Playing a bull-bodied, emotionally resonant brand of Americana-infused indie rock, Dead Man Winter is a group led by Dave Simonett, best known as one of the founding members of the progressive bluegrass group Trampled by Turtles.
Furnace marks a whole lot of firsts for the accomplished songwriter. It’s his first time putting his long-running, popular string band, Trampled by Turtles, on hiatus to focus all of his efforts on a more personal project. It’s his first time speaking so plainly and literally about something happening in his private life. And it’s his first time dedicating an entire record to a single topic — a topic so significant and intimate that he questioned whether or not he should even release it into the world.
“I'm not even that big of a fan of breakup records, myself,” he says. “I mean, there's some I really love. Like Blood on the Tracks, fuck, I love it. But it was just kind of a necessary — that's the only way I know how to let it out. It would have been pretty hard to write about anything else at the time.”
There is palpable sadness and moments of poignant reflection, to be sure, but Furnace also propels Simonett forward with an undeniable sense of newfound freedom. At some points, like on the upbeat third track, “Red Wing Blue Wing,” you could describe the music as downright rollicking.
Like many of his contemporary songwriting peers, Simonett turned to his art to process the feelings that were swirling inside of him. “Right when we split up I went on this huge creative tear, and wrote a bunch,” he remembers. “And then as everything kind of settled in and the process started moving, life got really complicated, and it shut down for a long time. So I did something I've never done before: I went on a writing retreat. In the middle of winter, last winter, I went to this cabin in Finland, Minnesota, just like me in this little cabin for the week, with snow up to the windows and 20 below the whole time, and just wrote. And when I got to that place, I couldn't stop it.”
Ultimately, Simonett found the relief he was hoping for when it came time to make the record. Unsatisfied with the piecemeal approach that he used to cobble together the first draft of the album, Simonett rounded up his longtime friends from the Minneapolis roots rock scene — drummer JT Bates, guitarist Erik Koskinen, bassist Tim Saxhaug (also of Trampled by Turtles), and pianist Bryan Nichols — to record the album live to tape. The five of them holed up in the historic Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minn., a ski chalet-like studio nestled deep in the woods where legendary albums like Nirvana’s In Utero were recorded.
“Making the album was this one great week — we just shut ourselves off in Pachyderm. We lived down there for the time. I don’t think I checked my email for like five days, it was awesome,” he says. “The vibe was just to make it feel like we’re playing in a room together. That can be a really joyful way to record. And then I had to go back to my lawyer’s office, you know? So I really treasure that.”
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Vigil and Thieves is a Kansas City indie alternative quartet formed in early 2014. Previously described as “grandiose” with a “heartbreaking heaviness,” the band has honed in on dynamic and lyrically-driven song structures that have been compared to live poetry. Their debut album, ‘[defective] book one,’ was released in September 2014, followed by an east coast tour in support, and has since received high praise from publications including Liberty Press, CAMP Kansas City Magazine, and I Heart Local Music.
They are currently in the studio tracking their next album that holds true to their optimistically tragic aesthetic while demonstrating a dark, robust and refined sound. Stay tuned for upcoming tour dates in Winter/Spring 2016.
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Born and raised on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, Indigenous front man Mato Nanji (Ma-TOE NON-gee) dedicates his latest release Time Is Coming (on Blues Bureau International) to the indigenous youth and all young people on the indigenous reservations.
Mato Nanji’s father, the late Greg Zephier, Sr., was a well-known and highly respected spiritual advisor and spokesperson for the International Indian Treaty Council. In addition to this leadership role, he was an accomplished musician and a member of the musical group, The Vanishing Americans. Formed by Greg and his brothers in the ‘60’s, The Vanishing Americans toured nationally and shared bills with such legends as Bonnie Raitt. Besides being heavily influenced by the music his father and uncles were making, Mato was exposed to Greg’s vast collection of blues records by legendary artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King. Consequently, Mato embraced and began utilizing his own musical talent at a young age. With the experience, love and wisdom of their father to guide them, Mato, his brother, sister and cousin formed the band Indigenous while in their late teens.
