Kevin Zarnett’s latest single, entitled “Letting You Break My Heart” is one you won’t want to miss. This musical creation amalgamates the spirited essence of The Byrds with the soulful vibe of Motown, intertwining a resonating 12-string electric guitar with a vibrant and lively rhythm. Infused with heartwarming harmonies, captivating background vocals and distinctive guitar riffs, the composition pays homage to the underdogs of pop rock, such as Big Star, The Raspberries and Marshall Crenshaw. Throughout the recording, one can revel in delightful ear-catching moments, thoughtfully placed without overwhelming the overall arrangement. According to Zarnett, the chorus of the song…
Author: Heather Savage
The one and only clash bowley is back with a new album entitled Malinu. On his bandcamp page he mentions “The young lady pictured on the cover is Malinu. She is deeply romantic, and is far from home, among strange peoples, but she loves to dance and these are her favorite songs to dance to.” Even for a concept album I found this one to be novel and it caught my attention. The album opens with “Clicquot Club” which is definitely a good tune for dancing especially if you’re an alien. bowley utilizes things like phase, stereo width and more to…
I love bluegrass music, but my knowledge of the genre’s movers and shakers today isn’t up to snuff. My grasp of the style rests with its pioneering legends such as The Stanley Brothers, Roscoe Holcomb, Doc Watson, and Bill Monroe. Meeting the acquaintance of Jason Barie, even under the guise of The Ramblin’ Fiddler, is a revelatory experience for me. It’s a much needed reminder that the genre isn’t confined to the past but, instead, has moved forward carried on the backs of talented musicians and visionaries who continue to see possibilities in this time-honored American music. Barie’s new album Radioactive,…
Little Boy’s Cards, the brand-new debut record from Austin Avenue, is a compelling addition to the indie Americana landscape, showcasing the songwriting talents of Seth Sutton and the musical chemistry of the duo. Released on May 1st, this ten-track offering intertwines heartfelt narratives with evocative melodies, solidifying Austin Avenue’s place among the noteworthy acts in the genre. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091694217103 From the album opener, “Little Boy,” it’s evident that Sutton possesses a knack for crafting introspective and emotive songs. The track gently unfurls with delicate acoustic guitar strums, accompanied by Sutton’s sincere vocals that resonate with vulnerability. His storytelling prowess shines…
Some things never go out of style, and among them, the soft melodies of a good pop song stand out. Manny Cabo knows that in this ever-changing time in the history of good music, utilizing something both tried and true can have tremendous benefits if you know what you’re doing, which he does in the new single, the Bonnie Warren/Clayton Jones-composed “Paint the Gray.” Unlike a lot of hybrid alternative content to make headlines on both sides of the underground in the past year, “Paint the Gray” isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, or even change the particulars of a…
Noshows started its creative life as a solo project for songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Max Satow. He shifted gears in 2022, however, and recruited four top-flight musicians to transform Noshows into a “real” band. It rates high as an astute move. “Paranoid” attests to his wise choice in bandmates and the project is now scaling heights that wouldn’t be possible if Satow still worked alone. The new single will be an all-around smashing success for Noshows. It has the qualities a young band wants to help catapult them to the next level while still maintaining a close connection with the…
Alias Wayne’s Fubar is the new collection from Texas roots/Americana singer-songwriter Ranzel X. Kendrick. Kendrick does an outstanding job of delivering a full album’s worth of musical ingenuity within four songs without ever overwhelming his listeners. There’s a core unity binding the tracks together, but no two songs on Fubar manifest that unity in the same way. Kendrick has so many sides here, he’s round. The lyrics likewise steadfastly resist repetition, and each song explores different byways of the songwriter’s life. There are other musicians working with Kendrick to realize the material’s potential but, by the time you finish the final song, it’s apparent…
Flutist Bill McBirnie joins forces with pianist Bill Gilliam and electroacoustic musician Eugene Martynec for the stunning ten track release Outside the Maze. The improvisational nature of these compositions sets them apart from standard instrumental fare. However, the quality that most separates Outside the Maze’s songs from the norm is the once in a lifetime idiosyncratic chemistry and energy. No three other musicians can conspire to collaborate in such a way and achieve similar results. This is despite a relatively unusual instrumental configuration and the instrumental nature of the songs. Therese are not musicians unveiling backing tracks searching in vain for a…
Everett De Morier is a man you’ll soon realize it’s a privilege to meet. Everett De Morier, The Six Percent, and Being Part of a Select Few Everett De Morier is a man you’ll soon realize it’s a privilege to meet. Sure, he’s the bonafide author of four books, eight produced stage plays, an expose on prison corruption for 543 Magazine, a true crime book about a powerful New York crime family’s reign in Chinatown. Oh, and he’s writing the novelization for an upcoming World War Two drama. In an industry where only six percent of aspiring writers receive a…
Frank Jurgens’ EP Recording Den Sessions harkens back to a style of music long past its commercial prime. The three songs written for the release mine the storied tradition of bluesy jazz and employ time-tested pop song structures in an effort to reach the widest possible audience. Jurgens doesn’t adopt a narrow artistic slant. His musicality includes the liberal use of brass, primarily saxophone, and piano to help flesh out the sound of each song. The center of it all, however, is his weather-beaten voice that, initially, may not seem like an ideal instrument, but captures your attention more as each song develops. Recording Den Sessions never…
