November 2021

After a series of indie record releases, Shawn Mullins' critical breakthrough came when 1998 Soul's Core album shot him to fame on the strength of its Grammy-nominated No. 1 hit, "Lullaby" followed by AAA/Americana No. 1 "Beautiful Wreck" from 2006's 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor. His song, "Shimmer" was used in promotion of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and was included on the Dawson's Creek soundtrack. He co-wrote "All in My Head" which was featured in episode one of the hit TV sitcom "Scrubs." Mullins also co- wrote the Zac Brown Band's No. 1 country tune "Toes." In early 2002, he formed super group The Thorns with Matthew Sweet and Pete Droge. For the 20th anniversary, Shawn revisited the music on Soul's Core and recorded two new versions of the album. He calls this Soul's Core Revival. This is not a remix or a remaster of the original, but rather brand new recordings with new arrangements of the songs -- one album is new stripped down solo performances, some on guitar, some on piano and maybe one a cappella and the second is a new studio recording with his full band, Soul Carnival.

Local H, the iconic alt-rock duo known for their blistering live shows and pioneering the two- piece band set-up, is at the top of their game more than two decades after they first burst onto the music scene. Frontman Scott Lucas, who covers both guitar and bass (through an extra pick up in his guitar), and drummer Ryan Harding have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, buoyed by global touring along with the release of some of their most critically acclaimed work to date.

Local H's first major release was 1995's Ham Fisted, but it was their follow up album As Good As Dead that positioned the band as one of the elites in what was a groundbreaking decade for rock music. With multiple radio hits on the album, "Bound For The Floor" emerged as a generational anthem and remains a staple on playlists around the country over two decades later. Their widely praised 1998 concept album Pack Up the Cats, produced by the legendary Roy Thomas Baker, solidified Local H as a leader in the genre and the albums that followed were reflective of not only the band's definitive character, but as well their relentless effort to give their audience as much of themselves as possible. While recipients of numerous accolades over the years, Local H has always kept the focus on their fans, which can be seen by the awe inspiring and often times daunting tour schedule the band has kept up year after year.

The last three years have seen a multitude of releases from the band in various forms. In 2015, Local H celebrated the 25th anniversary of their first show and released a career-spanning coffee table book, "Local H: Twenty-Five Years of Skin In The Game". That same year they released Hey, Killer, their eighth full length studio album, to near unanimous acclaim. In 2016 the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of As Good As Dead with a successful three month national headline tour (partnered with their first live Blu-Ray DVD, "Straight Outta Zion", shot at the Metro in Chicago during a weekend of sold out shows).

2017 was perhaps Local H's busiest year yet, as the band continued to tour extensively not only as headliners, but on hugely successful tours with The Toadies and Helmet and --perhaps most exciting of all-- career highlight performances on Metallica's sold out stadium tour. The band also found time to publish another book "The Last Picture Book Outta Zion or: How We Learned To Stop Worrying About Cell Phones And Love The Photos Of John Oakes", an intimate behind the scenes portrait of the band shot by photographer John Oakes.

2018 shows no sign of slowing down. In February, Local H released their second live record -- the ferocious Live In Europe-- to coincide with their second European tour in the space of a year. A new single produced by Ken Andrews of Failure, simply titled "Innocents", is being released to digital platforms to coincide with the band joining the Summerland Tour with Everclear and Marcy Playground this May.

Local H, the iconic alt-rock duo known for their blistering live shows and pioneering the two- piece band set-up, is at the top of their game more than two decades after they first burst onto the music scene. Frontman Scott Lucas, who covers both guitar and bass (through an extra pick up in his guitar), and drummer Ryan Harding have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, buoyed by global touring along with the release of some of their most critically acclaimed work to date.

Local H's first major release was 1995's Ham Fisted, but it was their follow up album As Good As Dead that positioned the band as one of the elites in what was a groundbreaking decade for rock music. With multiple radio hits on the album, "Bound For The Floor" emerged as a generational anthem and remains a staple on playlists around the country over two decades later. Their widely praised 1998 concept album Pack Up the Cats, produced by the legendary Roy Thomas Baker, solidified Local H as a leader in the genre and the albums that followed were reflective of not only the band's definitive character, but as well their relentless effort to give their audience as much of themselves as possible. While recipients of numerous accolades over the years, Local H has always kept the focus on their fans, which can be seen by the awe inspiring and often times daunting tour schedule the band has kept up year after year.

The last three years have seen a multitude of releases from the band in various forms. In 2015, Local H celebrated the 25th anniversary of their first show and released a career-spanning coffee table book, "Local H: Twenty-Five Years of Skin In The Game". That same year they released Hey, Killer, their eighth full length studio album, to near unanimous acclaim. In 2016 the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of As Good As Dead with a successful three month national headline tour (partnered with their first live Blu-Ray DVD, "Straight Outta Zion", shot at the Metro in Chicago during a weekend of sold out shows).

2017 was perhaps Local H's busiest year yet, as the band continued to tour extensively not only as headliners, but on hugely successful tours with The Toadies and Helmet and --perhaps most exciting of all-- career highlight performances on Metallica's sold out stadium tour. The band also found time to publish another book "The Last Picture Book Outta Zion or: How We Learned To Stop Worrying About Cell Phones And Love The Photos Of John Oakes", an intimate behind the scenes portrait of the band shot by photographer John Oakes.