After much time invested in practicing and building a following, they began touring extensively across the country. In 1998, they released their award winning debut album Things We Do. The title track’s video, directed by Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals), won the American Indian Film Festival Award and was shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Indigenous’ music caught the attention of blues icon B.B. King and the young band was invited to play on his annual B.B. King’s Blues Tour in 1999. Sadly, Mr. Zephier would pass away before seeing his children receive this great honor.
With momentum gaining, Indigenous’ 2000 sophomore release, Circle, was produced and arranged by Stevie Ray Vaughan’s longtime friend and collaborator, the late Doyle Bramhall, Sr. Three more cds; Fistful of Dirt (2002), Indigenous (2003) and Long Way Home (2005) would follow before the 2006 decision by the siblings to ‘disband’ and pursue their own musical paths but Mato carried on with the Indigenous band name. “Playing with my family for 10 years was a lot of fun, but it was time to grow and keep moving forward.”
Mato continued touring and in 2006 released Chasing The Sun. Two of the cd’s songs, “Come On Home” and “Leaving”, were featured on the hit Discovery Channel show The Deadliest Catch. “Come on Home” was also featured on FX’s Sons of Anarchy.
On 2008’s Broken Lands, an intensely personal record, Mato and Leah, his lyricist and wife, pay tribute to his Native heritage. The album decries the poverty, isolation and reality of life on the reservation with “Place I Know.” The album gains its title from the line, “all is lost in these broken lands.”
Of The Acoustic Sessions (released in 2010), Mato commented, “It’s a collection of some of my favorite songs that celebrate 10 years of releasing albums. Every song that I have ever written began with the acoustic guitar, so it only felt natural to create an acoustic album.”
Indigenous featuring Mato Nanji (2012) would mark Nanji’s debut on the Blues Bureau International label and the beginning of his collaboration with noted producer, Mike Varney. Joining Mato on the disc’s opening track “Free Yourself, Free Your Mind” is the soulful Jonny Lang. On it, the two guitar-masters trade vocals and guitar solos. It’s truly a blues lover’s ‘match made in heaven’.
In addition to his Indigenous ‘day job’, Mato Nanji has been a member of the critically acclaimed Experience Hendrix Tour since 2002. Playing alongside original Jimi Hendrix band members Billy Cox and the late Mitch Mitchell, the tour roster includes some of today’s blues greats including Buddy Guy, Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble), Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, and Robert Randolph.
Once the 2012 Experience Hendrix Tour concluded, Mato and fellow EHT tour mates David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) and Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars) would collaborate and release the hard-driving, psychedelic blues-infused 3 Skulls and the Truth (Blues Bureau International) disc. The album’s no-holds barred setting is the ideal foundation for the three veteran axemen to simply ‘let it fly’.
February 2013 would bring the Mato Nanji-inspired release from trance-blues artist Otis Taylor, My World Is Gone (Telarc). Mato and Otis explore the plight of the American Indian people in a lightning bolt of musical creativity and social commentary. "Mato inspired the entire direction of this album," says Taylor. "We were talking about history backstage at a Jimi Hendrix tribute concert he had just played, and, in reference to his people, the Native American Nakota Nation, he said 'My world is gone.' The simplicity and honesty of those four words was so heavy, I know what I had to write about."
"My dad was my favorite musician so he really influenced me a lot with everything. I just felt it was time to pay tribute to him and his band," says Nanji. That tribute, Vanishing Americans, was released on May 21, 2013 and promptly found its place on iTunes Top 10 Blues Chart. Blues Rock Review (6/5/13) said: “each song is brought together with heavy and powerful guitar riffs akin to those of Carlos Santana and Jimi Hendrix, while bellowing, raspy vocals turn a talented guitarist’s vision into a relatable song for many, just as any praiseworthy blues album should.”
