Guided By Voices
In 1994, 38-year-old school teacher Robert Pollard & his merry band recorded Bee Thousand in a Dayton, Ohio, basement on a 4-track cassette recorder. This improbable rock classic became an enormously influential album: Pitchfork and Spin have called it one of the best records of the ’90s, and Amazon picked Bee Thousand as #1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums Of All Time. A legendary live band with a rabid following, the Washington Post called GBV “the Grateful Dead equivalent for people who like Miller Lite instead of acid!” With 10 studio albums already under their belts in less than 5 years, the band’s present-day line-up is nothing less than a new Golden Age of GBV.”Earth Man Blues could be the band’s best album since 1995’s Alien Lanes. Put this record on and see how long it takes to utter your first joyful expletive.” **** 4 stars – Rolling Stone”Astonishing” – GRAMMY.com“Tremendous. A knockout from start to finish. Earth Man Blues is all killer.” ***** 5 stars – Shindig!”This is their best album in decades. Let these tunes into your head and your heart and you’ll be singing them for weeks.” – The QuietusLinks: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
The Red Pears
The Red Pears’ founding members, Henry Vargas (vocals and guitar) and Jose Corona (drums), draw their sound from the spectrum between the early 2000s New York indie rock scene and grunge to the cumbia and corridos that soundtracked their childhoods in El Monte, a sleepy suburban town just east of Los Angeles. After cycling through an assortment of lineups, mutual friend and bassist Patrick Juarez stayed on and expanded their operation. Now a solid three-piece band, these emerging alt-rockers, have come a long way from meeting at a local Battle of the Bands, practicing in their garages, and naming themselves after their favorite color and a pun on the word “pair”— a subtle nod to sonic inspirations The White Stripes and The Black Keys.The Red Pears first got on the map with self-releases For Today, For Tomorrow, For What Is, For What Could’ve Been and We Bring Anything to the Table… Except Tables We Can’t Bring Tables to the Table, touring behind them and learning the ins-and-outs of being on the road. The Red Pears North Star continues to be their undying honesty and commitment to the craft. “It all boils down to effort and humility,” says Vargas. “We just want to do our best and make the music we want to make. Now we have more help and resources, but it’s about continuing to push and keeping that humility.”2019’s Alicia, named after both of their mothers, is teeming with this maternal energy. The band’s most tender record yet also proves their most sonically and emotionally diverse, from the Albert Hammond Jr-esque guitar croon “Dreams” to the lush slowburn of opening track “One by One”. The heartfelt EP, named after Corona and Vargas’ mothers, showcases a polished alt-rock sound without sacrificing the band’s roiling, fuzzed-out garage spirit.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify
The Blazers 2022 Summer Reunion
In Memory of Jimmy Weaver & David Robert.With Rick Miller, Lee Guildersleeve, Sherman Tate, Joey Sinreich & Ron Taylor with guests. Links: YouTube
Five Ton Faces
Five Ton Faces is a five-piece Roots Rock band that originated in Franklin, Tennessee in 2015; comprised of Nash Hamilton (Guitar and Vocals), Bailey McClendon (Drums and Vocals), Nick Jude (Bass and Vocals), John Shields (Keys and Vocals), and Will Cheatham (Lead Guitar), Five Ton Faces brings a wall of sound to each live performance. The band began at the hands of Nash Hamilton, and while the group initially started out with only two members, it quickly garnered its strength with the addition of the full lineup. Five Ton Faces is inspired by many genres of music; Outlaw Country, ‘60s Rock, and Jazz to name a few. This combination of genres is what gives Five Ton Faces such a dynamic and unique sound. The band members’ ingenuity, songwriting talent, and dedication sets them apart from similar aged bands. Five Ton Faces offer a new and unique sound while delivering a sense of nostalgia reminding the listener of classic southern artists that laid the groundwork for the ‘Nashville sound’.Lead singer Nash Hamilton is the grandson of Grand Ole Opry member and International Ambassador of Country music George Hamilton IV, a history that can be heard within the group’s music today. Paying homage to IV, the band play their own version of the world-famous song Abilene performed by Hamilton’s grandfather in 1963.Links: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Pink Siifu
Livingston Mathews currently performing as Pink Siifu is a 29-year-old artist from Birmingham Alabama.Beginning his music journey in 2012, he went on to form the duo B.Cool-Aid consisting of producer Ahwlee and himself while also creating music with Producer Swarvy.Siifu makes music that reflects the ideas, life and struggles experienced through Blackness, bringing family, culture and faith to light.Most times his music stretches from soul, punk, jazz, rap and experimental. Always working on new music and visual projects he’s positioned himself in the east coast close to the home of hip-hop and shifts his focus to creating more dynamic soundtrack services for clients in tv/film, marketing and production.Links: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Soundcloud
Priscilla Block
