Rock And Blues International

DECEMBER 2020

Rock And Blues International JETHRO TULL’S Martin Barre ALSO IN THIS ISSUE CHARLIE BEDFORD VANESSA COLLIER KEVIN BURT LUCIANO FEDERIGHI GARY BARLOW MIKE MONTGOMERY

Rock And Blues International December 2020 Hello Rock And Blues International readers. The Christmas season is upon us now and the weather is getting a bit colder. It’s been a rough year for everybody across this planet we call Earth. I hope and pray that this Christmas is good for all of you. I know this is going to be a rough Christmas for a lot of you out there as you have lost a lot of family members, friends, and even acquaintances that you interacted with each day. They tell me that help is on the way and there are a couple of vaccines for the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic that has gripped us this year. I hope so, and I hope they work. In the meantime, I’d like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Please be safe...

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Joyeux Noël, Frohe Weinachten, Feliz Navidad, Buon Natale, Feliz Natal, Vrolijk kerstfeest, Craciun fericit, God Jul, Veselé Vánoce, and Happy New Year, Bonne Année, Gutes Neues Jahr, Feliz Año Nuevo, Felice Anno Nuovo, Feliz Ano Novo, Gelukkig nieuwjaar, Un an nou fericit.

Now, on to the new issue. In this issue, as usual, we have some great stories and information to pass on to you.

Martin Barre, the former guitarist for Jethro Tull talks about his new album 50 Years Of Jethro Tull, Australia’s new rising Blues star Charlie Bedford is spotlighted, Vanessa Collier talks about her new album Heart on the Line, Kevin Burt tells the story behind his new album Stone Crazy, Italy’s Luciano Federighi has two new albums out to share with you, and Marlon Montgomery releases a tribute album to his father Mike Montgomery titled Crawling Spider: A Tribute to Mike Montgomery – Vol. 1 – The LA Sessions. Other artists in this magazine include: Arlo Parks, Gary Barlow, Avatar, Zoon, La Femme, Tim Montana, Amenra, The Style Council, The Cranberries, Lady A, and Tinsley Ellis, just to name a few. We even have a couple of stories presented in two languages... Edoardo Fassio’s story about Luciano Federighi is presented in both Italian and English, and the story on The Versions is presented in both Spanish and English.

I sincerely hope that everybody reading this new publication finds something here that they like and I would like to encourage you to let your friends and colleagues know about us. Just look for us every month at http:// www.rockandbluesinternational.com. I would also like to encourage you to email us for a free subscription to Rock And Blues International as well. Just email us at rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com and in the subject line simply put “Sign Me Up” and we’ll email you a copy each month when it is published.

Kevin Wildman Kevin Wildman Editor and Publisher

Rock And Blues International Kevin Wildman Editor and Publisher

Web Address Http://www.rockandbluesinternational.com Mailing Address Box 1162, League City, TX 77573 Phone 281-650-1953

For Advertising email us at rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com or call 281-650-1953 For A Free Subscription email us at rockandblues international@gmail.com and in the subject line put “Sign Me Up Now” November 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Contents

VOL. 1 NO. 5

DECEMBER 2020

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6

ISSUE NO. 5

CHARLIE BEDFORD One of Australia’s Rising Stars Of The Blues

10 VANESSA COLLIER

10

Releases New Album Heart On The Line

14

14

KEVIN BURT Releases New Album Stone Crazy

22 LUCIANO FEDERIGHI

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Releases Two New Albums Viareggio and Other Imaginary Places and October Land

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GARY BARLOW Releases Their New Album HypnoBoogie

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Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Contents

VOL. 1 NO. 5

DECEMBER 2020

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ISSUE NO. 5

ARLO PARKS Releases Her New Song “Caroline”

66 MARTIN BARRE

Releases New Album 50 Years Of Jethro Tull

66

70 70

MIKE MONTGOMERY Crawling Spider: A Tribute To Mick Montgomery - Vol. 1 The LA Sessions

In This Issue: 6 10 14 18 20 22 23 26 28 29 30 32 34 35 36 37

Charlie Bedford Vanessa Collier Kevin Burt Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio Tinsley Ellis Luciano Federighi (Italian) Luciano Federighi (English) Justin Nozuka The Versions Gary Barlow Sfera Ebbasta OK Cowgirl As Everything Unfolds Hilarie Sidney La Femme Rina Sawayama

38 40 43 44 46 47 48 49 50 52 53 54 55 56 58 60

Zoon Avatar St. Lundi Vera Blue Thomas Rhett Lady A Josie Cotton Robbie Parish Arlo Parks Tim Montana Strung Like A Horse Courtney Paige Nelson Earcandy Cloud Nothings Gimme Radio Ricky Eat Acid

63 64 66 70 73 74 76 77 78 79 81 82 84 86 89

Stan Bush Amenra Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre Crawling Spider: A Tribute To Mike Montgomery Dion System Of A Down Alter Bridge Ghostemane Zombie Americana Living Dead Girl Gürschach The Offspring The Style Council The Cranberries Mary J. Blige

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Charlie Bedford Photo by Jeff Fasano

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Rock and Blues International • December October 2020 November 2020 2020

By Barry (Baz) Maxwell from Blues on the Hill The thing I love most about the Blues is the way the music evolves over time and how the next generation takes it to different places blending it with other genres and creating their own styles.

I love old school blues as much as anyone, but the music must evolve and reach out to new listeners to keep it fresh and relevant.

In Memphis, each year around January and February the Blues Foundation put on the International Blues Challenge where some of the best blues musicians from around the globe descend on Beale St for a weeklong Blues party.

I have had the privilege to be a judge and witness first-hand the next generation coming through at this event.

Our Blues society here in Melbourne also each year run a Youth in Blues programme that uses mentors in all forms of blues song writing, stage presence and of course, musicianship.

It was around six years ago at this programme I met a 13-year-old who I could tell had something special.

His name is Charlie Bedford and recently I had a chat with him to talk about the past, present and the future.

Photo by Gary Bedford Charlie Bedford in Sun Studios

The Past I asked Charlie how music came into his life and he said “My Dad, used to play in bands when he was younger and as I was growing up, he had a guitar around the house and every now and then he’d play it and sing songs. When I was about 5 I got my first guitar. Dad taught me to begin with and then I took lessons.

After a while I started going to the jam sessions at The Mount Dandenong Hotel, I played my first gig there when I was about 12. After that I became obsessed and went to every Sunday and Thursday night jam session for the next 3 or 4 years. That’s where I met the blues man Billy Kavanagh. He just blew my mind with all these classic licks from Elmore James to Steve Ray Vaughan, I just fell in love with this music”.

“It was Billy who pointed me in the direction of the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society (MBAS) and their Youth in Blues program when I was 13 years old. I’ve been involved with that program ever since, in fact, I formed my first band through Youth in Blues”.

Youth in Blues is a free initiative of the MBAS, it’s been held annually since2005. Youth in Blues offers young

Charlie Bedford Youth In Blues people a place to develop their musical talent and build their performance confidence in a supportive learning environment with musician mentors.

Charlie remembers that “one day my Dad received a phone call from John Jerman, who was the MBAS President at the time and he said – we want Charlie and the band to represent MBAS in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge (IBC) Youth Showcase”.

Charlie journeyed to the USA as a 16 year old in 2017 and twice more in 2018 and 2019. On all three occasions he represented the MBAS and performed at the IBC -Youth Showcase.

