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from an 'immediate press release' from universal records 2nd january 1997.

RADIO FALLING HARD FOR FLEMING AND JOHN'S "LOVE SONGS". THE NEW SINGLE MAKES FANS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

Although fleming mcwilliams wrote the words to "love songs" because she missed her arranger/producer/guitar player/partner/husband john mark painter, radio programmers aren't just longing away for fleming and john's latest single from 'delusions of grandeur'. they are falling in love with the passionate, lilting rock waves of 'love songs'.
long for a favorite crowd at fleming and john live shows, 'love songs' is grounded with strong airplay at major stations such as 99X atlanta and KSCA in los angeles. a richly-textured, accessible song with a catchy chorus and tender lyrics that, like all fleming and john's music, comes from the couple and their lives together-a life that in the last two years has found the nashville couple on the road around the country with their band, or separated by the individual requirements of a very-much-in-demand musical family.
"i wrote 'love songs' when john was working on other people's albums, and i felt a little alone." recalls fleming, of the time painter spent with producer peter collins, who hired him to play guitar, trumpet, accordian, and arrange strings on the indigo girls' 'swamp ophelia'. and on nanci griffiths's 'flyer'. "but now with our record out, we've been able to sing love songs together every night!"
well not exactly every night. currently on a brief fleming and john tour break, painter has taken another job-he's busy arranging jewel's new record. "so" laughs mcwilliams, "i may be left by myself again for a bit!"

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from an 'immediate press release' from universal records 2nd january 1997.

FLEMING AND JOHN RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH NBC NETWORK FEARLESS CAMPAIGN AND A LOTTA 'LOVE SONGS' AT RADIO; NEW ALBUM EXPECTED IN SPRING.

just when fleming and john thought it was safe to head back into the recording studio and begin work on their second album for universal records, things started to popping again.
first john painter, a noted studio musician when not on the road with his wife fleming mcwilliams and their band, got called to duty with jewel. he did string arrangements on her new record, to be released in early '97. shortly after, longtime friend ben folds invited john to add strings to two songs on ben folds five's much anticipated follow-up album. then NBC began running a national TV spot promoting the network's saturday night 'thrillogy' line-up, featuring fleming and john's song "i'm not afraid." teh spots, promos for their shows "dark skies", "pretender" and "the profiler" backed with the upbeat tune, to begin airing during the NBC broadcast of the movie "jurassic park" and have exposed the band nationwide to a diverse audience. at the beginning of each spot, NBC gives a screen credit to fleming & john, which is being shown 15 times a week to an estimated audience of 30 million people each time. "the music of fleming & john a hip and youthful image to our programming and the demographic response for the three shows proves that," says vince manze, senior vice president of advertising and promotion, NBC television.
large groups of people have also been hearing "love songs", fleming and john's second single from their debut CD, 'delusions of granduer', on radio stations in areas as diverse as los angeles, new york, atlanta, charleston, nashville and springfield, mo. recently, fleming and john made an in-store appearance in springfield with over 500 people requesting autographs and the next day, they performed at channel z's dare to care show in front of 5000 fans who sang every word of 'love songs' with fleming & john.
looking ahead, fleming & john are back into their own home studio to work on their own follow-up album. produced by fleming and john themselves, they have completed many songs including "i'm so small", "don't let it fade away," "suppressed emotions," and "someday". even ben folds gets in the act, returning the favor by playing the piano on "laughing out loud." look for fleming and john's new universal records album in the spring of 1997, following by a world tour including japan, europe, and north america.

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FROM SMUG MAGAZINE NEW YORK, NY, MAY 1996.

"we're not your typical twnag thing", fleming mcwilliams says. fleming and john's debut album release on universal records 'delusions of grandeur' is a mixture of metallic chords haunting melodies and mcwilliams eerie voice. supple from years of singing italian arias. "my mother is a music teacher, so i had to sing everything" she says, "she wanted me to become a famous singer".
the road to fame meant an escape from her hometown of east priarie, missouri (population 3,400) a small town devoid of even a record store. although a proverbial big fish in the small east priarie pond, mcwilliams packed her bags and headed to belmont college, nashville.
john mark painter, who hails from miami, florida, was raised by a music teacher father who made sure the boy could play every instrument under the sun (painter is a skilled trumpet player as well as a guitarist)
by age 11, painter was transcribing beatles arrangements and was ready for his first real toy, a four-track recorder. when was he old enough, painter packed that four-track recorder and his other belongings and also made the trek to belmont college.
why belmont? for one thing it is a private school known for it's commercial music department. in other words, painter and mcwilliams didn't have to bother with classical music at all. they met early on in school, and became inseparable, recording demos on painter's four-track. they even became a couple, eventually taking the marriage plunge.
school however was quickly abandoned when the pair got an offer to perform at a grand caymen islands resort. "we were basically making a living as a cover band" painter recalls "we saved money, then quit after a year. we then got ourselves an 8-track recorder"
in 1991 the couple with a band played a showcase at the nashville extravaganza and attracted the music industry. a publishing deal with EMI followed but the band suffered through weird record deals with record labels while gigging around nashville. painter made a living as a session musician (he played guitar, trumpet, accordian and arranged strings on the indigo girls' swamp ophelia) but the duo never stopped writing and arranging their own music.
during this time, the band met pianist ben folds-whose trio ben folds five is currently creating a musical stir-and forged a friendship that remains to this day.
"he lived in nashville in 1991 and we all became good friends" says mcwilliams. "we were playing the club circuit but ben didn't really like it here."
the duo decided to move to montclair, new jersey, with folds, to try and explore the possibilities in the metropolitan area ("we stayed a couple of weeks" says mcwilliams) but moved back to nashville to try their luck one more time. they recorded 'delusions of grandeur' in their home studio, with folds on the drums, and managed to release it on the nashville based indie REX. the record sold well enough to get the band airplay and catch the ear of doug morris, who was heading up the new universal records.
"he really stands behind the artists" says mcwillams, " we had shied away from major record labels because we had some really bad experiences. these guys said 'we want your record' ".
folds sums that record up in this way. "fleming and john are the carpenter's of the 90's with led zepplin's rhythm section".
written by michele amabile.