Through the end of 2011, Empire State Express will be playing a monthly gig at Drum & Monkey, our favorite Irish pub on the South Side. On the first Thursday of each month, we will play two hours of moneymaker shaking rock & roll. The College Marketplace is graciously sponsoring our residency and is upping the ante with some drink specials that make the CTA look like a very tempting transportation option. For the UIC crowd we’ll be giving advanced degrees in rocking out. For fans of all descriptions we’ll have kickass tunes, never-before-heard material and special giveaways. All you have to do is dance.

Click here for a full list of our upcoming shows.

We’re thrilled to announce that our new single, “Revolving Doors” is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and other fine music retailers and streaming services the world over.

“Revolving Doors” is a big milestone for Empire State Express. It’s the first full-fledged studio recording that the three of us have done in the year and a half that we’ve been playing together. The narrative will be familiar to anyone who’s ever watched “Behind the Music” or read Keith Richards’s autobiography. The full-band sound halfway in is as concentrated a blast of ESE as we could fit into two minutes. “Revolving Doors” seemed like the natural choice to kick off the series of singles we have planned for the next several months.

Our not-so-silent partners in all this were producer/post-engineer Nick Messitte (Brooklyn) and recording engineers Matt Schlachter and Eddie Kerpan (Chicago). Their skill and talent shepherded the recording through equipment failures, postal mishaps, a major tropical storm and a slew of smaller gremlins. For all this and more they have our heartfelt thanks.

We had a blast putting the final track together and hope a little bit of that joy comes through in the listening experience.

For those of you who missed it, our July 8th set at the Double Door was about the most fun that can legally be had in Chicago city limits. The bill featured standout sets from top to bottom, including performances from Jessica Robbins and her band, Peter Terry and the Chicago City Profits, The Main Squeeze, and yours truly. As a special treat, Paige DeChausse joined us for the second half of our set, showing off a bigger set of pipes than Holy Name Cathedral.

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been trickling out some high-quality video of the show on our YouTube channel, but in honor of a very rainy, dreary Sunday in Chicago, we’ve made a little playlist for your enjoyment:

• Part One (“Revolving Doors”, “Old Soul”)
• Part Two (“Keys”, “The Girls I Used to Know”)
• Part Three (“Jackie Chan”, “White Rabbit”)
• Part Four (“Big Bad Wolf”, “Empire State Express”)

Before the show, we also did a little interview with one of our favorite local music blogs, Reviewsic, talking a bit about where we’ve been, where we’re going and which Beatle Derrick would most like to high-five.

Lastly, don’t miss some of the stunning photos that our fans took during the show. Do we look this good in real life? Amazing what a little dramatic lighting can do.

On Friday July 8th, Empire State Express will be back in Chicago storming the house that Billy Corgan, Jeff Tweedy, Keith Richards and countless other rock demigods built. We’ll throw down a full set of neo-classic rock badness and hip-shaking goodness, and throw in a few surprises along the way.

Our special guest for the evening will be the ineluctable, indestructable Paige DeChausse, whose soulful voice you may have heard with JP and the Cats, Chicago Blues Angels or on a little show called American Idol. Disclaimer: we cannot be held liable for any melted faces or melted hearts.

Also joining us on the bill, courtesy of Shoeshine Boy Productions, will be Chicago alt-folk singer Jessica Robbins, string and voice dynamos, Peter Terry and the Chicago City Profits, and headliners The Main Squeeze. Doors open at 8PM. Showtime is at 9PM.

Tickets for the night are $9 at the door or $7 in advance. Your ticket will also get you a copy of ESE’s limited edition Land Speed Record EP at the show, plus the delicious sense of having gotten away with something good. Click here to pick up a couple of tickets for yourself, your partners in crime and your own main squeeze (discount code is EMPIRE).

Thanks for all your support this far. It’s been a hell of a ride to get to the Double Door and we hope to see you at the party.

We’re thrilled to announce that the “Special Edition” of our debut EP, Land Speed Record, is now available on iTunes and other online music stores and streaming services (full confirmed list below). This set features five high-energy Empire State Express originals, newly mixed and remastered by our friend and engineer extraordinaire, Nick Messitte.

The Dropcard edition of this release, available only at ESE shows and by special request, also features two exclusive bonus tracks, including the showstopper that gave our band its name, recorded live for radio broadcast in late 2010. You’ll also get a handsome, limited edition card designed by uneekgrafix, which is good for everything from specials at live shows to supercharging with your mutant powers and hurling at 10-storey-tall evil robots in your quest to save the universe.

Now, you may be asking, “why a special edition?” For one thing, we were never completely satisfied with the mastering and some of the mixes on the first CD release of LSR back in 2010. However, being DIY outfit with only a few months and even fewer dollars under our belts, we couldn’t could do much about that problem at the time. Even so, our first pressing sold out due to our fans’ tremendous support. As a way of saying thank you, we’ve put our profits back into polishing up the original Land Speed Records tracks. We hope you enjoy our debut EP the way it was meant to sound.

As of 4/29, Land Speed Record (Special Edition) can be found on:

• iTunes (global)
• Napster
• Last.fm

More stores to come soon!

That or we just make Tim weak at the knees.

Aushim got his. Get yours at our next show.

This was the year that Empire State Express stopped the revolving door, got out of the garage and started to make a name for ourselves. We hit clubs, festivals, fundraisers and even the airwaves up and down Chicago. Along the way we played with some fantastic local and touring acts–inciting dance parties and even raising a herd of goats for charity. All this simply would not have worked without you, and special thanks go to the collaborators and co-conspirators who smoothed the way for us live, including: Jay, Josh, Jabs, Janelle, Eva, Dave, Paul, Paris, Christopher, Christian, Mat, Mike, Mark, Danny, Silvie, Tanya and Stefanie.

Offstage, you helped us pick our first t-shirt design, kept voting for what covers you want to hear, barbecued and drank with us, ranted and raved with us, rocked and rolled with us. For a DIY band with neither a corporate machine behind us nor a wall of gloss painted around us, it’s these small bits of love and support from you and crew that keep us going between shows. It  means the world to us.

2011 is already shaping up to be a hell of a party, including tours, new recordings and even a web series on ESE’s fledgling YouTube channel. But that’s a story for another year. In the meantime, have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve!