Upcoming Shows

Danielle Nicole

TomorrowAugust 21, 20188:00pm $10 advance / $12 door

Birdtalker, Sons of Daughters

WednesdayAugust 22, 20188:00pm $15.00

Birdtalker is Zack and Dani Green, Andy Hubright, Brian Seligman, and Jesse Baker. Zack and Dani were married in 2012 and soon after their wedding tried writing a couple songs together. They liked it, so they wrote a couple more. Andy, a friend from college and very talented drummer, was into the songs and started....

Chuck Prophet, Jeremy & The Harlequins

ThursdayAugust 23, 20188:00pm $15.00

Recently Added Shows

Naughty Professor

WednesdaySeptember 12, 20188:00pm $10.00

Tallan Noble Latz

SaturdaySeptember 22, 20188:00pm $12 advance / $15 door

Tallan Noble Latz honors the legacy of Stevie Ray Vaughan Tallan Noble Latz presents his 4th Annual Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute Show. This event will be twofold; it will be honoring the legacy of Stevie Ray Vaughan, along with a celebration of Tallan's 19th Birthday. The event will be in two parts this year: first....

Lydia Loveless

TuesdaySeptember 25, 20188:00pm $15.00

Hadden Sayers

ThursdaySeptember 27, 20188:00pm $12 advance / $15 door

Born in Nacogdoches and raised on a steady diet of Texas Roots and Blues music, Hadden Sayers has become a Blues Rock Master. Hadden became globally recognized when he joined forces with Ruthie Foster, playing guitar and touring with her all over the world. Millions of miles of touring the world 9 Albums in, Sayers' rise....

Wookiefoot 20 Year Anniversary Show

FridaySeptember 28, 20188:00pm $20 advance / $25 door

What is Wookiefoot? What isn't Wookiefoot?! Wookiefoot is a band, a Non-Profit 501C3 Charity Organization (www.bethechangecharities.org), a circus, a philosophy, and a community of globe trekking bliss junkies and believers that are the fuel to keep this Tribadelic Spaceship going! Their charity organization (with the....

Lindsay Beaver

WednesdayOctober 17, 20188:00pm $10.00

Singer, Drummer, Songwriter, and Bandleader Lindsay Beaver is much more than a young woman with musical talent, she is a force that knows no bounds. Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - Lindsay has been leading her band across North America and Europe for the past several years playing her own blend of Rock n'....

Emily Kinney, Paul McDonald

SundayOctober 21, 20188:00pm $20.00

Bottle Rockets

ThursdayNovember 8, 20188:00pm $20.00

Nicki Bluhm, Gill Landry

FridayNovember 9, 20188:00pm $15.00

After nearly a decade spent with the Gramblers, and recent high-profile collaborations (Phil Lesh, Infamous StringDusters, Ryan Adams), and a split from her husband and musical mentor, vocalist and songwriter NickiBluhm is stepping out on her own with her new album, TO RISE YOU GOTTA FALL. The songs were written over a....

Tweed featuring Gervis Myles (formerly Tweed Funk), Craig Baumann and The Story

SaturdayNovember 10, 20188:00pm $15.00

Formed in late 2010, Tweed Funk garnered national attention with the release of 4 albums and dates throughout the Midwest, Northeast, and Southern United States. With the passing of frontman Joseph "Smokey" Holman in October....

Band of Friends

MondayNovember 26, 20188:00pm $20.00

Rory Gallagher's music reached a massive audience from Norway to Spain, from Japan to the USA, covering all parts of the globe and producing some of the greatest rock/blues albums of the 60s, 70s and 80s. Sadly we lost Rory on June 14th 1995. To his devoted fans and followers this was the ultimate tragedy. The BAND OF....

King's X

ThursdayDecember 6, 20188:00pm $35.00

King's X is an American hard rock band that combines progressive metal, funk and soul with vocal arrangements influenced by gospel, blues, and British Invasion rock groups. The band's lyrics are largely based on the members' struggles with religion and self-acceptance. King's X was ranked #83 on VH1′s 100 Greatest....

Rich Trueman & the 22nd Street Horn Band

FridayDecember 7, 20188:00pm $8.00

The area's most gifted vocalist and showman is back in town and on a mission from God. To bring back Classic Rock hits and good-time Rhythm and Blues, lightly seasoned with sophisticated Jazz. He has gathered the original lineup to revive what was one of the most popular acts at festivals and nightclubs throughout the....

Alternative Concert Group Presents

Justin Hayward "Voice of the Moody Blues"

TuesdayAugust 28, 20187:30pm $70 / $50

At the Wilson Theatre at Vogel Hall at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale at the Marcus Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or 414-273- 7206.

Justin Hayward "Voice of the Moody Blues"

WednesdayAugust 29, 20187:30pm $70.00

At The Grand, Oshkosh, WI.

Tickets on sale at thegrandoshkosh.org, 920-424-2350 or 1-866-96GRAND or at The Grand box office Monday-Friday 11:30am-5:00pm, Saturday 11:00am-2:00pm.

Justin Hayward "Voice of the Moody Blues" with special guest Mike Dawes

ThursdayAugust 30, 20187:30pm $70.00 / $50.00

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Gordon Lightfoot

ThursdaySeptember 20, 20188:00pm $61 / $51 / $41

At the Grand Theater, Wausau, WI.

Tickets on sale at grandtheater.org or at the Grand Theater box office Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:30pm and 9:00am-noon on Saturdays from September through May.

Andy Grammer

TuesdayOctober 9, 20188:00pm $43 / $33 ($199 / $89 VIP)

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary

FridayOctober 26, 2018

At South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center box office, online at southmilwaukeepac.org/tickets, or by phone at 414-766-5049.

Bruce Cockburn

SaturdayOctober 27, 2018

Hot Tuna

SundayDecember 9, 20187:30pm $75 / $40

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Steve Earle

TuesdayDecember 11, 20187:30pm Tickets $60.50

At The Grand, Oshkosh, WI.

Tickets on sale at thegrandoshkosh.org, 920-424-2350 or 1-866-96GRAND or at The Grand box office Monday-Friday 11:30am-5:00pm, Saturday 11:00am-2:00pm.

Randy Bachman

FridayJanuary 18, 20198:00pm $67 / $47

At the Grand Theater, Wausau, WI.

Tickets on sale at grandtheater.org or at the Grand Theater box office Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:30pm and 9:00am-noon on Saturdays from September through May.

Quick Calendar

"I'm definitely taking more chances now," Danielle Nicole says of Cry No More, her second solo album and the follow-up to her widely acclaimed 2015 solo debut Wolf Den. "I grew up playing the blues, and the blues is still a big part of what I do. But now I'm reaching out more and trying different things. It still sounds like me, but I'm stretching out a lot more than I have previously."

Indeed, while Wolf Den served as a powerful intro to the young singer-bassist-songwriter's funky, blues-steeped songcraft, Cry No More, set for release on February 23rd, 2018 via Concord Records, takes the artist into fresh new creative territory, delivering 14 emotion-charged new songs whose rootsy musical edge is matched by their air of hard-won personal experience.

Danielle Nicole's expansive approach yields deeply compelling musical results throughout Cry No More. With seasoned veteran Tony Braunagel (Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Burdon) producing, such heartfelt, groove-intensive new tunes as "Crawl," "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore," the Bill Withers-penned "Hot Spell" and the heart-tugging title track find Danielle cutting loose and focusing on the storytelling and character-development aspects of her songwriting.

"I wanted to open up more about myself, and I think it shows in the songs," Danielle asserts. "I thought really hard about the stories I wanted to tell in these songs. I really dug into my personal experience, and worked to be more open and expose more of myself than I have in the past.

"There's a song there about my father, 'Bobby,' who passed away a long time ago," she continues. "That was a big one for me, because I'd never gone there before. And I've had lots of changes going on in my life, so the title track, 'Cry No More,' is about moving on and letting go, and about getting over things and moving past them. There are a lot of songs on this album about moving on, although that wasn't a conscious direction. Every song is a different story, and every song has a purpose and a perspective."

While Danielle wrote or co-wrote nine of Cry No More's 14 songs, the seductive "Hot Spell" was given to Danielle by its author, long-retired R&B legend Bill Withers. Withers was a surprise visitor to the album's recording sessions at L.A.'s Ultratone Studios, and was so impressed with Danielle's singing that he dug into his archives and offered her the song, which he wrote back in the '70s, but which had gone unrecorded since then.

"Bill is one of my all-time musical heroes," Danielle notes. "We played him a couple of the songs we'd been working on, and he said 'Come on, let's go out to my car for a minute.' So we were hanging out in his SUV, and he's shuffling through his glovebox and he pulls out this disc and says 'I've got this song; it's a bit risqué, but if you don't mind, I'll play it for you.' It was this demo that he'd done, with his daughter doing the vocals. It was real moody and had a great groove, and it was Bill all the way. He told me that if I liked it, I was welcome to record it."