“Mato continues to refine his guitar and vocal vocabularies with each new release and is also expanding his songwriting skills with his wife Leah,” said producer Mike Varney of Time Is Coming (May 2014). From the infectious opening track of “Grey Skies”; the Soundgarden/Rage Against the Machine influenced “Won’t Be Around No More”; and the gut-wrenching blues of “Don’t Know What To Do”, and at all points in between, Mato Nanji “tears at his guitar strings, bending and shaking them to within an inch of their life, it is clear that he is no mere copyist. He is a genuine virtuoso…” (Rhys Williams, bluesblastmagazine.com 5/14).
Ultimately, Mato dedicates Time Is Coming, to the Indigenous youth and all young people on the Indigenous reservations. Of the song says Nanji; “still to this day, the struggle continues to just live in peace. Growing up here on the reservation I’ve seen a lot of broken families…broken homes. I feel our families’ “Tiospaye” are the core of what makes us who we are. Now family and its meaning is not as strong as it used to be for our people…almost non-existent. So I send my heart and soul out to the indigenous children having a tough time in their lives and in their homes. This record is inspired by them and made in their honor. I hope for the best for all. Tomorrow is another day.”
The Plateros, a three piece award winning family band from the Navajo Nation in Tohajiilee, New Mexico consider Mato Nanji and Indigenous one of their greatest musical influences.
Levi and The Plateros played their first show, a festival in Bird Springs, AZ in December 2004, and by April 2005, they would find themselves onstage performing at the largest PowWow in the world, The Gathering of Nations. Lead guitarist Levi, with his natural born talent, slid across the stage with power chords and screaming blues that amazed the packed crowd. He was just 13 years old.
In the years to follow, Levi, along with his cousins Douglas Platero on drums and Bronson Begay on bass would receive numerous nominations for native music and video awards, and their cd Hang On would take home a win for Best Blues Album at the 2009 New Mexico Music Awards.
In 2012, they joined Indigenous for The Kinship Tour, with The Plateros opening the double bill. They would join Mato for blistering encores that would bring the proverbial house down.
Touring in support of Time Is Coming in the summer of 2014, Mato Nanji would once again call on Levi, Douglas and Bronson to hit the road with him. This time, though, would be different. They would be onstage as Indigenous' rhythm section; Mato and Levi trading leads and solos while Bronson and Douglas provided the strong, stable rhythmic foundation that allowed the two guitarists to 'tear it up'.
As the band made its way across the east coast, the after show buzz was audible. The incendiary chemistry of Mato Nanji, Levi Platero, Bronson Begay and Douglas Platero innate.
They are Indigenous.
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Normal is not a word that people used to describe Prozak. Not his appearance, not his music,
not his views on life and society. So, it makes perfect sense that the Saginaw, Michigan rapper
selected Paranormal as the title of his new album on Strange Music.
“I chose that title because genre-wise I can do rock-rap, the hip-hop, storytelling, a little bit
of the dark stuff,” reveals the artist-director also known as The Hitchcock of HipHop. “I’m
Paranormal to the music industry. One thing I keep hearing from people whether it’s A&Rs or
publicists is that they’ve got to figure out how to market me. After hearing that so much, I felt
like what I do is paranormal to the scene. My music is something that’s outside the range of
normal. This is not cookie-cutter hip-hop. You can’t say this is gangster rap or backpack rap or
that this is just for the hipsters. You’re not going to be able to categorize it that simply. I make
complex music for complex people.”
Indeed. Bolstered by production from Mike E. Clark (Insane Clown Posse, Kid Rock),
Michael “Seven” Summers (Tech N9ne, XV), Robert Rebeck (Tech N9ne, Kottonmouth Kings)
and The Legendary Traxster (Mariah Carey, Ludacris), Paranormal takes listeners on a powerful
lyrical and sonic journey into the mind of one of rap’s most compelling artists.