Charlie has an interesting anecdote about one of his many visits to the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis. “It was the year when Bill Barber and the Kelly Auty Band represented MBAS. We all went over to Sun Studios in Union Avenue. We recorded there…we recorded in the actual studio, where so many legends had been before us. We

did a session that went for half the night.

It was awesome experience, that studio has such an important place in the history of music”.

The Present I asked Charlie about his new album “Good to Go” which was released worldwide in May 2020. Charlie said “It’s my first album with a band. It’s 11 originals and one cover, which is an old Mink De Ville song. I’m on guitar and vocals, Tim Anderson is on the drums.

David Carr played bass, some additional guitar and backing vocals along with Tim Wild. David also produced it”.

“It’s mainly a trio, but we did have some guests. We had Chris ‘Stibbo’ Hanger on the harmonica, for two tracks and Daryl Roberts from Hey Gringo playing keys. We recorded it at Rangemaster in the Dandenong Ranges.

It was my first full studio experience continued on next page

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Photo by Jeff Fasano

Charlie Bedford continued from previous page where I spent months in the studio the blues. It’s the core of everything I do. working on the album and making sure It’s the soul. It’s the heart and it’s where we got everything right”. it started. It’s the most honest form of “Good to Go” has a fresh contemmusic you can find and it’s just so damn porary feel about it, with echoes of John good. So, I wanted to keep the blues at Mayer and Gary Clark Jr, so I asked the heart of this album, which I think CharliePhoto aboutbythe modern blues vibe that I’ve done, but I also wanted to blend in a Jeff Fasano he has gone for. Charlie laughed. “Yes, it modern feel. My guitar playing is bluesy, was quite hard to do that because I love but with the arrangements, the melodies, 8 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

the lyrics and chords, I’m trying to push my music in a new direction. My first album; “Nine and a Half Thousand Miles to Memphis” was old school blues, so with “Good to Go” I think it’s a natural progression.

Charlie returned to Memphis in 2020 for the IBC and while there he met with Betsie Brown of Blind Raccoon, which led to a global distribution deal for “Good to Go”.

Charlie explains how the deal came about. “Well, I was in Memphis for the IBC and my new album was almost complete. I think I had to do a couple more guitar parts and fix up some vocals, but it was pretty much done, I had demo versions ready to play to people. My idea was to go to the IBC, where I knew many of the industry people would be and see how I’d go about getting a distribution deal to promote my music in the USA and around the world”.

“The IBC showcases record labels, so musicians like me can meet industry people and do the networking stuff.

Betsie agreed to meet me. She had recently launched a new joint venture with Sallie Bengtson of Nola Blue Records, where Blind Raccoon and Nola Blue came together to form “Blue Heart Records”. So I went to their showcase, met with Betsie and she said she was interested in what I was doing. She told me Blue Heart Records were giving a global distribution deal as a prize during IBC week and I should put my name in for consideration, so, I did, and I was the lucky recipient of the deal”.

“It was an awesome opportunity”, said Charlie. “Blue Hear Records have done the global promotion and distribution of “Good to Go”. They’ve done amazing things with the album during these COVID times. The international reviews have been fantastic and it’s done really well on the charts, hitting #1 in Australia and #2 in the USA on the RMR Blues/Rock Charts. In the UK it hit #14 on the IBBA charts”.

Due to COVID, it has not been possible for Charlie to tour his album, so I asked him what he’d been doing during this difficult year. “I’ve been writing for my next album. I’m writing all the time really, but you know, it’s a bit different when you’re writing specifically, with a deadline, for an album. With all the COVID restrictions here in Melbourne, it’s been a bit tricky, because I haven’t been able to catch up with my band mates. But before the lockdown, I’d been playing with the New Savages and we got the chance to play with Kent Burnside at the Queenscliff Music

Festival. Kent was amazing and he got me hooked on Mississippi hill country blues. I really enjoy the riffs and the repetitive grooves”.

Charlie explains how he thinks younger people connect to the hill country sound. “I’m finding a lot of young people really get into it. Old school blues is always going to be there and people will discover it, but I feel like people my age, they hear some of the old stuff, and they may get turned off it for some reason. It’s old music, you know.

So, if we can lead them to the blues with something that’s got a cool edge to it, but still has the blues at its heart, then, in time they will discover the old stuff and I’m sure, that will help keep the blues alive”.

The Future I asked Charlie about his plans for the next 12 months. “Well, I’ve got a rough plan” he said “but it’s a bit unpredictable, with everything that’s going on with COVID. I know I want to keep doing my music, so I’ll keep working on my next album”.

“Hopefully, I may be able to tour to promote “Good to Go”, said Charlie.

“The album has the full band sound, so it’s a bit hard to recreate that live as a solo act. It’s possible, but it’s not going to be the same as what we did in the studio. So, I’m talking to Tim, my drummer, about doing the duo thing again”.

“You remember Tim and I performed at your club; the Hume Blues Club in the Shake Shack as a duo and that was really cool. So, if I do the songs from “Good to Go” with Tim on drums, then it starts to sound a lot fuller, more like a band”.

“Even when I do my older material, with Tim, it gives a different flavour to the songs. They become quite edgy, which I like. We can really lock into each other and go wherever we want to go with it. So yes, as live music starts to reopen after COVID then I want to do lots of electric solo/ duo gigs and hopefully, plenty of gigs with the other two bands I play in; The Great Unknown and The New Savages”.

“All being well, I’ll release the album I’m currently writing, in 2021.

I’m aiming to release something each year, you know, even if it’s something smaller, such as an EP. I want to keep releasing music regularly because I guess it’s what I do”.

The future of blues music is in the hands of young people like Charlie Bedford. He has played alongside and

Photo by Jeff Fasano

been mentored by some of the best musicians in the Melbourne music scene, artists such as Geoff Achison, Jimi Hocking, Russell Morris and Lloyd Spiegel. Now Charlie is a fresh act on the scene, representing the next generation of blues musicians. In life, sometimes things come full circle in a short space of time. Charlie started his blues journey with the MBAS Youth in Blues program and now the MBAS has paid him the ultimate compliment by asking him back to be one of the musician mentors for young blues players in the Youth in Blues program.

Most memorable moment My time with Charlie was almost at an end, so I asked him, what so far has been his most memorable moment.

Charlie replied in his modest manner; “I’ve been lucky and I feel very humbled to have experienced the things I’ve experienced so far. One highlight that I’ll always remember is meeting B.B. King’s bass player, Mr Russell Jackson. It was 2017, the first year I was in Memphis. I was 16 and went to a jam at the legendary Blues City Cafe. Russell was doing this awesome version of Stormy Monday and I was on guitar in the band backing him. I hadn’t actually met Russell at that time, but after I got off stage someone came up to me and said you know that was Russell Jackson! He was B.B. King’s bass player and I freaked out because B.B. is one of my biggest blues influences. So I went over to Russell and we got talking. He’s such a proper gentleman and so humble. Since then we’ve kept in touch. We message each other every now and then. Every time I’ve been in Memphis, I’ve caught up with Russell and sat in on a few songs with him. But, you know, the first time

playing with him, well, for me there was some serious Mojo up on the stage that night. It’s an awesome memory”.