2018 shows no sign of slowing down. In February, Local H released their second live record -- the ferocious Live In Europe-- to coincide with their second European tour in the space of a year. A new single produced by Ken Andrews of Failure, simply titled "Innocents", is being released to digital platforms to coincide with the band joining the Summerland Tour with Everclear and Marcy Playground this May.

The Claudettes fuse Chicago piano blues with the full-throttle energy of rockabilly and punk and the sultriness of '60s soul to write a thrilling new chapter in American roots music. Johnny Iguana pounds the piano alongside seductive singer Berit Ulseth, bassist/guitarist/singer Zach Verdoorn and drummer Michael Caskey. Johnny, who toured for years with his cult-favorite rock band oh my god, is also in the Grammy-nominated groups Chicago Blues: A Living History and the Muddy Waters 100 Band. He has toured/recorded with Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and more and played piano on the Chicago Plays the Stones album featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Buddy Guy. The Claudettes recorded their 2018 album "DANCE SCANDAL AT THE GYMNNASIUM!" with Grammy-winning Black Keys producer Mark Neill and have recorded a new album with Grammy-winning producer Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Gaslight Anthem, The Devil Makes Three).

Fronted by brothers Dick and Dave Pruitt on bass and electric guitars, with Michael Cherry on drums, the Bel Airs play a danceable mix with an authentic but eclectic bluesy-country-soul-and-rock-n-roll sound influenced by the likes of Wilson Picket, Slim Harpo, Howlin' Wolf and Johnny Cash.

Living on the road and playing clubs from "Austin to Boston", the Bel Airs are carrying on the tradition of American Rhythm and Blues. The band is fronted by brothers Dick and Dave Pruitt on bass and electric guitars. Growing up on country soul and rock-n-roll, the Pruitt brothers have developed a harmony vocal style all their own. They have been performing together for more than 30 years, wowing audiences nightly with their unique brand of music- leading one reviewer to refer to them as the "Everly Brothers of Blues."

With four acclaimed albums and performances at festivals and night clubs across the USA as well as England, France, Belgium and Spain, the band continues to travel extensively.​ ​ The Bel Airs' musical approach and superbly crafted showmanship make for a more than memorable concert whenever they appear.

"I want it to bring comfort," The Lone Bellow guitarist Brian Elmquist says. "But it's not all hard conversations. There's a lot of light and some dancing that needs to happen." Brian is reflecting on Half Moon Light, the band's highly anticipated new album.

Half Moon Light is an artistic triumph worked toward for years, earned not by individual posturing, but by collective determination and natural growth. With earthy three-part harmonies and songwriting as provocative as it is honest, the trio made up of Brian, lead vocalist Zach Williams, and multi-instrumentalist Kanene Donehey Pipkin creates sparks that make a stranger's life matter or bring our sense of childlike wonder roaring back. On Half Moon Light, The Lone Bellow mix light and dark to muster a complex ode to memory, a call for hope, and an exercise in empathy. Anchored in the acoustic storytelling that first so endeared the band to fans and critics, Half Moon Light also takes more chances, experimenting with textures and instrumental fillips to create a full-bodied music experience. The result is The Lone Bellow's most sophisticated work to date.

"We try to invite as many people into the process to see what we can make together," Brian says. "I like that spirit and that freedom. Then, the songs speak for themselves."

That wholehearted embrace of collaboration defines Half Moon Light. The record marks a return to recording in New York with Aaron Dessner, whom the band counts as both a hero and a friend. "We already had a friendship with Aaron and a strong, shared understanding of our musical vision," Zach says. "It's really important to us to be a part of a community of musicians. We like that way of making something. Aaron showed us a new way of trusting. His idea of bringing in Josh Kaufman and J.T. Bates was such a beautiful gift. The meekness that these friends brought to the table was something that we will never forget. A sense of controlled fury. Lightning in a shoebox."

"Aaron has a powerful quietness about him," Kanene says. "A lot of people I meet in the music industry have lots of bravado, and it's something I have trouble believing. Aaron doesn't have that. He is a joy to work with. A true friend."

For the first time, the band stayed where they recorded, sequestered from the world at Aaron's studio in upstate New York. They fell asleep at night to the sound of coyotes howling and felt the freedom to fall into rabbit holes that would have otherwise been left unexplored. "We made this record in a place of joy with our friends. We were trying to do something bigger than ourselves," says Brian. "I think we've been wanting to make this record for a while now. It just hasn't come together as perfectly as it did this time."

A lone piano launches into a hymn as the album's intro track. The pianist is Zach's grandmother, playing at the funeral of her husband of 64 years----Zach's grandfather. The hymn returns as an interlude and outro, underscoring The Lone Bellow's intention for 12 songs to be experienced together, as an album.