“The Tell A Tale Of Two Hearts,” for instance, was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s short
story “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Prozak’s song, which sounds like Tim Burton meets hip-hop,
discusses what happens when two people are in love and one of them dies suddenly. The twist
is that the deceased person is still present in their lover’s life. They do not want to leave their
partner.
Prozak then teams with a live band and DJ Starscream from Slipknot for “The End Of Us.”
This hardcore track features Prozak exploring the consequences of living in a consumer-driven
society.
“Everybody is worried about buying $300 and $400 cellphones,” Prozak says. “It's like we’re
farm-raised, like guinea pigs right from birth. Everything is marketed to you from the time
you’re old enough to even understand what it is. It just happens at the beginning and goes all the
way through life. The funny thing is in the genre of hip-hop, everyone is worried about image.
All it does is push everything even further. Everybody's worried about $800 outfits and 20-inch
rims, but none of these people even have a lifestyle that can support that. It’s about consumerism
and everybody being brainwashed into thinking that they’ve got a have these things in order to
be accepted. It spiraling out of control and eventually it will all collapse.”
Another volatile subject Prozak examines on Paranormal is prejudice. On the charged
song “Hate,” he looks at the implications of persecution based on racial, religious and economic
grounds. Shot in a train station from the 1880s that had segregated waiting rooms, the song’s
explosive video features appearances by stand-ins for The Pope and members of the Ku Klux
Klan and Taliban.
Prozak takes a more optimistic approach with “Million Miles Away.” On this thoughtful
selection, he wonders if humans would be able to create a utopian society if they could wipe the
slate clean and start over. While filming the video for “Million Miles Away,” Prozak and his
team traveled throughout Michigan, Illinois and Missouri and had people explain the one thing
they would change about the world if they could.
As his songs and their subject matter demonstrate, music is about much more than image for
Proazk. It’s about substance.
“People write about stuff that interests them and that they feel passionate about,” he says. “The
topics on my album are the things that matter to me. To me, all you have is life. You have to
look at the things that are going on that are incorrect or the things that are affecting your life, the
hypocrisy of what’s going on out there. All that stuff matters. I know that this is entertainment
and that people listen to music and watch music for an escape from reality. I wouldn’t say that
I’m a political rapper, but a lot of those things do matter. In making music for people, I believe
you have somewhat of a responsibility to put something positive out there or bring attention to
things that people should be aware of for part of a greater good.”
Prozak’s razor-sharp focus has helped him become one of rap’s most formidable independent
artists. During the last decade, he’s appeared on four national tours and done more than 1,000
performances, where his moshpits rival those of any heavy metal show. The Michigan rapper
earned a lofty 3.5 Mics in The Source for his 2008 album, Tales From The Sick, and has
collaborated with Tech N9ne, Twista, Cypress Hill and Insane Clown Posse, among others.
As a filmmaker, Prozak released the first two installments of his A Haunting On Hamilton
film series, which opened with sold-old screenings of 2,000 people per screening in Saginaw,
Michigan. He also directs his own music videos, ensuring that his art is properly presented
visually.
Now, with Paranormal, Prozak has delivered a project that hits hard lyrically and aurally, the
type of release that stays with a listener long after the music stops.
“I wanted to put out the best record that I thought I was capable of, an album that would really
define who I am,” Prozak says. “If you want to know who I am or what kind of artist I am, this
record will set that tone completely. It’s a really deep record. To me, it’s an album. It’s not a CD
of tracks. It’s an album. It has that feel.”
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Reid the Martian, is a rapper/singer/songwriter/musician originally from the Kansas City, Mo area. He's been called a "Hip Hop Novelist" and "The best unsigned rapper in America."
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A tear in the firmament.
Beyond the noxious haze of our national nightmare - as structures of social justice and global progress topple in our midst - there lies a faint but undeniable glow in the distance.
What is it?
Like so many before us we are drawn to the beacon. But only by the bootstraps of our indignation do we go so boldly into the dark to find it.
