Aimee Mann teams with visual artist Gary Taxali for artwork on @#%&! Smilers

Aimee Mann has collaborated with critically acclaimed visual artist Gary Taxali on her 7th solo release @#%&! Smilers, to be released on June 3, 2008 on her own SuperEgo Records.

Taxali has contributed 17 original illustrations for the packaging of the CD, art directed by Aimee Mann and Gail Marowitz, and designed by Marowitz and Ed Sherman.

Los Angeles art gallery La Luz De Jesus will host a showing of the 17 new artworks which will kick off with a combined art show and CD release party on May 31st, 2008 at 8 pm. Both Taxali and Mann will be present to sign copies of the new CD.

Gary Taxali is an award-winning illustrator who has worked for such clients as Rolling Stone, Time, Esquire and The New York Times. His work has received recognition from Graphis, Communication Arts, American Illustration, Print, SPD, a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, a Gold Medal from the National Addys and a nomination for a Cannes Lion. He is a Founding Member of IPA (The Illustrators' Partnership of America) and sits on the Advisory Board of 3x3: The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration. Gary's latest toy figures, "Oh No" and Oh Oh", were mass produced by his new company, Chump Inc. His first children's book, which he wrote and illustrated, "This Is Silly", is being published by Scholastic and slated for a summer 2009 release. This summer, he will be having his first major show in Europe at "Iguapop Gallery" in Barcelona, Spain. Taxali lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Aimee Mann has long championed visual artists, collaborating with them to create her work-of-art CD packages. In 2003 she teamed with literary comic book writer and artist Seth who illustrated her CD Lost In Space. In 2006 Aimee Mann and Gail Marowitz won a Grammy award for Best Recording Package for their work on Mann's Forgotten Arm, illustrated by painter Owen Smith, a five time cover artist for the New Yorker.

After originally breaking onto the music scene during the 80's leading the post-new wave pop group 'Til Tuesday, Aimee Mann has gone on to establish herself as one of the most prominent singer-songwriters of her generation. Her successful solo career has spanned across several critically acclaimed albums, including the massively popular soundtrack for the film Magnolia, which garnered her an Academy Award nomination for Best Song in 2000. Time magazine has said of her, "Mann has the same skill that great tunesmiths like McCartney and Neil Young have: the knack for writing simple, beautiful, instantly engaging songs."

Check out the video of Aimee Mann - Artists Den Performance of "Freeway"

Aimee will be touring throughout the summer and fall in support of Smilers; see tour dates below.

2008 tour dates:

Jun 2 '08 Largo Los Angeles, CA
Jun 6 '08 House of Blues Anaheim, CA
Jun 10 '08 Largo Los Angeles, CA
Jun 12 '08 Minnesota Zoo Mineapolis, MN
Jun 13 '08 Pabst Theater Milwaukee, WI
Jun 15 '08 Bonnaroo Festival Manchester, TN
Jun 17 '08 La Zona Rosa Austin, TX
Jun 18 '08 House of Blues Dallas, TX
Jul 9 '08 Chautauqua Auditorium Boulder, CO
Jul 11 '08 Botanical Gardens Denver, CO
Jul 12 '08 Deer Valley Resort Park City, UT
Jul 14 '08 Mountain Winery Saratoga, CA
Jul 15 '08 Stewart Park Roseburg, OR
Jul 16 '08 Woodland Zoo Seattle, WA
Jul 18 '08 Vancouver Music Festival Vancouver, BC
Jul 19 '08 Aladdin Theater Portland, OR
Jul 24 '08 Calgary Music Festival Calgary, AB
Jul 26 '08 Berklee Performance Center Boston, MA
Jul 28 '08 Washington Park Albany, NY
Jul 30 '08 The View (tent.)
Jul 30 '08 The Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
Jul 31 '08 Barnes & Noble Union Square New York, NY
Aug 1 '08 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
Aug 2 '08 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
Aug 4 '08 World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA
Aug 5 '08 World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA
Aug 7 '08 Edmonton Folk Festival Edmonton, AB
Aug 28 '08 The Music Hall Toronto, ON
Aug 29 '08 Royal Oak Music Theatre Royal Oak, MI
Aug 31 '08 Ravina Highland Park, IL
Sep 2 '08 The Pageant St Louis, MO
Sep 3 '08 Ryman Auditorium Nashville, TN
Sep 4 '08 Bama Theatre, Tuscaloosa, AL

@#%&! Smilers on amazon.com

Aimee Mann Myspace
Aimee Mann Official Website