Friday, March 14   2:00 p.m.
SXSW Live (The Lone Star Lounge) Austin Convention Center   (500 E Cesar Chavez St) Friday, March 14   10:30 p.m.
Soho Lounge   (217 E 6th St)

  Paddy Casey - Fear
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PADDY CASEY TO RELEASE "ADDICTED TO COMPANY"

USA

US release of Irish star's new full length, available March 4th on
Victor Records/Sony BMG

SUNDAY TRIBUNE REVIEW (Ireland) - "a steaming, funky, sexy beast of an
album... a million Mercury prizes can't buy the effortless tune-smithery
Casey has in his DNA"

From an early age Casey spent a great deal of his time busking on the
streets of Dublin and Galway, crossing paths with musical comrades
Damien Rice, Shane McGowan and Sinead O'Connor, as well as a ragtag
array of traditional Irish musicians. Paddy learned his craft the hard
way, teaching himself guitar from songs books for The Smiths and Prince.


A Sony A&R scout first heard Paddy sing on Dublin's Grafton street, but
after returning the next day, couldn't find Casey as he moved around the
city so much. After tracking him down, Paddy signed a deal with Muff
Winwood's of S2 Records UK, and soon thereafter inked a management
contract with Paul McGuinness and Principle Management Dublin & New York
who also manage the careers of U2, PJ Harvey and The Rapture.

After the massive Irish success of Paddy Casey's previous album, Living,
eleven times platinum in Ireland, Casey felt he wanted to break fresh
ground with his next release and came up with the blueprint that would
include blues licks, funky wah-wah guitars and Stax-style trumpets.
Paddy traveled to LA and met up with George Drakoulias, producer of
records by Rhett Miller, Tom Petty, Tift Merritt and The Jayhawks
amongst others. After hearing Paddy's new material, Drakoulias rounded
up a stellar circle of musicians, people who had played with everyone
from Beck to Eric Clapton.

Casey crafted a powerful and moving canvas of sound, style and spirit. A
moving 11-track song cycle resplendent in soulful melodies and heartfelt
lyricism, the music found on Addicted To Company is a self-described
marriage of the dirty funk grooves of Sly Stone and pastoral folk of
Simon & Garfunkel. Casey sites a wide range of musical influences,
everyone from Sufjan Stevens and The Strokes to Parliament and Jimi
Hendrix, and while those touchstones are a part of the record's
stylistic thread, what's most impressive is the manner in which he
weaves those influences to make them his own.

One of the first songs finished was the title track, "Addicted To
Company", a breeze of a song with a Philly Soul undercurrent. Paddy
sings "Don't want to sell tragedy and confusion, Don't want to add to
these tales of illusion" and he immediately establishes the lyrical
pattern of the album - the most narrative-driven, people-centered songs
Casey has ever written.

"Sun comes up and life goes on its way...but inside these walls, they
are taking you away" sings Casey on the bitterweet ballad "Leaving". One
of the album's highlights, it's a stark and emotionally moving tale of
mortality. "It's about an artistic person that I connected with who was
part of the hunger strikes in Ireland back in the 70's and he knew he
was gonna die," relates Casey. "Lyrically, I didn't want the song to be
too literal; I wanted to leave it a bit open to the imagination."

Addicted to Company has received raves in Paddy's homeland. Hot Press
enthuses: "Truly beautiful, richly-layered, emotionally moving record"
while the Irish Times marvels, "Music as shiny and happy as Paddy
Casey's latest is a rarity".

A spin or two of Paddy Casey's new CD will make you a believer too, and
soon you too will find yourself addicted to his musical company.