“All too often bands look bored on stage or overly into what they’re performing, as if its a put-on for the crowd. I didn’t get that vibe from ole Fly Golden Eagle – they were into their catchy, dancey, spacey dance songs and really just want you to be as well. ”
— We Own This Town
In their current state, Fly Golden Eagle has been going strong for over 3 years. Ben Trimble has spearheaded the band for over 5, first playing shows with a boombox and a tape behind him, and since evolving into a full-fledged band that has released 3 albums and an EP. Richard, Jitch Moans and Odin Comin flesh out the mostly foursome, but sometimes they grow other limbs.
“Minimalist misanthropic noise-punk-doom that’s impossible to categorize…”
— Red Wound Press
No is concerned with dreams, death, dimensional dissolution, cults. No is made up of three consumers of scum commodities who have played together in different incarnations for quite a long while. Minimal noise doom post-whatever. Just listen.
“Gringo Star – should be literally showered with the same kind of exasperated stammering and fawning heaped onto the stars of the early days of rock and roll, as if these guys were new versions of the Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Beatles’ and all of the American standards in doo wop and R&B that were raging through Detroit and Memphis and Harlem.”
— Daytrotter
Boiling up from the independent musical cauldron Hotlanta has become, here comes Gringo Star with its follow up to 2012′s “Count Yer Lucky Stars,” a collection of catchy and instantly classic pop music, and their 2008 critically acclaimed debut, “All Y’all,” with the new 45 “Going Way Out b/w Taller.” You won’t be able to stop humming this spate of new and bright tunes, music that lifts the spirit. The surge of primordial forces that reveals itself through rock and roll only about every other generation has infected these multi-instrumentalists and the result is an upbeat recording of raw energy and positivity. Live, if you can resist the urge to dance, you’ll find your limbs shaking and your toes tapping to a band which has been described as “explosive,” “electrifying,” and “exceptional.” No need for the devices of the main stream musical glitterati who hide lifeless melodies and meaningless lyrics in stage productions and synchronized dancing meant to distract their wide eyed fans; here it’s the music itself – honest and intense. The Gringos, brothers Nicholas and Pete Furgiuele, and Chris Kaufmann, play each show as if their lives depended on it, and it’s that urgency combined with great song writing, pop beats and skilled harmonies that raise Gringo Star above the cacophonus crowd. These four guys should be literally showered with the same kind of excited stammering and fawning heaped onto the stars of the early days of rock and roll, those who created and performed all those American standards in doo wop and R&B, the musicians who were raging around the U.S., night after night putting it all out there, playing their hearts out, singing until they were hoarse and soaked in sweat, letting the music do their talking. There were once musical movements in this country, but the fracturing and splintering of the music scene stopped new waves from forming and cresting. This is a band which is creating the new standards to usher in the next tsunami. If you have the chance to catch them in a small venue, you better do it while you still can.
“Mic Militia brings the gospel of the streets to the masses. Don’t get it confused, these aren’t overblown stores of million-dollar drug deals and endless bottlepopping. With a cadence reminiscent of Slim Thug and the grounded sincerity of Scarface, Mic touches on issues like poverty, education and social justice. You know, REAL street issues.”
– Edward T. Bowser
At a very young age Mic Militia (Michael Allen) knew he possessed something special…
Something that would one day make him a powerful voice in the Hip-Hop community as well as a pioneer in Birmingham’s underground music scene.
Born in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, the civil rights Mecca of the South, during the aftermath of segregation and racial tension, he had a
balanced view, and understanding of where people of color had been, and where they are going.
He was known most around his hometown for his artwork. That soon changed after his Art teacher had the class do a project designing album covers. That’s when he not only designed a cover, he recorded a demo to go along with his project.
Impressed with the feedback he got from his fellow students, He began to take the music biz serious.
He entered his first talent show at the Carver Theater winning first place with his song titled “ Down South” taking Hip-Hop lovers by surprise with his cool, laid-back, witty, funny, but in your face, style.
With this song he stirred up something in the people in the city making folks feel a since of pride, during an era where East and West ruled the
airwaves.
With 15 years under his belt, he has paid his dues locally and is ready for the mainstream, capturing the hearts of old schoolers and gaining the respect from this new generation of artists, thus bridging the gap that separates the two.
Mic Militia is positively the future of southern Hip-Hop.
“Singer Anna Denbo of Midnight Risers may have a sound and delivery reminiscient of Neko Case, along with other feisty female belters, but you’d be wise to look past the obvious and get off on the blissful swirl of soul they so powerfully call forth. Splitting members between Birmingham and Atlanta, I’m the Sparrow, You’re the Stars is the trio’s debut album, recorded in Norcross. They’ve been playing around the region for a few years now, but I don’t see any nearby gigs on the immediate horizon. Too bad, they’re my discovery of the month.”
— Jeff Clark (Stomp & Stammer)
In the summer of 2008, Birmingham native Anna Denbo, while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta placed an ad in the Creative Loafing searching for a rhythm section. It was answered by drummer Shawn Collins, an audio professor at The Art Institute of Atlanta and live sound engineer at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. Shawn brought in bassist Matt Moffitt the managing music director of Roswell’s Thunder Road Studios. Matt and Shawn had played together in numerous groups and were searching for something new. The trio immediately booked some shows and began recording their debut album I’m The Sparrow, You’re The Stars with engineer/producer John Holmes at Goodwood Sound in Norcross, GA. After receiving her Masters in Graphic Design in ’09, Anna returned to Birmingham. The trio continued to perform throughout the Southeast and now tour with a rotating cast of supporting musicians from Auburn, Birmingham, Athens and Atlanta.
“Circles is a surely a sleeper hit. It took me months to wrap my head around it.”
— American Songwriter
You’ve heard mention of the “Heart of the South” aplenty. It’s something of a regional reference point, the geographic central organ of whatever context in which it’s breathed. It can simultaneously be the Georgia Piedmont and the Mississippi Delta. Maybe it’s where those hillbillies dwell up near the Great Smokies in the Appalachian Plateau. Just depends. On what you’re reading. Or seeing. Or listening to. On where that story happens to live. The Heart of the South can be anyplace, which basically means it’s every place. And if it’s every place, then maybe it ain’t a place at all. Maybe it’s a secret or an idea or some other intangible thing, cloistered away in the innermost chamber of the indigenous spirit. May very well be a birthright, that. Protected, localized, impossibly extracted or replicated by outsiders. We see it and hear it and feel it because those who can access it choose or feel compelled to tell it, in whatever version is theirs.
We don’t know what compelled Stephen Weibelt and Chris Johnson to build a makeshift studio in a makeshift shed in Leeds, Alabama – a state, as it were, that bills itself as the Heart of Dixie – and make music. But they did. As Colossal Gospel, the duo quietly and nearly anonymously recorded the songs that would become “Circles,” their debut LP. If psych-folk is LSD around a bonfire, “Circles” is a low dose of mushrooms on the front porch; a folkloric nu-gospel trip that pulses with the humid breath of a trueborn southern narrative.
In Colossal Gospel’s telling, the story is a sort of grounded fairytale, magic realism, maybe that meta-world that lives just beyond the margins, which prayers or thoughts seek to find. Its twilight more than dark, a touch (or three) merrier than the sweaty Southern Gothic macabre of its forebears. But it does pass under their looming, languid branches from time to time.
“Through the Sparks are bringing rock ‘n roll at its finest out of Birmingham, Alabama…[TTS] is a capital-P Professional rock band here, recording carefully orchestrated yet lean rock songs with a touch of southern sweat and twang…[TTS] shows us an impressive range. Nelson’s echoed voice wobbles with tense energy, and the band swells around him with subtle organ fills and ringing guitars.”
