NEW ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY BLACKBOX LAUNCHES WITH BURNING HOTELS | ISHI | MON JULIEN SHOW

Booking company’s first production to be Mon Julien’s Fort Worth premier

Fort Worth, TX — Blackbox, a Fort Worth-based entertainment promotion company is holding its launch party in Fort Worth at Lola’s Saloon on February 18, featuring established headliners Burning Hotels,
Dallas’

 Ishi and

Mon Julien, the new project of former Black Tie Dynasty founders Cory Watson and Brian McCorquodale. The show will mark Mon Julien’s first appearance in their hometown and second show overall, after playing to a packed house in Dallas’ Granada Theater.

Watson and McCorquodale’s previous outfit, the popular keyboard-centric pop band Black Tie Dynasty, disbanded in 2009, following the pressures to create and promote their second and final release, 2008’s Down Like Anyone. After a couple years of sporadic musical activity for Watson and a stint in Telegraph Canyon for McCorquodale, the two reconnected and began writing new material that gradually drifted away from the BTD formula and into a different, moodier sound, resulting in the band’s 11-track, self-titled debut. The duo was joined in the studio by Polyphonic Spree member Mark Pirro on bass and Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith. The band’s first show in Dallas boasted a crowd of around 800, many of which were BTD fans eager to hear Watson and McCorquodale’s new direction.

Dallas-based Ishi formed in 2006 as a duo blending folk with positive, electronic-based dance grooves, quickly building a fan base and becoming one of DFW’s most popular acts. Founding members JT Mudd and Brad Dale have since expanded the band to include local luminaries Becky Middleton on vocals, Rocky Ottely on guitar and James Mudd on drums and programming. The band has won numerous awards, such as the 2010 and 2011 Dallas Observer Music Award for Best Dance/Electronica, as well as opening for national acts like Phoenix, Neon Indian and Toro y Moi.

Since 2003, Matt Mooty and Chance Morgan’s Burning Hotels have dominated the DFW music scene, initially with an angular, Interpol-inspired post-punk sound and currently in the form of the chilled-out, mid-tempo synth-based pop featured on their 2011 eponymous album, released to widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike.

Founded by Jamie Kinser, formerly of Fort Worth’s Overtone Productions, Blackbox is a full-service production agency focused on band and venue booking and entertainment events promotion all over Texas. After graduating from University of Texas Arlington with a degree in Theater Production, Ms. Kinser has organized and promoted numerous events throughout Texas, including the Johnny Cash Bash in Austin, Houston and Dallas; the Field of Dreams rave in Dallas; and created The DEN afterhours in Arlington and Sunday Night Live music series at Caves Lounge in Arlington, as well as managing country performer Lucky Tubb during his tour with Hank Williams III. Blackbox's website launched last week and is located at www.blackboxpresents.com