She didn't have to be told twice. "There was a section on the demo where Bill's scatting where the guitar solo would be. We asked him to do that on my version, but he's retired, so he respectfully declined to sing on it. So I sang the scat line and harmonized to it, in his honor. He dug it!"

Danielle enlisted an old friend, Braunagel, who also produced the last two albums by her old family band, Trampled Under Foot, to record the album. The pair's longstanding creative rapport is apparent throughout Cry No More, on which Braunagel co-wrote five songs with Danielle.

"I really wanted to work with Tony on this record, because I knew that he would get the best out of me," Danielle explains. "We've really developed a great working relationship and we write together really well, and I knew that Tony could help me develop these stories into songs.

"This whole record was like a dream come true," she adds. "I got to do the songs I wanted to do, work with the producer I wanted to work with, and record in the studio I wanted to record in. It was really cool how everything fell into place. All of the songs were what I wanted them to be, and all of the players were perfect for the songs. Every aspect of this album, from the birth of the songs to the mastering, was really free and organic."

In addition to Danielle on bass, producer Braunagel on drums and longtime Bonnie Raitt guitarist Johnnie Lee Schell (who also engineered the sessions), Cry No More features appearances by such notable guitarists as Kenny Wayne Shepherd (on "Save Me"), Luther Dickinson (on "Just Can't Keep From Crying"), Walter Trout (on "Burnin' for You"), Sonny Landreth (on "I'm Going Home"), Danielle's touring guitarist Brandon Miller (on "Baby Eyes"), and her brother and former bandmate Nick Schnebelen (on "Crawl").

The musical expertise and emotional depth of Cry No More reflect of a lifetime's worth of music-making. Born Danielle Nicole Schnebelen, Danielle comes from a long line of singers and musicians, and showed an affinity for singing almost from birth. Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, she performed in public for the first time at the age of 12, singing Koko Taylor's "Never Trust a Man" as part of a Blues for Schools program at her elementary school. In her early teens, she began singing in local coffeehouses and at open mic events, often jamming with her parents at clubs that would allow minors. At 16, she became lead singer in her father's band, Little Eva and the Works. In 1999, she started her own band, Fresh Brew, with some older local musicians. Fresh Brew performed for four years and represented Kansas City in the prestigious International Blues Challenge.

It was during this time that Danielle and her brothers Nick and Kris launched a family band, Trampled Under Foot, relocating to Philadelphia in the process. To maintain the family concept, Danielle learned to play bass, eventually mastering the instrument. Trampled Under Foot traveled the world and recorded several self-released albums, building a sizable national fan base through years of nonstop roadwork. For their 2013 album Badlands, produced by Braunagel, Trampled Under Foot moved to the Telarc label, a division of Concord Music Group. Badlands debuted at #1 on Billboard's Blues Chart.

As Trampled Under Foot wound down after an eventful 13-year run, Danielle formed her own band and signed with Concord Records, releasing a self-titled EP and the Anders Osborne-produced album Wolf Den in 2015. Those releases established Danielle as a formidable solo artist and bandleader.

"I learned a lot from the last album," Danielle states. "It was the first time I was writing and recording and choosing all of the material on my own, which was a big thing for me. I had been in a band with my brothers for 13 years, but it's a whole different thing when it's your name that's on the line. That aspect feels a lot more comfortable now, and I can make decisions without worrying about what everybody else will think."

Nicole's distinctive, inventive bass work--which resulted in her becoming the first woman to win the Blues Foundation's 2014 Blues Music Award for Best Instrumentalist, Bass--is the product of years of intensive roadwork. Although she had no experience with the instrument when she became Trampled Under Foot's bassist, now she can't imagine life without it.

"Playing the bass definitely influences the way I sing, the way I write and the way I approach music," she says. "As I've progressed more, the bass lines have been getting a lot more intricate. It's still a challenge to sing while playing bass, because it's very rare that the bass line and the vocal go together. I still get tripped up sometimes, but at this point I'd never give up the bass.

"When I started doing my solo thing," she continues, "someone asked me if I was gonna hire a bass player. No, of course not! I originally picked up the bass to keep Trampled Under Foot a family band, but I really fell in love with it. It was a huge challenge, and it still is. But I really love being part of the groove and getting to sing on top of that. I had learned some stuff on acoustic guitar before I started playing bass, but I never really felt connected to it the way I do with the bass. It's empowering, walking onto a stage full of grown men who can play their asses off, and it's 'OK, I'm gonna play this bass, we're gonna do this, and it's gonna rock.'"

With Cry No More marking a substantial creative step forward, Danielle Nicole is ready to reap her musical destiny.

"I think that it's a good time for the kind of thing I'm doing," she states. "From my years of playing blues festivals, I've seen that younger and younger audiences are getting into the blues. I think that people want to hear authentic music again."

Chuck Prophet describes his new disc BOBBY FULLER DIED FOR YOUR SINS as "California Noir." He says, "the state has always represented the Golden Dream, and it's the tension between romance and reality that lurks underneath the surface in all noir films and paperbacks, and that connects these songs. Doomed love, inconsolable loneliness, rags to riches to rags again, and fast-paced violence are always on the menu on the Left Coast."

Who is Bobby Fuller? He's the star of the ultimate Rock and Roll Babylon feel-bad story.

The title track came out of an obsession Prophet shares with co-conspirator klipschutz. Prophet explains, "One day we were sitting in my so-called office South of Market listening to LPs, when out of frustration --I picked up a guitar and shouted, 'I hear that record crackle, the needle skips and jumps!' and klipschutz shot back, '"Bobby Fuller died for your sins!'"
One thing led to another, and ten months later he found himself at the legendary Hyde St. Studios in the heart of the Tenderloin "slaving over a hot two-inch tape machine, cutting tracks with Brad Jones, Paul Q. Kolderie, and Matt Winegar riding herd." And pumping it all into the echo chamber. No computer in sight and two-inch tape boxes stacked up to the ceiling.

Prophet realizes that the title track makes a heavy claim, and laughs at the suggestion it might shine new light on the mystery long surrounding Bobby Fuller's early demise. Fuller, who migrated from El Paso to L.A. in the early 1960s, has been described as "a greaser in a world of Beach Boy bangs and Beatle boots, hopelessly out of step with the times." Found dead in his car at the age of 23, to a devoted coterie of fans, old and new, he'll always remain the skinny guy singing "I Fought the Law," on countless teen dance TV shows, and radio playlists. Ruled a suicide, his death has haunted investigators (and biographers Miriam Linna and Randall Fuller) since 1966. "Some resolution would be nice," Prophet says, "but I run a band, not a Cold Case squad."

The Mission Express, Prophet's band, which includes his wife Stephanie Finch, provided the backing. "Talented, difficult people who all played their hearts out. You can hear it," he says. And recording at Hyde Street -- walking distance from his apartment -- was a homecoming of sorts. "I did my first session there, in high school no less," says Prophet. He even dragged out his '64 Stratocaster, a guitar that Jonathan Richman said sounds, "like gasoline in the sand, like a motorcycle at a hot dog stand."

Prophet says, "there's a serious Link Wray jones that you might not hear in here too. But it's there. Guitars and drums. Rock and roll. I just haven't found anything that hits me the same way. That two guitar, bass and drums feeling."

With titles such as "Bad Year for Rock and Roll," "Post-War Cinematic Dead Man Blues," "We Got Up and Played, and, "If I Was Connie Britton," Prophet allows that, "there just might be some songs on this one. John Murry, who is never at a loss for words, says the goal is to make a record you can be proud and unsure of at the same time. Naked and belligerent, but sweetly so... I can't improve on that."

"Bad Year for Rock and Roll" is a timely homage to rock greats lost this year, Prophet name-checking David Bowie in the opening lines: "The Thin White Duke took a final bow / there's one more star in the heavens now...I'm all dressed up in a mohair suit / watching Peter Sellers thinking of you."

The album closes with the blistering "Alex Nieto," which Prophet calls "my first protest song. I know you've listened to me rant about Twitter and how I believe San Francisco is under siege by techie man-children and billionaires." But still, he never dreamed he'd be in the middle of a culture war with real bodies. Born and raised in the City, Alex Nieto was on his way to work as a security guard when he ended up with 59 bullets in and around him, all fired by the police. There's a lot more to the story, and the details are available to anyone who wants to know. The song is a two-chord homage to a good man who should still be alive.

Just one more sign of the apocalypse.

In today's musical landscape inundated by cheap hooks and overproduced studio tricks, Jeremy & The Harlequins are here to keep the fire and spirit of rock'n'roll alive. That's something the New York five-piece have been doing since forming just a few short years ago, both with their debut album American Dreamer (2015) and its follow-up Into The Night (2016). They're continuing this approach with their third album in three years, entitled Remember This, which they started writing at home in New York, immediately after the recording of Into The Night.

"By the time that record was released," explains front man Jeremy Fury, "I had about two thirds of Remember This written. I wrote the songs in my apartment in Hell's Kitchen and then we worked on the majority of the arrangements as a band together at the infamous Music Building near Times Square."

