Upcoming Shows

Christian Lopez

SaturdayJuly 9, 20228:00pm $15.00

Ana Popovic

TuesdayJuly 12, 20228:00pm $30.00

Widely regarded as one of worlds very best female guitar-players, Ana's career has been meteoric and shows no signs of slowing down! The 5x Blues Music Awards nominee blends smoking electric funk slide guitar, jazzy instrumentals and tight blues groove with soulful feminine vocals. Her incredible stage presence makes her....

Elf Power, E.R. Jurken

WednesdayJuly 13, 20228:00pm $13.00

The Athens, Georgia-based Elf Power emerged as part of the second wave of bands linked to the Elephant 6 Recording Company collective, a coterie of like-minded lo-fi indie groups -- including the Apples (In Stereo), Neutral Milk Hotel, and the Olivia Tremor Control -- who shared musicians, ideas, and sensibilities. Formed....

Recently Added Shows

Sam Price & the True Believers

FridayJuly 29, 20228:00pm $15.00

Formed by bassist/singer Sam Price (Honey Island Swamp Band, OTRA) in Dec. 2015 as an outlet for his original song-writing, the band has quickly gained popularity in New Orleans. Their debut EP was chosen as the 'Best Roots Rock Album of 2017' by Offbeat Magazine. They were awarded a grant by the Threadhead Cultural....

Empire Strikes Brass

TuesdayAugust 2, 20228:00pm $15.00

Asheville, NC-based BrassFunkRock band Empire Strikes Brass has a lot to say with a big sound. Chock-full of serious groove from a thumping rhythm section highlighted by lush horn arrangements played by a thick horn section, the band's compositional roots as well as it's creative and collaborative soul contribute lots of....

Hannah Wicklund

SaturdayAugust 6, 20228:00pm $20.00

Hannah Wicklund is a rock guitarist and singer-songwriter from South Carolina. Her first musical outing was at the front of Hannah Wicklund and The Steppin Stones, a musical group she formed at the age of eight. Outside of this group, she has found additional success both as a touring guitarist and solo act. Wicklund....

Jack Broadbent

ThursdayAugust 11, 20228:00pm $15.00

Gabe Stillman

WednesdayAugust 17, 20228:00pm $15.00

The Gabe Stillman Band is a three-piece machine that runs at full tilt for every performance. While their sound is unmistakably rooted in the blues, the band draws from the deep well of all American roots music. Since landing in the final 8 of the 35th Annual International Blues Challenge in Memphis TN, and being....

Taylor Scott Band

ThursdayAugust 18, 20228:00pm $15.00

The Bots

SaturdayAugust 27, 20228:00pm $15 advance / $18 door

Mixing punk, blues, grunge, and more into their own unique sound, the Bots is the project of Los Angeles- based Mikaiah and Anaiah Lei. The brothers formed the band in 2006, when vocalist/guitarist/bassist Mikaiah and percussionist/vocalist Anaiah were barely out of grade school; they recorded their first album when they....

49 Winchester

SaturdaySeptember 3, 20228:00pm $15.00

Steve 'n' Seagulls

ThursdaySeptember 8, 20228:00pm $20 advance / $25 door

Steve 'n' Seagulls is a Finnish country band, playing bluegrass versions of well-known hard rock and metal songs. The band became known in the summer of 2014 with the publication of videos on YouTube. Especially popular was the band's version of "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC, which has over 130 million views on YouTube.

Jake Shimabukuro

MondaySeptember 19, 20228:00pm $35.00

Monophonics, GA-20, Kendra Morris

WednesdayOctober 5, 20228:00pm $25.00

William Clark Green

SaturdayOctober 8, 20228:00pm $15 advance / $20 door

A singer and songwriter whose slice-of-life tunes and rough, heartfelt delivery earned him a following in the Southwest, William Clark Green was born in Flint, Texas on May 19, 1986. When Green was 12, his family moved to College Station, Texas and he began taking guitar lessons at church. Green's tastes then leaned to....

EXTC

ThursdayOctober 27, 20228:00pm $30.00

Making Plans for Nigel... Senses Working Overtime... Life Begins at the Hop... Mayor of Simpleton... Generals and Majors... Dear God... Sgt. Rock... XTC was one of the UK's most respected and influential bands. Now EXTC -- featuring legendary XTC drummer, Terry Chambers -- is bringing the XTC songbook to audiences....

Alternative Concert Group Presents

The Zombies

TomorrowJuly 3, 20227:30pm $50 / $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 & The Dukes, The Whitmore Sisters

SaturdayAugust 6, 20228:00pm $65 / $45

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

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

Porcupine Tree

WednesdaySeptember 21, 20227:30pm

At the Marcus Canter, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online.

Steven Wright

FridayOctober 7, 20228:00pm $45 / $38

At South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI.

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

Steven Wright

SaturdayOctober 8, 20228:00pm $50 / $40

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

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

Robert Fripp and David Singleton

SaturdayOctober 8, 20228:00pm

At the Marcus Canter, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online.

Accept, Narcotic Wasteland

ThursdayOctober 13, 20228:00pm $31.50

At The Rave, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale at therave.com.

KICK - The INXS Experience

FridayOctober 28, 20228:00pm $20 advance / $25 door

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

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

George Winston

SundayOctober 30, 2022

Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI

George Winston

ThursdayNovember 3, 2022

Meyer Theatre, Green Bay, WI

George Winston

SaturdayNovember 5, 2022

The Grand, Oshkosh, WI

George Winston

FridayDecember 9, 20228:00pm

Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Brookfield, WI

George Winston

SundayDecember 11, 20228:00pm

Campanile Center for the Arts, Minocqua, WI

Get tickets

George Winston

TuesdayDecember 13, 20227:30pm

The Grand Theater, Wausau, WI

Get tickets

George Winston

ThursdayDecember 15, 20227:30pm

Symphony Hall, Duluth, MN

Get tickets

Quick Calendar

Lopez isn't merely riding the wave of Americana, the West Virginian native is bending it to its knees. As the son of a music teacher, he was learning piano and guitar by the time he was in kindergarten, and he recorded his debut album, produced by Americana super-producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton) when he was just 18. But on his new album The Other Side, Lopez transcends all of those hot-shot titles to emerge a well-rounded and experienced artist.

A collection of 12 eclectic songs that veer from sprightly indie-rock to brutally vulnerable ballads, The Other Side, produced by Robert Adam Stevenson (Queens Of The Stone Age, Jeff Beck, Hollywood Vampires) is the sound of a man who knows precisely who he is. Now 25, he's excised the trappings of a youth run wild and all but killed the ego that can undermine the evolution of an artist. "Take the blade from my hand and do what I can't: cut me down," Lopez pleads in the slow-burning "Tanglin'." He doubles down on that sentiment of transformation in the brooding title track: "I'm gonna go to the woods and come out the other side," he sings over and over again like a mantra.

"This album is a product of the strength I had to walk away from everything I knew," Lopez says. "I had to start fresh on my own."

A musician's musician, Lopez plays every instrument on The Other Side, with an assist from drummer Carl Thompson. While the West Virginia native's earlier albums, 2015's Onward and the 2017 follow-up Red Arrow, embraced more organic sounds and instruments -- underscoring his Appalachian lineage and roots-rock pedigree -- The Other Side smartly expands and electrifies his palette. It's a muscular record, dynamic and unencumbered by genres, but with hints of Lopez's influences: the Avett Brothers, David Byrne, Tom Waits, and Johnny Cash.

Lead-off track "Nothing Wrong" opens with a galloping bass line before exploding into a swirling wall of sound punctuated by Lopez's slashing guitar. "Feel the Same" punches up blue-collar rock lyrics ("I had a '70s coupe and a buck in my hand") with stacked background vocals and a cascading solo. And "Finish What You Started" is Carl Perkins gone punk, a blast of 21st century rockabilly that finds Lopez singing through a thick veil of distortion.

"If I want my music to last in the world, I have to stay as authentic as possible, and that means not compromising or being boxed in," he says. "That also applies to just being a human. Wherever that leads me, I'm sure that'll be the place that I was meant to be, both musically and mentally."

But Lopez may be at his most irresistible when he's crooning. His voice is an earnest tenor, elastic and versatile, yet also lived-in -- roughed up from years spent on the road playing bars and clubs. Listen to the ache in the solo acoustic ballad "Miss Me Too" when he sings, "What am I supposed to do? I'm still twisted up in you." Or the empowerment he sells so expertly in the album's closer "Braver." "Gotta be braver than you think you are," Lopez instructs. And you believe it.

Remarkably, Lopez says being a vocalist was never part of the plan. "I never wanted to be a singer when I started," he says. That he's able to admit that now speaks to how far he's come from the swaggering guitar wunderkind of his teenage years. It's true self-discovery.

"Whoever you are, whatever you do/there's always someone searching for you," he sings in the majestic "Who You Really Are."

For Lopez, that someone was himself.

