emith

Founded in 2003 at a crossroads between Los Angeles and the infamous Inland Empire, emith ("the good life") is an original fusion of the old and new, of humor and sadness, of the pristine and the profane. The band plays both as an acoustic duo, featuring new songwriter Carol Ann Ives on vocals and guitar, and highly respected guitarist Stevie Gurr (Dr. John, Elvin Bishop, and others) on guitar, bass and harmonica, and also as a full band supplemented by various LA favorites on bass, keyboards and drums.

emith’s style of music features melodic, haunting influences from rock, folk, country, blues, and Celtic genres. One of the members of Peter Paul and Mary, apparently so overcome with a powerful inspiration in writing one of his songs, once started a foundation for songs that are inspired by spirits "calling from a distant place."This is the kind of music emith features, ethereal but rootsy, lyrically compelling but catchy, and full of humor, passion and a certain kind of chemistry. Described with influences as wide-ranging as Fleetwood Mac meets acoustic Led Zeppelin, Aimee Mann, Emmylou Harris, and BB King all in one kind of edgy sandwich, the act has, with no promotion, received airplay on a nationally syndicated traditional radio show, been covered on an NBC news broadcast for their comedic song "San Bernardino", and been named one of Zoe’s Essentials on radioio acoustic. They won a Garageband award in 2004, were nominated for Enchantress Radio’s "Artist of the Year", and were featured in 2005’s Inisheer International Songwriters' Retreat, co-writing several songs with overseas artists, including award-winning Swedish organ master Merit Hemmingson. During their summer tour last year, they opened for national touring act the Steve Kimock Band in State Bridge, Colorado.

emith’s debut full-length (working title "13 Seasons" is an engaging collection that carries the listener on a musical tour-de-force from warm, lush rootsy pieces, through eccentric bohemian pop, all the way to epic rock ballads, without losing anyone on the way. The album is being produced by bassist Sheldon Gomberg (Five For Fighting, Beck, Eleni Mandell), mixed by David Bianco (Santana, Natalie Merchant, Tom Petty) and Gary Platt (Bon Jovi, The Cult, King Crimson). Contributing players include drummer Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson), Karen Teperberg (Chris Botti, Jesse McCartney, Sting), Kendall Kay (Kenny Burrell, Rickie Lee Jones), keyboardists Jeff Young (Jackson Browne, Sting, Shawn Colvin) and Phil Parlapiano (John Prine, Rod Stewart, Lowen & Navarro), percussionist Luis Conte (Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Madonna), violinist Stevie Blacke (Beck, Anna Nalick, Taylor Hicks), and guitarist Mark Goldenberg (Jackson Browne, Julia Fordham).