MuMble

The group Mumble have embraced a clever and tuneful approach to pop music while giving it just enough of a twist to set them apart from their peers and influences, adding layers of hard rock guitar, psychedelic melodic accents, and an art rocker's stylistic wanderlust. Mumble were originally the brainchild of guitarist, keyboardist, singer, and songwriter John Hawthorne, who claims to have asked bassist Rick Camburn to help him form a band while they were attending eighth-grade together in Michigan Center, MI and waiting for a kickball game to end. Hawthorne and Camburn's project gained a bit more power when they invited their friend Landon Ewers to play drums, but it wasn't until years later, after the three had moved 40 miles east to Ann Arbor, that Mumble began to evolve into a real band. In 2005, the fledgling group made the acquaintance of guitarist Eric Empson, then playing with the band the Hopescope, and they persuaded him to join Mumble; with the addition of second drummer Vic Kinsey, the lineup was complete. Mumble began playing out frequently throughout Michigan and touring further into the Midwest; in time their music came to the attention of Marathon Records, an Illinois-based independent label, who agreed to distribute the group's debut album. Happy Living was released by Marathon on November 9, 2010.