It is a true, and nowadays rare, musician who writes lyrics so vulnerable and authentic that an audience is irrevocably captured by the powerful experience of sharing the journey. An album that is essentially an autobiographical account of personal mistakes, change, and growth, offers listeners a chance to reflect on their own experiences and connect with another's story.

With Griffin House's upcoming album, So On And So Forth, it is clear the artist digs deep and offers up his narrative after much reflection. House is now a young family man and artist who is choosing sobriety and celebrating the path to his success, through songs which share his perspective on how people remember the past with rose-colored glasses, how we grow up and realize what we deeply need, and how we must find happiness in ourselves in the present.

"The record has a lot to do with recognizing the ego in one's self and letting it die. It can feel like your whole identity is being wiped away, and you don't even know who you are anymore. For the person singing these songs, holding on to one's own individuality in order to remain special or important in the world has started to became far less important than being content with being a good, decent, and loving person. But old habits die hard," adds House.

The project was tracked last summer at Lakehouse Recording Studios, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. House's ties to Asbury Park go all the back to 2004, when he was invited to tour with Patti Scialfa. His first show in the boardwalk town was opening a show for Scialfa at the Paramount Theatre. It was there that Griffin met her husband, Bruce Springsteen, and all the wonderful characters in their crew and band. Those memories and experiences made returning to Asbury Park over a decade later to record So On And So Forth feel like a full circle moment in his career.

House recorded the essentially live project with no click track and very little overdubbing. Lakehouse owner, Jon Leidersdorff, helped assemble the band. Prior to walking into the studio, House had never met the musicians and had no idea how the songs would turn out. He adds, "The experience ended up being one of the most fun and positive of my career. The process was stress-free and freeing." The resulting album reflects this journey -- a leap of faith with triumphant results.

Recording and performing for over a decade, House has toured with Ron Sexsmith, Patti Scialfa, Josh Ritter, John Mellencamp, Mat Kearney, and The Cranberries. He received early critical acclaim on the CBS Sunday Morning, and his songs have since been featured in countless films and television shows such as One Tree Hill, Army Wives, and Brothers and Sisters. He has also appeared on Late Night with Craig Ferguson. Most recently, CNN Newsroom invited House to perform "Paris Calling," from So On and So Forth, live on the air, and the song has been picked up by radio prior to being serviced. House has released ten albums and continues to headline his own national tours. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Jane and their two daughters.

"Fifty years have passed in a flash," says pianist, songwriter, and vocalist Marcia Ball of her long and storied career. Ball, the 2018 Texas State Musician Of The Year, has won worldwide fame and countless fans for her ability to ignite a full-scale roadhouse party every time she takes the stage. Born in Orange, Texas and raised in Vinton, Louisiana, her deep Acadian heritage and a lifetime of absorbing Gulf Coast rhythm and blues is evident in her original songs and the classics she chooses to cover. This has made her a one-of-a-kind favorite with music lovers all over the world. With each new release, her reputation as a profoundly soulful singer, a boundlessly talented pianist and a courageous, inventive songwriter continues to grow. Her love of the road has led to years of soul-satisfying performances at festivals, concert halls and clubs.

In Marcia's most recent album, Shine Bright, she has put together the most musically substantial, hopeful and uplifting set of songs of her five-decade career. Produced by Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) and recorded in Texas and Louisiana, Shine Bright contains twelve songs (including eight originals), ranging from the title track's rousing appeal for public and private acts of courage to the upbeat call to action of Pots And Pans, a song inspired by renowned Texas political writer and humorist Molly Ivins. From the humorous advice of Life Of The Party to the poignantly optimistic World Full Of Love, the intensity of Ball's conviction never wavers while, simultaneously, the fun never stops. "It is a ridiculously hopeful, cheerful record," she says, in light of some of the album's more serious subject matter. The secret, according to Ball "is to set the political songs to a good dance beat."

Marcia grew up in a family whose female members all played piano and she began taking lessons at age five, playing old Tin Pan Alley and popular music tunes from her grandmother's collection. But it wasn't until she was 13 that Marcia discovered the power of soul music. One day in 1962, she sat amazed as Irma Thomas performed on a show at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans and delivered the most spirited and moving performance the young teenager had ever seen. A few years later she attended Louisiana State University and after dropping out to explore the brave new hippie world of the late 1960s, she was invited to try out for a blues-based rock band called Gum. She made the cut and her future was set.

In 1970, Ball left Baton Rouge for San Francisco. Her car broke down in Austin, and while waiting for repairs she fell in love with the city and decided to stay. It wasn't long before she was performing in local clubs with a band called Freda And The Firedogs, a group that pioneered the Progressive Country movement, which attracted many musicians and significant media attention to Austin. It was around this time that she discovered Professor Longhair, the seminal New Orleans piano player. "Once I found out about Professor Longhair," recalls Ball, "I knew I had found my direction."

When Freda And The Firedogs broke up in 1974, Ball launched her solo career and began touring outside of Texas and Louisiana. She signed with Capitol Records in 1977, debuting with the country-rock album Circuit Queen. As she created and honed her own sound, she released six critically acclaimed titles on the Rounder Records label during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1990, Ball--collaborating with Angela Strehli and Lou Ann Barton--recorded the hugely successful Dreams Come True on the Antone's label. At the end of 1997, Marcia finished work on a similar "three divas of the blues" project for Rounder, this time in the distinguished company of Tracy Nelson and her longtime inspiration, Irma Thomas. The CD, Sing It!, was released in 1998 and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Marcia Ball has appeared many times on national television over the years, including the PBS special In Performance At The White House along with B.B. King and Della Reese, Austin City Limits and HBO's Treme. She performed in Piano Blues, the film directed by Clint Eastwood included in Martin Scorsese's The Blues series which aired on PBS television nationwide in 2003. Marcia also appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman with The New Orleans Social Club, where she not only reached millions of people, but also helped to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2012, she had a role in the independent film Angels Sing starring Harry Connick, Jr., Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson. In 2017 she performed on NPR's A Jazz Piano Christmas, live from The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Ball joined Alligator Records in 2001 with the release of the critically acclaimed Presumed Innocent. The CD won the 2002 Blues Music Award for Blues Album Of The Year. Her follow-up, So Many Rivers, was nominated for a Grammy Award, and won the 2004 Blues Music Award for Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year as well as the coveted Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year award. Her next release, Live! Down The Road, released in 2005, also garnered a Grammy nomination, as did 2008's Peace, Love & BBQ (the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart). She holds eleven Blues Music Awards, ten Living Blues Awards, and five Grammy Award nominations. 2010's Grammy-nominated Roadside Attractions and 2014's The Tattooed Lady And The Alligator Man successfully grew her fan base even further.

She has been inducted into both the Gulf Coast Music Hall Of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame. The Texas State legislature named her the official 2018 Texas State Musician. In 2018, Marcia was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.

Since March of 2020 and the onset of the COVID pandemic and subsequent lock-down, Marcia has filled her time with work on a nonprofit organization she co-founded called HOME -- Housing Opportunities for Musicians and Entertainers, which pays rent and utilities for older musicians in the Austin area. HOMEaustin.org. She also improved her streaming and virtual performance abilities enough to participate in many on-line fundraising efforts throughout the year. She put her domestic skills to work making masks. She and her husband Gordon got a dog to replace their dear Lily. She has written songs and she is collaborating on a musical play which she hopes becomes a real live show in the near future.

And she's getting the band ready to get back out on the road. "I still love the feel of the wheels rolling," she says, "and the energy in a room full of people ready to go wherever it is we take them."

In a town known more for generating pop country 'hat acts' and contemporary Christian music, there is a storm brewing. Small independent bands with no management, booking, record labels (or even local media support) are changing the way people think about Nashville Tennessee.

Now they've got three full length CD's under their belt. 'Sucker Punched', (Dec.2006), 'Three Step Windup' (April,2008) and 'Hang Your Stockings..... Say Your Prayers' the band's Christmas CD (Nov, 2008). Each one totally DIY, produced and engineered by Firebaugh and Dickson and recorded in Andrew Dickson's garage, lovingly known as 'Studio D'. Each CD blends elements of honkytonk, rockabilly, psychobilly, and straight up rock and roll. Every member of the Hillbilly Casino brings their own special flavor to the band, from Nic's background in hip hop and rockabilly, to Geoff's love of old school punk rock and ska, and you'll find elements of all of this in every Hillbilly Casino record and show. 2008 also saw the release of 'Buy-in' a full length Documentary by Doug Farrar at Rockstep Creative. Doug followed the band around for over a year, attending dozens of shows, and collecting performance, and interview footage, which he compiled into a revealing look at a band just trying to make a living and have fun.

While you'll see a lot of bands sitting around waiting to get 'signed', the Hillbilly Casino took a cue from bands like Black Flag, Fugazi, and Youth Brigade, booking their own tours, and producing and releasing their own CD's and T-shirts, and spending hundreds of hours in their old grey Econoline van getting the rock 'n' roll out to the people. From thirty minute opening slots, to 3 and 4 hour marathon sets, these boys are gonna bring their 'A' game, and you'll probably get tired before they do.

