SNL veteran and Portlandia co-creator, Fred Armisen is one of the few comedians that uses music in comedy as a concept instead of a punchline. Often times, the musician characters Armisen creates feel more real than some actual bands that are around today. Does anyone remember the Instructional Drum DVD he made with his character Jens Hannemann? A perfect example of his apt characterization of musicians, just slightly outrageous. Armisen plans to continue this exploration of these fictional artists with the release of his new 7″ series called, Home Town Hero, promising to bring you “the regional music stars of decades past and local one-hit wonders.”

Normally based off of the musically obscure, Armisen’s Home Town Hero series will feature singles written and recorded by his own fictional characters from SNL and Portlandia. The first of the series includes singles from “bands” The Blue Jean Committee, which was featured in a SNL sketch featuring Armisen, Jason Segal, Paul Russ, and Kenan Thompson; and The Fingerlings, an early 80’s syth act modeled after the Pet Shop Boys featuring Dana Carvey, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Paul Brittain.

The Home Town Hero Series comes out February 18th on Drag City. In the meantime, check out Fred Armisen performing Clash and Stranglers covers at Mount Analog in celebration of Record Store Day last year on IHC TV.

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