And so SHEER MAG has let the sparks fly since their outset, with an axe to grind against all that clouds the way. A caustic war cry, seething in solidarity with all those that suffer the brunt of ignorance and injustice in an imbalanced system.
Both brazen and discrete, loud yet precise, familiar but never quite like this - SHEER MAG crept up from Philadelphia cloaked in bold insignia to channel our social and political moment with grit and groove. Cautious but full of purpose.
What is it?
By making a music both painfully urgent and spiritually timeworn, SHEER MAG speak to a modern pain: to a people that too feel their flame on the verge of being extinguished, yet choose to burn a bit brighter in spite of that threat.
With their debut LP, the cloak has been lifted. It is time to reclaim something that has been taken from us. Here the band rolls up their sleeves, takes to the streets, and demands recompense for a tradition of inequity that's poisoned our world.
However, it is in our ability to love - our primal human right to give and receive love - that the damage of such toxicity is newly explored.
Love is a choice we make. We ought not obscure, neglect, or deny that choice.
Through the tumult and the pain, the camaraderie and the cause, the band continues to burn a path into that great beyond.
But where are we headed?
On NEED TO FEEL YOUR LOVE, they makes their first full-length declaration of light seen just beyond our darkness. Spoken plainly, without shame:
It is love.
This - is SHEER MAG.
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Progressive and fresh, EGi pushes the boundaries of genre specifics to create a soundscape reflecting the freedom that gives purpose to the acronym’s definition: Ethereal Groove, Incorporated. With a sound that has been described as, “what it would feel like to live in The Never Ending Story”, the band’s versatility and appreciation for many genres of music can be heard in their fusion of rock, funk, instrumental post-rock and hard, progressive rock. Starting from tightly arranged structures, EGi builds improvisational passages and high energy jams that seek to lift the band and audience to a higher plane.
Hailing from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, EGi’s fanbase has grown to encompass the Midwest region as a whole, and they have begun making regular forays into Colorado, while beginning to open up parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. With dual guitars, bass, drums and percussion, the quintet’s “brothers in arms” dynamic works seamlessly on and off the stage.
EGi is:
Noe Perez- guitar
James Hernandez- guitar
Allan Borukhovich- bass
Devon Bates- drums
Michael “Gonzo” Gonzalez- percussion
From his home state of Arkansas to his home in Los Angeles, Joe Purdy has recorded a baker’s dozen worth of albums. His songs have turned up on numerous TV shows and film soundtracks. Most notably, however, in recent years the singer, songwriter and self-described “hillbilly” has come to see the world and his role in it somewhat differently, charting this direction on his latest album, "Who Will Be Next?” Here he firmly plants his feet deep in the tradition of folk artists such as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs, applying his unique skills as writer and vocalist as a passionate observer and participant of our times.
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Sylvan Esso was not meant to be a band. Rather, Amelia Meath had written a song called “Play It Right” and sung it with her trio Mountain Man. She’d met Nick Sanborn, an electronic producer working under the name Made of Oak, in passing on a shared bill in a small club somewhere. She asked him to scramble it, to render her work his way. He did the obligatory remix, but he sensed that there was something more important here than a one-time handoff: Of all the songs Sanborn had ever recast, this was the first time he felt he’d added to the raw material without subtracting from it, as though, across the unseen wires of online file exchange, he’d found his new collaborator without even looking.
Meath felt it, too. Schedules aligned. Moves were made. And as 2012 slipped into 2013, Sanborn and Meath reconvened in the unlikely artistic hub of Durham, N.C., a former manufacturing town with cheap rent and good food. Sylvan Esso became a band. A year later, their self-titled debut—a collection of vivid addictions concerning suffering and love, darkness and deliverance—arrives as a necessary pop balm, an album stuffed with songs that don’t suffer the longstanding complications of that term.
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More than any other single artist, Pinegrove was the driving force behind the return of teen pop in the late '90s.