The Hillbilly Casino has performed along with the following national Acts...
Brian Setzer Orchestra (7 shows), Rev. Horton Heat, Rancid, Los Straightjackets, Southern Culture on the Skids, Th' Legendary Shack Shakers, The Horrorpops, The Blasters, The Supersuckers, Doyle Bramhall, 7 Shot Screamers, Koffin Kats, Flatfoot 56, Lonesome Spurs, Three Blue Teardrops.

The Hillbilly Casino has performed at these festivals and venues... Gibson Amphitheater (Hollywood CA), Ryman Auditorium (Nashville, TN), House Of Blues (Chicago, IL), Headliners (Louisville, KY), Exit/In (Nashville, TN), Mercy Lounge (Nashville, TN) Bergenfest (Bergen, Norway), Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots Festival (Kilkenny, Ireland), Rockin' 50's Fest (Green Bay, WI), State Theater (Detroit, MI), Tractor Tavern (Seattle, WA), Rocketown (Nashville, TN), Rodeo Bar (New York, NY)
Members of the Hillbilly Casino are endorsed by King Doublebass, Gretsch Guitars, and Fender Amps.

Minneapolis-based quartet Night Moves return with the psychedelic new song "Fallacy Actually." The first track in a series of new singles to be released incrementally over the next year, "Fallacy Actually" is a head-spinning swirl of layered synths, harmonica, and guitar and a fitting introduction to the band's next chapter.

Singer John Pelant describes the track as, "A dense cosmic romp that deals with personal fears and letting go. The inevitable end of things, hatred versus acceptance, flawed thoughts, and what could have been. I wanted it to have a NOVA, UFO abduction, backroom Estonian roller rink discotheque kind of vibe. The song went through a lot of changes, styles, and moods. I think we ended up in a nice place. I love the soft flute -- makes me think of Canned Heat meets Motown meets The Spinners on acid."
"Fallacy Actually" and the batch of new songs that will follow were recorded at Pachyderm Studios outside of the band's hometown with producer John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Alvvays, Dinosaur Jr.).

"Fallacy Actually" showcases Night Moves further evolution as a band and as songwriters, still trading in massive pop hooks that somehow manage to convey a sense of yearning melancholy but with a sense of maturity and perspective in the arrangements that comes with time. Synthesizers sweep, the pedal steel swoons, the high lonesome harmonica calls across a distance.

These aren't pandemic songs... more a bit of unfinished business that the pandemic allowed to be fulfilled. The band and Agnello had worked together previously on the band's second album, 2016's Pennied Days. That album was set to be made at Pachyderm Studios but had to be relocated when studio owner John Kuker sadly passed away on the eve of the recording dates.

With the band restless after the campaign for their third album, Can You Really Find Me (2019), which was prematurely cut short by COVID, they did their best to keep busy: writing songs, building greenhouses in South Dakota for a friend, rehearsing the aforementioned songs. Out of that came a brace of new tunes that simply called out to be documented.

The funny thing is that, for anyone that's ever spent an inordinate amount of time in a recording studio, the process of making an album is its own social distancing of sorts. So the notion of getting a cohort together in the moment actually made strangely perfect sense under the circumstances.

New songs honed and selected, the band re-approached Agnello to get feedback on the material and working together again. The idea was met with enthusiasm, and everyone converged on the idyllic, secluded Pachyderm Studios for a hectic, bustling week of creation and homage.

On each album, Jack Broadbent is used to people saying, "Oh, this is a departure from your previous stuff." That's something the British-born singer, songwriter and guitarist has heard to varying degrees, over the course of his six albums to date, and is certainly fitting of his latest release, RIDE. As someone who is as connected to the quality of his relationships with people as he is to the quality of his music, rest assured he considers that a compliment.

"I think there's a lot of variety on my records. This is no different," Broadbent says. "I'm really getting a sense now that this idea of genre and where you fit in is not as important as it used to be -- which I think is good."

Broadbent grew up in rural Lincolnshire, England. His earliest influence, his father, Mick Broadbent, plays bass on RIDE and is a well-established musician, including a tenure with Bram Tchaikovsky. "I fell in love with music at a young age," he says, informed by the steady diet of music played around the house. His father would take Broadbent to open mic nights as a youth, and by his early teens he was playing drums in his dad's bands. Broadbent gravitated to guitar around the same time as he became interested in song writing.

"Being a drummer, I tried to develop a very rhythmic approach to my guitar playing," Broadbent recalls. "What interested me was being able to hold down a groove and do some gymnastics to incorporate solos and subtle bass lines."

Broadbent's slide guitar playing evolved from the busking he did during his early 20s. "It seemed to appeal to people as something that was both visually and musically exciting. This was interesting to me," Broadbent explains. "I was already playing in altered and open tunings, so when it came to using a slide I was well-versed in how those patterns worked together." He took some cues from influences such as John Lee Hooker and Little Feat, but ultimately Broadbent says, "I never really wanted to emulate anybody else's style, which is why I ended up going down a slightly more hard-hitting, brash, kind of route in my playing."

Broadbent found acclaim and an audience after the Montreux Jazz Festival hailed him as, "The new master of the slide guitar." Bootsy Collins famously proclaimed him, "The real thang!" He won over more fans touring with the likes of Ronnie Wood, Peter Frampton, and other musical legends.

His penchant for writing on the road ensured that there was usually an abundance of material whenever Broadbent was ready to return to the studio. That was the case with RIDE, although the album took a turn from what Broadbent initially intended.

"I had to come off the road because of Covid and was going to work on a solo project of acoustic material," he recalls. Instead, with Quebecois drummer and co-producer Mark Gibson, "...we started playing some of the more rock 'n' roll stuff I had, and we couldn't deny that there was a kind of vibe happening. So, I just went full steam ahead in that direction which brought the sound of this album into focus. We built on those grooves and ended up with the rock 'n' roll record I've been wanting to make for a long time."

RIDE does, indeed, rock...Broadbent's natural grit, voice and guitar, riding atop every song with a driving force. There us a great deal of stylistic diversity here -- from the moody ambience of Who Are You? and the title track, which he calls "a tale of adventure", to the blues roots of New Orleans, a love letter to one of his favorite towns. Grace soars with a kind of front-porch spirituality, while "I Love Your Rock 'n' Roll", is as Broadbent explains, "...an homage to the bands that I like" and boasts an energetic Americana lope. Even though there are several twists and turns, the album takes the listener on a trip, strung together by a vision that Broadbent developed during the recording process.

"Mark and I recorded the tracks live in a small home studio in Quebec, Canada. I then sent the recordings to the UK where my dad added the bass lines and then sent them back to us for mixing and mastering, " explains Broadbent. Working around travel limitations and within the uncertainty of the last year, this international collaboration translates that edge. Throughout RIDE, one can detect what Broadbent calls "this underlying theme of trying to get a feel for where you're heading and recognizing how much distance you've still got left to travel."

The next step, of course, is to take RIDE on the road, which Broadbent will be doing throughout 2022. He knows the songs will only grow as he presents them on stage, but they'll continue to speak to the experiences from which they were born. "I really like the energy of this record," Broadbent says. "There seems to be an interesting dichotomy between what I write while I'm touring and what I write when I'm able to sit and think. I think what the album speaks to is that juxtaposition between the ride and the time spent parked up. It all ties into the journey of the artist."

No matter what lies on the road ahead, Broadbent's fans can rely on his dedication to the music and to his evolving craft. Little Feat founding member and current US tourmate Bill Payne says it best:

"I love his voice. His playing is superb, showing an almost reckless abandon when he gets revved up. He is performing on the edge, and if he falls, so be it. The pieces will not break."

Hailed as "Midwestern rock heroes" by American Songwriter, Red Wanting Blue has spent the last twenty years establishing themselves as one of the indie world's most enduring and self-sufficient acts, notching appearances everywhere from Letterman to NPR and reaching #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, all while operating largely outside the confines of the traditional music industry. For their powerful new album, 'The Wanting,' the band handed production duties over to acclaimed singer/songwriter Will Hoge, who helped them create their most ambitious, fully realized collection yet. Recorded in Nashville, TN, the record draws on many of the group's traditional strengths--indelible melodies, infectious hooks, explosive performances--even as the making of it pushed them far outside their comfort zone and forced them to take an unprecedented, nearly year-long break from touring.

Alternately triumphant and melancholic, the songs on 'The Wanting' are both muscular and nuanced, with frontman Scott Terry's epic, heartfelt vocals soaring above the band's gritty brand of driving rock and roll. The record opens with the rousing "High and Dry," a feel-good rocker that also serves as something of a mission statement for a fiercely independent group that's as much a band as they are a family, with Terry singing, "I want to stand on my own two feet again / And when I mess up / That's when I hope my friends will pick me up." On "Ulysses," the band channels early Phil Collins with pulsing synths and larger-than-life drums, while the tender "Glass House" crescendos from a delicate whisper to a triumphant roar, and the dreamy "I've Got A Feeling It Hurts" calls to mind the hypnotic drive of REM mixed with a touch of Jayhawks jangle.