Wonder----feeling it, losing it, finding it again----underpins the entire record. Pulsing with the trio's signature harmonies, the track "Wonder" is a loving call to reclaim the childlike awe and appreciation age takes away. Zach pulled from vivid childhood memories to craft the song, which transports listeners to moments of breathlessness experienced in the everyday: cheap coffee, backroad car rides, pine-tree views, and powerful songs.

Jubilant "I Can Feel You Dancing" rolls into a cathartic celebration. The song pays tribute to "lionhearted" free spirits with horns and soaring vocals. With a winking jungle beat, "Good Times" tells tales Zach has collected over the years. "Some stories were told on a boat I worked on in the Caribbean in the middle of the night. Some were in old Irish pubs in Manhattan. Some were in backyards down in my hometown. Some were in a hospital bed," Zach says. "I wanted to shine light on the fact that there are still people living with beauty and reckless abandonment." Delivered over intimate acoustic guitar and hushed backing instrumentation, "Enemies" is a self-contained call and response that reconnects life-defining moments with the frustrating or tenuous present that threatens to snuff out the magic.

Lead single "Count On Me" reminds us to lean on one another with soul-shouting intensity. Praise for deep friendships pops up again and again throughout the album: "Friends" celebrates the relationships forged after years together in the trenches----with a musical swagger that nods to David Byrne and Tom Petty.

Kanene takes the lead on tour-de-force "Just Enough to Get By." Her inimitable voice----capable of grit and smoothness----pushes through line after line with steely purpose. The performance would saunter were it not for the rage bubbling underneath. Kanene wrote the song about her mother, who was raped at 19, then sent away to have the baby that resulted. When she returned home, she never spoke of what had happened until 40 years later, when Kanene's half-sister----the baby----found them. "I've met my half-sister many times. She's wonderful and lovely and an amazing story of something never being too broken to be fixed. But my mom had to work through the trauma," Kanene says. "This song was me putting myself in my mom's place, releasing a lot of complex emotions. Anger is definitely one of them. Hurt, frustration, sadness. We all have experiences that could be better if we could talk about them, but we keep them hidden."

Album standout "Illegal Immigrant" also features Kanene's vocals. Brian took the lead writing the song, which tells the true story of a mother and child separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. The chorus's "I promised I'd find you, wherever you are, wherever you are / Here I am" is equal parts haunting, heartbreaking, and reassuring----and the unfiltered words actually spoken by the immigrant mother into a press conference microphone. Kanene sings with weighty restraint----like a parent burying their own terror so they can be their child's rock. "I was trying to tell her story the best I could," Brian says. "I wanted to keep myself as far out of the equation as I could and just try to connect----to help find some compassion."

Brian also penned "Wash It Clean," which both Zach and Kanene point to as a favorite. Lilting with guitar and harmonica, the song is a letter to Brian's dad, who passed away suddenly last year. The two had a strained relationship, and Brian spent years trying to find some common ground. They did, and then two months later, his dad was gone. The band recorded the song on the one-year anniversary of Brian's father's death, without Brian even realizing it at the time. "I feel like that means he was here----or in me," Brian says. "Working really hard to find understanding was probably one of the greatest gifts and lessons of my whole life."

The stories behind the songs matter----but they aren't what matters most. In the end, The Lone Bellow's music needs no explanation. Just listening offers a salve and a shelter. "In my own perfect little world, I would be able to put the music out and not talk about it----just, Here. Bye. See you next time," Zach says, then laughs softly. "I do hope someone will find this music in a peaceful moment, when they can turn it on and get lost in the story and the sound."

Jill Sobule, an award-winning artist with the ECR Music Group, has released a dozen of albums spanning three decades of recording, tackling such topics as the death penalty, anorexia nervosa, shoplifting, reproduction, the French Resistance, adolescent malaise, LGBTQ issues, and the Christian Right, to name a few - with her trademark wit and aplomb.

The Denver-born songwriter/guitarist/singer's work is at once deeply personal and socially conscious, seriously funny, and derisively tragic. While her songs cover expansive thematic ground, they benefit greatly from Jill's subtle intelligence and skillful light-handedness. No sloganeering flag-and-fist waving here, but rather portrait- &-story songs about human beings, real and imagined, which allow us to step back from the issues they tackle, be they individual or societal, and to relate to them as we would to a close friend.

On stage, she entertains, amuses, provokes, and more often than not, takes her audiences on an emotional roller coaster, from comedy to pathos in a few bars of music, often within the same song.

Jill Sobule's recording career began in 1990 with the album Things Here Are Different (MCA), produced by Todd Rundgren. Radio took notice thanks to the single's "Too Cool To Fall In Love". Her 1995 self-titled album (Atlantic) brought her mainstream commercial and critical success with two hit singles: the satirical gem "Supermodel" from the movie Clueless and "I Kissed A Girl" (the original), the first ever openly queer-themed Billboard Top 20 record.

For her most recent album, the Ben Lee-produced Nostalgia Kills, Sobule turned her warm wit and laser- focused poet's eye on herself more than ever before. For all its graceful, funny, and heartbreaking explorations of awkward youth and grown-up regrets, Nostalgia Kills is as of-the-moment as anything in Jill Sobule's catalog. Through her own experiences, she explores issues our society still collectively struggles with (LGBTQ rights, teen mental health, our unhealthy obsession with staying forever young) and gently skewers our tendency to dwell on the past at the expense of addressing the present.

