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For Immediate Release: 
May 28, 2021 

LEON III RELEASES “FLY MIGRATOR”
(KAI WELCH REMIX)

SOPHOMORE ALBUM ANTLERS IN VELVET - AVAILABLE NOW 
LISTEN TO “FLY MIGRATOR” (KAI WELCH REMIX)

“psych-tinged Americana” 
- FLOOD 
 
“Leon III traverse expansive guitar rock terrain” 
- Glide Magazine 
 
“elements of Psychedelia that lurk just under the surface” 
- Tower Records

Today, Leon III ("Leon the Third") shares Kai Welch's remix of "Fly Migrator," the first track off Leon III's latest album Antlers in Velvet.   
Kai's syncopated, and expressive take on the song is the perfect amount of weird synthy articulation to uncover brand new musical flavors of the 9-minute track.   

"Kai Welch might not be a household name but he’s kind of a superpower." Says Andy Stepanian. "He’s capable of such a wide range of musical output. He’s a wizard on synthesizer and can come up with this extraordinary weirdness in that realm. But he’s also tremendously talented as a songwriter, trumpet player, pianist and composer. He was nominated for a Grammy this last year for a beautiful song of his called "Ceiling to the Floor" that mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull recorded. We’ve had a chance to collaborate with Kai on a variety of things over the last few years including the time he spent with us in California making the Antlers in Velvet record. After the recording was finished, we thought it would be fun to throw "Fly Migrator" back to Kai and see what kind of craziness he could come up with in a remix. We love what he did. He kept the essence of the song, including Mason’s bombastic guitar solo, but also made it something new. I guess that’s the point of a remix."          

Leon III, the Texas-based, exploratory psych-folk outfit led by Andy Stepanian (vocal, guitar, keyboard, piano, omnichord) and Mason Brent (guitar, bass, vocal, banjo), sounds like a relic from another age. In a time when so much of today’s music seems as disposable and temporal as a tweet, Leon III is standing athwart the tide. With their latest release, Antlers in Velvet, the band conjures the spirit and ambition of Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead. 
Make no mistake, this is an album with the potential for a serious shelf life.

STREAM/PURCHASE ANTLERS IN VELVET
With some tracks lasting nearly ten-minutes, this record begs the listener to dive in headfirst and commit to an ultimate and holistic listening experience. The new album showcases the extreme depth and the genius musicianship that this project holds. MxDwn calls the album an “expansive, genre-bending new sound.”  

Even though this is only the second effort from Leon III, the project can trace its roots to the late ’90s when Andy Stepanian and Mason Brent started a band in Charlottesville, Virginia called Wrinkle Neck Mules, a honky-tonk outfit that made six albums, had a song featured in a GEICO commercial, and built up a dedicated and far-ranging fan base. Stepanian and Brent also collaborate in the form of Howler Brothers, a popular outdoor clothing line based in Austin, Texas, which they operate and which bears their artistic imprimatur.
 
Stepanian and Brent grew up in Richmond, Virginia, where country and roots music informed much of their musical development. But the two have always been drawn to the progressive, exploratory ethos of the psychedelic masters, as well as left-of-center folk artists like Vic Chesnutt and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. This new record is the consummation of that vision.
 
The advent of Covid-19 and the “safer at home” mantra has disrupted the supercharged tempo of 21st – century life. As difficult as it’s been, the period has also been a time for reflection, for patience, for a new way of looking at things. With that in mind, Antlers in Velvet is the perfect album for an imperfect time – a song cycle that allows for a deeper dive into some of the darker and more complex corners of American music that speaks coherently to the very strange times in which we find ourselves.

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Press Contact:
Emily Ginsberg