— Matthew Fiander (PopMatters)
Through the Sparks brand of “basement-baroque, mid-fi” psychedelia is one based in American roots music. After forming in 2003, the Birmingham, Alabama quintet released two EPs, Coin Toss in 2005 and AudioIotas in 2006, before turning in an LP in 2007. Pitchfork media called Lazarus Beach “a sophisticated sprawl of sound and songs, with elements of power pop, 70s singer/songwriter, prog, indie guitar rock, and even some smooth southern soul.” The album, which the band recorded in its basement studio, went on to become Barnes and Noble’s highest selling “rock” record for a few days, due to critical praise. They played as many shows as they could, including several appearances over the past three years at CMJ and SXSW.
Two succeeding successful LPs, “Worm Moon Waning” and “Almanac MMX,” followed.
Now… Through the Sparks lets loose its sixth release, “Alamalibu,” June 19, 2012 on Skybucket Records.
Approaching a decade of endurance, the band recorded the EP after putting out a single every month for a year (collected on 2011′s Almanac MMX). They hit the studio hard with a collection of songs that hearkened back to the more lush production of the earlier days, while hitting the tape with a new-found vitality along with some well-harnessed, but full-blown, chops. An EP was due. The five songs here had worked their way into the live set and had taken over as a new “thing” for the band, directionally.
Five songs, and about 20 minutes in length, “Alamalibu” was named after the Sparks’ basement studio in Birmingham, Ala., where previous full-lengths “Worm Moon Waning” and “Lazarus Beach,” dozens of singles, and a couple of previous EPs were recorded. Both previous LPs received critical accolades, with nobody paying much heed to the fact that this is all homemade music, even if it sounds recorded in Spector-o-scope.
This is not apartment-laptop homemade. It’s a full band playing loud in an actual basement full of guitars, but with real pianos, organs and neighbors and family and the whole thing. Nothing new, until the complexities come through in this multi-layered baroque-blues bash of people who know how to play and write music together. The band wanted to capture all of this while the iron was hot, so to speak. This time, the recordings are self-contained, all the way down to the cover art, with the exception of one tambourine and one upright bass track, played by a couple friends who were in the studio that day.
The result is the most Alamalibu-sounding Through the Sparks release to date — a glimpse of the band hitting an untethered high, while remaining the same kind of Southern headf*ck that only a place like Birmingham can produce, musically, but especially in the lyrics.
It was recorded in a concentrated amount of time, intentionally, as the band was well-rehearsed from a string of live shows, and as Through the Sparks was busy putting its fingers in other f*cked-up Birmingham projects — including participation in a couple of Wooden Wand LPs, and a couple of full-length TTS side projects. Planning to play some good shows upon the release of this one, Through the Sparks will ready a full-length for 2013, and hopefully this EP is a preview of what we’ll see next. More of Through the Sparks kicking the shit out of being Through the Sparks.
“Stumbling upon an album as good as this duo’s debut LP is not the kind of luck that happens every day. Eric Hillman and Brian Holl’s music has the depth of a deep green lake, one you watch through the seasons; from summer swimming to frozen white. The richness here is full and deep, and you should find a good long book and a quiet corner and listen to the entirety of this record over and over with headphones and a pot of hot tea.”
— YVYNYL
Foreign Fields is an electronic folk group that hails from the wintry plains of Wisconsin. New Years day of 2012 they met in their hometown, in an abandoned office building, to begin work on their first full length LP “Anywhere But Where I Am”. Having no set plan or guide, the album grew naturally as they left their lives in Chicago for hot summer days, skipping stones in the rivers of Tennessee.
Noble ArtRight (formerly Imago Dei) is an emcee, producer, writer, community activist, husband and father. Noble has been performing for over 15 years. He has graced the stage with KRS-1 and numerous other great artist. During his career he has released three albums including the critical acclaimed Bare Essentials, along with Anderson Scott, in 2012. On the B.E. project he not only served as 1/2 of the rap duo but he also produced, mix and master the whole project. His most recent project, released on Valentine Day 2013, is a love exploring EP entitled “Listening is an Act Of Love”.
In addition to his artistic endeavors, Noble ArtRight is an investigator at the Southern Center for Human Rights where he works to change and improve the criminal justice system.
“Fans of The White Stripes, The Strokes, Burning Brides, or just those out there with a soft spot for the decaying corpse of good rock music, I implore you to check these guys out.”
— William Brett, Mod Mobilian
L.F. Knighton is a three-piece rock and roll band from Mobile, Alabama. Since 2011 the trio has been playing regularly around the gulf coast region, including the main stage of DeLuna Fest 2012. Drawing influences from The Beatles to Nirvana, L.F. Knighton provides an energetic live show and captures an original pure rock and roll sound.
“The Great Book of John is a staggeringly vital record, one that I would hope gets tongues wagging in music critic circles when it comes time to select the best records of the year.”
— Zachary Houle (Pop Matters)
The Great Book of John is a Birmingham, Alabama original who have been firmly rooted in their city’s scene and the music community at large for many years now. They approach 2013 with the release of a new album which plays spotlight to their continuous evolution as a band. There music is eminently lyrical – recalling Jeff Buckley’s psychedelic soul, Leonard Cohen’s poetic (and lacerating) wordplay, and fiery fretwork influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughn and David Gilmour as much as it is by Radiohead. Those may seem like big names to drop, but this is big music – emotional, filmic, but never pandering. Led by Taylor Shaw, from whom the songs almost ceaselessly flow, The Great Book of John is very much a band – and a formidable one at that. Independently involved in music since their childhoods they have also worked together on projects in the past (including Birmingham’s late great Wild Sweet Orange). With vocalist Bekah Fox, bassist Alex Mitchell, and drummer Chip Kilpatrick they can conjure the sublime in any setting – with or without electricity.
The band’s debut album, Yves’ Blues, was a largely acoustic affair recorded in one long session. There second full length, The Great Book of John, was a deeply-layered production brimming with amplified crunch and a thick, somnambulant atmosphere, provided in part by musician / producer Jeffery Cain (Remy Zero, Sanders Bohlke, Dead Snares) and Grammy Award winning engineer Darrell Thorp (Radiohead, Beck, Outkast).
This years yet-to-be-released work boasts of the bands ability to lay it all down with all that they have. They were recorded by the great Paul Logus (Jimmy Page, P Diddy, Public Enemy) at Premiere Studios in Manhattan, during a 14 hour live session. Each song renders a feeling of dependence the members have developed on one another. Though the essence of the songs and sheer energy are reminiscent of the deep layering’s from the last album, this album showcases the raw qualities that can best be captured when a band is recorded live. It is in these tracks the listener can experience what The Great Book of John brings to every live performance which often has new comers leaving as dedicated fans.
A single from the album, “Dark Star”, is available on iTunes. It is truly a glimpse into the direction this band is journeying. A small taste of what will come out later this year. It is heavy music, seemingly unbearable, but laden with hope.
“Birmingham Seven is the brainchild of baritone saxophonist and emerging band leader and arranger Daniel Western. Like other projects spearheaded by Western, Birmingham Seven’s personnel is topnotch, the underlying concept is strong and the results are impressive.”
— Phillip Ratliff (al.com)
The Birmingham Seven is a straight-ahead jazz septet patterned after the small groups of the hardbop era.
The Birmingham Seven (B7) is a jazz septet comprised of some of the finest and most sought after jazz performers in the region. Their live repertoire consists of transcriptions and adaptations from iconic recordings by artists such as Duke Ellington, Oliver Nelson, Gigi Gryce, and Lee Morgan as well as original arrangements and compositions by the members of the B7 themselves.
“By combining elements of surreal, personal narratives and her quasi-Brazilian-style strum, Adron’s songs were at once baroque and hypnotic.”