References https:// www.charliebedfordmusic.com/ https://blues.org/ https://www.mbas.org.au/ https://www.facebook.com/ BillBarberMusic https://kellyauty.com.au https://www.sunstudio.com https://www.heygringo.net/ https://www.facebook.com/ rangemasterrecordingstudio https://blindraccoon.com/ https://www.nola-blue.com/ https://burnsidekent.com/ https://qmf.net.au https://thenewsavages.com https://www.facebook.com/ TheGreatUnknownBand/ http://www.russellbjackson.com/ About Barry (Baz) Maxwell I live in Melbourne, Australia where I’m – Presenter of Blues on the Hill radio show (https://www.facebook.com/ bluesonthehill and http:// www.sunburyradio.com.au) President of Hume Blues Club (http://www.humebluesclub.com) President Blues Music Victoria (http://www.bluesmusicvictoria.com.au) Acknowledgement I would like to acknowledge the contribution made by Glenn Owens to this article.

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Vanessa Collier 10

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Vanessa Collier Releases Her New Album Heart On The Line

By Kevin Wildman Saxophonist Vanessa Collier has just released her new album, Heart On The Line.

Heart On The Line is Vanessa’s fourth album release. Her previous albums include Heart, Soul & Saxophone (2014), Meeting My Shadow (2017, and Honey Up (2018). Honey Up spent 9 weeks on the Billboard Blues Album Charts Top 15 and another 3 months on the Living Blues Charts.

It’s been a busy year for Vanessa.

Besides releasing her new album, she has also won a 2020 Blues Music Award (BMA) for Instrumentalist - Horn Player of the Year.

This is the second year in a row for Vanessa to win this award. Last year in 2019 she won it as well. In addition to winning those awards, Vanessa has received seven Blues Music Award (BMA’s) nominations and a Blues Blast Award nomination. She has also won First Place for lyrics in the International Songwriting Competition, the Jamminest Pro Award by the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, and the Best of 2014 Blues Breaker on Dan Aykroyd’s BluesMobile. Not bad for a young lady still in the infancy of her career.

It’s hard to believe that she just graduated the Berklee College of Music seven years ago in 2013. Before getting her degree, she also found herself touring with the legendary Joe Louis Walker for a year and a half, a time that she is very proud of. In fact, It was Joe who encouraged her to strike out on her own with a solo career. She’s certainly come a long way in just a short time.

As I said, Vanessa is back with a new album for us now. The new album is titled Heart On The Line and is filled with a heavy dose of blues, funk, soul and rock infused to create a very memorable album filled with beautiful vocals, amazing sax solos, and some

very soulful and impressive writing. The 11-song album features 8 great originals along with 3 specially chosen covers, “Super Bad,” “I Don’t Want Anything To Change,” and “Leave Your Hat On”.

The album starts out with the legendary James Brown’s “Super Bad,” which Vanessa tells us is a throwback to her college days. “I had done a James Brown Ensemble back in college, so I was really into his music. I really loved the layering of parts.

I was driving down the road one day in my car and I had “Super Bad” stuck in my head, but it was slower and I could hear all these Stax vocal harmonies. I thought ‘oh, that would be really cool!’ I think that had been a voice memo on my phone for like three years.

When it came to this record, I was like, ‘oh it might be a cool tune to try and flush out and see what happens, so it’s sort of a James Brown song done slowly, more modern and slightly with a more swing kind of thing. I’m happy with how it turned out. It’s a little funky.”

The next cover song she picked out was “I Don’t Want Anything To Change,” which was written by three Nashville songwriters, Elizabeth Wagner Rose, Maia Sharp, and Stephanie Chapman and was recorded by Bonnie Raitt. “The first time I heard it was on the Bonnie Raitt live DVD”, says Vanessa. “It’s like Bonnie Raitt and friends and she does this song. There was a bunch of songs on this that I love, but the one that is on this record she did with Norah Jones live. She was another one of my favorite artists and favorite voices to listen to.

I used to emulate her for a while, so when I saw them both do this song, the song hit me because I just think the story is so great.

It’s like you hear a lot of heartbreak songs, but this one was different for me. It was one of

the first ones I heard that was like kind of accepting it, and just kind of living with the memory. the good memories that you have.

And so I just thought that was such a beautiful song. It’s another one I did earlier, like five years ago when I started doing longer sets. I would use it as sort of a breakdown point in the set. I’ve always wanted to put on the record. So again, this one was like, yeah, that’s a good fit. Why not?”

The last cover song that Vanessa chose for the album, was the Randy Newman penned song, “Leave Your Hat On,” which seems like a very odd choice, but the way Vanessa changes the song around to suit a woman’s point of view with the man, it makes perfect sense. As a matter of fact, Vanessa had never heard the original Randy Newman song before. It was a cover version of the song that turned her on to it. “The version that I first heard was in college and I was doing a sound-alike project where you work with an engineer and you try and get it to sound just like the record. Well, here I was working with the engineer and he was like ‘check this out,’ and he played me the Etta James version of “Leave Your Hat On. The bassline, which you hear on my record as well, is one of my favorite bass lines of all time. It just caught me. I think it’s one of the grooviest tunes ever done. Etta James’ version is fantastic and she changes some of the lyrics, which is where my lyric comes from and she’d tell it from a female point of view. I often find that if like if you tell a story that was originally from a man’s point of view, like “Love You Like A Man” is a great example. It was written by Chris Smither and then Bonnie Raitt took it and flipped it and now it’s a staple for every female performer. I think “Leave Your Hat On” is super dope from a female perspective as well.”

Although Vanessa does a fantastic job re-interpreting these three artist’s work, continued on next page

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because I’ve always wanted to play slide. I’ve always loved slide guitar and I kind of wanted to understand how it worked. I was fooling around with the slide on this resonator guitar and came up with the opening line that you hear, the vocal double.

I just kind of thought, ‘well, what is this about? I Love This Groove and I can hear something very traditional, like Southern.’

It’s not a clean blues sound, you know what I mean? It’s kind of like a little bit dirtier. I love the stuff from the Delta, the stuff from Mississippi, from the south. It has always spoken to me and this story came together about a guy who just can’t get away from trouble. It’s like calling him, like the howl of The Bloodhounds, calling him back every time he’s got a foot out, you know what I mean. So it was really fun to write and put together and probably the most fun for me to produce and layer stuff on, just to make it sound huge.”

Vanessa Collier continued from previous page however the real jewels on Heart On The Line are her original pieces. There are some real heavy emotional songs on this album, such as the song “Weep And Moan.” Vanessa tells us that she was going for that real ‘heavy’ feeling on this one in particular.

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I was going for.

I’m a huge fan of New Orleans music and particularly the old stuff too. I love all the piano stuff like James Booker and all that stuff. That’s a little bit more modern, but in the beginning where the horns are really heavy and it’s really swanky, it’s almost like a dirge. I’ve done a lot of soul Blues. I’ve always put one in my last set and I was like, oh, it’d be kind of fun to write one that’s more in the New Orleans kind of almost dirge style. And so I’ve got heavy horns, heavy background vocals and just a sense of space on the record, production wise. So I think that one just kind of pieced itself together. Laura Chavez is a fantastic guitarist and she kills every slow Blues she plays, and I just thought It would be right up her alley. And you know, Will Gorman’s just great on the keys and the organ on this one too. I just figured I’d write a song about people just complaining that nothing’s ever enough. It’s just such a negative outlook on life.”

think that one is a lot of the people’s favorite.

It’s really funny, but it’s more like Americana. It’s more kind of just laid back. It’s got a very singer-songwriter kind of vibe, and then it’s built up with the horns and the background vocals and stuff. I had a lot of fun with keeping it simple towards the beginning and then really flushing it out towards the end.”