Few performers can claim the accomplishments Vineet Singh Hukmani has amassed in the last two years. His string of nine #1 hits won’t soon be matched again, but it isn’t the end of his story. He moved on from that to write a collection of short stories entitled Nine based on those songs and now goes a step further. “Run! Run! Run!” is the representative single of his multiverse project Run Storm & the Hope Star introducing listeners to his fictional superhero Run Storm. It isn’t a Marvel comics type of hero, however, as Vineet’s creativity steers him far away from imitation. I’m quite taken…
Alt.Pop artist Little Hurt (Colin Dieden, former lead singer of The Mowglis) has released his new album Lovely Hours, out now on Century Family. Today, he is sharing the high energy, bursting with color video for “I Can Do Better Than You”. The zesty & spirited clip features Dieden and his band cutting loose, jumping around, having fun, and letting themselves be taken away by the song. The empowering track, which is a defiant take on ending a bad relationship and moving on to something better – features an addicting snyth line throughout, which pop-punk guitars and crisp drums. Dieden says “Sometimes writing songs feels like a regular…
Rob Alexander’s influences shine through his music. Much of his vocal style reflects an abiding admiration for classic Elton John, but he’s no rank imitator. Alexander arguably harbors greater singing power than even prime Elton did and strives for more street-level accessibility. There is no pretension in his presentation. His new single “Get Over Yourself” illustrates that as well as anything he has released so far and represents our first taste of his upcoming fourth album Young Man’s Eyes. Based on this track alone, Alexander’s positioned to enjoy his greatest success yet as a recording artist. We are lucky to get…
How would you classify your music? I would definitely classify my music as energetic, passionate and melodic. Who are some of your top 5 musical influences? I would have to say my top five musical influences are: The Beatles, Chris Cornell, Chris Stapleton, Nino Bravo. What do you want fans to take from your music? I want them to feel empowered and emotionally aware. How’s the music scene in your locale? There is no music scene around here unless you’re a cover band or an incoming touring band playing locally. Club owners want everything for nothing. It’s not like it…
How would you classify your music? I would classify my music is adult contemporary pop with an occasional retro vibe. My songs focus heavily on melody.Who are some of your top 5 musical influences? Top 5 musical influences: Elton John, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Christopher Cross What do you want fans to take from your music? I want fans to appreciate the hooks and melodies from my songs.How’s the music scene in your locale? Not really sure about the local music. When I attend concerts in South Florida it’s always a legendary classic rock artist. When did you…
Sneaking out from behind a wall of decadence, we discover a fine beat just aching for its thrust to be appreciated by listeners in the pop dream that is “Shadows,” one of the three songs that can be found on Kirsten Collins’ new record, Floura. In Floura, Collins is bringing the heat to alternative pop like few others in the genre have in 2023, and despite its short running time of roughly ten minutes and change, this EP manages to grab the attention of anyone within earshot of its strut even in the most cursory of listening sessions. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/KirstenCollinsMusic/ Stylistically speaking,…
Though it’s hardly the only reason to examine the song, the piano keys that guide us through the slow-churning rhythm of “In the Quiet of Night” is one of my favorite features in this track and all of the material in Sasha Leonov’s powerful Nomad LP. Over fourteen years after releasing his first record, Leonov is back in the headlines again in 2023 with a fearlessly intimate effort peppered with potential hits in “Ignite” and “The Train, it Leaves at Dawn” just to name a couple of signature works, and from where I sit, you’d be a fool to dismiss it as…
How would you classify your music? I would definitely classify my music as energetic, passionate and melodic. Who are some of your top 5 musical influences? I would have to say my top five musical influences are: The Beatles, Chris Cornell, Chris Stapleton, Nino Bravo, What do you want fans to take from your music? I want them to feel empowered and emotionally aware. How’s the music scene in your locale? There is no music scene around here unless you’re a cover band or an incoming touring band playing locally. Clubowners want everything for nothing and it’s not like it…
Following 3 sold out shows in Los Angeles, rising alternative duo Migrant Motel return with their newest single, “Party”. The mid-tempo track is a new take on a party anthem: It laments a recent breakup and not wanting to go to a party to see a lost love with someone new. Its heartbreak-and-chill with a beat. The band’s Chava Ilizaliturri says “The idea of “Party” came out of us wanting to write a party anthem with a twist. The song is about NOT wanting to go out. Initially, we wanted to celebrate staying home, chilling, watching movies or TV, and just being on our own and feeling…
In a melodic battle for our affection that will ultimately result in the audience emerging as the true winners, Bruce Sudano enlists a passionate Valerie Simpson alongside his own in “Two Bleeding Hearts,” his latest single and music video, which is undeniably as incredible a force as any other this beautiful ballad contains. “Two Bleeding Hearts” is only one of the many gorgeous numbers that you’ll discover when taking a peek at Sudano’s immense discography of music, and if it’s your first experience with his work, it’s almost guaranteed to sweep you right off your feet after only a casual…