— Creative Loafing
Adron, nom de guerre of young Adrienne McCann, who was named Best Songwriter of 2012 by the Atlanta Creative Loafing, is rapidly being recognized as one of the most uniquely gifted songwriters and vocalists of this generation. Her music seamlessly blends Classical harmony with the playfulness of ‘60s Brazilian Tropicàlia, the earnestness and sentiment of songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Harry Nilsson, and the cerebral sincerity of the hymn song. In 2011, her newest album Organismo was voted by Atlanta’s Creative Loafing magazine as #1 Album of the Year.
Adron’s music is infused with an international texture and a remarkably vintage, yet highly original and polished modern sound. While being able to craft songs with acumen and maturity, she also possesses an understanding of harmony both keen and innocent. She adds to her songs a unique array of embellishments such as birdcalls and other vocalizations, and sings eloquently in three languages. Her youthful exuberance and adroit musicianship together form a style both distinctive and pleasing, but it is her rare ability to meld genre, geography, and musical epochs that reveal the true breadth of Adron’s talent.
In addition to an extensive performance schedule, she is an avid artist and displays the same extraordinary deftness and creativity in her visual art that she does in her music. She is adamant that all her album artwork and merchandise designs be her own, including designing the twelve foot pyramid used in her latest music video. Outside her own creative endeavors, Adron has collaborated with artists such as Prefuse 73, Helado Negro, The Selmanaires, Francis & The Lights, and Little Tybee. She is currently recording material for her next two full-length records; one a concept album about death and mazes called Thanatrópica, the other a follow-up to Organismo entitled Water Music.
“You see, The Dirty Lungs can make quite an unholy racket, a gritty blend of good old grimey garage, nouveau psych, and even some Stone Roses-esque, splendidly overindulgent instrumentation. It’s sleazy, it’s nasty, and mercy me it’s fantastic.”
— Les Enfants Terribles
Formed in 2007, Dirty Lungs have evolved as much as any band can in 5 years of existence. Featuring a total of 8 different members over the course of their life as a group, founding members Carson Mitchell and Ra-Jaan Parmley have continued to hone their sound together as well as adapt to the strengths of the revolving cast of cohorts involved in the music they create. The one consistent genre Dirty Lungs have catered to over the years is Psychedelic Pop, infused with the gritty chords and vocals of late 60′s nuggets Garage. Throw in some Grunge attitude with a dash of British inclinations and you have Dirty Lungs in a nutshell. These sounds have been featured on 4 official releases, including a full album, 2 EPs, and most recently an internet only single. Looking to record their second full length in early 2013, Dirty Lungs will continue to represent the colorful edge of Birmingham’s music scene as long as they will have them.
“The word “play” is probably an understatement — these guys shred through the games as expertly as the band wails on their instruments.”
— Nintendo Power
When Bit Brigade rolls into town, the gamer elite hang up the controller for the evening and see a rock show. With unprecedented attention to detail and post-rock bombast, Bit Brigade meticulously replicates every musical cue, cutscene and boss battle in perfect syncronization with master gamer Noah McCarthy’s inspiring speed-trial run of each level. Composed of members of Cinemechanica, Maserati, and We Versus The Shark, Bit Brigade elevates game music to its proper place in the foreground of epic technical rock and plays the games like they don’t need the extra lives. Which, for the record, they don’t.
“Hard-driving garage sound with stops and starts that keep things sonically interesting; Ingram’s voice, an original with hints of Jack White; powerful guitar chops; pure rock songs.”
— Wellington Riverbottom
Looksy was formed in the winter of 2011 from former members of the local Tuscaloosa band The Classic Flame, which was active from 2008-2010. Daniel Ingram, John Laing, and Kyle Posten were driven to make new music for people to enjoy and have a lot of fun doing it. The new band’s sound is a mix of loud, energetic indie rock sensibilites with bluesy hooks and fuzz thrown in to round things out. After writing and performing in small stints throughout 2012, the band added longtime friend and guitarist Rob Keating to complete their sound and bring the lineup to its current state. The members of the band have been performing together since their high school days in Walker County, working at times in different bands and sometimes together before moving to the Tuscaloosa area in 2008. With two UA Alumni in the band and one current student, the members now consider Tuscaloosa to be their hometown.
The band’s first release, an EP entitled “Poor Ole Devil”, consisted of 3 songs from the band’s early stages that presented a taste of the sounds to come. With eclectic song structures and time signatures, Looksy crafts every song to stand out from one another. As the band found their footing and sound over the course of 2012, new songs have been conceived and completed and are currently planned to be released as a new EP in the Summer of 2013. After being named one of the Top 20 Alabama Bands by local blog Well That’s Cool, the band hopes to deliver on that title by continually bringing exciting new music and electric live shows for the area to enjoy.
“DT (of Clan Destined) and Dr. Conspiracy have forged a new alliance called the Difference Machine. Together they crank out twisted, psychedelic hip-hop cuts that reach into the deepest, darkest corners of their respective styles to conjure up a new, brainiac sound. “
— Chad Radford (Creative Loafing)
The Difference Machine are a psychedelic hip hop duo based in Atlanta, Georgia. DT makes the rhymes. Dr. Conspiracy makes the beats. DT and Conspiracy met in Atlanta by playing various shows together with their older projects, Clan Destined and Lee Harvey Oswald, as well as battling each other in beat battles. The live version of the Difference Machine sometimes includes Radley Fricker on drums and Mike “The Kill Fist” Mosca on additional programming/sampling.
If you were to ask me who I thought was the best band that Arkansas had to offer, I’d most likely tell you, Amasa Hines.
— Natural State of Mind Blog
Amasa Hines is a seven piece, Little Rock, Arkansas based band whose sound is as big as their influences are wide. Their influences come from a diverse range of Soul, Afro-Beat, Psychedelic, Blues, Dub, and Indie Rock stylings.
Amasa Hines was formed in 2010 and their highly anticipated debut album is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2013.
“… a psychedelic rock and roll trip”
— NPR.
Fronted by husband and wife team Michael and Lauren Shackelford and thrust into widescreen by guitarist David Swatzell, The Grenadines have been making a name for themselves in underground circles, thanks to both a sumptuous live show and the praise from producers such as Andy LeMaster (Bright Eyes, Now It’s Overhead), Jim Eno {Spoon} and Lynn Bridges– all of whom have produced tracks for the band.
The Grenadines self-titled debut released in February of this year and is pure dream-drenched rock and roll cut through a southern lens. The lead track “Shake” ( produced by Jeffrey Cain – Remy Zero, The Great Book of John, Isidore ) is a taut and slinky disco duet perfect for your Indian Summer dance party. This band tells their tale with a wide spectrum of sounds creating haunting orchestrations and contagious melodies that stick to the subconscious like a recurring dream.
Touring with acts Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley, Jenny and Johnny), Bear in Heaven, White Denim, Maria Taylor, and Orenda Fink (Azure Ray), allows for a confident resume. Look for them to tour throughout this year.
“R. Cole Furlow makes beautifully angsty music as Dead Gaze. His songs are bursting with warped emotion, fucked up vocals and thick riffs with a beating pop heart.”
— Pebble Records
Coming from the hills of North Mississippi and the Cats Purring Collective (featuring prolific artists like Dent May, Bass Drum of Death and Flight), Cole Furlow has been releasing material under the guise of Dead Gaze since 2009, recently morphing into a five-piece live band. Combining effortless pop songs with recordings that put an emphasis on texture, Dead Gaze has released a slew of cassettes and 7” records on notable DIY labels like Group Tightener, Fire Talk, and Clan Destine, and received critical acclaim on sites such as Altered Zones, The Fader, and Weekly Tape Deck. A compilation album, titled ‘Dead Gaze’ and comprised of the best tracks from the extensive Dead Gaze back catalogue will be released worldwide on February the 25th through Palmist Records in the UK and February the 26th through FatCat Records in the U.S.