"This is really the most collaborative album our band has ever made," Terry says of the wide range of influences. "It's the first record where every member contributed to the writing, and I feel like we all matured as artists because of it."

Over the course of ten previous studio albums, Red Wanting Blue brought their passionate, unforgettable live show to every city and town that would have them, blazing their own distinctive trail through the American heartland as they built up the kind of fanatically dedicated audiences normally reserved for arena acts. In 2016, they celebrated with a 20th anniversary retrospective album/concert film entitled 'RWB20 Live at Lincoln Theater,' which captured the band in all their glory at a sold-out hometown show in Columbus, OH.

Taylor Scott is known for his soulful brand of funk-infused rock n' roll and gut-punching lyricism, punctuated by his prodigious guitar skills. So it made sense to enlist the production expertise of Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) to help him realize the vision for his 2019 scorcher of an album,
All We Have. After releasing a live EP in 2020 recorded at legendary San Diego venue The Belly Up, Scott was compelled to get back into the studio to lay down what had transpired musically over the last couple years. The decision to team up with Berlin again to produce was a no-brainer. Look for new singles as we head toward the new album release this summer.

The forthcoming album is a collection of tunes written over the past few years, throughout all of the unexpected ups and downs, from all different angles. There are a lot of different viewpoints defined in these songs. Presently rolling out digital singles, the first one, "Bleeding Out", may be a good example of what Taylor calls an angry funk tune. "After being cooped up playing acoustic guitar for so long, I guess I was feeling aggressive musically. I'm really proud of how the band sounds and carries the groove on that track."

"Throwback Grooves" is the 2nd single, a mellow funky groove, it's inspired by their favorite 70s soul records and features Eric Benny Bloom on trumpet in a standout solo. The brand new single, "Dance All Night" is a song about seeing light through the dark -- it's about being present. Producer, Steve Berlin really helped the track come alive in the studio. The 'out' section in the middle is one of Taylor's favorite things to pull off live. Just released is the 4th single, "Shade Tree American Dream" which premiered in Grateful Web. A song about America, the neighborhood, friendships, family, getting by together, lighting up at 10 in the morning, driving halfway across the country for a $200 gig, finding ways to forget you're $100 from broke. Could be Scott's version of the perfect world.

Taylor Scott has toured the world as guitarist for blues legend Otis Taylor and played alongside Warren Haynes on Otis Taylor's critically acclaimed release Hey Joe Opus: Red Meat. You'll find him a guest guitarist with Los Lobos often, and the Taylor Scott Band has toured as support for bands like Los Lobos, Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Buddy Guy, Andy Frasco & the UN, Vince Herman, and more. As Taylor Scott Band unveils new music, look for them out on the road bringing their burning energy to the stage.

Robert Jon & The Wreck are a double shot of southern rock with a blues chaser. Roots rock jams, whiskey drenched lyrics and fervent stage shows only scratch the surface of what makes RJ&TW one of the best live bands to emerge from Southern California in years. With a growing discography and billings alongside the likes of Joe Bonamassa, Sturgill Simpson, and Peter Frampton, the quintet is poised for their greatest work yet. Based in Orange County, CA with a vibe straight out of the south, Robert Jon & The Wreck are blazing a path into 2021 with a new album and international tour.

Composed of Robert Jon Burrison (lead vocals/guitar), Andrew Espantman (drums/background vocals), Steve Maggiora (keys/background vocals), Henry James (lead guitar), and Warren Murrel (bass), Robert Jon & The Wreck are currently writing their fifth LP. The new album is untitled to date and set for release in spring of 2020, and will launch a stateside tour that spans southern California to Florida. The U.S. dates will be followed by a European leg toting stops in Valencia, Paris, and Frankfurt, with bookings still underway and locations in Japan and Australia to be announced.

Reigning from southern California, Robert Jon & The Wreck, has been taking the southern rock sound established on the east coast and bringing it to the West Coast. Since their inception in 2011, these 5 native Californian's; Robert Jon Burrison (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Andrew Espantman (Drums/Background Vocals), Steve Maggiora (Keys/Background Vocals), Nick Phakpiseth (Bass) have been electrifying audiences all over the world with their soaring guitar leads, boogieing grooves, rich vocal harmonies and arguably perfect tunes.

This quintet began their musical journey together in February 2011. Within 6 months the band had not only embarked on a coast-to-coast national tour, but also released their first album, "Fire Started". This album, produced by Robert Jon & The Wreck was mixed by Michael Vail Blum (Pink Floyd, The New Radicals, Prince) and mastered by Dale Becker (Macklemore, What So Not). While this album is not widely recognized as being in canon with their later work, it certainly served as a launching point for the bands wildly successful and travel-filled years to come.

2013's "Rhythm of the Road," produced by Warren Huart (The Fray, Aerosmith), engineered by Philip Allen (Adele), and mastered by Robert Vosgien (Smashing Pumpkins, No Doubt) at Swing House Studios in Hollywood was filled with new, and even edgier material that simply added more fuel to the fire that Robert Jon & The Wreck ignite while performing. Audiences nationwide crammed venues, salivating over a band that is determined to not miss the mark. This sharpshooter like mentality was fully recognized when Robert Jon & The Wreck won the title of "Best Live Band" at the 2013 Orange County Music Awards, along with nominations in the categories of "Best Rock," and "Best Blues."

Fueled by this success, RJTW took the road again delivering fierce performances, emblazoned with commitment and dripping in a rawness that's impossible to fake. Simply put, it is difficult to ignore when these five musicians take the stage. Little wonder they have made an impact on audiences across the world, where they've played a run of sold-out shows and proudly shared bills with talent the likes of Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, and Rival Sons.

They returned to the studio in Summer of 2014 in between tours to record their 2nd EP at RedBull Studios in Santa Monica, CA, engineered by James Musshorn (Guns N Roses, Thrice, Something Corporate) and mixed by Warren Huart.

Not even 6 months later, the band set up shop at the legendary Sunset Sound Studios (Led Zeppelin, Prince, The Doors) in Hollywood with Warren Huart producing. Recording the 10 track album live from the floor with minimal overdubs, the band found their sound and strength in their songs. "Glory Bound" released 24th February, 2015.

In 2016, RJTW teamed up once more with producer Warren Huart for their 2nd full-length album, "Good Life Pie", recording this time at Hybrid Studios in Santa Ana, CA and mastered by Grammy Award Winner and 5x Latin Grammy Award winner Adam Ayan (Dawes, Lady Antebellum, Father John Misty).

With yearly European tours now becoming an integral part of their touring regiment through touring agent Manny Montana's Teenage Head Music (The Delta Saints, Blackfoot Gypsies, Them Dirty Roses), Robert Jon & The Wreck found their flow being on the road most of the year, returning to California and prolifically pumping out new material. In 2017 they recorded their self-titled album, "Robert Jon & The Wreck", but due to lineup changes in the band (resolving with the addition of James and Murrel), the band re-branded their "Rhythm of the Road" and "RedBull Sessions" EPs to form "Wreckage: Vol.1: B-Sides Collection", and with the new band members in tow, took to Europe once more with a breakout performance at the Moulin Blues Fest in Ospel, Netherlands. Their self-titled album released in May 2018 to high praise and the band didn't skip a beat.

Robert Jon & The Wreck released their first live album, "Live from Hawaii" in October 2018, showcasing live recordings from their first show on the islands, wherein the skies opened up and poured drops of sunshine on the excited and dedicated crowd throughout the duration of the concert.

May 2019 saw the release of their 4th studio album, "Take Me Higher", the first album written with new members Henry James and Warren Murrel. This album took them all over the world, with three separate outings to mainland Europe, to the UK playing the Ramblin Man Fair in the UK alongside Foreigner and Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and to the Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean Blues Cruise alongside greats Joe Bonamassa, Peter Frampton, Eric Gales, Robert Randolph & The Family Band and more.

Their latest album "Last Light on the Highway," released May 8th, 2020 to rave reviews. Even with the global setbacks caused by COVID-19, the album has done remarkably well, quickly receiving accolades from major publications including Rolling Stone, and having an unprecedented 12-week run of radio play on Planet Rock Radio in the UK with their first single, "Oh Miss Carolina."

The guys already have major plans for 2021, currently writing their 6th studio album (title pending). Along with plans for multiple European excursions, including festival performances at Bospop in the Netherlands, a full UK tour, and Australian and Japanese tours in the works, the band is also working tirelessly coming up with new merchandise and other goodies at their online store, and keeping their fans in-the-know and Getting Wrecked through their weekly podcast, "The Wreck Podcast" and email list giveaways.

Award-winning vocalist, instrumentalist and songwriter Curtis Salgado, the man NPR calls "an icon" with "a huge voice," is revered worldwide for his ability to wring every ounce of soul out of every song he performs. Salgado is famed not only for his powerhouse live shows and ten previous albums, but also for his passionate and insightful original songs. He has been nominated three times for the Blues Music Award for Song Of The Year, winning in 2018 for Walk A Mile In My Blues from The Beautiful Lowdown. In total, he has won nine Blues Music Awards, including the B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year. DownBeat calls his songwriting skills "an impressive gift." Billboard says Salgado's music is "inspired and powerful." Now, after 40 years of recording, performing, touring and songwriting, Salgado is back with Damage Control, his first full band album in four years, and it's packed with fresh, original material.

