Instruments are a direct reflection of their players. The miles they travel, the stories they tell, the emotions they come to embody through the songs a musician would compose; in an instrument as incredibly identifiable and culturally significant as the electric guitar, it can be said that there’s little separation between the identity of the strings and that of the artist who strung them. For photographer Lisa Johnson, capturing the…
It is a painful truism of art, in all its forms, that pain often provokes us to create. We won’t discuss the many reasons why. The relevant reason when discussing Abbreviations’ new album ABBV is Ashley Leer’s need to process the news that her dad, save some sort of miracle, would die soon. The predictable response may be to write about an album about her relationship with her father, but Leer isn’t…
Understated but never under experienced, Jon Patrick Walker makes it easy to revel in his songwriting majesty in the new album, The Rented Tuxedo and Other Songs. His rousing mix of Americana-roots is crisp, with seductive harmonies and guitar (steel, sitar and more) crinkled into the arrangements. Discovering that each song is a chapter unto its own, Walker pulls the story together with a mesmerizing voice. He’s the string that pulls it…
Guitar god and bandleader Carlos Santana’s daughter Cecy Santana isn’t making waves because of her famous father. The assortment of remixes for her recent single “You Make Me Say” demonstrates that this prodigiously talented young singer is performing material elastic and durable enough for eight other musical artists to remix without ever losing the original track’s core virtues. This is no small achievement. Such tracks are often a glorified marketing…
People don’t universally agree on much, nowadays. One thing that most people can agree on, however, is that there is a gross underrepresentation of certain musical genres in the modern climate. While most will point to Rock music as being on the verge of extinction, some of its spawns may be growing even more obscure. While what Mark Rogers does isn’t necessarily a spin off of Rock music, as he…
“I went back to the garden / The place we used to go / But everything was different / No flowers, only snow,” Meghan Krauss tells us in “This is Gonna Hurt,” and despite the pain in her retrospection, the drive she’s got at the mic is something to be marveled at here. Krauss brings a lot of her Seattle roots into this all-new single and its lyric video, both…
The decline that heavy music has experienced on the mainstream level just in the past twenty years has left a lot of diehard fans feeling more than a little depressed, while others have been more than content to see cerebral, distorted songcraft returning to the sheltered world of the American underground that spawned it. There’s strength behind both sides of the argument, but no matter where you stand on the…
“Call Me” is one of Blondie’s biggest hits and most people can recognize it in an instant. MR.Slade, a relatively new musician to the scene, attempted a cover and executed something awesome. His single version of “Call Me” has all the grit and power of the original, but with an updated sound. It’s a little electronic, a little hard rock, and a whole lot of interesting. You can hear all…
Doug Ferony revives an old classic with his new cover of “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face.” First performed in the 1956 musical My Fair Lady, the song details the inner thoughts of a man falling in love with a woman he didn’t originally like very much. Ferony’s beautiful voice glides through the tune, backed by impeccable performances from his bandmates. The song transports you to a different time and…
FrankySelector’s “Ice Breaker” hails from his latest studio release Never Better and represents a peak moment in Selector’s career trajectory. He’s a multi-instrumental who has played music since an early age and growing up in an intensely artistic household, its focus falling on music, naturally accelerated his development. His tenure as a founding member of Montreal’s Skyjuice introduced him to the upper echelons of modern music sharing stages with The Groove Collective and…
San Antonio’s Studd Da Kidd cannot be fit into a tidy little box. She’s set her sights on broader horizons with her creation of DRH Consulting and projects such as their Exposure Explosion Festival. The concept is an event in multiple cities and states where creative imaginations are afforded the chance to demonstrate their talents for diverse and appreciative audiences. It is an outgrowth of her inclusive personal vision. Community…
Florida based – Once Great Estate, can be compared to the likes of nobody in their category of Folk and acoustic-heavy music on Even The Undertaker’s – 8 lucid and well-crafted numbers. These are tunes to live by, and not being new to them it just made me want to hear more where they come from. The voice of Tracy Horenbein is remarkably astonishing, as well as the musicianship of…
Emotion has a special role to play in the new single “Tell Me” from Missing-Nin, and it has more to do with shaping the core of the narrative than it does facilitate a smart rhyme. Rather than exploiting a generic pop model in this performance, the much-hyped Missing-Nin seems deliberately removed from the lead vocal, as if to translate unspeakable grief into the most brooding delivery I’ve heard from an…
With electronic melodicism riding the top of the charts harder and heavier than ever before, it’s not surprising that quality rock has become all the more a coveted commodity in 2021. The once-abundant guitar solos and searing lead vocals of yesteryear are now the underground cries of expression they started out as, and in the case of the new single “Sunlight Surfing” from Mercury Messiah, they’re the skin and bones…
Guiding a soft rhythm with surgically precise string play, The Transonics form a lush backdrop for elegant lyrics to adorn in the song “Tequila,” one of the star tracks from their new EP Tides. Although labored in the delivery of the chorus, the rest of the track plays out rather seamlessly, alluding to a dreamy, almost surf-like psychedelic edge that becomes a bit of a calling card in the record. Unlike…
“Bullet in the Head” is a song that may cause many listeners to flinch. Few, if any, will be able to recall any album opener confronting such a difficult topic like killing yourself. It isn’t a broadside set to music, however, and the humanity of both the words and musical arrangement satisfies despite the downbeat theme. There’s no doubt that Tom Tikka and the Missing Hubcaps contemplating death such as…
Whether he’s working out a sly groove in “Tequila Kiss” or offering a balladic melody via “Who’s Camille,” singer/songwriter Jay Elle has a pure love affair with the guitar in his new album Ride the Wave. Their relationship is at times volatile – “Rainy Day,” “Better Luck Next Time” – while in others it’s one of the more harmonious in contemporary rock – “Insane,” “Want Me Bad” – but it’s always…
I am always bowled over by one-man creative dynamos. John Blangero’s Sun King Rising project isn’t a “real” band, it’s true, but he brings such all-encompassing passion and musical vision to bear on the album’s ten cuts that it is a complete listening experience. There’s no holes in this release. It isn’t a concept album, per se, but Blangero wrote and designed the album with several central themes in mind…
It isn’t always easy, being Dici, but it would appear that things are looking up, based on his new single, “Something’s Right.” Dici is an Italian born Rapper/Producer/Entrepreneur. He currently resides in Miami, and has also spent time in Japan. At only 18 years old, Dici has already established himself, quite well. His newest release is a bit of a departure from the vibe of his earlier work. INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/dicimusic/?hl=en Since his previous single, “Five…
I remember when the doctor told my ex-wife and myself that our oldest daughter had a heart murmur. Panic overcame me in a flash. I told myself to slow down just as quickly, however, ask questions, find out what’s going on here. I remember the doctor saying that, among the treatment options, surgery is a consideration. My pulse fluttered imagining my baby girl asleep on an operating table and her…