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Benjamin Booker is an American musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He cites The Gun Club, Blind Willie Johnson and T. Rex as influences. His music was described by the Chicago Tribune as "a raw brand of blues/boogie/soul," by The Independent as "frenzied guitar-strumming and raw, soulful vocals that are hair-raising in intensity” and by SPIN as "bright, furious, explosive garage rock.”
Benjamin was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia. His family relocated to Tampa, Florida, where he attended all-ages DIY punk shows as a teenager. He attended Orange Grove Middle School, a magnet school for the performing arts, followed by Hillsborough High School, where he studied in the International Baccalaureate Program. He then attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, studying journalism with intentions of going into music journalism. After college, he moved to New Orleans to work for a non-profit organization and began playing shows.
Booker's self-titled debut album was recorded in December 2013 at The Bomb Shelter, an analog studio in Nashville. Produced by Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff), the album was released on August 19, 2014 via ATO Records in the United States and Rough Trade Records in Europe. He went on to open shows for Jack White and Courtney Barnett.
Booker's second album Witness was written primarily in Mexico City and released on June 2, 2017. The album was produced by Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby) and announced with the premiere of its title track "Witness" (featuring Mavis Staples) alongside an essay written by Booker which detailed the experience that led him towards writing the album's title track. The album has garnered praise from Rolling Stone, the NY Times, and the Guardian.
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Every once in a while, a band comes along that leaves expectations, cynicism, and emotional distance ruined in a heap on the floor. Brooklyn's Big Thief is that band. To hear songwriter Adrianne Lenker's lilting narratives and twisted, fuzzy guitars is to love them. Lenker's lyrical storytelling is equally grounded and autobiographical as it is surreal and cabalistic. Just ask Big Thief fan Sharon Van Etten. "Some of the most compelling songs I've heard in a long time," says Van Etten. "Driving songs that take you on a real journey, with intelligent stories and twist-and-turn melodies. And fun as hell live."
The band, which includes Buck Meek on guitar, Max Oleartchik on bass, and James Krivchenia on drums, announces its signing to Saddle Creek. News of their debut album will be forthcoming, as will a slew of performances at this year's SXSW.
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The term 'Cowboy Mouth' has been used in the poetry of Shakespeare and Bob Dylan as
well as a play by Patti Smith and Sam Shepard. Usually meaning “One with a loud and
raucous voice” and it describes the band well. With over 2000 concerts under their belt
and many years of reviews lauding their live show, there is still one quote which best
captures their show…
"...on a bad night they'll tear the roof off the joint and on a good night, they'll save your
soul." -Cake Magazine
Cowboy Mouth is New Orleans rock n' roll. Annually presenting roughly 200 shows per
year, releasing nearly a dozen records, and featured on TV shows and radio stations
everywhere, Cowboy Mouth has been seen and heard by millions of fans worldwide. For
more than 15 years, the members of Cowboy Mouth have preached and shouted at the top
of their lungs the joys of being alive and the joys of being in and from New Orleans,
sharing a slice of Mardi Gras heaven with fans around the world. As frontman Fred
LeBlanc said, "If The Neville Brothers and The Clash had a baby, it would be Cowboy
Mouth."
The band's 11 album releases include two records on MCA, one on Atlantic
And several on their own Cowboy Mouth Records label. So far, the band has enjoyed
domestic sales of over 450,000 units. The album sales pale in comparison to the number
of tickets the band sells to their live events. Cowboy Mouth shows are legendary, and
have been witnessed by more than 8 million fans to date. Always on the road, they've
toured several times with their friends in Hootie and the Blowfish, BareNaked Ladies,
Sister Hazel and Better Then Ezra.
