HORSE FEATHERS’ CYNIC’S NEW YEAR DEBUTS AT #23 ON BILLBOARD FOLK CHART, #29 ON HEATSEEKERS

KILL ROCK STARS RELEASE GARNERS CRITICAL ACCLAIM

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES CONTINUE THROUGH JUNE

Horse Feathers’ new album Cynic’s New Year (out now on Kill Rock Stars) capped off a successful release week registering at #23 on the Billboard Folk Chart and #29 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. The album has garnered critical acclaim in the short time since its release, premiering via an NPR First Listen (http://n.pr/IvhkEd). Here’s what the press has had to say:

“Cynic’s New Year is all exquisite grace and charm.” –NPR

“A delight from start to finish” –USA Today

“Flourishes of piano, reeds, banjo, and horns…all of which are gracefully absorbed into the band’s signature sound.” –Pitchfork

“Horse Feathers elevate themselves above the fray with a rare combination of simplicity and intricacy.” –SPIN

“Simple, delicate songs” –Stereogum

“Ornate and lyrically haunting” –Utne Reader

“The album allows us to approach the terrifying ideas of the uncontrollable with the gentle hand-holding of Americana.” –Filter

“The Portland band is at its best when it contrasts [frontman Justin Ringle’s] stark songs with luxurious orchestrations, and that happens often on Cynic’s New Year.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Horse Feathers are certainly on the right path towards becoming a premier force in not only the Northwest folk scene, but the entire country as a whole.” –Paste

The Portland, OR-based group, led by singer-songwriter Justin Ringle and longtime collaborator, violinist Nathan Crockett, broadens their sonic palette on Cynic’s New Year to include 11 musicians playing instruments including drums, French horn, piano, bells, upright bass and banjo. The album was recorded at Portland’s Miracle Lake Studios with producer Skyler Norwood (Blind Pilot, Talkdemonic) as well as at Ringle’s own Hawthorne Park studio.

The band is currently on a two-month North American tour featuring a five-piece lineup; please see below for a list of dates.

Horse Feathers was formed after Justin Ringle moved to Portland in 2004. Having played with rock bands in his native Idaho, Ringle found himself drawn to a softer, more folk-based sound in the Pacific Northwest. He began combining stark lyrics (he cites Cormac McCarthy as an influence) with subtle acoustic arrangements and in 2006 released the first Horse Feathers album, Words are Dead, which was nominated for Americana Album of the Year by the Plug Awards. This was followed by 2008’s House With No Home, the band’s first release on Kill Rock Stars, and 2010’s Thistled Spring. The title track from Thistled Spring was named an NPR Song of the Day: “There’s a clear and present disconnect between the soothingly majestic beauty of Horse Feathers’ music and Ringle’s words…but Horse Feathers’ members understand with clarity how much richer ‘Thistled Spring’ is for its darker shading.”

For more information, please contact Joe Cohen or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.

HORSE FEATHERS TOUR

May 1 /// Café Dekcuf /// Ottawa, ON
May 2 /// Il Motore /// Montreal, QC
May 3 /// Higher Ground /// Burlington, VT
May 4 /// Iron Horse /// Northampton, MA
May 5 /// Brighton Music Hall /// Boston, MA
May 6 /// The Met /// Pawtucket, RI
May 7 /// Café Nine /// New Haven, CT
May 9 /// Bowery Ballroom /// New York, NY
May 10 /// Johnny Brenda’s /// Philadelphia, PA
May 11 /// Black Cat /// Washington, DC
May 12 /// The Southern /// Charlottesville, VA
May 15 /// Local 506 /// Chapel Hill, NC
May 16 /// Grey Eagle /// Asheville, NC
May 17 /// The EARL /// Atlanta, GA
May 18 /// The Basement /// Nashville, TN
May 19 /// Cosmic Charlie’s /// Lexington, KY
May 20 /// Nelsonville Music Festival /// Nelsonville, OH
May 21 /// The Comet /// Cincinnati, OH
May 22 /// The Firehouse North /// Manchester, IN
May 23 /// The Bishop /// Bloomington, IN
May 24 /// The Firebird /// St. Louis, MO
May 26 /// Bluebird Theater /// Denver, CO
May 27 /// Low Spirits /// Albuquerque, NM
May 28 /// Crescent Ballroom /// Phoenix, AZ
May 30 /// The Casbah /// San Diego, CA
May 31 /// The Echo /// Los Angeles, CA
June 1 /// Crepe Place /// Santa Cruz, CA
June 2 /// The Independent /// San Francisco, CA
June 3 /// Origami Lounge /// Chico, CA
June 9 /// Barboza /// Seattle, WA