Sean James Boyer may never become a household name, but it isn’t why he works as a music scorer for television productions. I get the feeling reading about Boyer and listening to his music that he’s a “lifer”, a music fanatic who would be writing for his own pleasure even if he wasn’t involved in the television industry. INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/seanjamesboyer/ It started young, like it does for most of his ilk. He sang the themes for Superman and Indiana Jones films as he zoomed around the house as a kid and, inspired by his brother, began playing guitar. It led…
Singer/songwriter Alex Blizzy has nothing left to prove to the critics with the release of his new album A Step Behind; judging from its freewheeling, completely eclectic content, this record is about letting this acclaimed folk-rock player have a little fun in the studio. Comprised of nine new tracks, each of which feels a bit less pretentious than it should coming from someone of Blizzy’s pedigree, A Step Behind invites us along for a rollercoaster ride of rhythm and rhyme, and for all that it lacks in mainstream frills it more than compensates us for in sheer originality and introspective poetic substance. WEBSITE: https://alexblizzy.com/…
Clayton John’s “River” starts off simply enough. It’s John and his keyboards working together as John muses about his birth by a river. He never names what exact river he’s referring to, but that doesn’t matter. It’s a symbol. His deft poetic touches, never slathered on, are one of the critical reasons why his new single is ultimately so successful. They elevate an already fine song several notches. He’s toiled in relative obscurity thus far, but that hasn’t stopped him from developing his considerable skills as much as even marquee performers working a similar style. “River” has polish and authenticity…
With an affected, menacing tone that captivates your attention from the get-go, clash bowley’s vocals are haunting and eerie throughout this twelve-song set. Having been involved in music since the ’70s, bowley has been releasing music on a consistent basis for a couple of years now. His output is more than impressive and his latest is called The Quest. The album starts with “The Hard Path” and I thought the sound design for this was incredible. It sounds as if he puts the distortion through a phaser effect which pans the stereo field. His vocals are deep and the drums…
In the ironically titled “And I’m Doing Alright,” Energy distributes a sonic smokescreen of larger-than-life riffs that crush us with their weight only seconds into the song. The enormity of the music isn’t isolated to this instance alone in the eight titanic tracks that make up the band’s Rock Party, but it could be said that this is perhaps the heaviest and most unforgiving of grooves that you’ll discover in the album. The breakneck title track gives it a run for its money, as does the Sammy Hagar-style “Spitfire Glory Boy,” but even when Energy is cranking the volume well past…
Americana’s more surreal side has been one of the bigger headlines in 2023, whether it’s coming via the postmodern composing ideals of the indie rock community or a generation of lyricists uninterested in the plaintive hooks their predecessors experimented with. There’s no end to the cerebral content that underground artists are submitting to the masses for approval this spring, but if you’re more inclined toward the straightforwardness of an old-fashioned pop model, a player like Ezra Vancil might have just what you’ve been looking for in his new EP We Were Wild. We Were Wild is a cathartic offering that compiles seven self-aware…
Dark and full of intrigue right out of the gate, we enter Michelle Shafer’s “One Breach” much in the same way that we would enter a smoky room shrouded in black as the clock inches closer to midnight; knowing that just about anything could happen in the next few bars. URL: https://michelleshafermusic.com/home We’re drawn to the tempo by a melodic vocal from Michelle Shafer that stands beside her most brilliant work excellently, and even though the bass is crafted to pulsate against the grain of the percussion, the real grind worth taking note of in this track is happening in…
Jeremy Calvar has made a name for himself as a solo artist with his unique blend of pop, pop-punk, alternative, and emo rock, and his latest single “Lightfoot Sunflower” proves he is not slowing down anytime soon. The rambunctious rock track is a breath of fresh air in today’s music scene, bringing back the energy of the early 2000s alternative movement that made bands like Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, and countless others so popular. Starting off with an infectious guitar riff, the track quickly builds up into a frenzied chorus that is sure to get anyone’s attention right away.…
Central Islip, New York’s Heistheartist’s Under the Influence of Love (Acoustic Soul) is an impressive achievement. I knew after hearing the EP’s six recordings that Heistheartist now has a release to his credit that bridges every possible gap between his evangelical ambitions as an artist and the secular music world. You don’t need to believe in God to love this EP. It helps, I am sure, but what I hear more than anything else is the intense humanity woven through the Christian singer/songwriter’s voice. His vocal beginnings as a neo-soul singer are audible throughout Under the Influence of Love. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/signedlovetheartist/ His taste…
Go Time’s latest album, Anything Could Happen, marks the band’s ninth full-length release since their debut album, Speak, in 2009. This 19-track epic collection of rock tracks is a masterful showcase of the band’s abilities and their willingness to push themselves creatively. The album opens with “Waiting For Your Command,” a high-energy track that immediately sets the tone for the rest of the album. The song’s driving beat and catchy hooks make it an instant standout, and it’s clear that the band is firing on all cylinders from the very beginning. As the album progresses, the band shows off their…