For the song, “What Makes You Beautiful,” Vanessa digs more into her Soul side, and projects it on this song which she wrote for her sisters. “That was more like a soul thing. I have so many influences that I think came out on this record. That one that was written for my sisters and I have three sisters, but two of them are in middle school at the moment. I joke because I don’t think I’ve met anyone who loved their time in middle school. It’s just not a great time for anybody. Your body’s changing and awkward. People tend to be a little bit more rude during that time period and don’t say very nice things. And so I kind of wanted to write a song for them, you know, saying like I’ve been in your shoes. I’ve gone through all the things that you’re going through. Just remember that you’re beautiful inside now, and most of all that you have a voice that deserves to be heard and it matters, so that’s how that song came about.”

Another song on the album that is somewhat similar to “Weep And Moan” is “If Only.” Only this one is told with more of an Americana feel. Again, it deals with On “Bloodhound,” Vanessa chose to somebody who just can’t see all the good go with a more traditional Blues style. The they really have in their life. “Yeah, “If song had been written a while back when Only” is sort of in a similar vein of “Weep Vanessa was dabbling with a new guitar that And Moan”. It’s written about somebody she had bought, a resonator. “ I absolutely who just can’t see all the good they have in love that song. I had that song again, as a their life. It’s sort of taken from the perspecvoice memo on my phone for a couple years. tive that this person is like, ‘if only I were I don’t say that I play guitar, but I dabble. I given all these great things and maybe I’d be had bought a resonator for my second record happy. I could only be happy, maybe then.’ I and I wrote this song. I bought a resonator 12 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

When it comes to the song “Take A Chance On Me,” Vanessa was thinking a bit about the people that were going to listen to this album. She had wanted to do things a bit differently with this album and show a different side to her songwriting. She literally wanted her listeners to take a chance on her. Give her a break with this album and check out her a new style of writing. “One thing with this record is that it’s a little bit different than all the other records I’ve made previously, especially the last record I did.

Honey Up is more in your face. I think the solos are ‘get after it.’ The writing here is more like ‘here we go’, and it’s very pointed and pushes you forward. For this record I wanted to show the flip side of my voice, of my songwriting, of the saxophone and the different tones you can get. It’s just kind of another side of my songwriting. There’s a Doctor John song that I love with the same sort of like odd beat pattern and this song was kind of like, ‘hey take a chance on me with this record as well and just go with me, just explore with me.’ Hopefully you’ll hear the other side and like this other side too. I’ve been very introverted my whole life. I’m not on stage, but I have found that a lot of people see that as a weakness or they see that as a drawback for whatever reason. I think it’s sort of my superpower. So it’s kind of a little bit of both of those things like ‘take a chance on the record, but also like pay attention and take a chance on me.’”

While the song, “Who’s In Power” may have some people looking for a political message about the current election, its not so.

It’s really more about who makes decisions about your well being. Should you make your own decisions or allow someone else to.

Vanessa tell us that “it’s more so a statement about society. It was funny that it comes along with the presidential election, but I didn’t intend it to be specifically. It’s more about how we get outraged about these large egregious kind of injustices. It’s kind of like if they’re in our daily life, we tend to let them pass if they don’t affect us. You might see

someone affected in a small way and you’re just like, ‘oh somebody else will take care of that’. So “Who’s In Power” is kind of like, ‘well, why do we let other people make decisions as to what’s important for us?’ I think it’s important to pay attention to who your elected officials are in your community and also, to just support people and call out injustice even in the small moments. That’s what that whole song is more about.”

I have to admit, when I saw the title of the song, “Freshly Squozen,” I had no idea what to expect. Was this going to be about juice? What in the world could it be? Well, it was somewhat inspired by juice… in a way, but that is far from what the song is really about. Vanessa tells us that the inspiration for the song “was kind of inspired by a friend of mine. I love juices, like freshly squeezed juices, and he handed one to me and said, oh here’s a freshly squozen orange juice. I was like ‘squozen?’ I have never heard that before in my life, but I thought that’s a really cool writing idea and so initially when I started writing the record, it was actually centered around this idea of like ‘freshly squozen’. And what could that be, and what kind of story could that be, and all that?

Anyway, it ended up being a story about kind of a mom and a daughter having this great relationship and squozen stands as a metaphor for getting hugged, so they squeeze each other through these very turbulent or changing times in the story.”

The last song on the album is titled “Heart On The Line.” You never really know what song means until all the questions are asked. Sometimes a title means something totally different than what you might think, so I asked Vanessa if her ‘heart was on the line for this album, “Yeah, you know I think in a way yes. It’s funny again. The timing is hilarious to me because you know, I’ve been going really, really strong for five years touring. Last year we did like a hundred and fifty tour dates and then we got off the road and I think I had like two weeks to finish writing the record. Then we went into the studio and then like a week later, we’re back on the road. So I really haven’t had a break in a long time and it was kind of writing to that idea about how I’ve put myself out there and I kind of need to go back home and kind of rest up a little bit again. It’s the introvert things like, how you regain your energy. Did you go back home? And you gotta spend some time by yourself and then you can care even more for the people around you so that’s part of it. It’s really just a call for other people to do the same because I think we’ve been in a society that’s just ‘go, go, go,’ and you don’t pay attention to how you feel. It’s man up or whatever term you want to use, maybe woman up. I think it’s worthwhile to sit and put my heart on the line. I gotta take care of it and, I’ll put it back there too, but I just need some time and that was just a really fun New Orleans kind of song.”

Yes, Vanessa is very proud of Heart

On The Line, as well as being proud of all the musicians that helped her produce this album.

Well, I think it’s important to note the players on this record because this was kind of the first record where I really was kind of writing for the players. I know how Laura Chavez plays. I hear her guitar work as I’m writing and I’m like… she’ll kill it there. She’ll get what I’m getting and that was true of this record, you know in the sort of pre-auditioning phase where we’re demoing.

When I had a demo and we’re working out the songs in the rehearsal, she often would call up the record that I used as a reference to write the track. Similarly to what I mentioned before, such as the Dr. John record that I was referencing earlier. She picked it up immediately and she was like, ‘oh yeah, you need to do this thing.’ She always brings a ton to my records and somehow she knows where I’m going musically which is really cool. I love working with her. It’s the same with William So, now that the new album is out and Gorman. I think he’s a fantastic all-around Vanessa’s touring schedule has dwindled keyboard player, be it at piano, Wurlitzer, or down like what’s happened to most of the organ. He has a really great voice on the musicians the world over. So what is she up instrument and I love working with him. He’s to now? Vanessa tells us that she’s brushing a really fantastic player and he kind of knows up on her piano playing by taking lessons what it takes to make records, which is again. She’s practicing on her guitar more exactly why I work with him. And then the often. She’s practicing bass and drums and three bass players on here are fantastic. C.C. well on her way to truly becoming a multiEllis is a Berkeley grad and my touring instrumentalist. She even worked on an bassist. He is awesome. Scot Sutherland, of organic farm, growing, harvesting, just doing course, has played with everybody and I just whatever comes her way. She’s even started think he’s one of the funkiest. He just holds a yoga practice four days a week. When it it down on the bass for sure. I was really comes to performing, she was even a bit excited to get Cornell Williams on the bass lucky in that regard and has been performing for this one. Cornell is from John Clery’s some duo gigs with Arthur Nielsen, who has band, whom I’ve admired for a number of been Shemekia Copeland’s guitarist for 22 years. I just needed that on “Heart On The years.

