TRICKED OUT COUNTRY RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM

(Bronx, NY – 21 June 2010) New York country trio Tricked Out Country have released their self titled debut CD/DVD through The Harmony Guy Company.

Consisting of songwriter frontman Neil Scott Johnson and drummer and backing vocalist Anthony Liccese, the concept of Tricked Out Country had been a vision in Liccese’s mind for several years when the two musicians made it a reality in 2010. “We call it country meets jazz”, says Liccese. “I grew up on stuff like Depeche Mode, The Police & ol’ garage disco. The first two albums I ever heard were Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass records and it was a huge influence on me. I’ve always wanted to feature trumpet with progressive pop music approaches in my productions and songwriting. Tricked Out Country was a chance to make that happen.” We were blessed in having Ken Scharf, horn player for the late great Ray Charles, become available for this and immediately hired him on the spot.

Comprised of nine songs, Tricked Out Country, which was also produced by Liccese, was recorded at The Harmony Guy Studios in Bronx, NY and NSJ Studios in New York City. Kicking off with the powerful and comedic “Chicky Chow Chow” the listener immediately gets an idea of what they’re in for – solid hooks and a bit of a sense of humour to accompany the band’s top notch musicianship. “Julie”, the album’s first single and video, is the story of the ever elusive bombshell. You want her, can you get her?? When is she going to ring your bell? The ballad “Circle of Dreams” is about lost love and how one really never forgets,. Liccese turned a simple little 2-step country song “You’re Not Invited to My Party” into a totally different sound by doing a reggae feel featuring Jamaican rapper Omari Simmonds. The song comes from a conversation that Neil Scott Johnson had with his 5 year old daughter. “I had asked her to clean her room and she uninvited me to her upcoming birthday party,” says Johnson. “She was relentless – for 10 minutes and then she re-invited me. Right then and there I knew I had to write a song about this.”

Accompanying the CD is a DVD featuring the video for “Julie” as well as interviews with both main characters of the video as well as interviews with Johnson, Liccese and Scharf on the making of ‘Tricked Out Country.”

‘Tricked Out Country’ is in stores, on iTunes and at www.trickedoutcountry.com now.

More info can be found at: http://www.myspace.com/trickedoutcountry

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