Furlow explains that he records “wherever I can be alone”. Whether it be in the pastoral Mississippi country where his mother lives, the State College marching band hall where his father teaches, or at the Cats Purring ‘Dude Ranch’ where he currently resides, his intention is always to “try to capture a very memorable moment”, a spontaneous approach which home recording makes possible. The DIY ethos that goes into Furlow’s recording process shouldn’t feed into the lo-fi genre-trapping, though, as every sound Furlow commits to tape is deliberate. Dead Gaze’s trademark over-compressed sound is one which has come from Furlow’s belief in the importance of production as another instrument; “I think texture is something that is just as important as writing nice melodies and recording big songs”.
The compilation album’s first track ‘Remember What Brought Us Here’ presents the Dead Gaze manifesto perfectly. It announces itself with the bleeps and blips of an analog synthesizer as the song crashes into life with distorted drums, euphoric guitars and lyrics that reflect both youthful angst and a timeless wisdom as the protagonist in the song asks “Are you down? Are you feeling well? Should I ask, I just need to know” before attempting to reassure the object of his concerns; “surely you know that it’s good to hold on tight to the love that brought us here.”
Such emotionally honest, hippy-laced lyrics bring to mind ‘Yoshimi…’ era Flaming Lips, a band that Dead Gaze have been compared to in the past, but the album covers a vast sonic terrain from the thrashy pop-punk of ‘You’ll Carry On Real Nice’, with its Buzzcocks intensity, to the tidal wash of ‘Future Love’s and Sing Abouts’, and the psychedelic swirl of ‘There’s a Time To Be Stupid’. Whilst incorporating a vast mix of classic influences Dead Gaze also sits comfortably alongside contemporaries such as Cloud Nothings, White Fence and Ty Segall. Throughout the album Furlow provides us not only with opulent, soaring moments but also, as showcased on the record closer, ‘Fight Til It’s Dead’, with its warm enveloping melody and defiant lyrics, the tender, vulnerable moments, too. It is Furlow’s ability to combine the two, often at the same time, which makes him such an interesting artist and ‘Dead Gaze’ such a rewarding record, filled with melodic highs and emotional depths.
“This kid got next!! OHGFRO Says So!”
– Cognito (Frolab.com)
Yamin, the producer. Yamin, the emcee. Yamin, the studying electrical engineer has produced for and/or featured lyricism with the likes of Count Bass D, Binkis Recs, Boog Brown, Ken Starr, Headkrak, Arablak, Stacy Epps, Eddie Meeks, Broady Champs, Cannibal Ox, Chyle MC, Ozy Reigns, Sum Majere, Malkovich, Kam Moye (Supastition), J‐Live, Joe D (God’silla) and more.
Since Clan Destined’s inception in 2003, the group has risen to the forefront of their music scene, gaining a number one single on Rap Attack/Rap Network charts (“Plan B”, 2007) and becoming a part of the Rawkus 50 campaign. Their LP, “Self Titled” was given a 5/5 rating in Creative Loafing (2011) and in 2012, they were awarded Georgia’s Best Hip Hop Group by the Georgia Music Awards.
As a soloist, Yamin fuses his Hip Hop background into soulful expressions of song, utilizing wordplay and harmony over his layered production style. “YAMIN” introduces his re‐emergence as a student‐turned practitioner.
“Banditos’ sound is a little hard to pin down, but they’re “definitely steeped in southern rock and country, but there are shades of soul present in their sound — underscored by the sort of carefree approach to songwriting that leads to kazoo solos.”
— David Allen
In 1948, Hank Williams Sr. was asked how he decided to start making country music. He responded by saying, “I don’t know what you mean by country music. I just make music the way I know how.” What he created is what felt right and what came natural to him. 63 years later, his attitude towards music reflects that of certain musicians today. Banditos, a six piece band from Birmingham, Alabama, is a perfect example of this; following in Hank Sr.’s footsteps with their “I do what I want” honky tonk attitude, Banditos create raw and gritty southern music that will get anyone and everyone stompin’ their feet.
“Hard-driving garage sound with stops and starts that keep things sonically interesting; Ingram’s voice, an original with hints of Jack White; powerful guitar chops; pure rock songs.”
— Wellington Riverbottom
Looksy was formed in the winter of 2011 from former members of the local Tuscaloosa band The Classic Flame, which was active from 2008-2010. Daniel Ingram, John Laing, and Kyle Posten were driven to make new music for people to enjoy and have a lot of fun doing it. The new band’s sound is a mix of loud, energetic indie rock sensibilites with bluesy hooks and fuzz thrown in to round things out. After writing and performing in small stints throughout 2012, the band added longtime friend and guitarist Rob Keating to complete their sound and bring the lineup to its current state. The members of the band have been performing together since their high school days in Walker County, working at times in different bands and sometimes together before moving to the Tuscaloosa area in 2008. With two UA Alumni in the band and one current student, the members now consider Tuscaloosa to be their hometown.
The band’s first release, an EP entitled “Poor Ole Devil”, consisted of 3 songs from the band’s early stages that presented a taste of the sounds to come. With eclectic song structures and time signatures, Looksy crafts every song to stand out from one another. As the band found their footing and sound over the course of 2012, new songs have been conceived and completed and are currently planned to be released as a new EP in the Summer of 2013. After being named one of the Top 20 Alabama Bands by local blog Well That’s Cool, the band hopes to deliver on that title by continually bringing exciting new music and electric live shows for the area to enjoy.
“Even those without a keen ear for musicality will recognize the talent on display in the Pyles’ beautiful mix of smooth voices, cello, and violin-with a little ukelele thrown in for fun.”
—NOALA Magazine
Since 2004 The Pyles has been a banner for Cullen Stewart’s traditionally influenced music and vivid storytelling. It has evolved slowly, over time involving numerous and varied musicians and styles before arriving at the dynamic and diverse group it is today.
The current lineup began to take shape while Cullen was living in Philadelphia. There he met ukelele player Jessica Rothstein who brought a vocal styling to the table that is at once engaging yet unconventional. Cullen returned home to the Shoals in 2011 where he met Kimi Samson (Doc Dailey and Magnolia Devil) whose mature and varied sound drifts effortlessly between classical violin work and folk fiddling. In short order, Danley Murner (Machinery of the Night) joined the group after teaching himself the cello. Last, but certainly not least is Robin Gillespie (While the Ship Sinks, Ursa Locomodus), the newest member of the band and drummer who keeps the train running on time.
Nuckols, Carnaggio & Eaton is a group founded by Jazz great Cleve Eaton. In the Jazz world Cleve Eaton is highly regarded internationally as a composer, arranger, producer and bassist. For 16 years Cleve was known as “The Counts Bassist” Referring to the legendary Count Basie. Cleve also was a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio for 10 years. The other member of the Trio was Maurice White who went on to Earth Wind and Fire fame. Some of Cleve’s honors include induction into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and the Playboy Jazz Poll. Cleve, as an in demand bassist performed with super stars such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, George Benson and other musical giants. Cleve has also performed on 4 Gold singles, and 7 Grammy winning albums. Today finds Cleveland Eaton moving full speed ahead with his handpicked guitarist Birmingham, Alabama native Joe Carnaggio and Louisville, Kentucky native John Nuckols on drums. As Cleve puts it “These are the only cats since the Basie guys that can play my music.”