Remember This has all the hallmarks of a Jeremy & The Harlequins record, but at the same time it sees the five-piece expanding on their own musical boundaries. While Jeremy & The Harlequins' music has been permeated by nostalgia for the classic licks, riffs and aesthetic of rock'n'roll's golden age, this new record sees the band widening their sonic horizons with the help of producer Rick Parker.

"We wanted to make a classic American rock record," explains front man Jeremy Fury. "When we made American Dreamer, I was really bored with rock music in general and I felt the only place to go was to strip it down and pull from the past. I was listening to a lot of '50s and '60s rock'n'roll at that time, but for this record, I didn't want to limit myself to drawing from a certain amount of influences. And I feel these are the strongest songs we've ever written. It's a definite progression, but also a reaction to what we've done in the past."

This next phase of the band's career was marked by first single "Little One" hitting the airwaves in August of 2017, and the band plans to release a series of songs until the album is released in 2018. The new material comes with a shift in direction due to the fact that Jeremy & The Harlequins -- completed by guitarists Craig Bon and Patrick Meyer, bassist Bobby Ever and Jeremy's brother Stevie Fury on drums -- are a band who have never stopped moving or creating. Recorded in LA with producer Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Lord Huron, Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts) in the historic Beachwood Canyon and Boyle Heights, Remember This offers a widescreen vision of America that focuses on the urgency of the present moment but which also retains the band's magical, romantic vision of and reverence for the past.

"I'd say I have a pretty decent record collection," says Jeremy. "I love music and I wanted to take the best aspects of the things that I like and roll them into our sound. I feel like America is in a period of reinvention right now -- everything from fashion to what we drink to the restaurants we eat at are all being reinvented -- and I wanted to take things from the past that I loved and create something refreshing and new."

The band were able to easily and naturally shift their sonic direction on their own, working with Parker enabled them to fully realize that vision.

"It wasn't until the bulk of the material was arranged that we realized this record would sound a little bit better a little more polished than our previous albums," says Jeremy. "We had phone calls with various producers and studios but in the end, we knew Rick was the right man for the job. He has a knack for getting the best performances and gets a lot of good instrument sounds. Also, he's incredible at mixing."

At the same time, these are songs that very much exist in the context of America in 2017, and under the cloud of a tumultuous political landscape. That's something Jeremy found was impossible to not confront, but that's not to say these are vehemently political songs, however. Rather, they offer a glimpse of the world as it could and should be.

"Lyrically, these songs are concerned a lot more with what's going on around us," says Jeremy. "I think it's important to remember that everyone's still human. You walk down the street in any city and people co-exist, so I think our message when it comes to the more political songs isn't picking a side and rallying against the other, but more saying we're all here together, and that it's important to reach across the table and realize we're all human."

In a few short years, Jeremy & The Harlequins have made a sizeable impression in the streets and venues of New York, becoming a vibrant part of the city's alternative scene. Given their heritage, that's not surprising.

"Craig and I had been working at putting together a new band after we parted from our previous endeavors," explains Jeremy on the band's origins in Ohio. "We were at our wits' end trying to find the right sound. My brother had been living in Paris and was back in town visiting family. While he was back, we started working on a bunch of songs I had written over the course of eight years. He was like, 'We're back for three weeks, why don't we make an album?' It's easy to put ideas like that off, but we just did it and it went from there. Craig met Patrick a day before he came out to Detroit, which was where we made American Dreamer."

Jeremy admits that, initially, the band "didn't really have any aspirations beyond making the record" but then momentum started to gather. "Trip Into The Light", the first song on American Dreamer, was featured in the Tom Cruise movie Edge Of Tomorrow. It was also voted 2015's 'coolest track in the world' by the listeners of Little Steven's Underground Garage radio show, and topped the Best of 2014 Readers and Fans' Poll of New York's emerging music magazine The Deli. The band even enlisted The Big Short actor John Magaro to direct the video for "Into The Night."

That momentum continues to push the band forward. Each track is one part of a brand new whole, a sound that Jeremy terms "new American rock'n'roll." It's a simple yet effective description, one that captures both the mood and the sound of the band's music. Because these are songs which span the past, present and future, songs which are deeply rooted in the history of rock'n'roll but which brim with urgency of now. These are tunes you'll be humming for years, and which, in your heart of hearts, you'll swear you've been singing for decades already.

"I've always wanted to have a song or a few songs that become part of people's lives," says Jeremy. "I think that'd be my highest aspiration."

"I live the kinda life most men only dream of/I make my livin' writin' songs and singin' them,"Merle Haggard, "Footlights"

For fans of his late, legendary father, country music great Merle Haggard, his youngest son Ben is no Stranger -- in fact, he's been the lead guitarist in Hag's longtime band of the same name for the past eight years, since he was 15 years old, fitting in easily with veterans like musical director Norm Hamlet and Scott Joss.

Ben was a regular on Merle Haggard's recordings, took the stage with him and the Highwaymen (Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson) as well as Blake Shelton for a memorable performance at the 2014 Grammys and for the 2012 "All for the Hall" show besides two of his idols, Vince Gill and Keith Urban. Earlier this year, Ben was featured with the Strangers backing Toby Keith for a Merle tribute on the nationally televised American Country Countdown Awards. He also contributed versions of "Mama Tried" and "Sing Me Back Home" to 2014'sWorking Man's Poet:Tribute to Merle Haggard album which also featured Toby Keith, Jason Aldean, Jake Owen, Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley.

Since Merle's death on April 6, 2016 -- which was also his 79th birthday (a fact he had eerily predicted)-- Ben Haggard hasn't missed a beat, passing on the legacy of his dad's music with brother Noel and the Strangers, joined on several dates by longtime friend Kris Kristofferson, opening for another frequent Hag partner, Willie Nelson.

Taking the torch from the Haggard paterfamilias, Haggard recalls a conversation he had with Merle, who sported what his son described as "a look of great depth in his eyes... He was always right about something he said because he had thought about it for so long. He overanalyzed everything to the finest degree in the most artistic way possible."

Ben recalls Merle telling him, "You'd be an idiot not to take my guitar and my bus, not to sing my songs for as long as you can... Go out there and play until there's nobody to play to."

And that is precisely what Ben Haggard has done over these past months and will continue to do in the near-future, effectively putting his own promising musical career on the back burner for the time being -- even as he plans to relocate to Nashville to pursue his own artistic identity when he's ready.

For anyone who's heard young Haggard play guitar with his father, that talent is undeniable, but he's only recently discovered a singing voice that, while borrowing genetically from dad's well-worn gravitas, adds its own fresh take on songs like "Sing Me Back Home" (a performance of which is featured on Ben's Facebook page), "Heaven Was a Drink Of Wine," "Workin' Man Blues" and "What Am I Gonna Do With the Rest of My Life?," all of them taking on new meanings in the wake of Hag's passing.

"I watched him sing on-stage, absorbed the little things he was doing, the tricks with his voice, how he handled the crowd," says Ben, who obviously learned his lessons well. "It was like going back to school. Things I didn't realize I picked up from the eight years I spent on the road with him started to come into play. My fear of the mic kind of slipped away. Things just unfolded in a beautiful way. I'm now starting to feel comfortable singing for people."

Indeed, Ben Haggard has proven as natural a performer as you'd expect from someone with his DNA. "I've always suffered from stage fright. I only sang in front of my father a couple of times, once live and once in the studio. All of a sudden, he's telling me I've got to sing for everybody. I had to grow a pair of balls, get out there and do it."

His next challenge is to carve out his own musical career, lest he be accused, as he says in his own self-effacing way, "of riding someone else's coattails."

Ben describes an incident that took place when he was four years old, and just realizing his father was "somebody special."

"I asked him, 'Since you're famous, does that make me famous too?' And he said, 'Son, you've got to create your own thunder.' That's always stuck with me. I look back at that moment as if it were a movie. It's something I never forget."

When asked what his own musical personality might be, Ben admits, like his father, he feels like a bit of an outsider when it comes to contemporary country music.

"I couldn't really go out there and sing about drinking a beer on a tailgate under the moonlight," he laughs. "I want to sing about things I value within my heart. Honesty is always pushing against the grain, in a way. My dad always said it's easier to force-feed people something they don't want than actually giving them what they do."

Ben admits, "I've started to write and finish songs lately. I used to start writing and then never finish, but now, there's more material to draw from. I'm not writing about being 15 anymore; there are a lot of things I've gone through and had to overcome. I turned that talk I had with my dad about taking over for him into a song. When I record it, I think it's something that will resonate with people. It's about as real as you can get in regard to what he was telling me."

He also admits feeling a creative kinship with Americana artists like Sturgill Simpson, whose Metamodern Sounds in Country Music album proved a throwback to the music his father made. The two have struck up a friendship, with Simpson agreeing to produce Ben's albumwhen he's ready to record.

