Happy holidays! I know you’re busy, so I just wanted to make sure you didn’t miss any of WalletHub’s recent holiday reports.
PICTURESQUE
Release Acoustic Video
New Album Back to Beautiful
Out Now via Equal Vision Records
Upcoming Tour with Tonight Alive and Silverstein
Tickets On Sale Now: picturesqueband.com
Lexington, KY - December 21, 2017 - Rock band Picturesque is thrilled to share their brand new acoustic video for "Honestly," a melancholy and devastatingly beautiful song chronicling lead singer Kyle Hollis' relationship with his mother. The song comes from the band's debut full-length album, Back To Beautiful, which was released earlier this year via Equal Vision Records.
On the new acoustic video, Hollis shares: "We've had a lot of fun reinventing some of these old songs while we work on new music to release in 2018. We hope you enjoy!"
The band will be hitting the road early next year with Silverstein and Tonight Alive. The six week, full U.S. run, titled "The Get Free Tour," kicks off on January 19th in Cleveland and includes stops in Denver, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, New York City, and more. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at picturesqueband.com.
Picturesque is Kyle Hollis (vocals), Zach Williamson (guitar), Dylan Forrester (guitar) and Jordan Greenway (bass). The band released their long-awaited debut full-length, Back to Beautiful, on July 14th, 2017 via Equal Vision Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, CA with producer Erik Ron (Saosin, Panic! At The Disco).
On Back to Beautiful, Hollis says, "The title Back to Beautiful is referring to the early days of the band where we had all relocated to Houston and I went through a rough break up. We were engaged, and I thought I had life from there on out figured out, but I didn't. It hit me hard mentally and physically. I wasn't my normal self. I wasn't sleeping enough because I kept having the same nightmares over and over and when I was awake I was lost in my own thoughts of why things were the way they were."
He continues: "I felt like I wasn't good enough for anyone, I felt like I was a burden on everyone around me because I was in this rut and I was afraid I would drag everyone around me down into it. This feeling lasted until around the time we finished the record. It was as if I had gotten whatever was making me ill out of my system and my entire demeanor began to reflect the change."
Picturesque is led by the truly stunning vocal range and power of Hollis and is supported by equally notable instrumentations that blend rock, post-hardcore and pop influences. The band has toured and shared stages with the likes of I the Mighty, blessthefall, Like Moths To Flames, Our Last Night, SECRETS, SYLAR, and more.
Back To Beautiful
was released on July 14th, and can be purchased now at picturesqueband.com.
For More Information, please visit:
Website: www.picturesqueband.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/picturesque
Twitter: www.twitter.com/picturesqueband
Instagram: www.instagram.com/picturesqueband
Upcoming Tour Dates:
1/19 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
1/20 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
1/21- Indianapolis, IN @ Deluxe
1/23 - St. Louis, MO @ Ready Room
1/24 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
1/26 - Denver, CO @ Summit
1/27 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
1/28 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
1/30 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
1/31 - San Francisco, CA @ Slims
2/1 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
2/2 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
2/3 - Las Vegas, NV @ Vinyl
2/5 - Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee
2/6 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theatre
2/8 - San Antonio, TX @ Alamo City Music Hall
2/9 - Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey
2/10 - Houston, TX @ White Oak
2/12 - Orlando, FL @ The Beacham
2/13 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
2/15 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
2/16 - Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
2/17 - Richmond, VA @ Canal Club
2/18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
2/19 - Asbury Park, NJ @ House of Independents
2/20 - Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
2/23 - Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot
2/24 - Chicago, IL @ Concord
2/26 - Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
2/27 - Boston, MA @ Paradise
2/28 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
3/1 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls
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Senators Markey and Lee Query Dept. of Homeland Security on Expansion of Facial Recognition Scanning Program at U.S. Airports
Lawmakers ask for more information since Congress has never authorized biometric exit scanning for U.S. citizens
Washington (December 21, 2017) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), members of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, today called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to answer important questions about its biometric exit program, which is currently operating at nine U.S. international airports. Currently, DHS requires travelers, including U.S. citizens, departing on select international flights to submit to a face scan so that their faces can be compared to a DHS biometric database for identity verification purposes. In their letter, Senator Markey and Lee query DHS about the accuracy, efficacy and transparency of the program. The senators highlight that under DHS’s true accept rate goal, there would still be a false denial for one in 25 travelers. That means thousands of travelers could be wrongfully denied boarding each day.
“We are concerned that the use of the program on U.S. citizens remains facially unauthorized,” write Senators Markey and Lee to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielson. “We request that DHS stop the expansion of this program and provide Congress with its explicit statutory authority to use and expand a biometric exit program on U.S. citizens.”
A copy of the letter can be found HERE.
Specifically, the Senators request more information from DHS on accuracy concerns and potential flaws in the scanning technology, how the program will not unduly burden travelers, including certain races or gender, how the program is improving visa overstay travel fraud, and the authority of DHS to expand the program when Congress has intentionally not authorized biometric exit scanning for U.S. citizens.
Today, the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown University Law Center issued a report that revealed that while Congress has on nine separate occasions called on DHS to establish a “biometric exit” program to verify the identities of foreign nationals as they leave the country, Congress has not authorized face scans of American citizens. DHS also has not established rules governing the program. DHS also does not know whether it wrongly rejects people at higher rates as a result of their race or gender.