Line.” I needed somebody from New Orleans that knew exactly what I was going If you’re into a saxophone driven for. He nailed it. And then Nick Stevens is a album spearheaded by a great singer with a high school friend. And he’s also been my sultry and perky voice, then you really need touring drummer for the last couple of years, to give Vanessa Collier’s new album a listen. and then Quinn Carson and Doug Wolverton This fine album is truly going to amaze you. on horns. They’re both fantastic players and Every song on this album has been brilliantly just amazing people. So it’s such a great written and produced and is sure to shake up celebration of the whole crew. I think it your emotions as well. Give Heart On The shows off my songwriting and all the playing, Line a listen today. but I think it’s such a great band behind me.

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 13

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Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Kevin Burt’s New Album Stone Crazy Is Out Now On Gulf Coast Records

By Kevin Wildman Gulf Coast Records is pleased to announce that they have just released the album Stone Crazy by Iowa bluesman, Kevin Burt. This is Kevin Burt’s first release for Gulf Coast Records and the label is just ecstatic to have him on their roster and Kevin is equally as happy to have signed with them. Gulf Coast Records founder, Mike Zito tells us that “Kevin Burt has been a force for years and is finally getting the International recognition he so deeply deserves. His voice is commanding and soulful and his songs are honest and from the heart.”

Stone Crazy was recorded at Marz Studios in Nederland, TX. Helming production on the album was musician/ producer Mike Zito. Mixing and mastering on the album was handled by David Farrell. The eleven songs on the album feature ten originals by Kevin Burt and one cover of the Bill Withers tune, “Better Off Dead.” The album really showcases the fantastic guitar, harmonica, and vocal skills of Kevin Burt. He has a style all his own that is definitely going to bring him to the forefront of the Blues Scene. Mike Zito even lent his guitar prowess to the album as well. Other musicians on the album include Lewis Stephens (piano/organ), Matthew Johnson (drums), and Doug Byrkit (bass).

For some of you out there, the name Kevin Burt will jump right out at you. For others, it will be a new name and definitely one that you need to pay attention to. Kevin isn’t new to the Blues, he has been around for quite a while. In fact, this has been a 25 year journey for him. Kevin has won many awards during the last 25 years, and has become a regular on the Blues Festival circuit. At the 34th International Blue Challenge, Kevin scored big. He won first place Solo/Duo, the Cigar Box Guitar Award recognizing him as the best guitar player in the Solo/Duo category, and the Lee Oskar Award for Best Harmonica Player. In 2019 he was also nominated for a Blues Music Award in the category Best Emerging Artist Album for his debut album, Heartland And Soul. That same year he was inducted in the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame.

As a songwriter, Kevin tells us that it definitely has been a journey, reflecting on observations that he has made on the way along with his own real world experiences.

He tells us that his partner in inspiration on this long road of selfdiscovery and songwriting is his wife and muse, Nicole. She also happens to be one of his biggest inspirations for songs on this album, as several of them are about her or inspired by her. As a self-taught musician, Kevin has learned a lot about the music business the hard way and knows that there is a certain amount of self-determination that is needed to succeed and he feels that he has certainly accomplished that.

He has forged a style all his own with smooth, warm vocals and a relaxed feeling

that draws the listener into his musical stories and adventures. From the moment you hear his powerful voice, you will find yourself captivated by his music and vocals. Although the stories that he tells in his songs are his, I’m sure that you will be hearing similarities that will make you feel that these are your songs too. And Kevin is not devoid of similarities about his style and vocals, he has been compared to artists such as Bill Withers, Aaron Neville, and even the great B.B. King.

I had a chance to sit down with Kevin for a while and talk to him about his new album and the inspirations behind some of the songs and he came off as a really genuine person… somebody that you can talk to for a few minutes and walk away with the feeling that you’ve known him for years. No doubt that’s one of the reasons he also captivates his audiences wherever he performs.

The first place we need to start with is how Kevin got signed to Gulf Coast Records. The catalyst for that really started a few years ago when he was performing on one of the Blues Cruises. It was there where he met Guy Hale, one of the coowners of Gulf Coast Records. Before Kevin even knew that Guy was one of the owners of Gulf Coast Records, he thought that Guy was just a fan on board the ship.

The two of them really hit it off and found out they really had a lot in common. It wasn’t long before Guy put Kevin on Mike Zito’s radar and then the two of them started crossing paths at different shows and festivals. It was at one of those shows that Mike and Kevin sat down and really started talking about a myriad of subjects that ranged from family to the music

continued on next page December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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soulful and less rock edged sound, with the bass a little more laid back as well as the drums and he put the pedal on. He put some gas behind my songs and gave him a little bit more of a rock edge. As a producer his job is to hear behind the music, behind the story and create another picture and a little more depth to the story through the music. Mike’s got an incredible ear and feel for those things and I’m blown away now. It’s a presentation of my music and an edge that I, on my own, would have never reached for.”

Kevin Burt continued from previous page

business. As Mike explains, “he and I actually sat down had a conversation and after that conversation, I was kind of hooked. I mean, his story and my story kind of line up with each other in different facets. Primarily it was the respect he has for family and knowing his own musical journey. As well as he is a record label owner and being somebody who wants to look out for musicians, so they don’t have to step in the potholes that he ended up stepping into as an artist. So yeah, it’s it just ended up being a bromance of sorts.”

Kevin is extremely happy with his affiliation with Gulf Coast Records. He had been on a differentrecord label previously, but that one didn’t seem to open the doors for him that Gulf Coast Records has done. Being on a record label with a musician as its owner has instilled a lot of confidence in him that he definitely made the right choice. It nice to know that the owner of the label is well aware of the real needs of the musicians on his label and has the drive to take care of them.

He is also happy about the recording process that took place on this album, as he journeyed from Iowa to Texas to record at Marz Studios in Nederland. Despite having to record in the middle of a pandemic, there was a wonderful feeling about the experience of recording there.

“It’s absolutely a cool space man, with a lot of diversity in that area,” says Kevin. “Of course you can’t soak it all up because of the pandemic that we’re all living through right now. The atmosphere there is

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remarkably comfortable and to be able to record in a setting that, honestly is just surrounded by family makes it a lot more comfortable. You know, being there with Mike and his family, as well as the other fellows in the band, who are Mike’s extended family. It just made it remarkably comfortable. I’m the stranger in the crowd and through the exposures that we’ve had to each other at festivals and events, it felt like I was hanging out with old friends.”

For the recording of Stone Crazy, Kevin found himself in an unfamiliar setting with a few musicians that he hadn’t played with before, but everything just seemed to click into place. Kevin is used to being a solo performer or he performs with the another group of musicians in Iowa. For this recording, it was just him, but it felt right. “The first day we kind of ran through things, and came up to speed.”

Says Kevin. “They had their ideas of things. These were generally folks that all tour with Mike.”

Kevin tells us that Mike Zito played a very pivotal role in the production and the recording of this album, at times seeing and hearing things that would definitely enhance the project and make it better. As Kevin says, Mike’s role in the project was, “way more than that. As a solo artist presenting my songs, it’s me, my guitar, my voice, harmonica and a stomping foot.