For now, Ben's content with burnishing his father's legacy, playing his songs and pleasing Merle's many fans, doing his part as the good son.

"When I'm compared to him, I realize it's to someone far greater, but it gives me hope and the drive to emerge from his shadow, and hopefully, one day, to stand just as tall," Ben says humbly. "Merle shot for the moon, and there's no reason I can't aim for it, too."

Back on-stage, Ben leans into one of his father's signature songs, "Footlights," about his own career, and, while fudging his age, the sentiment seems to ring true from one generation to the next.

"But I'm 41 years old and I ain't got no place to go/When it's over/So I hide my age and make the stage and/Try to kick the footlights out again."

For Ben Haggard, this is just the beginning of his artistic journey, and he still has plenty of places to go, but he looks well-prepared to kick out the footlights in his own right.

With seven distinct personalities, Juice distills rock, r&b and hip-hop into a signature sound with a flavorful kick of electric violin, rich harmonies, honest lyrics, and festival-worthy choruses.

"There are so many colors when we play," explains Ricciardulli. "The chemistry is there in the studio and on stage. When we play to a crowd, it's all organic. The reactions... the faces... the experience, what you see is what you're getting, people know that they can tell. We've learned to listen to each other and to what the music has to say. At the same time, we channel our youth, there's no bottling that up. We're always searching for something tangible our listeners can thoroughly feel at the core of the music. We're trying to create an atmosphere much bigger than the seven of us on stage."

It was evident from the band's beginnings that this collective potency could contribute to something far greater and truly different. After meeting as freshman at Boston College, Juice became unified upon winning their school's "Battle of the Bands" in 2014. Soon after, things got serious.

Through constant gigging Juice honed their live performance, displaying an original raw energy. Soon, Juice went from frequent gigs at the city's famed Middle East to selling out East Coast hotspots such as Brighton Music Hall, Mercury Lounge, Rockwood Music Hall, and more. Releasing their full-length debut in 2016, the band landed a viral hit in the form of "Gold," which popped up on countless "Discover Weekly" playlists and cracked over 386,000 Spotify streams without any traditional promotion.

Hitting Summerfest Milwaukee for the first time in 2016, Juice impressively won the grand prize at the festival's Land The Big Gig Competition. Graduating from college a year later, the musicians returned to the annual festival and opened for pop juggernaut DNCE.

Along the way, they carefully sharpened their style, merging virtuosic musicianship and vivid songwriting. "The hardest question for us to answer is always who do we sound like. We have so many influences from so many different places. When it all falls together, we end up with songs that are honest, songs that we love, songs people remember...but songs that don't sound like anyone else" explains Michael.

"It's a combination of so many things," says Rami. "Everyone has their own impression, first you might hear the violin, then the soulful, dynamic vocals, and then the melody-driven guitars, all of which is anchored by our prominent rhythm section."

After meeting GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer Johnny K at Summerfest, the band headed to Milwaukee in 2017 to record their upcoming project. Now, they introduce this collection with the soaring single "Sugar." Hummable funk guitars lay over a steady groove before the chantable hook -- "I cannot get by without you honey" -- takes hold. Airtight raps and radiant chorus harmonies drive the song into the bridge before an old school rock n' roll guitar solo gives way to stomping handclaps and gospel-style backing vocals.

"On the surface, 'Sugar' speaks to insatiable lust and temptation," says Ricciardulli. "The song comes from our experience as young guys embedded in a culture that blurs the lines between beauty, vanity, love, euphoria, and pain. Sugar is rock 'n' roll, and yet it's bright, reverent, and unabashedly modern."

Satsang is a power trio creating a unique blend of soul, folk-rock and hip-hop, Satsang delivers lyrics that come from and are rooted in change, growth, awareness, and imperfection. The live show is everything that the band name suggests: a gathering of people to assimilate and share their truths. The rhythms put forth by the band keep everyone on their feet, and the lyrics leave them craving active and positive change. Satsang has toured all over the country and has shared the stage with the likes of Michael Franti & Spearhead, Steel Pulse, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Trevor Hall, Chris Berry, Mike Love, Jon Wayne and the Pain, Tubby Love, and many more.

Lead singer and songwriter Drew McManus creates music for his soul, fueled by the ever present task of personal growth and the beautiful life that he found in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana. Commenting on his difficult upbringing in Des Moines and residency in Chicago, McManus says, "I grew up in an environment where aggression, violence, abuse, and addiction were always present. It made me a lot of things; angry, sad, and ashamed. I hated my story and I was a slave to addiction. I tried for so long to hide from the reality of my story and the reality of how beautiful life could be." It wasn't until an intense spiritual experience lead Drew to break his cycle of addiction. "I had changed my entire outlook on everything" say McManus, "I began to realize that had everything not happened to me exactly like it did, I would not be exactly who/where/what I am right now." In an effort to share his revelation with others who may be in the same predicament, Drew began to write every day. "I was flooded with the urge to write down the lessons that kept revealing themselves in this surrender. And the connections I began making with other people by making this music vulnerable and open, began to change everything." These songs are a statement of lessons learned and a further understanding of self. "The whole story is what makes it beautiful, not just the good bits."

Satsang released their sophomore album Pyramids in March of 2017 and saw it quickly rise to #1 on the Billboard Reggae charts and #2 on the iTunes charts. We also surprise-released a new EP, In Between Another Blink on 12/6 and had it crack the top 20 on the iTunes Singer/ Songwriter chart with no advance promotion. The band spent the majority of the past summer touring in support of Michael Franti, Trevor Hall, Wookiefoot and Nahko and Medicine for the People creating legions of fans from coast to coast.

Naughty Professor is an iconoclastic New Orleans-based jazz-funk sextet whose adventurous recordings and horn-charged, high-energy live performances have earned them an enthusiastic fan base, critical acclaim, and widespread attention from their musical peers.

Their diligent roadwork has established Naughty Professor as a beloved live act. Weaving together complex, inventive compositions and loose, organic improvisation, the band honors their hometown's jazz, R&B and brass-band traditions while looking to the future.

Naughty Professor raises the stakes on its new album Identity (Release date June 23, 2017). Where their prior four releases showcased the group's knack for self-contained instrumental experimentation, Identity finds the band teaming with a stellar assortment of more than a dozen cutting-edge collaborators, whose vocal, instrumental and compositional contributions expand the music into new musical territory.

Identity's prestigious gallery of guests includes Jurassic 5's Chali 2na, who's featured on a pair of tracks, "Darker Daze" and "Sugar Coat," which also features contributions from New Orleans legend Ivan Neville. David Shaw of the Revivalists lends his vocals on "Stray" and singer/guitarist Dexter Gilmore contributes on "I Can't Sleep At Night." Additional special collaborators include trumpet player Eric “Benny” Bloom of Lettuce, percussionist Mike Dillon, much-lauded jazz vocalist Sasha Masakowski and members of the renowned New Orleans horn outfit Soul Rebels, who turn up the brass on the album-closer "Funk 4 Lunch."

"They're not just guests," explains Naughty Professor drummer Sam Shahin. "The collaborators on this album were chosen because we respected what they do and felt that they could be a complement to our ensemble.”

"When these kids first started coming up on the scene, I could tell right away that there was something very special about their energy and music," David Shaw comments on his excitement to collaborate with Naughty Professor. "I believe that the sky has no limit for these boys."

"My first impression of Naughty Professor was one of amazement,” Chali 2na notes. "New Orleans is full of musicians that are masters of their craft, and Naughty P is no exception. They are also perfectionists and students of the game. This is immediately apparent once you hear them play.

"I am loving the resurgence of jazz combined with this youthful mindstate that musicians have today," Chali continues," and Naughty Professor is pushing that envelope."

The band recorded each track on Identity live in the studio, heightening the immediacy of the performances and solidifying the band's connection with the guest collaborators. The sessions were also documented on video, with an eye towards releasing a video version of the album.

A wide range of musical impulses has driven Naughty Professor ever since the band members first convened in 2010, having met while students at Loyola University's jazz program. The musicians' potent collective chemistry quickly won attention on the New Orleans music scene. After graduating, they began touring, expanding their audience nationwide.

Naughty Professor's first three albums—2013's Until the Next Time, 2015's Out On A Limb and 2016's live In the Flesh—further raised the band's national profile. Lauded by critics for having a musical “depth and vision far beyond their young years,” Naughty Professor’s name regularly appears alongside New Orleans’ veteran luminaries. In 2013, the band was nominated by Gambit' Weekly’s Big Easy Music Awards for "Best Emerging Artist," and for "Best Funk Band" every year since. Naughty Professor was also nominated in 2015, 2016 and 2017 by Offbeat Magazine’s Best of the Beat Awards for "Best R&B/Funk Artist." In the magazine’s most recent poll, bassist Noah Young and Drummer Sam Shahin were named finalists as the “Best at their Instruments,” furthering the band’s stellar musical reputation.

