Jackson, Mississippi native Dent May grew up singing in local church groups, acting in school plays, and performing at nursing home gigs with a recorder choir. In high school, he wrote synthy power-pop with his band The Rockwells while recording erotically charged novelty tracks with friends on the side. After three unsuccessful semesters at NYU’s film school, May moved to North Mississippi where he helped found the Cats Purring arts collective and formed a country-rock band called Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City. In late 2007, inspired by Serge Gainsbourg and Lee Hazlewood, he began performing as Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele and released a digital EP of cheeky lo-fi tunes, A Brush With Velvet. The title is a reference to The Partridge Family, episodes of which May obsessively collected and organized on VHS tapes as a teen. His debut album, The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, was recorded with Rusty Santos in May’s home, a double-wide trailer in Taylor, Mississippi (population: 300). He continues to perform with Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City, and recently began recording dance music under the moniker Dent Sweat.
Dent May recently toured North America with AC Newman and opened for Animal Collective in the UK – the tour dates below represent his first headlining tour, including a stop at the amazing Sasquatch! Festival in George, WA!
DENT MAY & HIS MAGNIFICENT UKULELE
05/15 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
05/16 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill
05/17 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Saloon
05/19 Denver, CO Hi Dive
05/20 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
05/21 Boise, ID Neurolux
05/22 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
05/23 George, WA Sasquatch
05/27 Minneapolis, MN 400 Bar
05/28 Chicago, IL Schubas
Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele
The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele
(Paw Tracks)
Street date: Feb. 03, 2009
1. Welcome
2. Meet Me In The Garden
3. College Town Boy
4. Oh, Paris!
5. Howard
6. Girls On The Square
7. You Can’t Force a Dance Party
8. God Loves You, Michael Chang
9. At The Academic Conference
10. 26 Miles
11. I’m an Alcoholic
12. Love Song 2009
DENT MAY LINKS:
MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/dentmay
Press Materials – http://www.paw-tracks.com/dentmaypresspage.html