With Damage Control, Salgado has created what he calls "a rock 'n' roll record with lyrics that hit." The 13 songs--12 originals and a raucous cover of Larry Williams' Slow Down (famously covered by The Beatles)--will surprise and delight longtime Salgado fans. Salgado has crafted a soul-searching, street-smart collection of vividly detailed, instantly memorable songs. From the defiant opener The Longer That I Live to the bouncy New Orleans crime story You're Going To Miss My Sorry Ass to the foot-tapping history lesson of Hail Mighty Caesar to the plaintive honesty of Always Say I Love You, Salgado's vocals weave, bob and soar, at times jabbing with nuance, and then striking with unlimited power. Of the title track, he says, "Life is all about damage control...trouble and then some. It's about dealing with what gets thrown at you and saying, 'I ain't finished yet.'"

Damage Control was produced by Salgado and recorded in three studios with three different groups of musicians, featuring some of the very best players in the business. At Nashville, Tennessee's Rock House Recording, top notch support included guitarist George Marinelli (Bonnie Raitt), keyboardist Kevin McKendree (Brian Setzer, Delbert McClinton, Tinsley Ellis), singer Wendy Moton (Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton) and special guest Cajun accordionist and vocalist Wayne Toups. At Studio City, California's Ultratone Studios, guitarist/ bassist Johnny Lee Schell (Otis Rush, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt), pianists Mike Finnigan (Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon) and Jim Pugh (B.B. King, Etta James, Robert Cray), drummer Tony Braunagel (B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt) brought the goods. And at Greaseland in San Jose, California, guitarist/bassist Kid Andersen (Rick Estrin, Charlie Musselwhite), bassist Jerry Jemmott (B.B. King, Aretha Franklin) and drummer Kevin Hays (Robert Cray) added their fuel to the fire.

Born in 1954, Salgado grew up in Eugene, Oregon with music all around him. His parents' vast music collection included everything from Fats Waller to Ray Charles, and his older brother and sister turned him on to the soul and blues of Wilson Pickett and Muddy Waters at an early age. He attended a Count Basie performance when he was 13 and decided then and there that music was his calling. After "Salgado inspires chills. Upbeat and original...poignant and wise with a great sense of humor" --Blues Music Magazine "Glorious and memorable... Salgado's voice is center stage just as it should be. Highly recommended" --Blues & Rhythm UK "Salgado's vocals are soulful beauty. Fresh, unexpected, authentic, percolating...perfectly executed... simply delicious" --Living Blues getting his hands on a harmonica, Curtis began devouring the blues of Little Walter and Paul Butterfield, and taught himself to play.

By his early 20s he was already making a name for himself in Eugene's bar scene, first as the vocalist/harmonica player of The Nighthawks, and later as co-leader of The Robert Cray Band. Salgado quickly developed into a player and singer of remarkable depth, with vocal and musical influences including Otis Redding, O.V. Wright, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf.

In 1977, comedian/actor John Belushi was in Eugene filming Animal House. During downtime from production, Belushi caught a typically ferocious Salgado performance and introduced himself during a break. Once Salgado started sharing some of his blues knowledge, a fast friendship grew. Salgado spent hours playing old records for Belushi, teaching him about blues and R&B. Belushi soaked up the music like a sponge and used his new awareness to portray "Joliet" Jake Blues in The Blues Brothers, first as a skit on Saturday Night Live, then a best-selling record album (which was dedicated to Curtis) and finally as a major motion picture (Cab Calloway's character in the film was named Curtis as an homage).

Once Salgado joined forces with his friend Robert Cray and began playing together as The Robert Cray Band, he found himself sharing stages with many of his heroes, including Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland, Albert Collins and Bonnie Raitt. After Salgado and Cray parted ways in 1982, Curtis went on to front Roomful Of Blues, singing and touring with them from 1984 through 1986. Back home in Oregon, he formed a new band, Curtis Salgado & The Stilettos, and was once again tearing it up on the club scene. He honed his band to a razor's edge before releasing his debut in 1991 on the JRS label. After recordings for Rhythm Safari and Lucky Records, Salgado signed with Shanachie Records in 1999, releasing four critically acclaimed albums. Salgado's Alligator Records debut, Soul Shot, came out in 2012 to widespread critical acclaim. Blues Revue said Salgado's music is "triumphant, joyful, blues-soaked R&B" and declared him to be "one of the most soulful, honest singers ever." He followed up with The Beautiful Lowdown in 2016 and Rough Cut, the potent, stripped-down acoustic album (with guitarist Alan Hager) in 2018. The albums collectively earned Salgado multiple Blues Music Awards--for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year, Soul Blues Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Soul Blues Male Artist Of The Year.

Salgado has performed at Portland's Waterfront Blues Festival, The Chicago Blues Festival and The Tampa Bay Blues Festival. He has also played The San Francisco Blues Festival, Memphis' Beale Street Music Festival, Denver's Mile High Blues Festival as well as on The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. Internationally he's toured in Saipan, Guam, Canada, England, throughout Europe, Brazil, Chile, Panama, The Philippines, Thailand, and Hong Kong. According to Blues Revue, Salgado's performances "start at excellent before segueing into goose bumps, ecstasy, and finally nirvana."

For all of his successes, Salgado is no stranger to adversity. During his career, he has overcome multiple health challenges, battling back from liver cancer in 2006 and lung cancer in 2008 and 2012. In March 2017 he underwent quadruple bypass surgery. He's not only come back stronger, he's become one of the genre's most prolific songwriters, going from writing a few songs per album to writing full albums of original songs. In 2016, many critics declared The Beautiful Lowdown--featuring 11 original songs--as the best of his career. According to Salgado, Damage Control is even better. He's excited to bring his new songs to the stage, where the crowd fires him up even more. "I want people to relate to the songs," he says. "You can dance to it but the words have to carry the weight. I know if a song hits me, it'll hit others just as hard." On Damage Control, the hard-hitting songs just keep on coming.

With its latest album, "Fortune Favors The Bold," Russell County, Virginia-based 49 Winchester is ready and roaring to break onto the national scene with its unique brand of tear-in-your-beer alt-country, sticky barroom floor rock-n-roll, and high-octane Appalachian folk.

"As we've aged and matured, our sound has gone from a softer place to this grittier, edgier tone that we have now," says lead singer/guitarist Isaac Gibson. "So, we're trending more towards being a rock band instead of a country band. But, at the same time, I don't think anybody's ever known quite what to call it."

Although it's 49 Winchester's fourth studio album, "Fortune Favors The Bold" marks its debut for Nashville's New West Records -- one of the premier labels for Americana, indie and rock acts on the cutting edge of sound, scope and spectacle.

Formed eight years ago on Winchester Street in the small mountain town of Castlewood, Virginia (population: 2,045), the band started as a rag tag bunch of neighborhood teenagers who just wanted to get together for the sake of playing together.

Aside from Gibson, there's also his childhood friend, bassist Chase Chafin, alongside other Castlewood cronies -- guitarist Bus Shelton, and Noah Patrick on pedal steel.

"From day one, it's always been a band and it will always be about being a band. This is everything, everything we love about music -- we're going for broke with this thing," says Gibson. "And that gives us a unique perspective because it's still the same guys. It's still all of us from Castlewood traveling around, playing music and making this band a reality -- this is a story of growth."

And it's that sense of growth -- more so, a sense of self -- at the core of "Fortune Favors The Bold." It's not only a record that showcases the current state of 49 Winchester, it's a melodic stake in the ground of how this group is constantly evolving and taking shape, sonically and lyrically.

Reflecting on his early days as a jack-of-all-trades stone mason in Castlewood, where it was about trying to make ends meet in an effort to keep 49 Winchester rolling along, Gibson can't help but be grateful for a well-earned notion at the core of the band's ethos -- anything worthwhile in life is built brick-by-brick.

"Everything has to be built. And very few people are going to achieve success overnight," says Gibson. "There's going to be people you see succeed in front of you. Maybe you don't think they deserve it as much as you, haven't worked as hard as you, haven't done it as long as you. But, none of that matters -- they ain't you. They're not living your life. They're not part of your experience."

At its essence, "Fortune Favors The Bold" is about going against all odds to bring your art into fruition and into the world. It's about leaving your hometown and heading for the unknown horizon. And it's about proving those wrong who snickered and waited for the day you'd give up somewhere down the line, only to circle back home with your tail between your legs.

But, it's also about looking into the rearview mirror with a genuine appreciation for where you came from and what you're made of, those hardscrabble, salt-of-the-earth traits in your blood and character that define what it actually takes to climb that damn mountain of dreams -- come hell or high water.