John Nuckols is an extraordinarily accomplished percussionist and drummer. One has to be to perform with a bassist like Cleve Eaton. A significant moment of formal training for John was when he had the opportunity to study with Alan Dawson famed drummer with Dave Brubeck. Guitarist Joe Carnaggio fronts the band with his energetic and signature style of delivering melody and improvisation to the audience. In addition to Cleve, Joe writes and the band performs many of his songs. Cleve had heard of Joe but had never heard him play. John Nuckols who had been performing with Cleve for the past 7 years urged Joe to come and play at an upper level musician jam session hosted by Cleve. Joe obviously knew of Cleve and his band. What Joe did not know was that Cleve was looking to form a new band to introduce to the world better suited for the future. Soon after that jam session Joe got the call from Cleve’s agent and booked Joe for a few gigs. The few gigs turned into a permanent and satisfying musical relationship.
“The bearded Americana bandwagon got crowded, so Belle Adair invented something so fresh it defies categorization…they released a six-song EP and every track unfolds in glorious colors with stellar vocal harmonies.”
— Relix
Belle Adair’s first record, The Brave and the Blue, will shipwreck your intellect. One minute the kettle’s ringing, or the light is changing red to green, but you’re gone. You’re swept away to this heart-wandering tiny universe with pedal steel swells and trumpet gulls, love lamented and comprehended. Life, examined and exalted.
The record is the wreck. The island. The raft. You? You’re the drifter. Listen.
“Be Brave” opens the record with two-and-a-half minutes of improvised ethereal ambience, a balm of an introduction to the motifs and instrumentation to come. The track is a reflection of Belle Adair songwriter and front man Matt Green’s admiration of ambient artists like Tim Hecker and Stars of the Lid. The instrumental elements of “Be Brave” undercurrent the first half of the record as the sound evolves, straddling folk and pop, Americana, indie-rock. The band draws from a wide palette of sounds: pedal steel, Rhodes, violin, brass, synthesizers, and guitar, with the acoustic often playing lead. And Green’s soulful vocals, hinting at British whispers and Southern lilts, steady yet brimming with the emotion of each song’s crux. Green, like you, wanders-between The Brave and the Blue-searching for significance in what we can withstand to lose and dare to hope. Much of The Brave and the Blue was imagined in the early mornings of a time of revival for Green, who returned home to Muscle Shoals, Ala., after his Birmingham apartment was destroyed in a fire, the last loss in a series of disappearances: work, love, happiness, reason.
The synced timbres and tones, key and elements, images and ideas of one grand musical atmosphere create the world of Side A. You’ll wander through the cinematic poetry of burning streets beneath a wide black sky past unwelcome guests and lost loves, but don’t distress. The music will carry you through. “Sister” is a dream, embodying the tonal modes of Belle Adair, shifting from sweet acoustics to a crescendo of jangly keys and electric guitar, before fizzing into beautiful distortion. “The Unwelcome Guest” is a lonely slow dance in a Southern bar. Dawn on an autumn beach and the “Clouds Never Break.” You’re alone, for now, drifter. Side B begins with the rosy pop of “Golden Days,” your future unfurling. The organ and horn-drenched “Easy Way Out” is the highway, so rich in sound and ringing with such verisimilitude, your heart will ache and sing, drifter. The candid “Comes a Time” brings you face to face with the possibility of new love. And finally, “The Search” is a grassy hilltop at the destination of one journey, the launch of another. Green sings, “All we seek is what we are given.” Welcome home.
Green’s predilection for sundry styles of songwriting is ever present in the roaming of Side B-a nod to the recording fashions of bands like The Byrds but also a manifestation of place. Green’s access to talented musicians is unlimited in the Shoals. And although the songs begin with Green, they end in the deftly handled instruments of nearly a dozen musicians who gathered at Nutthouse Recording Studio in the Shoals. Of particular note is the backing band’s attention to each song’s needs, always appropriate, never intruding-Daniel Stoddard’s pedal steel, Chris James’ bass, and Patrick McDonald’s drums. For Green, the studio is a fortress, a sanctuary, in which his intentions become tangible; the outside world barricaded from the one he’s creating. Keyboardist and Green’s childhood friend Ben Tanner engineered the record, drawing on the mystical intuition and trust of friendship, completing Green’s arrival home.
Belle Adair casts away the trepidation of traveling roads once rocky. How fitting for a band named after a sunken ship in Steinbeck’s Winter of Our Discontent. Put on The Brave and the Blue. And the kettle, too. Drift away. Forage the once-forgotten memories of your past self, no longer deserted.
In early 2011, from the depths of Birmingham, AL, Blank State was born. Founding members, Ross Parker (Bass) and Will Stewart (Guitar, Vocals), wanted to create a band that played honest, stripped down Rock that carried a sense of urgency. In the following months they enlisted Nick Recio (Drums) to complete the sound they had envisioned.
The songwriting continued and soon they went into the studio to record their first EP, “Twins” with the help of local recording engineer, Emanual Ellinas. The result was a blistering set of tracks with strong melodies, distorted, jangling guitars, deep bass, tight drums and an ethos that is unmistakably Southern.
“As much as I love dreamy, ethereal bedroom pop, every once in a while I ache for something slightly more, dare I say it, ‘rocky’ and this track from Jackson’s The Weekend Kids is exactly that. ‘Eastwood Rivals’ is nostalgic and upbeat, painting a perfect picture of adolescent disillusion and teenage angst, complete with a riff that The Drums would kill for. Let’s be young and in love forever.”
— Crack in the Road
Since the beginning of 2012, Hayden Boyd, Travis Bass, Micah Boyd, Salar Almakky, and Cody Bass, The Weekend Kids, have been writing music and playing where ever they can. The Weekend Kids have become a staple at Jackson area venues, including Morningbell Records and Studio’s After School Sessions to perform the song “Eastwood Rivals” for the studio’s video session. In October 2012, they put out “Animals,” their first full length, as a free online release. It has been said by many that The Weekend Kids bring sounds that remind you of getting in your car for a road trip, lighting up a bonfire at the beach, throwing a house party when your parents are out of town, and the first day of summer vacation. Look for The Weekend Kids debut for Elegant Trainwreck due Spring 2013.
“Two emcees by the name of sLanguage and Fathom have set forth to create a 5-track EP promoting the worth in words.”
— 88tillinfinity.com
The Pen Pals are a hip-hop group from Tuscaloosa, AL comprised of two emcee-poets. With a borderline religious view of hip-hop, they aim to maintain a certain quality with their soulful approach to writing rhymes. The two emcees spent nearly two years getting familiar with each other’s styles in freestyle sessions before taking on the title “Pen Pals”. Fathom and sLanguage came together and blended many different inspirations. They started writing as a group in the summer of 2012 and quickly formed a distinct writing style that they like to call “punch-line poetry”, in which they take concepts of substantial and/or poetic nature, and deliver them in a way that will immediately be attention grabbing. This writing led to the release of their first project, a 5 song self titled EP, in November of 2012. Each track offered something different yet true to hip-hop, and that attracted a wide variety of listeners both locally and online. Soon after the EP’s release, the two started performing together, winning crowds over with an infectious energy and stage presence. Through this the Pen Pals have helped shape and revitalize true hip-hop music in the 205 area.
“New Madrid is a study in contrasts. The band’s music is both earthy and interstellar, sweet, simple Southern rock blasted into the ionosphere”
— Flagpole Magazine
Born from the rolling thunder of the Tennessee mountains, New Madrid is glad to now call Athens, GA home. The band, settled into a big red barn just outside of town, is taking the southeast by storm. Drawing heavy influence from alt-country and noise-rock alike, these four young performers create captivating soundscapes that are simultaneously dense and expansive. With reverb-drenched vocal harmonies that soar over a lush and textured musical patchwork, New Madrid evolved seamlessly from bedroom project to polished product. They are now rightfully considered one of the brightest up-and-coming groups emerging from Athen’s storied scene.
