Letterman Joins the Music Biz, Signs Pop Punk Band Runner Runner To New Label

The album, now being recorded in Los Angeles with producer Dave Darling (Stray Cats, Brian Setzer, Soulive), will be the flagship release for C.E. Music in its partnership with Capitol Records and MRV.

The self-titled debut will be released in late summer, while the first single, "So Obvious," will go to radio on June 15. Runner Runner kicks off the first leg of an extensive tour beginning in mid-May, with initial dates below

With more than eight-million total plays on its MySpace page - not bad for a new band - and named a 2009 Band to Watch by Alternative Press, Runner Runner has been described by one impressed industry veteran as a poppier Green Day. They've also drawn comparisons to Boys Like Girls, The Maine, Forever the Sickest Kids and We the Kings. The immensely appealing Runner Runner - frontman Ryan Ogren, guitarist Nick Bailey, guitarist Peter Munters, bassist Jon Berry, and drummer James Ulrich - combine skillful songwriting and musicianship, punk-infused intensity and humungous hooks with tremendous potential.

Prior to forming in 2008, the members of Runner Runner had been in a variety of other bands - bassist Berry was a founding member of the SoCal pop-punk band Rufio, and Ogren had been the vocalist/guitarist for the New Jersey-based Don't Look Down. Munters, Bailey, and Ulrich were all members of the Orange County, CA-based by way of northern Virginia skate-punk band Over It. After numerous tours together as three separate entities, the five musicians gravitated towards each other and formed Runner Runner.

Runner Runner has performed more than 175 shows on bills with such prominent left-of-center acts as Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Gym Class Heroes, Angels & Airwaves, The Higher, The Audition, and the White Tie Affair. They're also veterans of the festival circuit, appearing in 2009 on the Vans Warped Tour, Bamboozle and Tokyo's Punkspring Festival, as well as the Night of Lights Festival and the L.A. Ink Fest during the previous year.

Runner Runner plans to tour extensively to support the release of its debut, and will hit the road May 20 for an initial run of dates as support for Amber Pacific and for Cartel. The itinerary, taking the band through the western portion of the U.S. as well as into Texas and Louisiana, is as follows:

MAY
20 Satyricon, Portland, OR*
22 El Corazon, Seattle, WA*
23 Icon, Pocatello, ID*
24 Kilby Court, Salt Lake City, UT*
25 Black Sheep, Colorado Springs, CO*
26 The Blue Goat, Salina, KS*
29 Luna Bar & Grill, Lake Charles, LA*
30 The Parish @ House of Blues, New Orleans, LA*
31 The Hangar, Wichita Falls, TX**

JUNE
2 Old Rock House, St. Louis, MO**
3 Chubby Rain - House of Tunes, Poplar Grove, IL**
6 Wasted Space @ Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV*
8 Chain Reaction, Anaheim, CA*
9 Ramona Mainstage, Ramona, CA*
11 The Vault, Temecula, CA*