For the members of Canadian band Stars, Capelton Hill is a place where things don't change. From Capelton Hill, the new record from the band, is about this place, the relationships formed there, the inevitable decay of it all, and the joy and life that happens in between. More than ever, From Capelton Hill feels like a direct channeling of Stars' decades-long pursuit: "This band has always been us trying to navigate what it means to be inside a life that is going to end," says vocalist Amy Millan. "And we're getting closer."

Musically, the record feels like walking into Stars' familiar teenage bedroom. Campbell says it cuts to the band's "founding principles": it's brimming with gothic, dazzling '80s and '90s Britpop arrangements, but rendered with intimacy and warmth rather than with cold, digital remove. A wealth of horn and string arrangements unfold across the record in true Stars fashion, romantic and macabre. The fretwork and key strokes feel closer than ever before; Millan's and Campbell's vocals are tender and undressed, as if they cut all their takes together.

The music for From Capelton Hill was composed between Seligman and Cranley over the first half of 2020, and after a first attempt to assemble the record from afar with mixed results, the band convened in Montreal to record with Marcus Paquin and Jace Lasek at Studio MixArts, Lasek's Breakglass Studio, and the band's own space, Zoomer.

From Capelton Hill is about a group of people who have spent more than 20 years together, and who have now started to face the awful, necessary calculus each human eventually must do: when will all of this end? The lyrics of "Capelton Hill," in its bittersweet, end-of-season farewell to the ramshackle house in North Hatley, offer a useful equation: "Close up the house for one more year, wave to the lake and drive away/That feeling in your chest, it isn't fear, it's just the passing of the day."

Lydia Persaud brings a full spectrum of emotion to her latest album, Moody31. Shimmery runs fall alongside precise enunciations that slightly quiver on pitch. A singer with daring range, she stretches words - subtly melismatic, smooth, slantly gospel - to their full emotional capacity. Set for release in April 2022, her sophomore record remodels a multitude of influences into a dynamic and harmonious original. Described by producer Scott McCannell as "Roberta Flack sitting in with Bill Withers' band at a folk festival," Moody31 recombines jazz, R&B, and folk stylings to create soul music in its most literal sense.

It's tempting to want to deconstruct her amalgam into its distinct parts, tracing each track's reference points and divergencies. On 'Let Me Be There For You,' homage is paid to the beautifully haunting background vocals of Motown legend Mavin Gaye, while the ukulele fingerpicking on 'Think Of Me' is approached with the lyrical sensitivities of a storyteller. Without fidelity to a single source of inspiration, Persaud's arrangements are kaleidoscopic: layered sounds that mimic the prismatic moods of the album. It's here that brokenness, loss of identity, and glorified independence commingle with self-assurance, acceptance and new beginnings.

Persaud's silvery and ripe vocals glide over Christine Bougie's whispery guitar lines on 'Good For Us,' an opener that celebrates the importance of space and self-reflection in relationships. 'I Got You' is a bouncy love-letter to oneself, while 'Words for Her' is fraught with the anticipation of saying 'I love you' for the first time in a blossoming romance. This is a summer album, with Persaud's honeyed tone warming each track, but one that complicates the expected feel-good nature of the season. Imagine riding your bike through the city on a near-perfect July day, on the heels of a recent heartbreak.

The title track is a surprising instrumental strip-down: diminished and major 7th chords coast alongside lush yet anguished vocals. The effect is a deep vulnerability crossed with absolute self-possession. It's these antithetical desires that cut to the core of Moody31: to love and be loved without losing oneself in the process.

Persaud met producer and bassist Scott McCannell of Safe Spaceship Music in 2019. "Scott and I shared the same desire to create something new while preserving the classic warmth of the 70s soul and jazz sounds we love." The two began compiling a collection of demos that eventually became Moody31. "The baritone ukulele was the foundational instrument I used to write the record," Persaud says. "I would teach Scott a new song, and, to avoid perfectionism, we would record a rough demo while the song was loose and fresh." With all the bed-tracks recorded in one room, the songs have a live, jazz-combo quality. Kyla Charter and James Baley's backing vocals are full of disco-esque call-and-response, while Chino de Villa's steady drums lend heartbeat from start to finish.

A fixture of Toronto's music community and a sought-after collaborator, Persaud has had a colourful decade performing to small clubs with her jazz project (2012 - 2016), to crate diggers with The Soul Motivators (2011-2015), to folkies at festivals with The O'Pears (2013-2019), and to rock nostalgics with Dwayne Gretzky (2017-present). She's shared the stage with Lee Fields, Richard Bona, David Crosby, Gordon Lightfoot, Jackie Richardson, Divine Brown, and Justin Nozuka, among many others. She's also a member of the Queer Songbook Orchestra, and host of the upcoming docuseries, New World Beat.

"After ten years of playing music, I'm beginning to bring my multiple experiences into what I'm doing. I make music to honestly connect with others who might feel the same way. I hope Moody31 celebrates and validates the human experience in all its contradictions: how new love can be experienced alongside deep loss, how one can crave solitude and connection, simultaneously. It's beautiful to embrace all of our moods - it's living."

On November 12th, 2021, the acclaimed Hawai'i-born 'ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro will release 'Jake & Friends,' his most creatively ambitious project to-date, featuring collaborations with a who's who of music royalty, from Willie Nelson and Bette Midler to Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Loggins. In terms of size and scope and considering the sheer number of legendary stars who graciously loaned their inimitable talents to the project, 'Jake & Friends'can only be compared to other benchmark duets albums by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, a shining testament to just how far the singularly gifted Jake has come. Listen to the album's first two singles, "Two High," featuring Moon Taxi, and "Stardust," featuring Willie Nelson.

Jake's own head spins when looking over his high-wattage guest list featured on the album -Willie Nelson, Bette Midler, Jimmy Buffett, Moon Taxi, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Vince Gill and Amy Grant, Jon Anderson, Ziggy Marley, Warren Haynes, Jack Johnson, Jesse Colin Young, Ray Benson & Asleep atthe Wheel, Sonny Landreth, Lukas Nelson, Billy Strings. "I have to pinch myself when I see those names on my own album," he says. "It's like, 'Did that really happen?' Making the album was a real challenge, but I'm deeply honored that all of the artists agreed to record with me."

Over the past two decades, Jake has proved that there isn't a style of music that he can't play. While versatility for any musician is impressive, what's remarkable about Jake's transcendent skills is how he explores his seeminglylimitless vocabulary --whether it's jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass, folk or even classical --on perhaps the unlikeliest of instruments: the 'ukulele. Responding to the urgent calls of his fervent imagination, Jake has taken the 'ukuleleto points previouslythought impossible, and in the process he's reinvented the applications for this tiny, heretofore underappreciated four-string instrument, causing many to call him "the Jimi Hendrix of the 'ukulele."

Jake's incredible journey has taken him from local phenom to YouTube sensation, from playing tiny clubs to headlining the world's most prestigious concert venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House. He's performed on the biggest TV shows and has released a string of award-winning, chart-topping albums. Just recently, he was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a Member for the National Council on the Arts. It's fair to say that Jake has picked up more than a few admirers --millions of them, actually --but it wasn't until he began his latest album that he discovered how many of his fans were, in fact, his very own musical heroes.

Two years in the making, 'Jake & Friends'started out with a modest idea of featuring perhaps two or three guest stars, but the concept quickly grew. Willie Nelson was the first artist to take part, and significantly he chose his signature song, "Stardust," which he first recorded over 40 years ago. The uniquely sublime pairing yields magical results --Jake's delicate 'ukulele lines form an intimate foundation for Nelson's achingly beautiful vocal. "I was so nervous the night before we cut it," Jake admits, "but Willie put me at ease right away. Ithink once we got that cut finished, I was ready for anything that came next.

Teaming up with the popular Nashville alt-rock band Moon Taxi, Jakerevisits the group's 2017 hit, "Two High," and he even coaxes singer-guitarist Trevor Terndrup, a fellow 'ukulele enthusiast, to join him on the instrument. Inspired by the universal peace sign for hope, "Two High" is a sunny and breezy balm for our troubled times. "Recording with Moon Taxi was such a blast," says Jake. "Trevor has an amazing spirit that just brightens up any room, and he can shred on the 'ukulele. And [guitarist] Spencer Thomson holds down the rhythm and makes everything groove. It was a joy to collaborate with them."

Bette Midler sounds heavenly on the stark yet shimmering version of her Golden Globe-winning classic, "The Rose." Jake and Jimmy Buffett reprise their delightful rendition of "Come Monday," a song Jake has had the pleasure to perform on tour with Buffett. "Why Not," written and sung by multi-platinum hitmaker Kenny Loggins, is a deliciously upbeat slice of soul-pop with hooks for days and an effervescent ukulele solo that will set pulses racing. Fans longing for all-instrumental bliss will revel in the aptly named "Smokin' Strings," which Jake wrote and performed with bluegrass guitar sensation Billy Strings. Jake throws down with the Allman Brothers/Gov't Mule's Warren Haynes in epic ways on their fiery reading of the blues-rock classic "On the Road to Freedom.

