Teddy Thompson
ACCLAIMED BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER
GIVES US A PIECE OF HIS MIND Teddy Thompson will release his fourth studio album on June 17th via Verve Forecast. A Piece Of What You Need was produced by Marius DeVries (Bjork, David Gray, Rufus Wainwright). Thompson, known for his crisp, soothing voice and songwriting talent, picks up where he left off on his acclaimed 2006 sophomore album Separate Ways with clever songcraft, good-natured but dark humor and moods from the cheerful to the melodramatic.

Thompson is the son of British folk icons Richard and Linda Thompson, and co-wrote Linda's most recent album, Versatile Heart. He's collaborated with Martha and Rufus Wainwright. He will be touring the US and UK in June and July. --- jamjunkie

The Grey Race

The Brooklyn (by way of New Zealand, California and New York) trio is making new fans wherever it goes, be it with Rufus Wainwright in a Spanish concert hall, or as mainstays in New York's Arlene's Grocery. The Grey Race is able to convey the darker subtleties of life in a hushed chord, a cascading melody, a rhymed confession. This kind of intimacy will surely be on display as the band makes its way across eastern North America with Teddy Thompson. The Grey Race's debut album Give It Love, was released in September 2007 on Unfiltered Records.  Paste Magazine said the album was making "a serious run for the gold medal in [that] year's Pop Masterpiece competition," and Amplifier Magazine declared that "it's unlikely you'll find an album of such precision and elegance as... Give It Love."