Sobule has performed with Neil Young, Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Morello, Warren Zevon, and John Doe. She inducted Neil Diamond into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. She has shared billing with Don Henley, Joe Jackson, Warren Zevon, the influential LA punk band X, and Lloyd Cole & The Negatives. She regularly co-stars with comedian/actress/author/SNL alumni Julia Sweeney in their Jill & Julia Show, an unusual and mesmerizing combination of song and storytelling. A road warrior, she plays more than 100 shows a year.

In November of 2019 Jill sang a song as herself on an episode of the Simpsons. Most recently, Sobule has been working on two projects: an autobiographical show directed by two-time Obie-winner Lisa Petersen, (titled F**k 7th Grade!) which will premiere in May 2020 at Pittsburgh's City Theater, and another concept album, this time a series of short musical portraits of working women, which she expects to complete within the year.

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H A L L O W T R I B E is a physical manifestation of John's purpose:

Connect to people, create meaning, discuss the otherworldly, engage with hard topics, listen, dance, tune in. If John had his way, we would all be a part of the same group, no divisions amongst us humans. John's background is in social work and communication studies, both of which influence his songwriting and playing style. Frenetic, bold, unorthodox, person oriented, and ready to change the world.

TUELO is led by South African born Tuelo Minah who brings her traditional influences to the bold, soulful, punk-rock sound from New York City that can simply be dubbed revival music. There is heartbreaking storytelling and rebellious passion in Tuelo’s music, with an unraveling mind and captivating voice which inspired a recent Huffington Post article to dub her “New York’s Best Singer (and the world’s)!”

TUELO sounds like the wild child of Nina Simone and David Bowie, who grew up with Sex Pistols and Blondie posters on her wall, and was taught music by Miriam Makeba. Fate was on her side…from a shy, non-singingchild to being a vocalist on Grammy winning albums, it is destined that TUELO will carve out a permanent and memorable place in popular music worldwide. After an homage album to her homeland with her cousins in 2014, we are now seeing the emergence of a new, courageous and raw TUELO that will make waves in the music world from Cape Town to LA. They are crafting powerful, raw live show experiences and bringing soul revival in their recently released multi-genre EP album Saint Margaret.

Backwoods bravado, patriot's pride, country soul, keg-thumping beats -- these are the qualities that Moonshine Bandits have championed since they began their journey. Armed with a hybrid arsenal of country and hip hop fusion, the California duo of Dusty 'Tex' Dahlgren and Brett 'Bird' Brooks are back with the grittiest, spirited and distinctly grass-roots release of their sixteen year campaign of musical badassery -- "Gold Rush."

If you ain't about this life then you ain't about shit." -- From the Track 'Mud Money' on the Moonshine Bandits latest release 'Gold Rush"'

Since their formation in Los Banos California in 2003 the Moonshine Bandits have continued a campaign of crossover genre-bending musical mayhem that appeals to the eclectic, color-outside-the-lines tastes of listeners, aka The Shiners, and they fiercely refuse to have their tastes confined and filed into categories. "Our musical style has always been full throttle and in your face," says Moonshine Bandit Tex. Just like the rumrunners, bootleggers, smugglers and outlaws of old -- the Moonshine Bandits provide a supply of the goods for the demand, defying the mandates and trends of mainstream pop culture.

The course of their career has seen ups and downs, hard partying and self-reflection. The Moonshine Bandits have crisscrossed the country performing hundreds of shows a year, ventured into branding their own beef jerky and moonshine, collaborated with some of the music business's most prolific artists, outshined in the face of record industry roadblocks, earned a fiercely loyal fan following, and embrace the unconventional. Hell, they've even had the honor of friend and adult film legend Tera Patrick spicing up a music video! It's all part of a journey filled with good, bad and even some ugly, but ultimately the Moonshine Bandit philosophy is summed up by Tex and Bird's joint statement -- "We always felt there aren't stops or boundaries if you pave your own lane."

And now the Moonshine Bandits have hit the proverbial motherlode with the release of Gold Rush on their very own record label MSB. Taking its inspiration from all that embodied the struggles and successes of America's extraordinary era when dreams were being made while hunting for that elusive precious gem. It wasn't entirely about the dollar sign though. The Gold Rush was far more dynamic in terms of the greater meaning and effect it had on all those who took part. Big or small, bust or windfall, for many people the Gold Rush ultimately provided the experience of building a new life in a wild place that had a code of its own.

"Our Gold Rush wasn't always about the glitter because we took the long haul," Tex says, and just like many of the hopeful dreamers who panned the creeks of the old west's badlands, the Moonshine Bandits encountered their share of setbacks but never quit. "We got in the trenches," Tex continues, "learned and got burned." The group's Gold Rush reflects on a career that wasn't about following some set of rules; this is about living by a code. Now with the debut of their own label, the group can fully exercise that code. "There's a right way, a wrong way, and now there's our way." Characterize it as rebellion, call it anti-establishment, or perhaps it's a little bit of symbolic of an elusive time when there actually was Honor among thieves, but the Bandits simply see it as lessons learned from experience.