Identity continues Naughty Professor’s unyielding exploration of their home city’s eclectic musical landscape. "New Orleans is the reason that we were all able to come together, and it's the reason we've been able to continue making music together," says alto and baritone saxophonist Nick Ellman. "We all were drawn to the city, and we all have a tremendous respect for the history of the music culture in New Orleans. In no way are we a traditional New Orleans band, and this is not a traditional New Orleans record, but New Orleans' musical and cultural traditions have everything to do with how we make music."

New Orleans' vital spirit is present throughout Identity, which combines artfully-crafted studio creations with material developed through live performance. “We like being adventurous and cerebral, but fun is also important,” Shahin concludes. “We operate with a jazz mentality, but we like verse/chorus structures. We definitely embrace the idea that we’re bridging the gap between the more thought-provoking side of jazz and popular mainstream music, and making the whole thing fun and accessible.”

The result is Identity, Naughty Professor's most potent and ambitious musical statement to date. It is a record that, by collecting together diverse and disparate musical voices into a seamless whole, simultaneously honors the past and pushes into the future.

Blues Beatles started during the breaks of the rehearsals of Today -- an original band that Marcos Viana, Flavio Naves, Lancaster Ferreira, Bruno Falcão and Fred Barley started in 2010. Marcos, the singer, would invariably pick up his acoustic guitar and start playing Beatles songs. The other members of the band were amazed at how natural the songs sounded, as if he had written them himself. The reason for this was that Marcos really identified with the songs and never imitated John or Paul. He simply sang with his own voice and from his heart. Being blues players the rest of the band started adding their blues twist to these "break songs". One day Lancaster said: "why don't we mix these two things we love to play? We could call this Blues Beatles!"Everyone loved the idea and together they started the Blues Beatles in 2013.

The first version of the Beatles songs that caught people's attention was Ticket To Ride. The video has now more than two million views on Facebook. The band has worked and reworked many different songs since it was formed, but only the ones that sound natural to their ears stay in the repertoire. Most of the vocal melodies are kept in their original form, but interpreted with Marcos Viana's unique voice, in an unpretentious and heart-felt way. The arrangements combine blues and soul grooves that suit the vocals of the songs while adding a different feel to them. Instrumental solos and improvisation, typical elements of the blues, are an integral part of the Blues Beatles style. Their fiery live performances showcase their individual and collective skills as soloists.

The personal and musical affinity between the members of the Blues Beatles is a very strong bond that makes them a band in the true sense of the word. Mutual admiration is the key element in their partnership. "We are big fans of one another and after every concert we always feel that we are lucky to have met each other. We are not better than anyone, we just love playing together", says the whole band in unison.

The blues aspect of the band is deep-rooted. Lancaster, the guitar player of the Blues Beatles is a pioneer of the Chicago blues style in Brazil, with a thirty-year career and six CDs released since 1996. Flavio Naves has released two CDs, played as guest on many others and was the first blues musician to dedicate himself to mastering the Hammond B3 organ in Brazil. Fred Barley is one of the most renowned drummers in the country. His amazing technique and tasteful playing has influenced a legion of younger drummers. He is in constant demand as a session player in the studio and onstage. Bruno Falcão is the kind of bass player that can bring down a wall with his massive fat sound. A reference in the blues scene in Brazil, his walking bass lines defy the laws of physics: they are fluid and solid at the same time. He lays down the foundation and grooves that make the Blues Beatles sound powerful and contagious.

Blues Beatles released their debut CD, Get Back to The Blues recorded in 2016 at the Space Blues Studios in São Paulo, Brazil. To achieve the sound they were looking for they invited their favorite saxophone player Denilson "Big D" Martins to record several tracks. Later the band invited him to join them on tours. In December 2016 they started divulging their videos internationally on Facebook and their instant success was overwhelming. Their rendition of A Hard Day's Night reached one million views in only one week. Be on the LOOKOUT for Blues Beatles coming to a town near you in Fall of 2017/Spring of 2018.

Liz Vice is a musician best known for her Gospel, soul, and R&B-infused album entitled, "There's A Light". Raised in Portland, Oregon and a recent resident of Brooklyn, NY. Ms. Vice has performed and/ or shared the stage with artist such as Cody Chesnutt, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, The Temptations, Lecrae, Eric Early of (Blitzen Trapper), Josh Garrels, The Wood Brothers, Tunde Baiyewu (Lighthouse Family), Luz Mendoza (Y La Bamba), Eshon Burgundy (Humble Beast), and more.

With over one million Spotify listens of title track, "There's A Light" from her first record "There's a Light", Liz Vice has performed with and/or shared the stage with artist such as Joss Stone, Blind Boys of Alabama, Boz Scaggs, The Temptations, Rodriguez, Lake Street Dive, Lecrae, Cody Chesnutt, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Eric Early of (Blitzen Trapper), John Mark McMillan,Sandra McCracken, Josh Garrels, Tunde Baiyewu (Lighthouse Family), Luz Mendoza (Y La Bamba), Eshon Burgundy (Humble Beast), and more. She has also gained recognition as a performing artist being named one to keep an ear out for in such publications such as OPB's One Song, World Cafe, eTown, NPR's Live Wire, Relevant Magazine, and many podcast interviews. Vice has also been a featured artist in Portland for such events as Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, Moon River, Forecastle, Portland Soundcheck, Soul'd Out Music Festival, Siren Nation Music Festival, Music on Main Street and more.

No matter how large the venue, her genuine approach to her artistry and playful interaction with the audience makes everyone feel like they're sitting at home on the couch watching a friend sing their heart out.

Having overcome many personal obstacles, she credits her adventurous life to not forcing anything. "It's all about risk, and taking risk is never regretful...well, most of the time."

From the same soil that grew Jim Morrison, Tony Hawk, NWA, Snoop, & Kendrick Lamar, grows another LA native, Propaganda. What do say about Propaganda? He's a poet, political activist, husband, father, academic, & emcee. With LA flowing through his veins & armed with a bold message, Propaganda has assembled a body of work that challenges his listeners with every verse & reaches across the spectrum of pop culture. From aggressive battle raps to smooth introspective rhythms, Propaganda's music will cause you to nod your head, but more importantly it will stretch your mind & heart.

Blessed with a commanding, blast-it-to-the-back-of-the-room voice, the 25- year-old Lydia Loveless was raised on a family farm in Coshocton, Ohio--a small weird town with nothing to do but make music. With a dad who owned a country music bar, Loveless often woke up with a house full of touring musicians scattered on couches and floors. She has turned this potential nightmare scenario (eww....touring musicians smell...) into a wellspring of creativity. When she got older, in the time-honored traditions of teenage rebellion, she turned her back on these roots, moved to the city (Columbus, OH) and immersed herself in the punk scene, soaking up the musical and attitudinal influences of everyone from Charles Bukowski to Richard Hell to Hank III.

Loveless's Bloodshot debut album Indestructible Machine combined heady doses of punk rock energy and candor with the country classicism she was raised on and just can't shake; it was a gutsy and unvarnished mash-up. It channeled ground zero-era Old 97s (with whom she later toured) but the underlying bruised vulnerability came across like Neko Case's tuff little sister. Indestructible Machine possesses a snotty irreverence and lyrical brashness that's an irresistible kick in the pants. On her second Bloodshot album Somewhere Else, released after a few 7"singles and an EP, Loveless was less concerned with chasing approval -- she scrapped an entire album's worth of material before writing the set -- and more focused on fighting personal battles of longing and heartbreak, and the aesthetic that comes along with them. While her previous album was described as "hillbilly punk with a honky-tonk heart" (Uncut), this one couldn't be so quickly shoehorned into neat categorical cubbyholes. No, things were different this time around--Loveless and her band collectively dismissed the genre blinders and sonic boundaries that came from playing it from a safe, familiar place. Creatively speaking, ifIndestructible Machine was an all-night bender, Somewhere Else was the forlorn twilight of the next day, when that creeping nostalgia has you looking back for someone, something, or just... anything.

2016's Real is one of those exciting records where you sense an artist truly hitting their stride, that their vision is both focused and expansive, and that their talent brims with a confident sense of place, execution and exploration. Whether you've followed Lydia's career forever, like us, or if you are new to her ample game, Real is gonna grab your ears. On her first two Bloodshot albums, there were fevered comparisons to acknowledged music icons like Loretta Lynn, Stevie Nicks, Replacements, and more. She's half this, half that, one part something else. We hate math. But, now Real and Lydia Loveless are reference points of their own. Genre-agnostic, Lydia and her road-tightened band pull and tease and stretch from soaring, singalong pop gems, roots around the edges to proto-punk. There are many sources, but the album creates a sonic center of gravity all its own.

Always a gifted writer with a lot to say, Lydia gives the full and sometimes terrifying, sometimes ecstatic force of the word. Struggles between balance and outburst, infectious choruses fronting emotional torment are sung with a sneer, a spit, or a tenderness and openness that is both intensely personal and universally relatable. It is, as the title suggests, real. Lydia Loveless has toured with artists such as Old 97's, Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell, Iron & Wine, Scott H. Biram, and the Supersuckers. Her music has been praised by Rolling Stone, NPR, Pitchfork, SPIN, Stereogum, Chicago Tribune, and more.

