
VANCOUVER (www.easilyamused.ca) - Pop/rock duo Easily Amused was nominated for Outstanding Pop Recording in the Western Canadian
Music Awards for their latest album,
Simple Stuff. This nomination clearly puts Easily Amused in elite company, as the other nominees in the category include
Sarah MacLachlan, Jann Arden, and
Nelly Furtado.
Easily Amused released their latest record, Simple Stuff, this past January and has been busy touring the Northern U.S. and Canada since, including a showcase at North By Northeast in June. The album debuted at No 178 on the CMJ charts and charted on several non-commercial radio stations.
Simple Stuff is the follow-up to 2001's Novice and shows how the group, which consists of singer/songwriters Renee Lamoureux and Keith Macpherson, has refined their songwriting and performance skills thanks to almost 500 live shows together over the past three years.
Hailing from Winnipeg, which has produced such well-known artists as Chantal Kreviazuk and the Crash Test Dummies, Easily Amused formed in 1997 when Lamoureux and Macpherson met and almost immediately began writing music together. They clicked not only as songwriters, but as performers as well, with voices that blended as if they belonged together, and began performing in local coffee houses. The release of Novice and a heavy tour itinerary helped Easily Amused to grow their fan base, and garner plenty of critical acclaim. This included Canadian Music Week's award for Best Online Indie Artist, as well as appearances on Canada A.M. and Open Mike with Mike Bullard and Vicki Gabereau.
Being independent has helped this duo to be self-sufficient while learning how the music business operates. But more than anything, Easily Amused is a band ready to show the world that there is a place for honest songwriting and musicianship in the music industry, and they have no plans to rest on their own laurels. 'We are real people playing real music, ' says Macpherson, 'And have a true honesty in the music we create together.'
Tour Dates:
8/28: Fargo, ND @ The Great Northern
8/29: Mankato, MN @ Bethany Lutheran College
9/1: Waterloo, IA @ Hawkeye Community College
9/3: Seward, NE @ Concordia University
9/8: Fort Dodge, IA @ Iowa Central Community College
9/16: Center Valley, PA @ DeSales University
9/18: New Concord, OH @ Muskingum College
9/21: Youngstown, OH @ Youngstown State University
9/24: Cleveland, OH @ South Side
9/25: Cleveland, OH @ Flannery's Pub
10/14: Franklin, MA @ Dean College
10/15: Cambridge, MA @ Lesley University
10/20: York, PA @ Penn State University York
10/20: Lakewood, NJ @ Georgian Court College
10/23: Canton, NY @ St. Lawrence University
10/25: Plymouth, NH @ Plymouth State University
10/27: Durham, NH @ University of New Hampshire
10/27: Waltham, MA @ Bentley College
11/2: Glassboro, NJ @ Rowan University
11/3: Philadelphia, PA @ St. Joseph's University
11/11: Sheboygan, WI @ Lakeland College
11/16: Minneapolis, MN @ Dunwoody Institute
11/17: Sheldon, IA @ Northwest Community College
11/17: Brookings, SD @ South Dakota State University
11/18: Omaha, NE @ Clarkson College
11/19: Sioux Falls, SD @ Augustana College
11/20: Hastings, NE @ The Listening Room
11/23: Dickinson, ND @ Dickinson State University
12/3: St. Catherine's, ON @ Brock Center for the Arts
12/8: Port Angeles, WA @ Peninsula College