Generally that is what folks get access to, and he heard a sharper image to a lot of my songs. Even with my band, I keep things pretty loose and leaning more toward a

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

For Kevin, the only studio recording that he done prior to this was on his first studio album, Heartland And Soul . Prior to that he was only marketing live albums at his gigs, a process that he was more comfortable with at the time. “I’ve got 25 years of experience,” says Kevin, “but the products that I’ve offered to at my shows for those 25 plus years have all been live recordings. And so I’m used to performing with the tape is rolling while I’m doing it, and so you get what you heard. To be able to go back and make things “perfect” is like walking on Mars for me, and so the studio’s a different planet and it’s surprisingly uncomfortable for me. But with the right souls in the room it gets comfortable real fast. I felt uncomfortable walking in at Nederland initially, but that all went out the window once the music started flying around, seeing friendly faces, seeing folks that you haven’t seen in a while. You usually just get to see them. You don’t get to hang out and have that musical conversation, to hear and to feel the desire from everybody to present the best that they could produce, and it’s all because they want to represent me at this point. That was humbling and it’s just cool, man. I didn’t have any preconceived ideas as to how I wanted these songs to be. I was walking into the room with the basic shape of them from where I can play them and from there Mike took over. So yeah, his fingerprints are all over this and I appreciate that. I needed that kind of guidance.”

When it comes to getting back out on the road with this new album, Kevin is also confident that he can present some of these songs as a solo act, should a band not be accessible at the time. “I’m so used to performing in a solo setting,” explains Kevin. “For the last 20 years or so I’ve done primarily solo work. I have access to a band and all that fun stuff. It’s just I could create more opportunities as a solo act when I was sustaining myself as a musician. Now with the pandemic, the opportunity as a solo act is also presenting itself, however the recording industry is a lot more friendly to the band presentation.

I’m blessed in that I can represent my songs as a solo act as well as with a band and within a show, keep an audience’s attention with the stories and that component helps me to be accessible during times like this as well.”

As I mentioned earlier, inspiration for the writing of these songs comes from a lot of Kevin’s own experiences, as well as his relationship with his wife Nicole.. In fact, they’ve just recently celebrated their 26th Anniversary together. “The title track, “Stone Crazy” is a song that I wrote early in our relationship,” explains Kevin.

“When I met here, I don’t know if it was love at first sight, but it was ‘oh my God’ at first sight for sure. I met her through some friends of mine from my hometown and she came into the picture I was walking with my brother and she kissed my brother and then kissed me. We exchanged pleasantries with our old friend and they walked away and I looked at my brother right after that and said ‘your sister-in-law shouldn’t kiss you like that.’ She was on my radar the first time I met her and eventually we ended up together and honestly, inside of a month I knew I was on the hook and I hoped that I could hook her to the same hook kind of thing. It went pretty fast and I had a handful of souls in my world that said, ‘[hey man, you know you’re moving pretty fast,’ but I was okay with that. So the title track “Stone Crazy” is really just a song that I wrote about that relationship.”

For the song, “Purdy Lil Thang,” Kevin chose something that he sees play out constantly in venues where he performs or attends. He says that it could even apply to his wife as well. “You know, that one is oddly enough a story that I watch play out in venues all the time. Nicole’s one of those people that when she walks into a space, everybody’s head turns. She’s always commanded the room, as they say.

It’s just about those kinds of people. That story plays out in a lot of smaller towns more so than any other place. There is always that person, that entity that people want to be around them. People want to be noticed and Nicole’s got that kind of a presence as well. Absolutely.”

The song, “Rain Keeps Coming Down” is a bit different. As Kevin explains it, the song is somewhat of a trilogy of 3 stories encapsulated in one song. “That’s kind of a trilogy of three short stories that all have the same ending.

No matter what’s going on in your life, the only thing that you really have control of is whether or not you’re going to keep doing it, and it’s never going to be perfect. And so this one’s kind of a step from a spiritual spot to feeling trapped in an oppressed spot to a little story about living your life with somebody else. The outcome is still the same, whether you feel compelled by God to do it or whether you feel compelled to keep your paycheck and to do it or whether you feel compelled because you’re in love.

You’re going to fight through the hard times.”

Some of the songs on the album are

just messages to Kevin from himself.

He likes to call them mantras. The song “I’m Busting Out” is one of those and it has to do with his performance on this record in particular.

On this song he was asked to play lead on this album during the recording of one of the songs. Normally Kevin’s leads are done on harmonica, so this was actually something really new to him. “This song is kind of a mantra to myself. That song is really the first time on a recording that I played lead. I don’t play a lot of lead guitar. It’s like standing in a room being a naked model for the first time. For me, it’s the spot where you can’t help but measure yourself up against other people’s yardsticks.

You know, I’m not as good as, you know _____, and then just fill in the blanks from there. And when you sit in a room with Mike Zito, one of the best guitarists that we’re ever going to get and he looks at you and says now you’re playing lead on this one, It’s a little intimidating. And so yeah, it’s a thing. I’m getting to a point where it’s getting more comfortable, but I’m not a guitar slinger.

I’m a vocalist that has to play guitar. Now the guitar has to sing and so it’s like “I’m Busting Out” is kind of a testament or a mantra. It’s time for me to also start embracing playing the lead from time to time as well. Again, it’s not something that I can’t do., it’s something that I’m not that comfortable with.”

Although we’ve only touched on a few songs on Stone Crazy, this should give you a good feel about what to expect on this album. There are certainly a lot of great songs here and the musicianship is impeccable. Kevin’s got a lot of great ideas and the subject material will definitely get you thinking. Suffice it to say, songs like “Same Old Thing,” and “You Get What You See” are pretty selfexplanatory. Other songs such as “Should Have Never Left Me Alone” and “Got To Make A Change” are a bit deeper. Congratulations go out to Gulf Coast Records on picking another winner, and believe me,

this album and Kevin Burt is a winner.

There’s not a dull song on the entire album.

In fact, I find it truly inspiring. If you ever get a chance to see Kevin Burt perform live, then please take the opportunity to do so. If this album is any indication of what his live shows are, then you’re going to be in for the time of your life. He definitely sounds fantastic on this album. Please pick up a copy of Kevin Burt’s new album Stone Crazy. Here’s another one I think you’re going to love.

Stone Crazy track listing 1. I Ain’t Got No Problem With It 2. Purdy Lil Thang 3. Rain Keeps Coming Down 4. Stone Crazy 5. I’m Busting Out 6. Same Old Thing 7. You Get What You See 8. Something Special About You 9. Should Have Never Left Me Alone 10. Better Off Dead 11. Got To Make A Change

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio Announces New Album I Told You So via Colemine Records

By T. J. Seattle based Soul-Jazz ensemble the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio have announced that they will be releasing their new studio album in January of next year. The projected release date for I Told You So is slated to be January 29th and the album will be released on the Colemine Records label. The band has already released their first single off the album, “Call Your Mom.” I Told You So is the second release from the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. Their debut release was 2018’s Close But No Cigar, which was also released on the Colemine Records label also. Close But No Cigar reached the Billboard ranks of #1 Contemporary Jazz and #3 Jazz Album. Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio’s live album, Live at KEXP! hit #10 Jazz Album and #20 Heatseekers Album on the Billboard charts as well.

The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio was formed in 2015 by keyboardist Delvon Lamarr, guitarist Colin Higgins, and drummer David McGraw in Seattle, Washington.

Eventually guitarist Colin Higgins left the band and was replaced by Jimmy James and drummer David McGraw was replaced by Reno, Nevada native Dan Weiss. You may remember Dan from his band The Sextones if you’re from the Nevada area. As expected, the band is heavily laden with the sounds of a Hammond B-3 organ accompanied by what has been described as ‘cosmic Jimi Hendrix’ guitars, held together by a steady backbeat.

and jazz, somewhat reminiscent of Motown and Stax Records filled with a heaping helping of Blues. To quote their presskit, “bandleader Delvon Lamarr is a self-taught virtuosic musician with perfect pitch who taught himself jazz and has effortlessly been able to play a multitude of instruments. On guitar is the dynamo Jimmy James who eases through Steve Cropper-style chanking guitar, volcanic acid-rock freak-out lead playing, and slinky Grant Green-style jazz. From Reno, Nevada is drummer Dan Weiss (also of the powerhouse soul and funk collective The Sextones). Dan’s smoldering pocket-groove drumming locks in the trio’s explosive chemistry.”