Loveless penned an original song for the 2015 film I Smile Back, starring Sarah Silverman, and was the subject of the 2016 documentary Who Is Lydia Loveless?, directed by Gorman Bechard.

KICK - The INXS Experience is the USA's most captivating salute and tribute to the internationally acclaimed rock band, INXS.

Formed in 2014, two years after INXS stopped touring, KICK - The INXS Experience has beautifully managed to capture the spirit of INXS in both its sound and live performance, bringing the highest level of musicianship to the audience while showing a true passion for the music of INXS. Vocalist, guitarist, and singer-songwriter Cory Massi is the founding frontman of KICK, and has long held a respect and admiration for the late great Michael Hutchence. Massi even auditioned for the reality TV show, Rockstar: INXS, in 2004, where contestants competed to become the new lead vocalist for INXS. What convinced him to audition? "I loved Michael's singing and his personality," notes Massi. "I saw INXS when I was a teenager in '88 and '89; they were great, and the people were just gaga over them. Michael left a big impression with his star power; he really had it, that guy. Our range is similar and I just went for it. I had to sing "Mystify" acappella so I was kind of nervous because I didn't have a band behind me. There was a camera a foot away from my face and it was out of my comfort zone; I would probably still feel uncomfortable today. I didn't get the gig: I was one of the last people to try out and I think by the time I auditioned they had already made their selection. No excuse: it was a good experience. We include "Mystify" in our set and when I sing it, I have my band with me and we love the music, so we play it with a lot of heart."

KICK is already garnering the attention, admiration, and accolades of well-seasoned "ears" in the music industry. Radio personalities in several markets have been quick to offer praise; WZXL / Atlantic City program director Steve Raymond, a longtime fan of INXS, raved after listening to only part of one song, "Wow! These guys have got the vibe down. Really impressive!" 107.1 The BOSS (WWZY)'s midday air personality Michele Amabile concurred, "I had to go back and listen again with my eyes closed.... I could have sworn I was hearing Michael Hutchence!"

Sounding like legendary frontman Michael Hutchence is no easy task. "I guess the hardest thing, the most challenging thing when I started KICK," acknowledges Massi, "was capturing the great variety in Hutchence's voice. He can sound sensitive and soft and he can be super strong and really belt it out and sometimes that all happens within one phrase or even a word. It took a lot of self-control to capture how he projects his lyrics and the music. It's impossible to really sound and look like him; he's an Adonis, another Jim Morrison, Morrison in a pop sense. I can't mimic that; all I can do is do my best to capture his spirit."

The focus has been on faithfully recreating the music in its most powerful sense; an in-the-pocket bottom end from bass player Don Leslie and drummer Johnny Dee, a brilliant combination of piano and synth by Mark Goodnough, the signature guitar tones produced by guitarist Todd King and Jason Taylor, the saxophone by Nottingham, England's Tom Wheat, and the spot-on lead vocals by Cory Massi, all lend to a powerful high-energy show. KICK - The INXS Experience will take you back. It will reignite your passion for INXS. It will introduce you to music that is still as fresh today as the day it was written; from "Original Sin" to "Elegantly Wasted" and everything in between, including (but not limited to) "Need You Tonight," "New Sensation," "What You Need," "Don't Change," "Listen Like Thieves," "The One Thing," "Bitter Tears," "Suicide Blonde," "Not Enough Time," "Beautiful Girl," and "Devil Inside."

The band hears it, time and time again:

"This was like seeing INXS all over again, I'm their biggest fan."
"That was such an awesome surprise; I'd almost forgotten how much I love INXS!"
"I came thinking I would only know a couple of songs, but I knew every single one - and the words, too."
"Cory Massi is Michael Hutchence 2.0, fabulous!"

Emily Kinney is a little too old to be daydreaming in the back of a classroom, soaked in unrequited love for a guitar player in a pop punk band she used to watch on MTV, but on Oh, Jonathan, Kinney's upcoming release, she just can't seem to help herself.

It's been a couple years since Kinney's last album, "This is War" and she's been using the time both professionally, in acting and music, and personally to mature and explore.

In acting, Kinney's transitioned from her young role as Beth Greene on AMC's hit tv show 'The Walking Dead,' where her music and singing were often featured, to more mature roles in shows like Masters of Sex, Ten Days in the Valley, and to her current gig as an emotional, tenacious mother of a young girl battling cancer in the upcoming Netflix series Messiah.

In music and life, Kinney's path to adulthood has been a little less straightforward. "After I got done touring with This is War, I was tired from traveling so much. There were a lot of opportunities coming off of The Walking Dead, and I started to feel a little like I was on a hamster wheel and not always making the best creative choices, I was just saying yes to whatever opportunities came my way. There was also a lot to learn about the music business. I often felt in the dark making decisions. I wanted transparency. Then, my little sister, who's seven years younger than me got married, and I started to notice the gray in my Dad's hair. Even though I had been traveling the world and doing all these things, I felt like I was the one who was stunted."

You can hear Emily's plea for adulthood in one track on the album, "Popsicles."

"I knew I needed to see my family more. I knew I needed a change of direction with my music and a rest. Time was going by a little too fast.

Kinney had always moved at full speed. Heading to NYC from Nebraska at just 19 to pursue a career in music and acting. She started going to auditions she found online and in 'Backstage' and would sing back-up for a couple singer-songwriters at places like Rockwood Music Hall, and the now closed Park Slope spot Bar 4. But it wasn't until she booked 'Spring Awakening," her Broadway debut in 2008, that Kinney felt confident to start sharing her own poems and songs which turned into her first EP, Blue Toothbrush, produced by Rod Stewart bassist Conrad Korsch. As Kinney's acting career progressed, the audience for her music also grew and she continued to release music: a 9 song EP, Expired Love, debut album This is War and a single on 7inch vinyl, Back on Love.

"I started working out of NYC a lot. I would come back to the city for just a couple days and it was great but I had changed and I didn't feel it fit me the same way it used to. My favorite restaurants or bars closed. It was new bands I didn't know playing at Rockwood. I had some close friends move to LA, so after tour I got an apartment and moved from NYC to LA too."

After a long Christmas break in Brush, Colorado listening to Cage the Elephant's Me talk Pretty and Less in her parents attic on repeat, Kinney returned to LA with new goals for her music and for her romantic life. "I really wanted to find a steady boyfriend, someone who could be a partner and I really wanted a major label record deal. Unfortunately, I didn't get either. But I did keep moving. I left my management company, I took a bunch of meetings, I tried out songs with different producers, and I did writing sessions with anyone....But I kept coming back to Ben from one of those first exploratory sessions,(Ben Greenspan, producer), so finally, I just stuck with him. He's amazing. I can be myself and i just really trust his taste."

Likewise, Kinney explains that she didn't set out to make a whole album all about one relationship, but it just kept coming back around. "At first, I thought Okay fine, I'll make an EP called Jonathan, but I don't want to....But they were always the best songs and this person just keeps coming up in my writing and in my life! No matter how hard I tried at new relationships, I just couldn't seem to move on."

Kinney's breakthrough and forward momentum came to fruition with the creation of "Mermaid Song," which she first released last fall via AWAL. "When I wrote that song, I suddenly felt a lot of freedom. I had been sending songs to managers and labels to get notes as I finished them, but with "Mermaid Song," I truly didn't care what anyone else thought. I loved the way it sounded. The synths that you hear became the sonic landscape and starting point for the whole record. Ben and I had just made the coolest song, and I had such a great response from fans. I stopped fighting making "Oh Jonathan," and felt motivated to get it out in the world. I realized I didn't need anyone's permission to put out the record or to legitimize my song-writing ability. I had stories and fans waiting to hear them. I could just do my own thing."

As for Kinney's romantic goals, you learn all about her hot-and-cold failed attempt at love with a rocker named Jon by listening to the record.

"But I don't think this album is about Jon." Kinney protests, "I always feel a song is more about the person who wrote it. It's my experience. One-sided and unfair. I'm not always a perfectly nice person. I can be a fan-girl, and emotional, and I can fall in love with people who don't love me back. My imagination runs away with itself. I'm not always a grown-up, but I think by the end of the record, I've grown. I've learned to move on, but I guess I've also learned to take my time."

American Wilderness, the striking new Rock Ridge Music album by Nashville-based singer-songwriter Matt Hires, pays off the promise the musician makes to himself in "Begin Again," one of the album's key songs, to "shake the dust and start over."

Produced by Randall Kent in Music City, the 10-song collection is a unified and probing work in which Hires -- previously known for his work on F Stop Music/Atlantic Records -- has created an intensely personal and self-revealing song-suite where he contemplates his life and his beliefs amid the oft-cacophonous backdrop of modern America.