Crowd participation is a must at a Cowboy Mouth show. Led by Fred's larger-than-life
presence, the band's performances are high-energy and extraordinarily intense, usually
leaving audiences as drenched and spent as the band. Cowboy Mouth fans range from
ages five to age eighty-five, but they have one thing in common - as Fred confides to the
audience, "Cowboy Mouth is about pretending that you're five years old, naked as a
jaybird and about to turn the hose on your parents, and there's not a damn thing they can
do about it."
A Cowboy Mouth show is always full of surprises, and have included guest appearances
from Steve Van Zandt, Rob Thomas, John Popper, Art Neville, Johnnie Johnson (Chuck
Berry's piano player), Kyle Turley, and Tom Arnold (Best Damn Sports Show), to name
a few. Their audience stretches from the festivals and colleges to the clubs and theaters
they headline around the country.
The band has also made several film and television appearances, including the Steven
Soderburgh film "The Underneath," MTV and VH1, Live with Regis and Kelly, Ellen
DeGeneres Show, and The Late Show with Craig Kilborn.
The band is led by Fred LeBlanc, Cowboy Mouth's maniacal drummer/lead singer (think
the Tasmanian Devil playing drums like Keith Moon with a voice like Bo Diddley) and
John Thomas Griffith on lead vocals and lead guitar. Fred came to Cowboy Mouth after
four years with the southern punk band Dash Rip Rock. Also an accomplished producer,
Fred mixed the band's first two studio recordings and also earned a gold record for
producing Deadeye Dick hit song from the movie Dumb And Dumber, "New Age Girl."
Griffith, (the Griff) had been friends with Fred for years before the two talked about
forming Cowboy Mouth together along with two local New Orleans musicians. As the
lead singer of '80s band, The Red Rockers, Griff had a top-selling album on Columbia
Records. Their hit song "China" was one of the first hits on MTV, and is still played on
the radio today. Griff has opened on tour with bands like The Go-Gos and U2, and was
recently inducted into the Texas Guitar Players' Hall of Fame. The band's rhythm
guitarist Jonathan "JP" Pretus cut his musical teeth in clubs and bars in and around New
Orleans and Baton Rouge for the better part of the last 10 years. Bassist Regina Zernay,
formerly of Dreamworks/Megatronic band Halfcocked, was fronting her own band,
Méchant, when she met Cowboy Mouth. She's played and recorded with over a half
dozen local Southern California bands, including Big Violin (whose music was featured
on The Real World), Red Delicious, and Jam Balaya (musical guests on two episodes of
the TV show Half & Half).
Cowboy Mouth has just released a brand new CD, called "Fearless". The CD includes
some of the bands most popular live songs including "Anything", "Disconnected",
"Belly" and "Tell the Girl Ur Sorry" of which some earlier, unfinished versions were
available on the band's recent live DVD, "The name of the band is Cowboy Mouth".
Me Like Bees is an indie/alternative rock band fromJoplin, Missouri and is made up of Pete Burton (lead guitar),Nick Bynum (bass), Luke Sheafer (vocals/guitar), andTimothy Cote (drums).
Formed in May of 2009, the group has developed their sound with influences from bands such as Modest Mouse,Arcade Fire and The White Stripes. The “Me Like Bees” sound, like many of their influences, is based upon the idea of moving music forward with interesting and simple melodies. Although simple, the band maintains the listeners’ attention using irregular dynamics and asymmetric song structure. The group takes a quality control approach to songwriting, with each member bringing their own creative ideals to every aspect of the process.
The lyrics of Me Like Bees music are both thought provoking and entertaining, with a wide range of themes. Many of their songs discuss matters of inner turmoil, and relate to issues like guilt and doubt.Sheafer is known for his creative wording and unique use of syllables; often times giving a positive spin on what would otherwise be depressing subject matter. His singing style has been said to be a cross between Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse and Jack White of the White Stripes.