Country artist Priscilla Block draws listeners in with her unfiltered, relatable songwriting and catchy melodies.“I love writing about real life experiences and the ups and downs that I’ve gone through,” says Priscilla. “I don’t sugarcoat anything, and I think that’s the beauty of songwriting and being an artist.”With an honest and upfront approach, Priscilla promotes self-love, empowerment, and acceptance through her own blend of country pop and southern rock, dubbed the Block Party sound. “It’s a little sass, a little trash, and a little sad,” describes Priscilla with a knowing wink as her catalog rolls so easily from heartbreak to laughter.Originally from Raleigh, NC as one of five children, Priscilla moved to Nashville to pursue music shortly after high school. In Nashville, the affable, hardworking, student of life worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, then a chance encounter with her idol – Taylor Swift – was the sign she needed to dive all the way in on her music.Over quarantine, Priscilla began experimenting with some new songs on social media app TikTok. There she developed a rabid fanbase with songs like “Thick Thighs,” an unapologetic anthem about women embracing their bodies, no matter their shape or size. Once her audience heard “Just About Over You,” they rallied together to independently fund the song’s recording. Priscilla in turn shared every moment of the recording and release process including all the emotions as she watched “Just About Over You” race to the top of both the iTunes Country and All Genre Song charts in only 12 short hours. Now, “Just About Over You” is climbing country radio’s Top 40.Priscilla is a seasoned performer playing sold-out shows across the southeast including Deep South the Bar in Raleigh, the storied Listening Room Cafe, and Nashville’s rowdiest block party, Whiskey Jam. Priscilla has also shared the stage with artists including Gabby Barrett, Adam Craig and Adam Doleac.Follow Priscilla on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok for more on her music journey.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
Todd Snider
This is a seated show.You don’t often hear about an artist reinventing their sound twenty albums into a celebrated career. But for Todd Snider, his latest release, First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder (2021), isn’t so much a sudden change in direction as an arrival after years of searching.Since debuting in 1994, Snider has gone through his own incarnations. His first single “Talking Seattle Blues” was a head fake that might’ve pointed to goofy novelty songs. But he quickly showed that his artistic quiver was much deeper and more interesting. A storyteller who works a similar creative soil to John Prine and Shel Silverstein, Snider’s best songs are both sad and funny, political and entertaining, and always written with a poet’s eye and a stand-up comedian’s sensibility about the follies of human condition. While he’s made twenty fine albums, it’s on stage where Snider is even more potent, with between-song banter that weaves subtle emotional threads through his sets. A road dog who loves the road, Snider has toured with Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Jimmy Buffett, and appeared at festivals like Farm Aid, Newport Folk Fest, Lockn’ and Telluride Bluegrass Festival.Snider was born in Portland, Oregon, and lived there until his family moved to Houston, Texas. When he was 15, he ran away from home with a friend and went back to Portland. After high school, he moved to Santa Rosa, California, to be a harmonica player. Then his brother, who lived in Austin, Texas, bought him a ticket to come live there. After seeing Jerry Jeff Walker in a local bar, Snider decided that he didn’t need a band to be a musician.After moving to Memphis, Tennessee, in the mid-1980s and establishing residency at a club named the Daily Planet, he was discovered by Keith Sykes, a member of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band. A longtime acquaintance of John Prine and Walker, Sykes began to work with Snider to help advance his career. Prine hired him as an assistant and then invited him to open shows. In time, Buffett heard Snider’s demo tapes and signed him to his own label. On his music, Snider has said “I was just trying to come up with the best … most open hearted … well-thought-out lyrics I could come up with. I wanted every song to be sad and funny at the same time, vulnerable and entertaining at the same time, personal and universal at the same time. I wanted every song to be as uniquely written as possible and then I wanted to perform them in a studio loose and rugged and hopefully as uniquely as I could. My hope is to be hard to describe and/or new … I’m not saying I am. I’m just saying that’s the hope.”Snider’s 1994 debut album on MCA, entitled Songs for the Daily Planet, was named for the bar where Snider used to play regularly in Memphis. On that album were the minor hits “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues”—a folk song about the early ’90s grunge scene, featuring a band that “refused to play” —and “Alright Guy”, which later became the title cut of Gary Allan’s 2001 album.He released two more albums for MCA, Step Right Up and Viva Satellite before moving to John Prine’s Oh Boy Records, for which he made Happy to Be Here, New Connection, Near Truths and Hotel Rooms, East Nashville Skyline, and Peace Love and Anarchy. That Was Me: The Best of Todd Snider 1994–1998 was released by Hip-O Records in August 2005.Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube
Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road