Thematically, Tex and Bird describe the Gold Rush album as homage not only to the band's career journey but also, and profoundly, "a journey about the people we have come in contact with. The people that inspire our songs." This is especially true of the track "Two Bar Town" which speaks volumes of the brick and mortar, mom and pop's, local friends and corner watering holes that truly provided the foundation of everyday life, culture and economics in America. Tex says the theme is all about the 'small town' and despite the fact that 'small towns' have naturally changed with time that "doesn't mean you have to, you can still be proud of where you came from and keep those memories forever."

Long before people figured out country and rap had a lot in common, the Moonshine Bandits released their genre-blending album, "Whiskey & Women," and took the world of outlaw music by storm. The group's blue-collar work ethic and unwavering persistence has led to over 60 million views on the ShinerTV YouTube channel -- collectively over 80 million views on YouTube -- while their video for "My Kind of Country" peaked at #1 on CMT Pure. The Bandits also charted Billboard simultaneously with a top 10 in Rap and a top 20 in Country Music and have been Recognized by Rolling Stone Magazine, CMT, Youtube Honors, MTV, AOL THE BOOT, YAHOO, and the list goes on. Connecting with fans on all levels, Moonshine Bandits have built a solid "Shiner Nation" of loyal fans, started their own 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization known as Operation Packing Company, Inc. that specializes in sending supplies to our Troops Overseas, Beef Jerky and legal Moonshine. The Bandits earned a 2018 Telly Award for their "Take This Job" music video featuring David Allan Coe.

Buck Up, the new studio album from singer and songwriter Carsie Blanton, due out February 15 2019, opens with a siren. The warning -- or call to (dis)arms -- segues into the first notes of "Twister." Finger snaps alone accompany Blanton's smoky vocals, before piano, upright bass, cello, trumpet, and drums join the proceedings. You're immediately drawn in to her riveting tale of natural -- and erotic -- disaster. Brimming with catchy hooks, sensual vocals, and lyrics boasting a gift for rhyme and meter, Buck Up is Blanton's melodic mandate for survival following the 2016 presidential election: passion, lust, and humor. "There are two themes on this record," says Blanton of Buck Up's ten electrifying tracks. "One is the feeling of catastrophe happening in American politics, and the other is this feeling of personal catastrophe": when you fall for "That Boy," for example, a reckless wild child, the type who populate her life and imagination. Though Buck Up may be "basically about being depressed," according to Blanton, "if there's not a sense of humor or playfulness, I don't want to listen to it. Music is about play."

Over the past dozen years, Blanton has been making music that personifies play. Her work has been called "impeccably catchy" by critic Robert Christgau, with musician John Oates admiring her songs' "sly wit and urbane imagery" that remind him of Cole Porter. She's toured across America and Europe sharing stages with Madeleine Peyroux, The Weepies and others. Though based in New Orleans since 2012, the self-described "proud socialist" has been on the road since her teens. As a child in tiny Luray, Virginia, she began playing piano at 6 and learned guitar at 13. The budding songwriter's life was forever changed when her grandpa sent her a batch of jazz recordings for her thirteenth birthday. "Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong -- that's when it started for me," Blanton says of the gift two decades ago that remains "the most inspiring to me as a songwriter and a singer. I'd started performing and he wanted to make sure my musical education was well rounded." She was deeply smitten with Holiday's recording of Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is the Ocean": "I just love him," she says of the composer, "and Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart. They're all masters of music and words." Such influences would surface as Blanton began crafting her own witty lyrics and using jazz phrasing in her vocals.

Blanton left the Blue Ridge mountains an angst-ridden 16-year-old and began living within an artistic community in Eugene, Oregon, until she was 20. There, guitar in hand, "I realized by being creative, I could be a happier person and take care of myself," she says. After more travels, she settled in Philadelphia, where she worked at a nonprofit while recording her first album. She left her job to make music her life and has never looked back. By the time she was 23, she was touring solo and as an opener for such artists as the Wood Brothers. Vocalist/guitarist Oliver Wood, an early mentor who produced a previous Blanton album, lends his distinctive fingerpicking and vocals to Buck Up's exuberant title track.

Since locating to New Orleans, Blanton has "become more prolific as a songwriter," she says. "There's something about the spirit of the city. It's very musical but also very dark with a lot of pathos." Her last release, 2016's So Ferocious, documented her love affair with the city, and the Big Easy vibe imbues her new album. Sequestered in her NOLA home, she wrote the first song for Buck Up, "Bed," in November 2016: "I'm not gonna get out of bed today/I've tried to do it but what can I say/Every time I turn on the news it's a kick to the head/Why don't you wake me up when the president's dead." "That song shook loose a lot of feelings I had about the political landscape and growing up in America," Blanton reports. "If I can write one song that really captures the feeling of a project, then the rest come more easily." In fact, bed imagery trickles throughout the album's tracks.

For the recording, Blanton returned to the south Jersey studio of guitarist Pete Donnelly (the Figgs, Graham Parker), who coproduced Buck Up with Blanton. Joining them was her longtime bassist and sometime co-writer Joe Plowman, keyboardist Patrick Firth, and drummer Nicholas Falk.