Their new single, “Call Your Mom” is a smooth instrumental that is driven by the soulful guitar sound of Jimmy James in a really cool funky groove. Blending in with that is the smooth keyboard sounds of Delvon Lamarr complimenting the guitar with a smooth keyboard sound highlighted by the steady beat of Dan Weiss’s drums.

Listen to “Call Your Mom” here: https://youtu.be/ y2ew3uCHBnY

As you might expect from an outfit like this, it’s heavily laden with a lot of soul Rock and Blues International August 2020 18 2020 26 Rock Rockand andBlues BluesInternational International ••• December November 2020

I Told You So track list: 1. Hole In One 2. Call Your Mom 3. Girly Face 4. From The Streets 5. Fo Sho 6. Aces

7. Careless Whisper 8. Right Place, Right Time 9. I Don’t Know Website https://delvonlamarrorgantrio.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dlo3music/ Twitter https://ymlpsend3.net/ 55220uqhhhwaiaehyyhaoaeysarajbbsy/ click.php Instagram https://www.instagram.com/

October 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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with a visual story set to the music. The song they chose was “Your Love’s Like Heroin”.

The song alone without the video presence will stop you in your tracks, you can feel it deep inside. The licks are crisp, the vocals clear, and the lyrics say it all. It’s blues, real blues, slow blues at its best. “Your Love’s Like Heroin” grabs you and never lets you go from start to finish. It’s cool to begin with but that wasn’t where it would end. Relaxing Blues Productions is also a music video launch platform with 326,000 subscribers on You Tube. The production company specializes in bringing the artist’s vision to the screen and then presents the new release on an international platform. Their content experts do more than just add motion to music, they bring the artist’s message to the screen in hi-definition. They augment the very essence of the artist’s vision by crafting their musical story through visual treatments that are woven together and this time around the end result is pure perfection. Completed last week and immediately posted on the Relaxing Blues You Tube channel “Your Love’s Like Heroin” is racking up literally thousands of views every day.

Relaxing Blues Productions Premiere New Tinsley Ellis Video Based on the Atlanta Blues Rocker’s “Your Love’s Like Heroin” Watch the video at https://youtu.be/2IM_sqfYkZk International music video production company Relaxing Blues teams with Atlanta blues rocker Tinsley Ellis. The result: over 20,000 blues fans view the hot new slow blues tune by Mr. Ellis in its first week. It all started with veteran blues rocker Tinsley

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Ellis teaming with the world famous Alligator records and together they produced Tinsley’s latest album “Ice Cream In Hell”. Next, the label and the artist team with the international music video production company Relaxing Blues. The goal: augment the audio presence

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Tinsley Ellis is a veteran bluesman that has played the main stages in London, Amsterdam, Sydney, Buenos Aires, and more. His list of North American music festivals includes North Atlantic Blues Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Waterfront Blues Festival (Portland), and Atlanta’s Music Midtown Festival. Tinsley’s last four CDs starting in 2015 to date include Tough Love, Red Clay Soul, Winning Hand, and his latest release Ice Cream In Hell. It can be noted that Tinsley has received six BMA nominations to date. His song “A Quitter Never Wins” was recorded by Jonny Lang and went platinum. Tinsley’s Tough Love album won the coveted Blues Blast Rock Award in 2015. Mr. Ellis is known within the industry as a respected songwriter with his songs being recorded by multiple established recording artists. Three of the major musical influences in his life remain The Beatles, BB King, and the famed blues rock band The Allman Brothers. To learn more about Tinsley just click on the button above and visit Alligator Records.

November December 2020 2020 •• Rock Rock and and Blues Blues International International

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Luciano Federighi: blues nel sentire

By Edoardo Fassio In decenni di illuminanti articoli, conferenze e trasmissioni radio, LUCIANO FEDERIGHI ha fornito un contributo essenziale alla critica musicale. La sua corposa bibliografia comprende Blues on My Mind, un saggio su temi e poetica del blues, Blue & Sentimental, dedicato all’universo vocale americano di metà Novecento, e i tre volumi di Istrioni e sirene, una serie di monografie che attraversano jazz, soul, pop e blues e si estendono, in ordine alfabetico, da Johnny Adams a O.V. Wright.

Ma Luciano è anche interprete di qualità; una figura singolare di cantautore in blues, rivestita di una vena surreale e corroborata dalla conoscenza enciclopedica di forme e contenuti della canzone afroamericana e della letteratura noir. Armato di

una voce profonda, rilassata e vagamente minacciosa, popola i suoi brani di metafore, doppi sensi e citazioni sospese tra laconico sarcasmo e allucinate inquietudini.

Federighi frequenta strade appartenute a Chet Baker, Paolo Conte, Percy Mayfield, Henri Salvador, Dr. John e Tom Waits, uno scomodo quartiere residenziale per cuori solitari, ideali strapazzati e sogni infranti.

Anche la sua pagina web ha un titolo significativo: Lonelyville Records http://lonelyvillerecords.com/.

In un anno disastroso per l’intrattenimento, Federighi ha pubblicato ben due album, portando così la discografia personale a quota dieci. Viareggio and Other Imaginary Places rivolge lo sguardo nostalgico alla sua città. L’ambientazione è però sfuggente, e le registrazioni, in cui Luciano, alla voce e al pianoforte, è accompagnato dal sassofonista Davide Dal Pozzolo, sono avvenute a Torino. Tematiche buie, malinconiche e claustrofobiche si integrano con derive romantiche e sentimentali e il salace umorismo, sempre in cerca di “A Sabbatical From The Blues”. Anche il successivo October Land è un lavoro a quattro mani. Realizzato a fianco di Andrea Garibaldi, pianista e arrangiatore, è un modello di impressionismo sui blues della solitudine e sentimenti affini. Narra di una terra insicura, dove si aggirano fantasmi, e c’è un omaggio a Mel Tormé in “The House Is Haunted By The Echo of Your Last Goodbye”. Sono immagini e storie poco rassicuranti, da cui Luciano pare distillare una forza tranquilla, positiva. Fedele alla funzione e alla storia plurisecolare del genere, si serve del blues per venire in soccorso di chi dai blues è afflitto. http://www.ird.it/appaloosa/?q=node/506788 https://open.spotify.com/artist/5frmD9KTSna1tv8ddphBx8 22

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Luciano Federighi: Still blue and sentimental

By Edoardo Fassio Italian author LUCIANO FEDERIGHI has given an invaluable contribution to music criticism in decades of riveting articles, lectures and radio broadcasts. His extensive bibliography includes Blues on My Mind, an essay on blues topics and poetics, Blue & Sentimental, devoted to the American vocal universe of the mid-twentieth century, and the three volumes of Istrioni e sirene, a series of monographs that span jazz, soul, pop and blues, in alphabetical order, from Johnny Adams to O.V. Wright.

But Luciano is also a classy performer; a one-of-a-kind singersongwriter in blues, equipped with a surreal vein and corroborated by his encyclopedic knowledge of the forms and contents of the African American songbook and the classic noir-pulp literature.

