The Pierces
| The Pierces | |
|---|---|
 The Pierces, Allison (left) and Catherine, 2008. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Birmingham, Alabama, United States |
| Genres | Psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop, psychedelic folk, folk rock, folk pop, pop rock |
| Years active | 2000–Present |
| Labels | Lizard King Records |
| Website | Official website |
| Members |
Allison Pierce Catherine Pierce |
The Pierces are an American New York-based band consisting of sisters Allison and Catherine Pierce.
Early life
Allison Margaret Pierce (born July 23, 1975) and Catherine Eleanor Pierce (born September 11, 1977) were born two years apart in Birmingham, Alabama. They traveled frequently and received home-schooling from their self-described hippie parents. Their father played the guitar in various bands, while their mother was a painter. Exposed to music and arts at an early age, the Pierce sisters grew up listening to Joni Mitchell and Simon & Garfunkel. As children, they were encouraged to explore their creative side and would perform at parties, weddings and churches. Allison started dancing at age three, and both sisters are accomplished ballerinas.[citation needed]
Musical career
2000–2005: The Pierces and Light of the Moon
It was while they attended Auburn University that a friend sent a tape to a record company in Nashville. This eventually resulted in their debut album The Pierces (2000). It featured folk harmonies and adult alternative songs. In a 2004 interview, Allison Pierce commented that the album "sort of got lost in the shuffle".[1] Allmusic attributes the poor reception to "no label support".[2]
On August 10, 2005, their second album Light of the Moon was released through Universal. The album was produced by Brian Sperber and featured 11 tracks that the Pierce sisters either wrote or co-wrote.[3]
2007–2010: Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge
On March 20, 2007, their third album Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge was released in the U.S. Produced by Roger Greenawalt (Nils Lofgren, Radish, Ben Kweller), the album has been well-reviewed, particularly for the single "Boring", which parodies celebrity socialites. The album has a darker, edgier style, at times using such diverse instruments as an accordion, a calliope, bassoons, a sitar, violins, an autoharp, and a Hawaiian lap steel. It marks a definitive change in the direction of the band, which hitherto had been known as a folk rock band.[4]
In an interview with Rolling Stone, after they were featured as a Rolling Stone Breaking Artist, they revealed that this album "felt like [their] last chance". As a result, they "just went for it, had fun".[5]
On October 24, 2007, The Pierces appeared on the CW television series Gossip Girl, in the episode "The Handmaiden's Tale", playing their songs "Secret" and "Three Wishes". They made another in the episode Hi, Society, playing the same two songs.
On August 21, 2008, "Secret" by The Pierces appeared in a promo for Showtime show Dexter.[6] In May 2009, Dutch TV channel NET 5 used "Secret" in a promo for their fantasy shows Charmed and Ghost Whisperer. It also appears as the theme song for the ABC Family's original TV series, based upon the series of books by Sara Shepard, Pretty Little Liars. Secret was also played over the closing credits in the movie "ExTerminators."
The duo appeared in The All-American Rejects' third album, When The World Comes Down, in the track, "Another Heart Calls". They performed the song live with The All-American Rejects in July 2009 at MySpace's The List in Dallas, Texas.
The single "Secret", is the theme song of the TV-series Pretty Little Liars, it was suggested by one of the stars of the show, Ashley Benson. In 2012, the single "Secret" was featured in a commercial for the Australian Big Brother.
2010–2012: You & I
On October 23, 2010, the group appeared on Later... with Jools Holland. In December 2010, the sisters and their band toured with Lissie as her support act. They also performed live on ITV1 show Lorraine in March 2011 whilst promoting their new single "Glorious".
On May 30, 2011, their fourth and latest album You & I was released featuring their new singles "Love You More", "You'll Be Mine", "Glorious" and "It Will Not Be Forgotten" produced by darktones and released by Polydor Records. However, The Pierces only have a label currently in the UK and are therefore focusing on widening their popularity there, later working on their homeland the US.
They went on their first ever official tour through June 2011, with Delta Maid and Alice Gold as support: 7 June-The Pleasance (Edinburgh), 8 June-Rescue Rooms (Nottingham), 9 June-The Cockpit (Leeds), 11 June-The Ruby Lounge (Manchester), 12 June-HMV Institute (Birmingham), 13 June-Thekla (Bristol), 14 June-Bush Hall (London).
The Pierces played at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2011.
The Pierces supported Coldplay at the iTunes Festival in July 2011, which happened to be on Alison's 36th birthday. A second, much larger UK tour took place through October 2011, with Marcus Foster as support: 7 October-Leadmill (Sheffield), 8 October-02 ABC (Glasgow)(changed from the smaller venue Oran Mor due to high demand), 9 October-Academy 3 (Manchester), 11 October-Condorde 2 (Brighton), 12 October-Glee Club (Birmingham), 13 October-02 Shepherds Bush Empire (London), 15 October-Junction (Cambridge), 16 October-Waterfront (Norwich), 17 October-Glee Club (Cardiff), 19 October-02 Academy2 (Oxford), 20 October-Anson Rooms (Bristol), 21 October-Stanley Theatre (Liverpool). On 11 September 2011, the duo announced via Twitter that their next UK single from You & I will be "Kissing You Goodbye", due 23 October. The Pierces supported Coldplay once again for their North American tour in April–May 2012. They appeared at the Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles shows, as well as supporting them in their Australian tour
2012–present: Creation
The Pierces confirmed on their Facebook account, that they are in the studio recording new music for their upcoming fifth studio album. On January 3, 2013, The Pierces tweeted a fan on twitter stating that their fifth studio album should be coming this year; however, it was then confirmed by member Catherine Pierce on August 27, 2013 via twitter to a fan that the new album would end up being released in early 2014. Their song "We are Stars" was featured on CW's Beauty & the Beast in episode 15 "Any Means Possible".
On January 31, 2014, the band confirmed via twitter that the album would be called Creation[7] and shared the video for its first single, "Kings". The album is currently slated for a release of June 2, 2014.[8]
Members
- Allison Pierce: Vocals and acoustic guitar
- Catherine Pierce: Vocals and percussion
Discography
Albums
- The Pierces (2000)
- Light of the Moon (2004)
- Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge (2007)
- You & I (2011)
- Creation (2014)
Extended Plays
- Love You More EP (2010)
- You'll Be Mine EP (2011)
- iTunes Festival London 2011 (2011)
Singles
- "The Way" (2000)
- "Boring" (2007)
- "Sticks and Stones" (2007)
- "Secret" (2007)
- "You'll Be Mine" (2011)
- "Glorious" (2011)
- "It Will Not be Forgotten" (2011)
- "Kissing You Goodbye" (2011)
- "I Put Your Records On" (2012)
- "Kings" (2014)
References
- ↑ "Who to know". Portico Birmingham. Archived from the original on 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ↑ "The Pierces Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ↑ "Pop Matters Short Takes". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ↑ "The Pierces: Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge - PopMatters Music Review". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ↑ "VIDEO: Meet Rolling Stone’s New Breaking Artist, the Pierces". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ↑ Promo
- ↑ The Pierces confirm new album on Twitter
- ↑ iTunes: Creation slated for release Jun 02
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Pierces. |
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