Eric Nally knows this isn't how it's supposed to work. The typical career path in rock doesn't start by fronting a high-energy Cincinnati emo/glam group best known for a singer who sometimes eats lit cigarettes onstage while telling bizarre short stories. And that round-the-way course doesn't then typically graduate to singing the instantly anthemic hook to a pop radio hit ("Downtown") by Grammy-winning hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and then touring the globe singing said hook every night during the big finish of their show.
"It's been very fun to be a part of that experience, and we’ve toured this past year all over Europe and I really experienced firsthand how things come together," Nally told Billboard about the big-time lessons he's absorbed from the multi-platinum duo. The global tour gave the singer from on-hiatus Cincy rockers Foxy Shazam lots of ideas for his upcoming debut solo EP, Madville (due later this year), as he popped up out of the stage to help the duo cap each night's extravaganza with his forceful, soulful hook.