PRESS RELEASE

Flying Meatloaf Records is pleased to announce its first Welsh-language single: Americanwr Balch by Santa Barbara, California-based artist Pawlie. The single releases on March 29, 2024, and will be available for download and streaming through all major outlets.

“Americanwr Balch (Proud American, in English) is a tongue-in-cheek poke at typical American attitudes nowadays,” says Pawlie — a dual-citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States.

“After spending a month travelling around Wales last spring, I made lots of new friends and met like-minded people who shared my views on America’s troubling trajectory. I felt a connection with Wales almost immediately, and started wondering if Welsh listeners might enjoy hearing a Brit from California . . . take the piss out of America . . . in Welsh! I started working on Welsh lyrics to Proud American from my 2021 album and things fell into place. Hopefully people will chuckle and appreciate the tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic message. It’s not a patriotic song!”

Americanwr Balch is Pawlie’s first foray into Welsh-language songwriting. “I received my UK passport, and below British Passport it said Pasbort Prydeinig,” recalls Pawlie. “I realized that Welsh is the only official UK language other than English, so I decided to start learning. It’s an amazing language for singing, and Welsh culture places a very high value on music, poetry, literature, and the arts — so I realized early on that I had to have a go!

Since the nineties, Pawlie has been creating original music drawing on influences in the rock, pop, jazz, folk, and progressive genres. He has released four albums so far: Pawlie (1994), The Small Time (1998), Little Green Man (2011), and An Ape's Progress (2021). Pawlie's influences include Todd Rundgren, Neil Finn, Joni Mitchell, The Fixx, Yes, Genesis, Camel, and more.

After growing up in England, Pawlie moved to America with his family. He strummed his first guitar at age 13, and quickly became fascinated with all aspects of music composition, performance, and recording. This eventually led him to the University of California in Santa Barbara, where he studied electrical engineering as a path to audio production. Pawlie works as an engineering teacher, but he's still obsessed with music!

Americanwr Balch was co-produced with Thom Flowers (Steve Perry, The Ataris), and features Jake Hayden (Nick Carter, Dorothy, Beth Ditto) on drums, Dean Dinning (Toad the Wet Sprocket) on bass and organ, Mike Keneally (Zappa, Vai, Satriani) on lead guitar, and Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish, Beck) on piano and synthesizer. Pawlie plays acoustic and electric rhythm guitars and sings lead and backing vocals on the track. Americanwr Balch was mixed by Thom Flowers at Hi-Volt Sound in Santa Barbara and mastered in Wales by Gethin John at Hafod Mastering. The single’s artwork was created by San Diego-based painter and visual artist Igor Koutsenko.

Pawlie hopes to start work on a music video for Americanwr Balch in the summer.

RELEASE NOTES

  • Release date: March 29, 2024

  • Track name: Americanwr Balch

  • Artist: Pawlie

  • Track length: 3:44

  • Label: Flying Meatloaf Records

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