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The Magic City Trio take their inspiration from prewar country music, particularly The Carter Family, through to modern hillbilly noir found in the novels of Daniel Woodrell, plus a nod to the psychedelic cowboy music of Lee Hazlewood. Many of their songs are based on real stories of death, crime, lost love, and disaster in the Southern Gothic tradition The band features Frank Sweeney of the June Brides on Guitar, vocals and fiddle , Annie Holder (guitar, vocal and autoharp) and Adi Staempfli (bass and vocals) They play mostly in London but travel in the United States every year, playing open mics on what has become their transatlantic open-mic tour. They have played as far away as Hawaii.

The lead track on this fine new EP, A Funnel Cloud In Albuquerque is based on their visit to Albuquerque in 2013 when the band witnessed the town get hit by a funnel cloud (which is like a twister that doesn't reach the ground). Frank's fellow June Brides also make an appearance on the record, along with production and mastering contributions from Nick Halliwell of The Granite Shore.

A Prayer For Hope And Happy Times was originally called "Underclass" and written from the view of people who live on the outer edges of society. The song features mariachi brass and strings.

The Lone Pilgrim is a traditional Baptist hymn. The other tracks are an alternate cut of A Prayer For Hope And Happy Times which strips the song down to its bare bones, with a Sun Studios type sound, and a twangy instrumental version of Funnel Cloud, which reflects the band's love of Spaghetti Western soundtracks.

The deluxe edition of the EP has the 10-inch vinyl plus CD and a large format booklet, plus other printed inserts. Although this is the Magic City Trio's recorded debut, singer-guitarist Frank Sweeney has appeared on many recordings as a member of The June Brides, with other notable appearances on Primal Scream's Imperial and Space Blues by Felt.

You can order the record here: http://the-magic-city-trio.com/shop.html