The First Ladies have spent the last two years writing new songs, enhancing fan favorites, and expanding their desire to grow creativity as a band. Front-men Joel and Micah Smith have been writing together for over eight years. Their compatibility is evident in the new album, How To Make Old Friends Instantly, as they consistently land catchy hooks over bouncy rhythms, rounding tracks off with effectively smart but simple guitar riffs and lyrical storytelling. This is especially evident in first tracks “Pocket Jokers” and “Keep An Eye On Us.” The band decided to extend the album, which was originally set to be an EP, by adding a few revised favorites from their first CD, This Boy Deserves a Train. Older songs included on the album are “Heartbeat,” “What’s Next?,” and “Dynamic Shape of Things.”
How To Make Old Friends Instantly is a refreshingly energetic record for the Boise indie rock scene. The band isn’t afraid to write a pop song while keeping their feet on the ground through innovative and smart songwriting tactics. Guitarist Micah Smith produced the album in full, with recording assistance from part-time bass player Christian McKenna. Micah’s experience in rock, electro and hip hop production has clearly paid off as this home-recorded album is surprisingly polished in quality.
The First Ladies have radio play lined up across the nation, through a number of free-form and college stations from California to Montana, Chicago, St. Louis, Connecticut and of course, Idaho. Along with exposing a couple of new tracks, they have been offered a few in-studio and interview sessions at Radio Boise with a future interview date planned before summer. The First Ladies are consistently hard workers and plan to take promotion and touring of How To Make Old Friends Instantly as seriously as they took the creation and production of the record.
The band will be doing a few concert dates in Seattle, Portland, and Salem during March and a larger tour of the whole Northwest and California this June.
Look for the new LP on iTunes, Amazon.com, Verizon, and at The Record Exchange (Boise, ID) February 21, 2010. Available NOW online at www.firstladiesmusic.com
The First Ladies are an indie-rock band out of Boise, ID. For the past
2 years they've been responsible for a number of catchy, sophisticated,
and thought provoking songs, all well received by Boise's local music
scene. Joel and Micah Smith are the primary songwriters of the band,
writing melodies, lyrics, and constructing arrangements. The two
brothers have been writing songs together for the last 8 years. The
third asset to the band is Jordan Hopewell. You'll most commonly find
Micah playing guitar and singing, Jordan on bass, and Joel on drums and
vocals. Micah is the sole producer and engineer for The First Ladies.
"Lyrically, we like to explore the times in life when things
don't turn out like we expect, when you're in a foreign world or
situation. It can be sad, confusing, or just ironic at times, but we
like to tie it into a sense of moving forward, progress and growth in
life despite how things go" - Micah Smith
The First Ladies completed their 2nd self-released record in
February of 2010, an 11 song LP called "How To Make Old Friends
Instantly." It includes a number of new tracks, as well as revised
originals. They recently finished developing a music video for Heart
Beat, produced and directed by locally-awarded mastermind, Aidan
Brezonick. The band is very excited to see their fan’s response and to
continue the search for new and exciting opportunities.
