Newswire Tennis Inks to Fat Possum

Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore—the husband-and-wife musical duo known as Tennis—better get used to telling the tale of how an eight-month sailing trip inspired their music. Although the buzz band’s told its backstory to just about every media outlet in Denver (including A.V. Club Denver/Boulder in July) there are bound to be a lot more writers interested in hearing the tale soon: The duo’s debut long-player will receive a national release from Fat Possum Records in January.

Riley can’t find any reason to complain. “I’m not sick and tired of it because it’s fun to talk about,” Riley says. “We call it our second life, or our life at sea. It’s definitely a very strong part of us, so it’s almost like talking about your job or something.”

Tennis has battened down in Denver’s Notably Fine Audio studios to wrap up its debut full-length, which is on tap for a January release from the Oxford, Mississippi label—home to indie favorites such as Band of Horses, Wavves, Lissie, and The Walkmen. Not too bad for a band that casually wrote a few songs as a means to help amuse themselves while traversing the East Coast in a boat.

After a bout of late-winter and early-spring tour dates that culminate in an appearance at Austin’s SXSW, the duo will dump its music-industry ambitions, get back aboard a sailboat, and retreat from modern life for a year or so. While other, more promotionally minded labels might balk at the couple’s plans for an extended vacation, Fat Possum’s management is, so far, backing Tennis’ decision to raise anchor and temporarily sail away from the music biz. The label is quite familiar with Tennis’ maritime roots. “When we made that first 7-inch that was released on Fire Talk, they were one of the first five people to pre-order it,” Riley says. “In a way, they were some of our first fans.”