Hires says, "It's the most cohesive body of work that I've put out, and I didn't intend it to be that way -- it just happened. One of the first songs I wrote for the album was the first track, 'Fighting a Ghost.' The second verse contains the line that the title of the album came from. A lot of the ideas behind a lot of the other songs came from that -- feeling a little lost amidst all the noise and commotion of culture and society. There's a lot of struggling and wrestling with faith in the record, too."

The making of American Wilderness was prefaced by a period of profound personal change for Hires. The well-traveled artist had previously issued two full-length albums, Take Us to the Start (2009) and This World Won't Last Forever, But Tonight We Can Pretend (2013), on F Stop/Atlantic.

As that label relationship ended, Hires and his wife of eight years decided to relocate from Tampa, Florida, where they had both lived all their lives, for Nashville, home of both the U.S. country music production line and a burgeoning scene for independent songwriters and musicians. They arrived in the city the day after Christmas in 2014.

"I think that was a big part of the change in my music," says Hires. "There's something about moving to a new city, and experiencing new things that helped in opening up my songwriting to new levels of honesty."

Hires quickly fell in with a group of like-minded indie musicians, and began exploring new avenues in his songcraft during informal living-room sessions with them.

He recalls, "We started doing this thing called 'Scotch 'n' Songs.' The average size of the group was five or six of us. We would get together every other week and share new stuff
that we'd been working on, and share a bottle of scotch or bourbon. We'd talk about the songs. Pretty much all of this album was born out of that, partially out of necessity. A few
weeks would roll by, and I'd say, 'Oh, man, I need a song to bring to the group,' so I would sit down and force myself to write. I'd say, 'What do you want to write right now? If you could turn on your radio or your iPod right now, what would you want to hear?'" The encouragement and feedback of the Scotch 'n' Songs crew moved Hires to set aside some of his earlier notions about his craft.

"When I would write songs before," he says, "I would have these things hanging over my head -- 'What's my A&R guy at the record label going to think? What are my parents going to think?' I tried to shed all of that, and just write what I wanted to write. I remember talking to one of my friends in the songwriting group, and he said, 'Write what scares you.' I took that idea and ran with it, and it made the record what it is."

The material on American Wilderness drew its stylistic inspiration from old and new strains of Americana and contemporaries whose work reflects Hires' own engaging pop sensibility.

"Influences of mine who have been favorites over the years are Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Wilco," he says. "While I was writing the material for this album, I got way into Jason Isbell's Southeastern. During the last year, I was listening to Brandon Flowers' solo record The Desired Effect -- I'm a big fan of The Killers. What I tried to do with this record was create songs that were lyrically interesting with something to say while remaining musically accessible, without being candy-coated."

Many of the album's songs explore an individual's uncertain place amid the roiling tumult of modern life in the U.S. Others -- like "Holy War" and "Glory Bound" -- candidly observe Hires' own internal conversation about religion and belief.

"I grew up in the church -- my dad was a pastor," he says. "It was something I was familiar with and comfortable with my whole life. Moving to Nashville, we stepped away from the church and stopped going for a little over a year. I feel that was a really good thing for me. I didn't stop thinking about that sort of thing. I wanted to look at it from outside the lens of Christian culture, and try to delve into what I actually believe, and be able to question things and not be afraid of that."

It is perhaps fitting that Hires and producer Kent recorded the basic tracks for the album at a Nashville facility, the Chapel.

Though American Wilderness looks deeply and unflinchingly into the darkness of personal and spiritual experience, Hires emphasizes that his new album concludes on a bright point of light.

"A strong theme on the album is rebirth, new beginnings, and the idea that tomorrow doesn't have to be like today," he says. "The last song is 'Don't Let Your Heart Grow Cold.' While it can go to some fairly dark places, I wanted to make sure it ended on a hopeful note. You can make it better. Winter always turns into spring."

American Wilderness is itself a creative spring for Matt Hires, marking the blossoming and emergence of a bright voice in American songwriting.

JD Eicher, the Youngstown, OH-area born and bred musician is set to release his new album (his first under just his name due to the very personal nature of the songs), The Middle Distance, via Rock Ridge Music on May 6, 2016. Eicher went for more of a journal entry/diary-type approach this time around, with the album being moodier, and focusing on a lot of internal struggle. Songwriting and superb singing are at the center of each track on The Middle Distance, with Eicher's Rust Belt upbringing evident as the foundation of his songwriting; Pittsburgh, not far from his hometown of Youngstown, has also embraced the performer and his music as their own.

With his band, The Goodnights, Eicher's soaring and graceful pop-rock songcraft garnered favorable comparisons to Coldplay, Keane, The Script, The Killers, and Death Cab for Cutie. Alternative Addiction named the group one of the top 10 unsigned bands. Live, JD Eicher & the Goodnights shared the stage with such diverse and respected artists as the Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, Train, Maroon 5, Hot Chelle Rae, Pete Yorn, Anberlin, Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams, Kelly Clarkson, Cartel, Sister Hazel, and Matt Nathanson, among many others.

Hi, I'm Dan. I'm a whiskey & beer drinking, fishing & hunting loving, motorcycle riding, quality food eating, hippie sympathizing, people loving, husband & father who lives in Minneapolis and shares a life with my amazing wife and adorable son. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, MI, and moved to Minneapolis when I was 18 to study music, and I stayed because I'm one of those crazy people that enjoys the snow and cold weather. Music is my trade & performing it for people is my passion. When I'm not in my studio writing songs and cutting records, or on the road playing shows, I'm usually tending to our backyard chickens, eating fresh veggies from my wife's huge garden, or out doing one of my many outdoor hobbies.

Now here are a few things about my music career that I should probably share in a music bio:

In September 2014 Budweiser released their "Friends Are Waiting" commercial campaign featuring me singing my song When You Come Home.

The Summer of 2015 marked the release of my fourth, and most prolific and widely distributed album, Come On Home, featuring the Budweiser song When You Come Home and singles Rum River and California.

Over the years I've had the honor of sharing the stage with some really cool artists & bands including The Civil Wars, Andy Grammer, Eric Hutchinson, NeedtoBreathe, Augustana, Tyrone Wells, Haley Reinhart, John McLaughlin, Will Hoge, Drew Holcomb, Sister Hazel, and more.

In February, 2018, I released my newest album 25 Years. One of my favorite producers, John Fields, produced it and I couldn't be more excited for you to hear it.

In a country where interstates don't take you to new places, but to the same places, where everywhere you go you've already been or you've just left, The Bottle Rockets' new album absolutely nails a sound and a vibe with a palpable sense of place. Lean Forward is suffused with the determination and resilience of their distinctly midwestern roots; theirs is a celebration of pragmatism and tempered optimism, not the delusions and exhortations of glassy eyed zealots--they aren't going to fall for that. Oh, it's a flat out, smoking rock record, too.

Lean Forward continues the Rockets' creative resurgence ignited by 2006's Zoysia. Reunited with producer Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (who ran the knobs on the Bottle Rockets' seminal albums The Brooklyn Side and 24 Hours A Day), the Bottle Rockets do what no other band does better -- look into the hearts and minds and faces of the dying small towns in America and crafts populist anthems with the sympathetic eye of Woody Guthrie and sonic stomp of Crazy Horse. They are songs that demand the windows be rolled down and the volume turned up. And with the hooks, you'll wonder how they make such problems sound so good ...

Lean Forward is stacked with a sharp lyricism and gritty fatalism that looks off the front porch for inspiration, and has the locked down groove of a band on top of its game. "The Long Way" looks on the bright side of the path not intentionally taken and works into a joyous song-ending jam. Songs like "Done It All Before" and "Get on the Bus" shine with an irresistible buoyancy, as does "Shame on Me" which gets to the meat of the relationship matter that, despite our best intentions, we're all gonna screw up. "Hard Times" whips up a ZZ Top-inflected boogie with effortless mastery and a dual guitar attack that'll put some much-needed flare back in your jeans.

On "Kid Next Door," the lyrics bypass protest in favor of simple commentary on a war coming home, making it a far more powerful song no matter where one stands on the issue. It's a stone cold classic and handled with the deftness and conviction that speaks to the Rockets' sober-minded realism. To see that they've still got scruffy punk moxie to spare, look no further than "The Way It Used To Be" and the channeling of Bo Diddley via the Stooges on "Nothing but a Driver."

With their 15th anniversary now in the rear view mirror, the Bottle Rockets show no signs of letting up. Lean Forward is an album that celebrates the forces of erosion not earthquakes, of the marathon not the sprint. Honed in their towns and on their back roads, it is distinctly the Bottle Rockets. Rather than be confining, this identity broadens the appeal and strength of their music far from their backyards into our own. Their specificity speaks universally and the message is a simple one: Lean forward, man, because it beats falling back.

The R&B Cadets played their first gig shortly after New Year's in 1980 and their last in the summer of 1986. In that time they got a lot of folks out on the dance floor, playing a distinctive mix of of deep soul cuts from Paul Cebar's massive record collection and some sparkling originals, written by John Sieger, often in tandem with Michael Feldman, a friend and now longtime host of Public Radio's Whad'ya Know?