In 2012, the band recorded and independently released their debut full-length album Yardboat, mixed and tracked by legendary Athens engineer/producer David Barbe (REM, Drive-By Truckers, Deerhunter) at his Chase Park Transduction studio. The album was recorded mostly live and on traditional analogue tape over a impressive three-day stretch. It was then mastered by Brooklyn-based engineer Joe Lambert (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, Dan Deacon).
Fresh off their first release, the band has been steadily touring the country with a head of steam. Given their voracious appetite for writing and recording as well as their high-energy live performances, this ship shows no sign of slowing.
“Suddenly and mysteriously transfigured into Healing Power, the Cincinnati foursome entertained at Chicago’s Schubas for about an hour, providing a positive, if occasionally bizarre punctuation mark…”
— Craig Bechtel (Pop ‘stache)
Healing Power is a psychedelic pop soul punk band. With humble beginnings in the heart of Cincinnati – where neighbors throw block parties that farm animals are also invited to – two friends, Jacob Merritt and Isaac Karns, began playing music. The two grew to four including Joey Cook and, most recently, Curt Kiser, and humble song-writing turned prolific. The next three years saw the release of three full-length albums, Everything Is Alive, Everybody Come Outside and One Of Us – with the band receiving critical acclaim from the likes of KEXP, WOXY, Spin and more. And 2012 has promised us another, Heaven.
With a new label home in Austin-based, Modern Outsider, Heaven, lives up to it’s lofty name and is [Healing Power] at their very best and most diverse. Unlike past albums, Heaven grabs you just as soon as the first note drops and it doesn’t let go. “Pass Away” is pop perfection and shows us what we’re dealing with. While most bands don’t have one decent vocalist to speak of, [Healing Power] have two. And they’re not decent. They’re amazing.
In past recordings Karns was the forceful vox, Cook the quirky tenor. While the balance between the two still remains, both vocalists have progressed far beyond these pigeon holes. On “Sisters”, Cook sings with such clarity and restraint he transcends far beyond the trappings of indie rock and leaves no listener questioning his gender. Equally on “Dreams”, Karns is unrecognizable from past performances as he drifts into dreamy falsetto. All the while Jacob Merritt’s propulsive drumming leads the way and is matched only by Curt Kiser’s shimmering guitar tones.
On Heaven [Healing Power] showcase their musical diversity and uncompromising vision. From Pink Floyd swirls on the rollicking “Letters”, to the stripped-down piano stylings on beat-driven, “Surfing the Human Heart”, the album reads like the best of roller coasters. A unique blend of stirring and surprising psychedelic dream rock that’s as tender as it is ass-kicking: [Healing Power] own this. Sweet, thoughtful, innocent, direct, wild – Heaven has clearly come to earth. What could be more deserving of your listen?
[Healing Power] are Jacob Merritt, Isaac Karns, Joey Cook and Curt Kiser. They’ve shared the stage with Peter Bjorn and John, Menomena, Spoon, Wye Oak, French Kicks, Headlights, Islands, Ra Ra Riot, Phantogram, Jimmy Eat World, Blitzen Trapper, Ted Leo, Figurines, Aloha, The Besnard Lakes, Young the Giant and more. (This bio is for Pomegranates, before they changed their name to Healing Power.)
“The Log Ladies explore a wide variety of musical terrain on their debut album, Let’s Build a Myth Together, and succeed in producing one of the most unique albums to come out of New Orleans in recent memory… pushing musical boundaries while remaining natural, tasteful and, above all, a joy to listen to.”
— Mark LaMaire (OffBeat)
The Log Ladies have crafted their brand of cosmic skronk jazz in the rich musical soil of New Orleans. Their music sheds jazz conventions and avant-garde headiness, yet combines these genres in a rocking accessible sonic adventure. Haunting melodies mix with a romping rhythm section, shifting textures and even a healthy dose of humor, to deliver a distinctive alluring sound. Chris Alford (guitar), Dave Cappello (drums),and Jesse Morrow (bass) are three unique stylized improvising musicians whose sum is The Log Ladies.
“What happens when more energy than any red bull distributor could ever dole out meets lyrical gold and nostalgia? You get Keynote, Travii The 7th and HeadKrack aka The Bodega Brovas. The trio spent the year putting out song after song paying homage to the Hip Hop they grew up on and ripping stages world wide. Their signature throwback blend was everything a Hip Hop soul needed this year. While they have the ability to adjust to any track they touch, their unwillingness to pander set them apart from the masses.”
— AllHipHop.com
Bodegas are commonly known as independent mom and pop stores in any respectable neighborhood. You can cop candy, sandwiches , and sometimes weed – all from the same spot.
Musically, The Bodega Brovas are the same way…
Travii the 7th (the white guy), who hails from Chicago, is the serious anti-establishment MC in the crew. His unique delivery and world view keeps “The Brovas” grounded.
Keynote (the Latin guy) hails out of Dallas and is a TV/Radio personality who most recently kept 97.9 The Beat’s nighttime show in the #1 slot for all 11 years that he hosted it. Don’t let the radio thing fool you. Key’s rhymes are just as bizarre as his on-air persona.
Last but not least there’s HeadKrack (the black guy), who hails from the Bronx. A multi-talented media personality, he is currently a co-host on the nationally syndicated Rickey Smiley Morning Show and also co-hosts Dish Nation, a nationally syndicated talk show that airs daily on FOX.
Collectively these three manage to cover the full spectrum of what’s missing in hip hop. Most importantly, FUN!
The Bodega Brovas have toured all across the US and Europe, playing shows with some of the biggest names in the game. Their critically acclaimed debut mixtape, their upcoming EP and their highly anticipated LP (scheduled for a Fall release) feature collaborations with a who’s who in the world of underground hip hop.
From the moment they hit the stage, The Bodega Brovas bring the kind of energy and skill that instantly make crowds “Believe in Bodega”.
“These guys are tricksters; they’re playing lovely pop while wading through murkier waters. Now what’s that aphorism about not judging things from the surface? Yeah, well that rings true here, too.” — Get Bent
Younger Siblings are an indie-pop band from Birmingham, AL. The band was formed by then high-schooler Teddy Rowe on vocals and ukulele with Jonathan Crain (guitar/keys), Keith Neighbors (bass), and Chayse Porter (drums). Early Y.S. songs came to fruition via Rowe’s fixation on melody and whimsical lyrics. Absurd songwriting led an array of genre collages to create colorful, upbeat pop. Recently, the band has incorporated a healthy dose of cartoonish playfulness while venturing into bleaker themes such as despair, death, and loneliness. This combination translates into a reckless live show that makes Younger Siblings the no. 1 must see band of 2013 as voted on by critics everywhere.
“A variation of the skinny white-boy insouciance popularized by Mick Jagger … Stone laces the retro sounds with contemporary touches that keep things lively and surprising.”
— Bud Scoppa (Georgia Music)
When Stone first began working on the record back in 2011, the experience played out like the wildest of rock & roll dreams. At 2 a.m., he walked through the doors of Atlanta’s Glow-In-The-Dark Studios with a loose assemblage of backing musicians in tow. The location was well beyond their means, but they were working in the middle of the night in Studio B with an intern engineer at the boards. As mics were set up, they ran through the tune they were about to cut, one of Stone’s newest, an anthemic ’70s-glam march called “War.” Just then, Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum record producer Matt Goldman was wrapping a session in Studio A. Something unexpected caught his ear, and he followed the sounds straight down the hall to Stone and his buddies. “He thought we sounded like T. Rex,” Stone says.
If you were to ask me who I thought was the best band that Arkansas had to offer, I’d most likely tell you, Amasa Hines.
— Natural State of Mind Blog
Amasa Hines is a seven piece, Little Rock, Arkansas based band whose sound is as big as their influences are wide. Their influences come from a diverse range of Soul, Afro-Beat, Psychedelic, Blues, Dub, and Indie Rock stylings.