And while the Beatles have always loomed large in Jake's repertoire (he scored one of his first hits with his resplendent version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"), on Jake & Friendshe covers not one, not two, but three Fab Four gems, teaming up with Ziggy Marley, Jon Anderson, and Vince Gill and Amy Grant for the three tracks. The treasures continue throughout the album.

"Looking back on it all now, it feels like a dream," Jake says with mixture of pride and relief. "I grew up fantasizing that one day Imight be able to meet my musical heroes, and here I am on my own record playing with them. That's remarkable beyond words. I'm so fortunate to have had this experience, and I can't wait for people to hear it. I think they're going to be able to tell that I'm having the time of my life."

Anywhere off Hatteras Island, Chicamacomico sounds made up, like some wine-drunk incantation or maybe a tongue twister--try to say it ten times fast. But as a former life-saving station built in 1874 on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the name is perhaps the perfect metaphor and title for American Aquarium's ninth studio album.

The Old North State is tattooed on the bones of front man BJ Barham, who has never lived more than two hours from his hometown in Reidsville. But, more so, what better to represent an album about loss than a place built to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners and passengers? Song as a sort of salvation is something Barham hopes this album can do for the band's established and growing fanbase. Sometimes when we're drowning, music keeps us afloat.

"When these massive life changes happen, we feel like we are the only ones facing these problems," Barham said. "I hope this album serves as a salve to anyone who has experienced this sort of loss over the last few years. I hope it makes them feel a little less isolated and disconnected. I want them to know that someone out there is going through the exact same shit and that they are not alone."

With tracks tackling personal loss--the loss of his mother and grandmother, the loss of a child, the loss of youth and time and the creative spark that drives him--Chicamacomico feels stripped down and bare-boned in its instrumentation compared to earlier records. The orchestration is dialed back leaving the lyrics to stand naked front and center. It's reminiscent of Rockingham, Barham's 2016 solo album, and this may be in part a result of producer Brad Cook, who produced both albums as well as the band's 2015 record Wolves. But it's likely more a sign of the maturing sound and expanding scope of a songwriter now fully comfortable and confident in his own skin.

"When you are young, you want to play everything loud and fast and I think that comes, at least in part, from uncertainty. I hadn't fully found my voice back in those early days so the louder and faster the songs were the less chance someone could actually hear what I was saying. I'm not afraid of the lyrics sitting way out front anymore because I am confident in the songwriting. The band can still cut loose and take over a song, but they aren't expected to do all the heavy lifting these days."

Few songwriters swing the hammer as hard and precise as Barham and it is a testament to the humility and trust of his bandmates that they take the back seat and allow his storytelling to drive us home. With a heavy tour the rest of the year and a backlist of brass-knuckled bangers, each will surely have their fair share of time at the wheel.

But as for this record, be thankful for the subtlety, for the stillness and for the quiet. For ten songs, Chicamacomico will hold your head above water.

William C. Cobham was born on May 16, 1944, in Panama where he grew fond of percussion from watching his cousin play. At age three, his family moved to New York City and at age eight Billy made his percussion performance debut with his father. Growing up Billy played in the St. Catherine's Queensmen at the High School of Music and Art. After graduating Billy served as a percussionist in the U.S. Army National band. He then played as a drummer in pianist Horace Silver's band and toured the U.S. with him throughout the late 1960s. He then left to partake in Miles Davis' fusion ensemble where he can be heard on Davis classics such as 'Like-Evil' and 'A Tribute to Jack Johnson'. Eventually Cobham parted ways from Davis' group to work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, where he was able to further explore his technique and fusion style which influenced many for years to come.

After deciding to part ways with the Orchestra, Cobham started his own band, Spectrum and signed with Atlantic Records. Spectrum's debut album featured a mix of jazz, funk and rock that allowed Cobham to further experiment with percussion. In 1975, Cobham released "A Funky Thide of Sings" moving into commercial jazz exclusively. In 1977, Cobham left Atlantic and signed to CBS label which allowed him to reach the commercial success he had always wanted. Cobham focused on his opportunities as a session drummer and other side opportunities after leaving CBS, such as drumming for the Grateful Dead's side project Bobby & the Midnites. In 1988, Cobham helped start a group called 'Jazz is Dead' which reprised Grateful Dead music with jazz iterations.

In 2001 Cobham was named one of the 25 Most Influential Drummers by Modern Drummer magazine. He paved the way for future drummers by changing the way percussion is set up, the way it is played and enjoyed. In 2001 Cobham released "Drum 'n Voice 1" which was his return to the 1970s jazz-funk sound and then in 2006 Cobham released "Drum 'n Voice 2" eventually Cobham released his follow up record "Drum 'n Voice 3" in 2009. In 2011 Cobham started teaching drums online at the Billy Cobham School of Drums which is a ArtistWorks Drum Academy. In 2018 Cobham toured across the US a performance series called "Crosswinds Project" which was his way of revisiting his second album, Crosswinds. The tour re-comprised his original work from the 1970s which continued into 2019 as a celebration of Cobham's 75th birthday.

Cobham continues to tour worldwide.

Winner of the Independent Music Award, in the Live Performance Album category for his latest triple live album "Encore" (2014), "Rose d'Or" of the Montreux Festival for his first album, "PrÃ¨s de Paris" (Switzerland, 1976), "Best World Music Guitar Player " by the readers of Guitar Player Magazine (USA, 2008), Pierre Bensusan is recognized as one of the premier musicians of our time.

If "World Music" is music that pays tribute to the spirit of a collection of human beings through distinct rhythms, traditional instruments and harmonic colors, French-Algerian guitarist, singer and composer Pierre Bensusan can be recognized as one of the most eloquent and world musicians today.

Born in Oran, French-Algeria, in 1957, when France was decolonizing its Empire, Pierre Bensusan's family moved to Paris when he was 4. He began formal studies on piano at the age of 7 and at 11 taught himself guitar. Influenced in those early days by the folk revival blooming in Britain, France and North America, Bensusan began first to explore his own diverse musical heritage and then moved to the horizons beyond.

At 17 he signed his first recording contract, and one year later his first album "Pres de Paris" won the Grand Prix du Disque upon his debut at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland.

Described by the L.A. Times as "one of the most unique and brilliant acoustic guitar veterans in the world music scene today", Pierre's name became synonymous with contemporary acoustic guitar genius, long before the terms New Age, New Acoustic Music or World Music were invented. He has the ability to make a single guitar sound like an entire band as he brings the audience on a mesmerizing musical journey. And yet, Bensusan is more than what any musician or music lover expects from a guitarist. He is a composer as well as a bilingual and a brave improvisational vocalist, melding whistles and resonant low notes with something like his own scat technique.

There is a sense of something both playful and serious in his work, an unparalleled sense of freedom in his compositions and his improvisations. His "manner" of playing defies classification - crossing world, classical, jazz, traditional, folk and more. None can be isolated as simply "Brazilian", "Arabic" or "French"; rather, they represent our world in its current state, a world sharing itself, fusing cultures together in ways we have never experienced. A great embassador of peace. Not to be missed!

The world's premier psychedelic soul band, Monophonics, cordially invites you to attend the grand re-opening of the once thriving, once vibrant establishment, the legendary Sage Motel. A place where folks experience the highs and lows of human existence. A place where big dreams and broken hearts live, where people arrive without ever knowing how they got there. It's where individuals find themselves at a crossroads in life.

What started as a quaint motor lodge and a common pitstop for travelers and truckers in the 1940s morphed into a bohemian's hang by the 1960s and 1970s. Artists, musicians, and vagabonds of all types would stop there as seedy ownership pumped obnoxious amounts of money into high end renovations, eventually attracting some of the most prominent acts of the era. But when the money ran out, The Sage Motel devolved into a place where you rent by the hour.

Sage Motel, Monophonics' fifth studio album since 2012, tells its story. Once again produced by brilliant bandleader Kelly Finnigan, the album captures a timeless sound that blends heavy soul with psych-rock. With their previous album, It's Only Us, selling over 10,000 physical units and garnering over 20 million streams, Monophonics have built a reputation over the past decade as one of the most impactful bands in the country.

If these walls of the Sage Motel could talk, this is what they'd say. So join us as we examine where the stories are told and experiences unfold.....and sink into a soft pillow of soulful psychedelia.....down at the Sage Motel.

Warpaint, the leading single from Sage Motel, reveals the vices of each resident and confronts the struggles of substance abuse and addiction. Their warpaint becomes compulsory to face the day, tolerate the struggle, get through the hardest parts of the world, humanity, life and to fight the good fight. Cloaked in heavy riffs and robust vocals, Warpaint gives you the first look through the doors of the Sage Motel.

GA-20 was formed by friends Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs in Boston, MA in 2018. The project was born out of their mutual love of heavy traditional Blues, R&B, and Rock & Roll of the late 50s and early 60s. Faherty and Stubbs bonded over legendary artists like Lazy Lester, J.B. Lenoir, Earl Hooker, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Junior Wells. Feeling a void in current music, the duo have set out to write, record and perform a modern version of this beloved art form. Joined by drummer Tim Carman in 2019, GA-20 is a trio of 2 guitars, vocals and drums. Raw, passionate and honest performance, both on stage and in the studio, is the only goal.