While her lyrics grapple with some dark subject matter, Blanton's engaging, captivating vocals are relaxed and flirty on "Jacket," her ode to the female gaze and masturbation. She sounds wistful and sweet on the strings-and-accordion-accented "Harbor," and sex-drenched on "Desire," "an apocalyptic love story," one of her favorite genres, she says. "Lust and passion and romantic energy are a beautiful, joyful source of pleasure in life," says Blanton, "but also a source for heartache and devastation. It reminds you of how short life is, so it feels very connected to death and mortality to me. One of my major inspirations as a songwriter is feeling the erotic connection. When I get connected to the erotic force, I feel so turned on by life and also hooked up to death at the same point." Song ideas flow when she "goes out there and looks for some sexy young man who's a mess -- that's the muse that works for me. That's where I get my mojo." In addition to songcraft, her erotic life inspired her to invent "a sexy card game, The F'ing Truth," says Blanton, intended for "people who f' and tell" and deemed a "f'ing blast" by sex columnist Dan Savage.

Blanton's thing for bad boys can bring moody moments to her songs, but her cheeky takedown of male hipsters adds lighthearted fun to Buck Up. The upbeat "Mustache," a co- write with Plowman, asks, "why'd you have to grow that mustache," while its sonics, complete with calliope-sounding keys, is her homage to another musical favorite, The Supremes.

The heart of the album, says Blanton, resides within the pop-rock anthem, "American Kid." Its hummable tune camouflages Blanton's downhearted lyrics detailing disillusionment that comes with the realization that "we done them wrong": "It's my journey from being a standard liberal moderate to being really radicalized and losing my belief in American capitalism. I want to connect with this feeling of 'we can be compassionate and we can change what we're doing and not take it lying down.'"

At the crossroads of nihilism and determination -- the former described in the harrowing "Battle" ("I know I won't survive the battle in my heart") -- Blanton chooses to "Buck Up," which closes the album with mirth. "Buck Up" is a "rallying cry," says Blanton. "Enough with the sadness and wallowing about America. We have to get people together to make change, even though it's daunting." Paraphrasing Tom Waits, she quips, "I hope this album will help to improve the quality of our suffering." And with a feisty nod to the work of another hero, John Prine, she coos, "Make 'em laugh if you can't lick 'em."

This is the third year of New Wave Fest. Your favorite 80s New Wave with The First Wave, dreamy synthpop from The Quilz, Dork Wave from The Smart Shoppers and a new wave dance party from DJ Avets.

"Understanding the deep well of talent that is Rachel Brooke, "a country singer from Michigan," will not disappoint, but she will ask you to check your more conventional expectations at the door. Your reward is a chance to join in on a midnight jaunt through graveyards and dreams, awhirl with Jungian shadows, headstrong grit, and gothic Americana being made by ladies with guns. Brooke wants clearly to walk a line between the past and present. She does just that with her high-caliber musicianship which, while not chained by tradition, is unabashed by her indebtedness to the poetic souls of the past...In terms of Rachel Brooke, Nashville will be lucky to eventually discover her, but it will always be Detroit that really gets her." --Cat Celebrezze Perfect Sound Forever

"Rachel's voice is one in a million. It's all natural. She did not develop a unique singing style to delineate her from the masses, like is so common with over-singing songbirds these days. She purified her own voice, with no facade or embellishment. It is so wondrous because it is adorable and seemingly innocent, yet at the same time aged like a ghost, haunting, and filled to utmost capacity with pain" - Saving Country Music

Joe Louis Walker, a Blues Hall of Fame inductee and four-time Blues Music Award winner celebrates a career that exceeds a half a century. His new album Everybody Wants A Piece cements his legacy as a prolific torchbearer for the blues. Looking back on his rich history, Walker shares, "I'd like to be known for the credibility of a lifetime of being true to my music and the blues. Sometimes I feel I've learned more from my failures, than from my success . But that's made me stronger and more adventurous. And helped me create my own style . I'd like to think that when someone puts on one of my records they would know from the first notes, 'That's Joe Louis Walker.'"

Always an artist deeply expressive lyrically, Walker continues to write and sing about themes that are universal. On "Black & Blue" he talks about a love affair that's falling apart, but there's an effort to keep it going. He offers, "The lyric 'Let's find a quiet place, A place out of town...We Need to talk this thru, Be honest & True' says it all in trying to save the relationship." He cites the title track as a composition that might not have a deep meaning, but in presenting the thought, "Everybody wants a piece of your love," offers a double entendre that speaks for itself. With a deep history and background in gospel, Walker looks towards Wade in the Water" as an instant all time favorite. He reveals, "The inspirational lyric 'The water is deep, the water is cold, it chills my body, BUT NOT MY SOUL" is expressing my belief that the spiritual will carry you through when the physical can't."

This time out Joe has brought on Paul Nelson to produce his album which was recorded at his famed Chop Shop studio on the east coast. Nelson is a Grammy winning guitarist/producer who was rock/blues legend Johnny Winter's guitarist, and who also appears as guest guitarist on two tracks on Everybody Wants A Piece.