Amasa Hines was formed in 2010 and their highly anticipated debut album is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2013.
While [Silver Tongues'] songs draw influence from well- worn, easily identified traditions — country, blues, folk and 1960s rock — they are just warped and strange enough to be interesting.
— Jennifer Kelly (Dusted)
What started as a pet project in solitude blossomed into a remarkable fusion of enduring songs with effortless musicianship. Silver Tongues explores life’s beautiful and harsh moments with an unblinking eye, all the while infusing a feeling that there will be a fortunate resolution. No thought or idea is out of bounds with this band, which is obvious in the wide array of styles on the forthcoming debut record, Black Kite, in stores this fall on LP and CD. First pressing of the LP will be limited to 250 copies on clear wax.
“Cincinnati’s Wussy falls under the category of a “Best Band You’ve Never Heard Of” but should make it your business to get acquainted with..”
— Blurt Online
The 12th year of the 21st Century finds the Cincinnati rock phenomenon known as Wussy moving into their second decade as a band. Looking back, their first 10 years can be looked upon as a paradigm for the progression of a successful band: a string of solid releases that retains its core singing and songwriting bedrock while playing increasing larger rooms to greater acclaim. It seems easy, but few bands of late have managed to achieve their station with such modest grace. (Pop Matters)
“Over the last year, Ante Meridian, the pairing of Amityville, New York transplant Rozewood (rhymes) and Mr. Enok (beats), has steadily risen through the ranks to become one of the city’s most formidable underground hip-hop duos.”
— Chad Raford (Creative Loafing)
Rozewood (Amityvile, NY) & Mr. Enok (Montgomery, AL) first linked up in the spring of 2011 through mutual friends in Mr. Enoks home studio in Atlanta, GA. After recording their first 3 songs (in one day) the chemistry was apparent. Fast forward to almost a year later, they opened up for Raekwon and simultaneously released their first EP: “3 am poltergeist”. Since then they have been consistently creating music and collaborating with artists like El da Sensei, Boog Brown, & Big Rec, while also sharing the stage with the likes of Curren$y, Syzoo, Freddie Gibbs, and others.
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“The bearded Americana bandwagon got crowded, so Belle Adair invented something so fresh it defies categorization…they released a six-song EP and every track unfolds in glorious colors with stellar vocal harmonies.”
— Relix
Belle Adair’s first record, The Brave and the Blue, will shipwreck your intellect. One minute the kettle’s ringing, or the light is changing red to green, but you’re gone. You’re swept away to this heart-wandering tiny universe with pedal steel swells and trumpet gulls, love lamented and comprehended. Life, examined and exalted.
The record is the wreck. The island. The raft. You? You’re the drifter. Listen.
“Be Brave” opens the record with two-and-a-half minutes of improvised ethereal ambience, a balm of an introduction to the motifs and instrumentation to come. The track is a reflection of Belle Adair songwriter and front man Matt Green’s admiration of ambient artists like Tim Hecker and Stars of the Lid. The instrumental elements of “Be Brave” undercurrent the first half of the record as the sound evolves, straddling folk and pop, Americana, indie-rock. The band draws from a wide palette of sounds: pedal steel, Rhodes, violin, brass, synthesizers, and guitar, with the acoustic often playing lead. And Green’s soulful vocals, hinting at British whispers and Southern lilts, steady yet brimming with the emotion of each song’s crux. Green, like you, wanders-between The Brave and the Blue-searching for significance in what we can withstand to lose and dare to hope. Much of The Brave and the Blue was imagined in the early mornings of a time of revival for Green, who returned home to Muscle Shoals, Ala., after his Birmingham apartment was destroyed in a fire, the last loss in a series of disappearances: work, love, happiness, reason.
The synced timbres and tones, key and elements, images and ideas of one grand musical atmosphere create the world of Side A. You’ll wander through the cinematic poetry of burning streets beneath a wide black sky past unwelcome guests and lost loves, but don’t distress. The music will carry you through. “Sister” is a dream, embodying the tonal modes of Belle Adair, shifting from sweet acoustics to a crescendo of jangly keys and electric guitar, before fizzing into beautiful distortion. “The Unwelcome Guest” is a lonely slow dance in a Southern bar. Dawn on an autumn beach and the “Clouds Never Break.” You’re alone, for now, drifter. Side B begins with the rosy pop of “Golden Days,” your future unfurling. The organ and horn-drenched “Easy Way Out” is the highway, so rich in sound and ringing with such verisimilitude, your heart will ache and sing, drifter. The candid “Comes a Time” brings you face to face with the possibility of new love. And finally, “The Search” is a grassy hilltop at the destination of one journey, the launch of another. Green sings, “All we seek is what we are given.” Welcome home.
Green’s predilection for sundry styles of songwriting is ever present in the roaming of Side B-a nod to the recording fashions of bands like The Byrds but also a manifestation of place. Green’s access to talented musicians is unlimited in the Shoals. And although the songs begin with Green, they end in the deftly handled instruments of nearly a dozen musicians who gathered at Nutthouse Recording Studio in the Shoals. Of particular note is the backing band’s attention to each song’s needs, always appropriate, never intruding-Daniel Stoddard’s pedal steel, Chris James’ bass, and Patrick McDonald’s drums. For Green, the studio is a fortress, a sanctuary, in which his intentions become tangible; the outside world barricaded from the one he’s creating. Keyboardist and Green’s childhood friend Ben Tanner engineered the record, drawing on the mystical intuition and trust of friendship, completing Green’s arrival home.
Belle Adair casts away the trepidation of traveling roads once rocky. How fitting for a band named after a sunken ship in Steinbeck’s Winter of Our Discontent. Put on The Brave and the Blue. And the kettle, too. Drift away. Forage the once-forgotten memories of your past self, no longer deserted.
“(Ponychase) is a powerhouse of expertly woven electro-pop aesthetics, jagged, post-punky guitar lines, heartbreaking harmonies and hook-rich tunes. Caress’ stunning voice packs an emotional wallop that brings the band’s ethereal, sulking songs to peaks of transcendence worthy of their influences.”
— Adam Gold, Nashville Scene
In the beginning, Ponychase was the pseudonym under which Jordan Caress recorded a series of home demos. These demos didn’t quite fit into what had come to be associated with her name based on her work with Americana band Korean is Asian, or an acoustic, ambient solo record. She wondered if she could even find like-minded musicians in Nashville to help her bring this dreamy, earnest synth pop to life. She serendipitously met Beth Cameron, of the beloved Nashville band Forget Cassettes, who had just returned to Nashville after a brief stint in Chicago. After an exchange of demos and favorite records, Cameron, a talented singer/songwriter and guitarist, was on board. Jordan enlisted her talented brother Alex Caress, to play synths, and electronic drummer Brian Siskind (co-producer of Caress’s 2008 EP), thus creating a foursome bound by blood and a long musical history.
“Mr. Invisible… never fails to grab everybody’s attention and get their bodies rocking. It would be impossible to describe how much talent projects from them. Slinging their bodies back and forth naturally to their beats, Ill-Use and Aswell spit rhymes with such precision; they could make the illest MCs look like amateurs…”
— Creative Loafing
Mr. Invisible is a team of two MC/producers based in Charlotte, NC. Known for their energetic live shows infused with demonstrations of high technical proficiency, Mr. Invisible has been rocking crowds with their brand of progressive hip-hop music since 2005. Up-tempo beats, fast raps, and B-boy inspired breaks are the backbone of the group’s sound.
Mr. Invisible draws heavy inspiration from old school rap as a foundation, then stands on it blasting futuristic weapons in the form of live beat production and sample manipulation.