Bluegrass Roots from Deep Gap, NC Rapidly rising on the bluegrass scene, Billboard-charting artists Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road perform internationally and stateside winning both industry awards and the hearts of fans who turn out to see them at some of the industry’s most iconic venues. Named Momentum Band of the Year by IBMA in 2019, Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road have been recognized as one of the fastest growing bands in the industry. Their latest release “Roots” debuted at #6 on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Charts, joining their three previous albums for a total of 12 weeks in the Top 10. Growing up just down the road from Doc Watson, Liam Purcell leads Cane Mill Road as they rock the traditional bluegrass standards they were raised on, yet boldly write original music with roots in the fertile grounds of bluegrass, old-time, and Americana. Their powerful arrangements and dynamic stage presence have landed them main stage slots at legendary festivals across the country. You’ve seen Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road on national TV with PBS appearances on David Holt’s State of Music and Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour. Other performance highlights include Merlefest, Grey Fox, The Berklee Performance Center, and Wide Open Bluegrass. The band is sponsored by Deering Banjos, GHS Strings, Shubb Capos, Sorensen Mandolin & Guitar Company, Kogut Violins, NS Design, and Fishman Amplification. “The future of bluegrass…” No Depression “Their skill is clearly unquestionable” Bluegrass Today “Deeply rooted in traditional bluegrass, their songs boldly and progressively interpret classic songs” The Bluegrass Standard “Making their mark on bluegrass and fueling the future” Bluegrass Unlimited “Cane Mill Road, based less than six miles from Deep Gap, North Carolina, the home of Doc Watson, draws its inspiration from the late singer/guitarist whose musical imagination gathered inspiration from the deepest Appalachian roots while courageously finding connections to almost all elements of American music…the band has quickly ignited a spark that has led to a recording contract with Patuxent Music and early recognition from the International Bluegrass Music Association” No Depression Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Lauren Sanderson
LAUREN SANDERSON is no longer just happy to be here. While her acclaimed 2020 debut full-length, Midwest Kids Can Make It Big, was brimming with wide-eyed wonder, the LA-via-Indiana singer/songwriter is getting bolder, weirder & a little more in your face with the release of her brand-new single “THERAPY!” out 1/28/22.Produced by Pinkslip (347aidan, Royal & The Serpent) this first track of 2022 marks a career highlight for Sanderson, who is poised to record a year of highlights in 2022 as she embarks upon a nationwide headline tour of such iconic rock clubs as Irving Plaza and the 9:30 club and releases even more amazing music that will push this independently driven artist over the impressive 100,000,000 stream mark this spring. Lauren Sanderson turned heads in 2019 opening for FINNEAS and has steadily built a loyal cult following thanks to her no-holds-barred honesty, relentless DIY work ethic and electric persona. MTV, Billboard, Zane Lowe’s Beats 1, Alternative Press, NPR, Cosmopolitan and Spotify’s New Music Friday have all signed on in support of her swirling, intoxicating blend of rock, pop, hip-hop and R&B – imbued with the same charisma and conviction that made her a YouTube presence starting with her viral TED Talk at the age of 19 in 2015.“I don’t want to play the underdog anymore,” she declares. “I know what I’m capable of, and I’m ready to bring the star power.” Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music
Drive-By Truckers
DBT is finally back on the road after the year and half pandemic lockdown. Just in time to celebrate our 25th birthday.The band had just released its 12th studio album in January 2020. The Unraveling was mostly recorded in Memphis at Sam Phillips Recording Service – nine new songs detailing the horrific state of MAGA America in songs that addressed white supremacy, school shootings and the opioid crisis.The album earned excellent reviews (including later being named “Album of the Year” by Rolling Stone in France) and we set out on the road playing shows up the east coast including NYC, Boston and DC. Unfortunately, the pandemic happened and we only completed one three-week leg of what was supposed to be a 15-month tour.In lockdown, we all did what we could. Cooley, Jay and I played numerous virtual shows from our respective homes. Matt Patton built up his already successful studio (Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, MS) and album productions including acclaimed records from Bette Smith and Jimbo Mathus. Jay Gonzalez released his third excellent solo album Back to the Hive.I wrote two new songs inspired by the BLM protests occurring around the country and the federal occupation of my adopted hometown of Portland, OR. We combined them with some tracks we had already recorded in Memphis and released The New OK.Its nine songs picked up where The Unraveling had left off, continuing the themes of an unraveling country, but also breaking away on a more personal front. It included the title cut single (which had a very moving video centered on the Portland protests) and the song “Tough To Let Go” which displayed a poppier side of the band than is usually mentioned. It got stellar reviews and ended up in UNCUT Magazine’s Top 5 at the end of the year.With the lockdown ending and shows starting up again, DBT is excited to reactivate in a big way. I have solo dates, Cooley and I are going out to play some Dimmer Twin dates including three shows in NYC and an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. DBT will begin playing out in late July with a full-on tour beginning in August that will take us across the USA and our long delayed UK/European Tour next spring.DBT will also begin work on our 14th studio album; one that should take us in some new directions. On tour, we‘ll be playing songs from all of our albums as well as surely premiering some new ones. As usual, we won’t be using a set list so anything goes.Turn it up loud and see you at the Rock and Roll Show,Patterson Hood(DBT)Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