A true powerhouse guitar virtuoso, unique singer and prolific songwriter, he has toured extensively throughout his career, performed at the world's most renowned music festivals, and earned a legion of dedicated fans. Walker's 1986 debut album Cold Is the Night on HighTone announced his arrival in stunning fashion, and his subsequent output has only served to further establish Walker as one of the leading bluesmen on the scene.

Born on December 25, 1949 in San Francisco, at age 14, he took up the guitar. Just two years later, he was a known quantity on the Bay Area music scene, playing blues with an occasional foray into psychedelic rock. For a while, he roomed with Mike Bloomfield, who introduced him to Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead. Walker even made a brief pilgrimage to Chicago to check out the blues scene there. In 1975, burned out on blues, Walker turned to God, singing for the next decade with a gospel group, the Spiritual Corinthians. When the Corinthians played the 1985 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Walker was inspired to embrace his blues roots again. He assembled the Boss Talkers, and throughout the 1990s merged many of his gospel, jazz, soul, funk and rock influences with his trademark blues sensibilities on recordings released by Polydor/Polygram. These albums feature Walker's collaborations with a diverse group of first-rate artists including Branford Marsalis, James Cotton, Tower of Power, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Ike Turner and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Walker has steadily released recordings since the turn of the millennium, and recently signed to Provogue / Mascot Label Group.

NPR Music has called Walker "a legendary boundary-pushing icon of modern blues," and he is already being referred to within the blues world as a living legend. However, at this stage of his life, Walker profoundly shares, "I'd really like to inspire younger musicians to carry on the legacy of blues/roots music. But play, and do it your way. Don't be afraid to mix it up. There's no right, or wrong way. Just the way you wanna express yourself. And above all, ENJOY YOURSELF."

For over two decades, Cowboy Mouth has dished up its unique style of rock & roll gumbo, mixing a rowdy spirit reflective of the band's hometown -- New Orleans -- with the fierce firepower of a group that lives on the road. These Louisiana natives have played more than 2,500 concerts and launched their signature song, "Jenny Says," into the upper half of the Billboard rock charts. Above all else, they earned a well-deserved rep as a raucous, redemptive, live music experience.

Formed during the glory days of grunge music, Cowboy Mouth forged a different sound from the very start. It's a sound rooted in rock, punk, blues, and the attitude of the Big Easy, a town known for its week-long parties and swampy, southern vibe. Bandleader Fred LeBlanc, who'd previously sharpened his teeth with the punk band Dash Rip Rock, pulls double-duty as the group's frontman and drummer, leading the charge with his larger-than-life personality and percussive attack. During the band's early days, record companies warned him against singing and drumming at the same time, claiming that audiences would never go for it... but by the mid-'90s, those same record companies were clamoring to sign the band to a major-label deal.

In other words, in a decade filled with angsty alt-rock, Cowboy Mouth stood out for all the right reasons.

The band released its original music with MCA Records, then Atlantic Records. Once the 2000s kicked into gear, the band released music on its own label, cutting out the middleman and focusing on the biggest thing that's kept Cowboy Mouth afloat since 1990: the audience.

"Cowboy Mouth isn't so much about the people onstage as it is about the feeling in the crowd," says LeBlanc.

The people onstage certainly help, though. Since the band's inception, LeBlanc has shared that stage with guitarist John Thomas Griffith (formerly of the band Red Rockers and singer / co-writer of their hit song "China"). Now backed by bandmates Matt Jones on guitar and Brian Broussard on bass, LeBlanc and Griffith have led Cowboy Mouth on a wild, critically-acclaimed ride, selling more than 500,000 albums domestically, playing shows with artists like Bo Diddley (whose bluesy, beat-driven music has always been a big influence on Cowboy Mouth's own sound), and performing in front of more than 9 million fans.

Cowboy Mouth's music lives in concert with its loyal fans! Fred's raw and engaging performance style has played ring leader to the audience for decades.

"Our shows are celebratory, life-affirming experiences," LeBlanc says proudly. "With every show, no matter where it is, we try to turn it into New Orleans during the middle of Mardi Gras. It's an unique live concert experience. It's like a southern gospel revival without the religion."

Over the years, an estimated 9 million people would agree. We hope to see you all out on the road!

Jagged Little Pill is the go-to Alanis Morissette tribute band, nailing all her biggest and best hits. With a pounding rhythm section, rocking guitars and spot-on vocals, you will think you're at an Alanis concert.

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Don't Speak unapologetically owns the stage as they whip into highly energetic frenzies - skanking through every show while loyally producing every note, lyric and cadence. Fans of No Doubt, wait no more; the ultimate live experience is here!

Since his major label debut, the groundbreaking Salesmen and Racists, Ike Reilly has been making punk/folk/blues influenced rock 'n' roll records that lean heavily on stories of outsiders with keen details and broad strokes that insinuate a crack in the American dream. Reilly's band, The Assassination, has been called one of the best live bands in America, and the body of recorded work they've turned out has been poetic, rebellious, wholly original, and critically acclaimed.