Splitting lead duties with Sieger and Cebar was the lovely chanteuse, Robin Pluer. Owner of one the lovelier voice heard in the midwest, Ms. Pluer was a dollop of sweetness at the top of the band's deep range. Rounding out the lineup was Mike Sieger, John's brother and vocal doppelganger, who played bass. Original drummer Cy Costabile, was later replaced by Bobby Schneider and the saxophonist Juli Wood was replaced by keyboard/sax man Bob Jennings.

In it's prime, the band had a large following in Milwaukee, where they were pretty much the house band at the late, lamented Century Hall. They travelled well too, with fans in the Twin Cities, Chicago, Madison and even New York where they played legendary clubs like CBGB's, The Knitting Factory and The Lone Star. Their only record, Top Happy, came out in 198-. It featured a song produced by Nick Lowe, a fan who had stumbled across them after playing a show in Milwaukee. The record got great reviews and could have been the start of even bigger things, but like many bands, people were pulling, and being pulled, in different directions.

The positive result of their breakup was two, then three very vital and entertaining acts. There was Semi-Twang, which concentrated on John's songs and did a record, Salty Tears for Warner Brothers that gathered more love than sales. John later moved to nashville and had many of his songs recorded by artist like Dwight Yoakam, Flaco Jimenez and The Bodeans.

Paul and Robin continued with the beefed up and ever-popular Milwaukeeans, releasing a record in the 1990s on Shenachie that got radio play around the country. That lineup stayed around until Robin bid adieu. Tired of touring and now married, she headed to New York for a while, before returning. She has carved out a special niche between soul, swing, standards and the French chanson that she loves, and is still performing today.

In 2009 Semi-Twang reunited and have released two CDs, both of which garnered raves. Paul has continued non-stop, his latest was out last year with his most recent moniker, Tomorrow Sound. The three headed beast has been in rehearsal, tightening up songs old and new. The crowd at their first reunion gig in many years was up and dancing at the first down beat, you probably will be too.

Greg Koch and the Koch-Marshall Trio consist of American guitarist Greg Koch, his son Dylan Koch on drums and Hammond B3 specialist Toby Lee Marshall. At the heart of this organ trio is a blues sensibility - but Koch's compositions are an amalgam of rock, funk, jazz and country served up with heavy grooves and dynamic improvisations delivered with no small dose of humor and occasional wild abandon.

Milwaukee native Greg Koch has forged a successful career as a guitar player's guitarist. He has been called "fiendishly talented" by author and former editor- in-chief of Guitar Player Magazine Tom Wheeler and "scary good" by guitar phenom Joe Bonamassa. In addition to his 15 releases on multiple record labels which feature his unique take on a variety of American guitar styles and his versatile compositions, Koch is widely known for his lengthy tenure as an international ambassador for Fender Guitars which listed him in their "Top Ten Unsung Guitarists" on Fender.com. He is also a best-selling author and video instructor for music publisher Hal Leonard. Greg is a contributing columnist for a variety of guitar magazines including Guitar Player Magazine which listed Greg's "Chief's Blues" in their "40 Badass Blues Solos You Must Hear" and Premier Guitar. For the last few years Greg is renowned for his wildly popular internet videos (which number in the thousands with views exceeding 50 million) originating from the legendary Colorado guitar shop Wildwood Guitars.

Dylan Koch gravitated to the drums early on in his life using kitchen utensils to play along with music as soon as he could walk. After digesting an early diet of Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell and John Bonham, Dylan was mentored by the legendary Tom Brechtlein (Chick Corea/Robben Ford). In high school Dylan participated in the Jazz Institute at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and furthered his studies at the McNally Smith School of Music in the Twin Cities. While still in his teens he performed with young guitar guns Tallan Noble Latz and Jared James Nichols and has performed alongside his father with such artists as Robben Ford, Little Feat's Paul Barrere, Jon Cleary, David Grissom, Roscoe Beck and Malford Milligan. Dylan was recently nominated for drummer of the year by the Wisconsin Area Music Awards (WAMI).

Toby Lee Marshall's screaming B3 is the perfect compliment to the musical stew that is the Koch songbook. Hailing from the Twin Cities area he came from a musical family, playing piano for years until falling under the spell of the sound of the organ while at a baseball game at age seven. His fascination for the Hammond B3 took hold after his Dad took him to see Steve Cherewan playing with Dr. Mambo's Combo at their legendary residency at Bunker's in Minneapolis. Steve mentored Toby in the ways of the B3 and he hit the ground running landing a gig with bluesman Lonnie Brooks while still a teen. He would go on to travel the world as a member of Bernard Allison's band. After taking a hiatus to spend some family time, Toby is returning to music with a vehemence and the Koch-Marshall format gives him a long leash to let his freak flag fly, providing groovy bass lines, sinuous chordal work and incendiary solos.

The trio blends the explosive guitar manipulations of Greg, the groove-centric, power-pocket playing of his son Dylan on drums (who share many telepathic musical moments) and the glorious, Hammond organ stylings of the uber-talented Toby Marshall, Greg’s compositions are properly portrayed in the blues drenched, funk, chicken-fried, gospelly, jazz-rock panorama in which they were conceived.

Blues is not for the faint-hearted. Since the genre first drew breath, its greatest practitioners have embraced the darkness, spinning tales of hardship and death, hellhounds and devilry. If the sleeve of Witchy Feelin' suggests that Kim Simmonds, too, has a tendency towards the macabre, then Savoy Brown's iconic leader is happy to confirm it. "Blues has always dealt with themes of the Devil, witchcraft and so forth, and I've always written along those lines. At least three of the songs on Witchy Feelin' have that hoodoo vibe..."

Released in 2017 on Ruf Records, Witchy Feelin' proves the Devil still has all the best tunes. From the thrillingly brittle guitar riff that opens Why Did You Hoodoo Me, we are in the hands of a master, with Simmonds reigniting the seismic vocals and searing fretwork that established Savoy Brown as linchpins of the '60s British blues boom. "On this album, I tried my best to get my voice in its power zone," he explains. "I'm a baritone singer. I like listening to singers I can relate to, such as J.J. Cale, Mark Knopfler, Tony Joe White and Tom Rush. For my guitar playing, I still get inspiration from Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and all the Chicago players I grew up listening to back in '63... but I always listen to new music too."

Recording alongside Pat Desalvo (bass), Garnet Grimm (drums) and engineer Ben Elliott, Simmonds leads us into a world of dark nights, wild weather, women and whiskey: all perennial themes given a modern twist by this ageless bluesman. "The songs on this album have been two years in the making," he reflects. "I tried to write songs that had a personal point of view yet can be relatable to everyone. On Vintage Man, I wrote about being the type of guy who doesn't change as he gets older. I wrote about the power of love on Why Did You Hoodoo Me. And with Guitar Slinger, I wrote a song about seeing a great guitar player in an old country bar -- as I did when I first saw Roy Buchanan in '69."

Anyone who witnessed Savoy Brown leave the blocks in 1965 would speak of a similar epiphany. Back then, the band were the spark that ignited the blues-boom, signing to Decca, opening for Cream's first London show and boasting a lead guitarist who was being namedropped in the same reverential breath as peers like Clapton and Hendrix (with whom Simmonds jammed). Already, the guitarist was emerging as the band's driving force. "I had a vision," he reflects. "When I started the band back in 1965, the concept was to be a British version of a Chicago blues band. And the exciting thing now is, that vision is still alive."

Soon, Savoy Brown had achieved what most British bands never did -- success in America -- and became a major US draw thanks to their high-energy material and tireless work ethic. "There's far too much said about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," Simmonds told Classic Rock. "It's a cliché. We were all extremely hard-working guys. When we came over to America, we were like a little army. I look at that time as being filled with incredible talent."
Times changed, of course, and by 1979, Simmonds had moved from a London he no longer recognised -- "The punks were everywhere!" -- to settle permanently in New York. The Savoy Brown bandmembers came and went, and the music scene shifted around him, but the guitarist stuck thrillingly to his guns and reaped the rewards, performing in iconic venues like Carnegie Hall and the Fillmore East and West, releasing thirty-odd albums, and later enjoying a well-deserved induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk Of Fame.

Even in the post-millennium, while his peers grow soft and drift into semi-retirement, Simmonds retains a vision and an edge, spitting out acclaimed albums that include 2011's Voodoo Moon, 2014's Goin' To The Delta, 2015's The Devil To Pay -- and the emphatic new addition to Savoy Brown's catalogue, Witchy Feelin'. "I'm amazed that I still have the energy inside me to play guitar, create music and write songs," he considers. "I've been blessed in my life and I thank God for that. I've never been a believer in holding on to the past -- I don't look over my shoulder and congratulate myself. I always want to climb the next mountain -- and I'm very pleased with this new album..."

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