GA-20 released their debut album "Lonely Soul" Oct 18th 2019 on Karma Chief / Colemine Records. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard blues charts. "Live: Vol. 1", released the following year, debuted at #1 on the Billboard blues charts and brought the band's live sound to a wider audience. Medium.com declared, "This is the kind of music that travels through time while taking from the era where it was born and turning it into something fresh. Dirty and raw...timeless and modern." In June 2021 GA-20 announced the new album "GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor: Try It...You Might Like It!," a 50th anniversary celebration of Hound Dog Taylor, to be released August 20 via Colemine Records in partnership with the legendary Alligator Records.

Stubbs has spent the past 13 years as guitarist for Blues legend Charlie Musselwhite. During that time he has also backed up and toured with such Blues giants as John Hammond, James Cotton, Junior Watson and James Harman. Stubbs also leads his own original instrumental psych-rock band, 'The Antiguas.'

Kendra Morris's Nine Lives, to be released on Karma Chief Records (a division of Colemine Records) in early 2022, marks not only the culmination of the decade since the release of her first LP Banshee, but also a turning point in Kendra's life. Nine Lives heralds the beginning of a new chapter; label, and an evolution to the next level of adulthood. This collection of her original songs encapsulates moments from what could be nine lifetimes. Kendra, while very much a New Yorker and veteran of almost 2 decades on the NYC scene, hails from Florida and aesthetically embodies the broader sense of American culture, bringing to her contemporary sound influences found in music and cinema dating back to the mid 20th century. Her music conjures imagery evocative of road trips to weird and wonderful places.

Concurrently a visual artist, filmmaker and animator, Kendra harnesses the feline nine lives metaphor repeatedly. In the context of the chapters of her musical trajectory alone, we see at least 9 lives. From discovering multi-tracking on a karaoke machine as a child, to playing in bands in Florida, moving to NYC and creating music alone on an 8 track, releasing her first 2 LPs on Wax Poetics, releasing her 2016 EP Babble and collaborating with DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, MF Doom, Czarface, Ghostface Killah, Dennis Coffey, and David Sitek, to name a few.

The life of this multi-disciplinarian artist contains units of time and story lines through which we can all relate to universal themes of love, loss and overcoming one's fears. Kendra, never ceasing to heed her spiritual calling to continue creating music and art, no matter what, has no plans of slowing down but a belief in only evolving, eager to begin experiencing her next nine lives.

Some folks are lucky to find what they love to do at an early age and settle in for the long haul working to expand and improve their work over the arc of a lifetime. Willy Porter is one of those folks. He has followed his own path to explore the sacred language that music truly is. 30 years after his solo recording debut, he continues to reach further into his guitar & pen while stretching the form of what his own music can be. He's currently working on his 13th album for release in early 2022.

Willy Porter continues on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 11 albums, and multiple continents. His journey has been defined by an inquisitive love for humanity and the language that describes what we all hold to be true. Porter's songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven grit, soul, silence and muscle-- at times electrifying, dynamic, and unique in the way that Porter's voice blends and fuses with his fret work.

A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late '80's while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.

Porter's breakthrough album, Dog Eared Dream, was released in 1994, and the song "Angry Words" quickly became a staple at the burgeoning AAA radio format. This led to a major label deal with BMG/Private Music in 1995. Unfortunately, Private was dismantled by BMG just as Porter was preparing to release his follow-up. With contractual freedom in 1998, Porter quickly signed with the San Francisco-based label Six Degrees. There he released three albums beginning with the studio gem, Falling Forward (1999), produced by multiple Grammy-winner Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting). The eponymous Willy Porter (2001) followed featuring great guest performances by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and Tony Levin. His fan-favorite solo disc, High Wire Live (2003) was co-produced with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin).

In 2005 Porter left Six Degrees and launched his own imprint, Weasel Records. Together with longtime keyboardist/ collaborator Dave Adler, Porter produced the atmospheric album Available Light in 2006. His work with Guild & Fender guitars over the next several years would result in the manufacture of the "Willy Porter Signature" acoustic guitar. Porter then took time to record and produce singer/songwriter Natalia Zukerman, on her whip-smart Weasel debut, Brand New Frame (2008). Porter released his next disc, How to Rob a Bank in 2009, the heavily Americana-flavored record featuring the contributions of the LA-based quartet, Raining Jane. Bank was followed with a live disc recorded with the Carpe Diem String Quartet in (2010). This collaboration produced a gorgeous EP featuring several of Porter's most enduring tunes ("Breathe," "Paper Airplane," "Watercolor"), elevated and reinterpreted against a backdrop of lush string arrangements.

In 2011, Porter produced the second Weasel release for Natalia Zukerman, the driving Gas Station Roses. A partnership with Milwaukee-based singer/ songwriter Carmen Nickerson resulted in the album, Cheeseburgers and Gasoline (2013). This spartan production illuminates themes of life-longing and relationship repair, all while balancing the dream of self-actualization on the axle of a carnival's Tilt-a-Whirl. The record also includes Porter's brilliant cover arrangement of Peter Gabriel's "Digging in the Dirt." Porter's follow-up release, Human Kindness (2015) incorporated all of his acoustic, electric, and multi-string chops to bear in service of a great selection of songs bearing the influence of soul, rock, blues/Americana, showcasing Porter's growth as a writer, musician, and producer.

After touring extensively together for more than two years, Porter and Nickerson released a full-length disc of original co-writes: Bonfire to Ash (2016). Produced by Grammy winning producer Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Jonatha Brooke) and featuring Bassist Zev Katz and Drummer/Producer Ben Wittman, Bonfire to Ash is a record that charts the experiences bridging the intimate with the universal. Porter and Nickerson borrow from their strong stage chemistry to render the same kind of musical conversation that unfolds in performance within a studio setting. This dialogic style broadens to consider the connections and values forged in the communities we call home ("Living Proof") and in the responsibility we have to the planet that gives itself to house us ("Plant A Garden"). Bonfire to Ash compiles candid snapshots of the human journey, exposing ideas such as hope, regret, love, loss, and connection that remain immutable against time, history, or place.

In addition to making a life in music, Porter finds ways to make an impact on local and international levels. He is an active supporter of Advocates of Ozaukee, a shelter and treatment facility for victims of domestic violence and abuse in Mequon, Wisconsin. His annual benefit concerts have raised more than $100,000 for this organization to date. He is also an Ambassador for Guitars for Vets, a Milwaukee-based International organization that works to improve the lives of veterans by providing them with guitars and music lessons.

Willy Porter lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife and two children.

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 clichÃ©. 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..."

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 Gary Forbes, a brilliant combination of piano and synth by John Cassidy, 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."

Working outside the confines of the traditional music industry, Adam Ezra and his bandmates -- Corinna Smith (fiddle), Alex Martin (drums), Poche Ponce (bass) - built a community of fans through sheer grit and determination, regularly performing hundreds of shows a year for the past two decades without any major label or mainstream radio support. Fusing folk intimacy and rock energy with soul power and pop charm, the band first emerged from Boston in the early 2000s and quickly garnered widespread acclaim for their bold, insightful songwriting and interactive, euphoric performances. From hole in the wall bars and house concerts to sold-out headline shows and dates with the likes of Little Big Town, The Wallflowers, Gavin DeGraw, Train, and The Wailers, Ezra and his bandmates treated every single gig like their last, attracting a die-hard following that believed not just in the music, but in their commitment to activism and social change, as well.

After their tour was cancelled at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ezra brought the show online to continue this commitment and created The Gathering Series which to-date has reached a cumulative audience of nearly 13 million viewers. The bands ongoing daily livestreams since March of 2020 stands as a testament not only to Ezra's artistic endurance, but also his ability to connect with viewers and provide an accepting and supportive space for newcomers to join his tight-knit community of fans. Through his own experience with COVID, his move across the country, and even his wedding day, Ezra has broadcasted without fail from wherever he found himself each night at 7pm Eastern. In addition to bringing The Gathering Series to the real world as they performed nearly 50 safe, socially distanced shows in parks and backyards around the United States to bring light to fans through music, the band didn't stop there. Their homegrown festival, The Ramble, hosted by RallySound, raises money and marshals resources to help homeless veterans find safe and dignified housing for the last ten years. While the band was unable to bring the festival to fans live in the year of COVID, they instead incorporated it into The Gathering Series and hosted a 24-hour, nonstop livestream where they raised enough money to help house 64 veterans.

Adam Ezra Group is currently gearing up for their 365 th show on March 12 th and as if 365 shows in a year isn't enough to keep them busy, the band also embarked on an ambitious new recording series dubbed The Album Project which will see the band releasing 18 new singles over the next few years. As for what comes next for the Adam Ezra Group, the future is anyone's guess right now. The only thing Adam Ezra knows for sure is where he'll be at 7pm tonight and that he definitely doesn't feel alone anymore.

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