indyweek.com

Ume (pronounced ooo-may) has built a reputation as one of indie rock's most electrifying live bands. With their new critically acclaimed and self-released Sunshower EP and recent breakout performances at SXSW, NXNE, and Fun Fun Fun Fest, Ume has launched into the international spotlight DIY style. Ume is set to tour with the legendary Meat Puppets and Dead Confederate in September and then record their highly anticipated full-length.

Behind Ume's explosive music is an unassuming trio. Guitarist/vocalist Lauren says (in her southern drawl) that show after show she meets people who don't think she could possibly have played in punk rock bands for over a decade. She has even had audience members ask if the guitar parts were pre-recorded, because "nobody could play guitar like that, wail, and flail around so much on stage." Sorry folks, this pint-sized shredder is the real deal.

One of her first fans was bassist Eric Larson, who approached the then 15 year-old guitarist after seeing her grind-core band perform on a skatepark vert ramp. While attending Houston-area DIY punk shows, the high-school couple met drummer Jeff Barrera. They ran into him a few years later at an Unwound concert and formed Ume in 2002. Shortly after forming Ume, Lauren moved with Eric to Pennsylvania as she pursued a graduate degree in philosophy. In 2007, she traded in the PhD pursuit to pursue her guitar heroine dreams. She now also helps young girls do the same through her work with Girls Rock Camp Austin and as coordinator of an all girl after-school program.

Ume has self-booked over 250 shows and played with Arcade Fire, Marnie Stern, A Place To Bury Strangers, ...Trail of Dead, Dead Confederate, Times New Viking, and The Fall (though they were once dropped from a bill with Cat Power for being 'too hard'). The first and only show they ever had to cancel due to sickness happened to be the one Thurston Moore attended to check out the band. He later put a picture of the band on his Ecstatic Peace blog with the caption "Ume, whom I never got to see."

They were recently featured in the Irish Times alongside Ciara, Justin Timberlake, and Eminem... only Ume received 4 stars! Ume has also made a fan of Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen, who named their then unreleased Sunshower EP one of the top ten records of 2008!

Website: http://umemusic.com
Video of "The Conductor": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mfB0X0-E-c

http://www.myspace.com/umemusic

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