These components, mixed with wide-ranged rhymes referencing quantum mechanics, underdog determination and a love for all the elements of hip-hop, create the music known as Mr. Invisible.
Mr. Invisible’s group members, Justin Aswell and Ill-Use are responsible for both vocals and production. Together they demonstrate flow that’s simultaneously easy and relaxed, quick and nimble over intricate beats performed live. They are known to international audiences via their popular YouTube channel, which has over 2 million views. Mr. Invisible is sponsored by Native Instruments, a Berlin-based maker of hardware and software for musicians. The group starred as a centerpiece of the 2010 marketing launch for Native Instruments’ MIDI production platform, Maschine.
Widely considered a pioneer in the emerging field of live drum machine performance, Justin Aswell recently starred in an educational series, teaching drum machine performance techniques for Dubspot Electronic Music Production and DJ School in New York, NY. Aswell is a classically trained musician who holds a degree in percussion performance from the University of North Carolina.
Mr. Invisible has toured with Doomtree, DJ Vadim and One Self. They have performed with Atmosphere, Astronautalis, Dead Prez, EPMD, J-Live, Little Brother, Mac Miller, and Wu-Tang Clan among many others. They’ve also rocked massive crowds at key electronic and hip-hop music events such as Low End Theory in Los Angeles and the A3C Hip-Hop Festival in Atlanta.
“I totally unprepared to experience something so beautiful. If you haven’t seen L/W live, you haven’t lived.”
— Atlanta Music Guide
Formed in 2008 in Athens, GA, among indie- and math-rock contemporaries, Lazer/Wulf is an experimental metal trio that’s easy to love, but hard to peg. It’s branded instrumental but with flashes of distant vocals, a jazz collective with thrash roots, a funk group with sludge issues, or a prog band reeled in by a satisfying hook. Every cathartic fit backs against a tense silence. Whatever it is, it’s useless to describe. Just imagine L/W as a trampoline rigged to explode: it’s fun for just about anybody, but likely to kill them at any moment.
“Suddenly and mysteriously transfigured into Healing Power, the Cincinnati foursome entertained at Chicago’s Schubas for about an hour, providing a positive, if occasionally bizarre punctuation mark…”
— Craig Bechtel (Pop ‘stache)
Healing Power is a psychedelic pop soul punk band. With humble beginnings in the heart of Cincinnati – where neighbors throw block parties that farm animals are also invited to – two friends, Jacob Merritt and Isaac Karns, began playing music. The two grew to four including Joey Cook and, most recently, Curt Kiser, and humble song-writing turned prolific. The next three years saw the release of three full-length albums, Everything Is Alive, Everybody Come Outside and One Of Us – with the band receiving critical acclaim from the likes of KEXP, WOXY, Spin and more. And 2012 has promised us another, Heaven.
With a new label home in Austin-based, Modern Outsider, Heaven, lives up to it’s lofty name and is [Healing Power] at their very best and most diverse. Unlike past albums, Heaven grabs you just as soon as the first note drops and it doesn’t let go. “Pass Away” is pop perfection and shows us what we’re dealing with. While most bands don’t have one decent vocalist to speak of, [Healing Power] have two. And they’re not decent. They’re amazing.
In past recordings Karns was the forceful vox, Cook the quirky tenor. While the balance between the two still remains, both vocalists have progressed far beyond these pigeon holes. On “Sisters”, Cook sings with such clarity and restraint he transcends far beyond the trappings of indie rock and leaves no listener questioning his gender. Equally on “Dreams”, Karns is unrecognizable from past performances as he drifts into dreamy falsetto. All the while Jacob Merritt’s propulsive drumming leads the way and is matched only by Curt Kiser’s shimmering guitar tones.
On Heaven [Healing Power] showcase their musical diversity and uncompromising vision. From Pink Floyd swirls on the rollicking “Letters”, to the stripped-down piano stylings on beat-driven, “Surfing the Human Heart”, the album reads like the best of roller coasters. A unique blend of stirring and surprising psychedelic dream rock that’s as tender as it is ass-kicking: [Healing Power] own this. Sweet, thoughtful, innocent, direct, wild – Heaven has clearly come to earth. What could be more deserving of your listen?
[Healing Power] are Jacob Merritt, Isaac Karns, Joey Cook and Curt Kiser. They’ve shared the stage with Peter Bjorn and John, Menomena, Spoon, Wye Oak, French Kicks, Headlights, Islands, Ra Ra Riot, Phantogram, Jimmy Eat World, Blitzen Trapper, Ted Leo, Figurines, Aloha, The Besnard Lakes, Young the Giant and more. (This bio is for Pomegranates, before they changed their name to Healing Power.)
“Whatever that ‘it’ is people talk about when it comes to talent…Supa got ‘it’.. the world better get ready!!!”
— Khrysis (Jamla/The Away Team)
Hailing from Charlotte, NC (by way of Greenville), Supastition quickly began to solidify his name following the release of his debut album, 7 Years of Bad Luck, on Freshchest Records in 2002. Supastition received his first share of national recognition in 2004 when ?uestlove of The Roots and Okayplayer Records selected his collaboration, The Williams, with Foreign Exchange producer, Nicolay, to appear on the True Notes Vol. 1 compilation. Supastition’s track appeared alongside songs by the likes of The Roots, Jean Grae, Dilated Peoples, RJD2, and Madlib. Later that year, Supastition joined forces with Philadelphia-based Soulspazm Records to release his critically acclaimed, The Deadline EP and Chain Letters which opened the floodgates to national attention with praiseworthy ratings in XXL’s Chairman’s Choice, The Source’s Independent’s Day, XLR8R, Scratch Magazine, and numerous other publications. The legendary Rawkus Records re-released Chain Letters in 2006 after joining forces with Soulspazm Records. The power of The Deadline and Chain Letters utilizing international producers allowed Supastition to headline tours in 3 continents (US, Europe, Australia) and 12 countries within a 3-year span. After parting ways with Soulspazm Records, Supastition went on to independently release Leave of Absence EP, Self-Centered EP, and the full length Splitting Image under his government name of Kam Moye. After a 3 year hiatus from the music business, Supastition returned in late 2012 with the critically acclaimed “The Blackboard EP” and has a forthcoming album produced by Stoupe (formerly of Jedi Mind Tricks) in the works.
As one of the most consistent indie artists, Supa has graced songs with respected artists like KRS One, Little Brother, Royce da 5’9”, Elzhi (Slum Village), Stoupe (formerly of Jedi Mind Tricks), One Be Lo, Zion I, Bahamadia, Marco Polo, J-Live, Torae, Skyzoo, Tanya Morgan, and Cunninlynguists just to name a few. Following an impressive freestyle on the World Famous Wake Up Show, King Tech gave Supastition the stamp of approval to appear on the star studded ‘Wake Up Show Anthem 2010’ featuring The RZA, Ras Kass, Crooked I, Tech N9ne, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Tajai of Souls of Mischief, and DJ Revolution. He has worked with well-known indie producers such as 9 Jake One, !llmind, Symbolyc One, M-phazes, and Nicolay.
“Vulture Whale may be the best rock band you haven’t heard. Following two excellent self-titled records, Bamboo You is another solid installment from these Alabama rockers and shifts gears, if only slightly for the band. Frontman Wes McDonald and his crew have mastered the sort of rock music you might have heard on Matador in the mid-’90s, but the band imbued it with its own southern shuffle.”
— Pop Matters
One day, while roaming through the desert, singer/songwriter Wes McDonald spied a vulture, perched atop a cactus, eating a whale. Lo, and the band Vulture Whale was formed. And, baby, musical miscegenation never sounded this good. Like the Mud Shark and the Rock Lobster before it, Vulture Whale is quickly making a name for itself in rock…’s rich taxonomy.