Still, Reilly and co-producer Phil Karnats (Secret Machines, Tripping Daisy, Polyphonic Spree) felt that Reilly's best takes had never been recorded. The lucidity and rhythm of Reilly's performances that Karnats had witnessed in hotel rooms, backstage, and on tour buses had never been captured. "I wanted to create a setting where lil' Ike could sing and play guitar at the same time, with the band in the same room... no headphones and minimal isolation," says Karnats. "There's always been a freshness to playing the songs together that's hard to harness when recording in the more common, modern, sense where you do rhythm tracks first, then overdubs and vocals last. This time, Ike did his thing and we developed the arrangements based on his vocal approach, cadence, phrasing, intensity and all that. I think, in the end, we ended up with some killer songs that have a strangely unique, slightly off-center, vibe." The resulting album, Crooked Love, is Reilly's seventh studio album and comes out May 18, 2018 on Rock Ridge Music.

Seaside Zoo is a Madison, WI tribute to the Grateful Dead. We're comprised of longtime Madison musicians Jonas Pritzl, Tim and Sheryl Hall, and Rob Bloch (formerly of New Speedway Players) with the fresh new twist of Kyle O'Hara and Lucas Trilling (of The Bellybutton Club) and Zach Watson from Milwaukee.

The communal spirit surrounding this music is something special and brings joy to both the musicians and fans alike. We simply want to play the music we love and bring people together to share a smile....Peace.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He may be one of the most lauded artists in the contemporary blues arena today, and rightfully so, but for Mike Zito, the thing that counts the most is maintaining his honesty, authenticity and integrity. Those are the qualities that have steered Zito's career since the beginning and continue to define every effort he's offered since.

"I have nothing to hide; it seems my honesty is what people relate to most," he once told Vintage Guitar magazine. "Anders (Osborne) told me early on, 'If you don't believe what you're singing, you'll never be a good singer.' I try not to write fluff; I try to make every word count."

That point became convincingly clear with his last record 2018's First Class Life, a collection of songs that detailed his journey from addiction to sobriety and the subsequent success he achieved through his award-winning body of work. A multiple award winner and nominee, Zito has built his career on an ability to tap into tradition while maintaining contemporary credence all at the same time.

Zito's upcoming album -- his 16th -- due this November on Ruf Records and descriptively titled Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry, finds him broadening his boundaries still further even as it marks a return to his roots. The album consists of 20 Chuck Berry classics performed by Zito and an impressive array of 21 guest guitarists, among them Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Robben Ford, Sonny Landreth, Luther Dickinson, Albert Castiglia, Anders Osborne and, significantly, Chuck's grandson, Charles Berry III.

"This was a very special project for me," Zito says. "I lived in Chuck's hometown of St. Louis for 32 years, and I worked at a small musical instrument store where his drummer also happened to be employed. Chuck's son would drop by on occasion as well. He was an icon, and rightfully so. I've been playing his songs since I was a kid. Needless to say, he was a tremendous influence on my career, and, of course, on many other musicians' as well."

Produced by Zito himself, the album was recorded at his own Marz Studios and mixed and mastered by David Farrell. "We recorded the basic tracks and then sent them to each guest musician," Zito recalls. "They added their contributions and then sent the files back to us. The process took a year to complete."

Naturally, patience and perseverance have been Zito's stock and trade since the beginning. He began playing guitar at the age of five, and by the time he reached his late teens, he was already a fixture on the local St. Louis music scene. He initially released his music independently and then signed with Eclecto Groove Records in 2008. "Pearl River," the title track of his 2009 album for the label, won Song of the Year at the Blues Music Awards and marked his first collaboration with Cyril Nevill, with whom he'd later work in the Royal Southern Brotherhood. A steady succession of critically acclaimed albums followed, culminating in 2011's Greyhound, which was nominated for Best Rock Blues Album at that year's Blue Music Awards ceremony in Memphis. Two years later, he signed with Ruf Records and released Gone to Texas, the story of how he gained his sobriety, offered an emotional homage to the state that left an indelible imprint on his entire life. It also marked the debut of his band, the Wheel.

From 2010 to 2014, Zito also played an integral role in the super group of sorts, Royal Southern Brotherhood. The group released two albums and a DVD, Songs from the Road -- Live in Germany, winner of the year's Blues Music Award for Best DVD. He also made his mark behind the boards by producing albums for Samantha Fish, Albert Castiglia, Ally Venable, Jeremiah Johnson, Jimmy Carpenter, and many others.

Meanwhile, the accolades keep coming. His album Make Blues Not War debuted on the Billboard Blues Album Chart at number one and garnered him recognition as the 2018 Rock Blues Artist of the Year at the Blues Music Awards. Last year's First Class Life followed suit, also entering the charts at number one. Alternate Root magazine insisted that "The First Class Life that Mike Zito titles his upcoming album can be heard in the sweet sound of Blue Soul rising like heat waves from his guitar and his vocal." American Blues Scene said "Mike Zito's return to the blues is, in a word, triumphant!" No Depression declared, "Once again, Zito has delivered the goods, a first class package with no postage due."

Now, with Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry, Mike Zito again does what he does best, making an album that's humble, heartfelt, skilled and sublime....and, to paraphrase Chuck himself, letting it rock all at the same time.