The Phantastics are a eight member musical ensemble that specializes genre-blending hip-hop. Expect to hear rock, rap, dance, funk, jazz and soul in our music. We were formed in December of 2010 and have been trying to save live music ever since.
thePhantom*- Lead Spokesman/Vocals / Bowties
Leigh Gibbs - Vocals/ Soul Sista lovin'
JJ Cantrell- Lead Guitar/ Vocals/ Nipples
Danny Florez- Elictric Bass/ Vocals/Kill Streak
Ashley Thompson- Drums / Twizzlers
DJ Mitchell- Saxophone/ Karate chops
Tim Pistone- Percussion / loaded brownies
ZSonic Bailey- DJ / busted ear drums
Austin Quick-Keyboard / Bee Gee
Old Salt Union is known for playing music by their own set of rules. While the men who make up this group are not complete rebels, they are certainly thinking about the future of music. They find influence in the bluegrass roots of The Del McCoury Band and Sam Bush, but also draw inspiration from Bill Evans, Danny Elfman, Punch Brothers, and many more talented musicians. What makes Old Salt Union so special is their ability to stretch the boundaries of traditional bluegrass music by incorporating in-depth musical arrangements, a catchy hook, and an uncanny pop sensibility. They truly are a new generation of bluegrass in the industry.
Established in May of 2012, Old Salt Union recorded their debut album “Western Skies” in October of the same year. While their album was independently released in March of 2013, it was clear by the overwhelmingly positive response that their fan base would grow rapidly in the following months. In January of 2014, Old Salt Union began exclusively touring the country, so that their reach would expand, exposing more fans to their type of complex, high energy, and well-executed sound.
With the release of their second studio album, “Bridge”, in August of 2014, Old Salt Union tells a tale of transition. The two years that they have been together has shown that they are a force to be reckoned with in the world of music. They have established solid roots, winning the STL Riverfront Times “Best Bluegrass Band” in 2013 and “Best Country Band” in 2014, all while traveling the country. They have made appearances at the John Hartford Memorial Festival, Wakarusa, LouFest, and Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Festival, sharing the stage with The Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, Greensky Bluegrass, Ricky Skaggs, and more – and no ma’am, they ain’t stopping yet.
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Vigil and Thieves is a Kansas City indie alternative quartet formed in early 2014. Previously described as “grandiose” with a “heartbreaking heaviness,” the band has honed in on dynamic and lyrically-driven song structures that have been compared to live poetry. Their debut album, ‘[defective] book one,’ was released in September 2014, followed by an east coast tour in support, and has since received high praise from publications including Liberty Press, CAMP Kansas City Magazine, and I Heart Local Music.
They are currently in the studio tracking their next album that holds true to their optimistically tragic aesthetic while demonstrating a dark, robust and refined sound. Stay tuned for upcoming tour dates in Winter/Spring 2016.
Hip Hop tribute band playing all your old favorites live!
MC Vocals, DJ Element, MO Dolla, Hash Browns, Sumo, T-Spoon
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Spafford is a four piece funk rock act hailing from Phoenix, Arizona. The band is comprised of Brian Moss (Guitar), Jordan Fairless (Bass), Andrew “Red” Johnson (Keys), and Cameron Laforest (Drums). Refusing to be restricted to any musical boundaries, Spafford seamlessly blends together an eclectic mixture of all of their collective musical experience. The heart of their sound is rooted in deep sonic exploration with a focus on improvisational elements. With jams stretching well beyond the typical structures of their songs, fans have flocked to their live shows to experience the unique energy captured within each performance. A focus on blending genres with a deep foundation of patient groove building has helped craft a sound all their own. Formed in 2012 by happenstance, the band has been building an organic fanbase in the Southwestern United States through word of mouth ever since. As the secret has gotten out Spafford has moved onto national touring, sharing the stage on a coast to coast tour with jam heavyweights Umphrey’s Mcgee in 2017. Reaching the next level in their ascent in an ever changing jam band landscape, Spafford has risen to the top of the next wave of acts by providing quality improvisation and a truly unique musical experience. Spafford has hit the road full time and is bringing their high energy performances nationwide.
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Strange Music Recording Artist
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