AM

AM was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and at the age of 13 his family relocated to the suburbs of New Orleans, (Mandeville, Louisiana). Taking refuge in his guitar, AM played throughout high school. While attending college at Loyola University New Orleans, he started writing songs, inspired equally by his own reflective temperament, by the literature and texts he studied as he earned his philosophy degree, and by the music he absorbed simply by living in New Orleans. To this day New Orleans is a source of deep emotion for AM. Always eager to lend his voice to charitable causes, AM has performed at numerous fundraisers and is dedicated to the rebuilding of his home city. After moving to Los Angeles, AM began working out his songs encouraged by Gary Jules, a songwriter responsible for starting a haven for musicians at the then newly formed Hotel Café, and a friendship with Jamie Myerson, a respected solo artist and producer who has worked with Duncan Sheik, David Poe, Paul Oakenfold, and Sneaker Pimps. Writing at home, he nurtured his unique style through a combination of meaning, poetry, and sound and began recording the results in his bedroom. AM eventually brought his homebrew discs to Myerson’s studio, where he and the producer explored their potential to grow within ambitious, expanded settings. Aside from some bass lines and drums, they cut every new part themselves, vocal and instrumental. “Jamie knew how to embrace the darker side of what I do,” AM points out, “from the long reverbs to the creepy synthesizer pads in the distance. It was a perfect partnership.” Upon finishing the music that would become Troubled Times, the reception in his current home of Los Angeles has been considerably welcoming. Through podcasts of his appearances on KCRW’s Morning In the U.S., AM stirred strong responses at the South by Southwest Music Festival, after which Defend Music licensed Troubled Times for North America. Television and film picked up on the buzz; and in a matter of months AM’s songs were heard in indie films at every major film festival in the U.S. and Canada including the Sundance Film Festival, and on television including HBO’s Big Love and MTV’s The Real World – at least 50 placements from this 10-song album as of this writing. Accolades began to pile up, hailing AM as “mellow gold” (Louisiana Music Export) and “instantly classic” (LA Weekly) destined to “climb the ranks to the top” (Performing Songwriter) with “the look of a movie star and the sound of a rock star” (Indie Hype), while lauding his music for its “deep soulful insights” (Music Connection) or marveling that “I haven’t heard such passion and integrity in music in a while” (Tuned in Music). Having been tapped for the LAWeekly Music Awards Best Singer/Songwriter of the Year AM has earned opportunities to expand his horizons with film and television. This year AM co-scored indie film Man Maid (starring Los Angeles punk legend John Doe). But, he promises, writing and performing will be at the heart of whatever he does. It’s almost as if he has no choice, not as long as new songs keep demanding his attention … not as long as shadows remain, past the edge of town or within the unquiet soul. AM has recently finished a duets project “Side By Side - Duets EP.Vol. 1? featuring Buddy, Rick Garcia, Meiko, Tina Dico, Julianna Raye, and Susie Suh. This is the first volume in a 6 volume series. AM has shared the stage with such notable acts as Gary Jules, Rhett Miller, Amy Correia, G. Love and the Special Sauce, Bob Mould (Husker Du/ Sugar), and Glen Tilbrook (former Squeeze songsmith), Bob Schneider, Duran Duran, The Flaming Lips, Pete Yorn, and many more.