Armed with a deep, relaxed and vaguely threatening voice, he enriches his stanzas with metaphors and double-entendre lines, suspended between laconic sarcasm and hallucinatory restlessness. Federighi walks the same backstreets that belonged to Chet Baker, Paolo Conte, Percy Mayfield, Henri Salvador, Dr. John and Tom Waits, an uncomfortable neighborhood for lonely and broken hearts. No surprise, his own website is named Lonelyville Records http://lonelyvillerecords.com/.

In a tragic year for entertainment, Federighi has released two albums, thus bringing his personal discography to the double digit. Viareggio and Other Imaginary Places throws a nostalgic glance to his hometown on the Versilian riviera, though the recordings, in which Luciano, on vocals and piano, is accompanied by saxophonist Davide Dal Pozzolo, took place in Turin.

Dark, melancholic and claustrophobic themes dwell with sentimental turns and salacious humor, always in need of “A Sabbatical From The Blues”.

The subsequent October Land is also a fourhanded job. A partnership with Andrea Garibaldi, a pianist and arranger, it is a successful experiment in impressionism, all about the blues of desolation and apprehension. It reports of an insecure land, populated by ghosts, and there is even a tribute to Mel Tormé in “The House Is Haunted By The Echo of Your Last Goodbye”.

Out of these most threatening stories, Luciano apparently secretes a calm and positive force. True to the nature and the more-than-a-century-old history of the genre, he makes good use of the blues to come to the rescue of those who are afflicted by the blues itself. http://www.ird.it/appaloosa/?q=node/506788 https://open.spotify.com/artist/ 5frmD9KTSna1tv8ddphBx8 December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Bert Wills

Legendary Texas Singer/Songwriter Bert Wills Delivers The Goods

Down in southeastern Texas lives a man that was born in rural Kentucky but moved to Texas years ago. He came here playing the blues harp with a slow, winding country bent to it, part of his Kentucky roots, and the recording industry was quick to pick up on his unique sound.

Abilities is used in the plural here and that’s because the man not only wails a mean harp but his guitar work is aces as well. His name is Bert Wills and if you are a studio musician you know that name well as the man is sought after by many producers. One of those producers is Andy Bradley, known world wide for his talents at the console, his past co-ownership in of SugarHill Studios, and his successful book titled, “House Of Hits”. Bert and Andy go back a ways, 35 years to be exact, both know each other’s talents well so it would be of no big surprise that they could team on a compilation of Bert’s songs for a new album.

It would not be their first collaboration as Andy has recorded nearly every album Bert has presented to the world. A new album has come to life recently simply titled “Bert Wills”. It’s just being shipped to radio stations right now and let me tell you whether you are a blues fan or an Americana fan or both this album is packed with stirring and riveting selections. Both men have similar personalities, friendly but direct. Both will tell you where to go in a New York second if you are a poser and both will be the first to tell you how welcomed you are if you are the real deal. Bert is known throughout the industry internationally and has worked with a ton of well known stars over the years. He’s also an accomplished songwriter and when he puts his Kentucky roots into a song well Katy bar the door because it’s going to be good. His last gig was with Nashville artist Rob McNurlin who is part of the Marty Stuart clan. Then he returned to Texas to work on his new blues Americana album. The end result was a fourteen track collection of 13 original songs and24 one Rock cover,and notBlues a klunker among them.

On the2020 collection you International • November can hear the raw strains of good back woods country music in Bert’s voice and on the same collection you will hear some of the best blues you have heard in years. To learn more access www.bertwillsmusic.com

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New Music From Canada The acclaimed Canadian artist, Justin Nozuka has made his long-awaited return with the release of his new single, “No One But You”. The track arrives as a collaboration with the Brit Awardnominated and BBC Sound Poll-tipped UK artist, Mahalia.

Nozuka has drawn praise previously with a duo of JUNO nominations in Canada, as well as winning an NRJ Award in France. Alongside this, he has toured internationally, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show and Good Morning America, as well as pulling in well over 100M streams to date.

“No One But You” marks Nozuka’s first release since 2018 with the artist once again looking to push the envelope of his sound, shifting from the folk-minded approach of his previous album, Run to Waters, into a world of warm, analogue R&B and smouldering, down-tempo soul.

Mahalia’s vocals act as a spellbinding addition to the aesthetic of the track, weaving throughout and positioning as a weighted call-response to Justin’s soft vocal.

Speaking about the new track, Nozuka says: “Feeling pretty emotional that it’s finally out there. This song is a special song for me. Don’t know, I just have a really special connection to this one.

It’s a song about my real experiences, and I can place it to a specific time and place.

And to share it with Mahalia just really brings it home. The way she sings on ittruth, beauty and love in her voice.”

“And really happy to be sharing the music video for this song. This visual was directed by Julia Hendrickson and shot by Catherine Lutes. Couldn’t be more awed and moved by the work they did. Was an honour to work with them. So, we hope that you enjoy what we’ve been putting out, and excited to keep sharing. Lots and lots of love.”

The son of a Japanese father and American mother, Nozuka was born in New York City as one of seven children before relocating to Toronto following his parents’ divorce. Nozuka began writing music at the age of 12, playing shows in Toronto on the burgeoning folk and singer/ songwriter circuit before attracting the attention of British indie label, Outcaste Records (Joss Stone, KT Tunstall) who signed him early on in his career. Nozuka went on to join Glassnote in the US for his 2010 release, You I Wind Land and Sea, before developing his sound further, experimenting with his techniques and selfproducing at his home studio which was built by himself. “No One But You” marks the exciting return of one of Toronto’s most

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Photo Cred: Henry Nozuka

Justin Nozuka ft. Mahalia Shares “No One But You” Single + Live “After Tonight” Video, Out Now Via Black Box, Look Out For New LP Next Year In 2021 prevalent artists, it also hints towards a larger project which will materialize throughout 2021.

Justin Nozuka began writing his own songs at the age of 12. His debut album “Holly” was released in 2007 to critical acclaim when Justin was 17. Since his debut, Justin has received an NRJ Award for “Duo of the Year,” two Gold albums (“Holly,” and “You I Wind Land Sea”), and over 100MM global streams. He was also nominated for two JUNO awards (most recently being in 2011 for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, a category he shared with Neil Young.) He has toured the world extensively. Justin’s musical influences are soul, gospel, folk, and blues.

Playing support slots for world renowned artists such as Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, John Mayer, and Jason Mraz, Nozuka continues to demonstrate his

ability to impress and inspire on a global level.

“Justin Nozuka makes an official comeback and debuts a buttery single with vocal queen Mahalia.”

- SPIN “At first glance, it’s an unlikely pairing, but Nozuka and Mahalia’s soulful stylings complement each other perfectly, coalescing over top a bubbling instrumental radiating with the butterfly feelings of a first date.”

- Complex “ Lush keys and gently strummed guitar set up the melody while Mahalia and Justin lay out the song’s sentiment in the lead up to the emotional chorus.”

- SoulBounce

LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Justin Nozuka - “No One But You” Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/7LSypGB8lN2LbdizzUzzgL?si=eT6tphOmRJWdgd5z-fqNiA YouTube - https://youtu.be/5KGPpgT0R44

WATCH & SHARE: Justin Nozuka - “After Tonight” Live YouTube - https://youtu.be/IlFGgQjiGaY Rock and Blues International • December 2020

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Rock and Blues International • August 2020

video

New Music From Chile

The Versions release The Versions estrenan their new video «Summer Romance», “Summer Romance” su nuevo video The Versions were formed in Santiago de Chile in 2004.

Samuel Maqueira and Aldo Benincasa from The Ganjas, along with Luciano Mariño from Los Chinches recorded their debut album, 4Track Summer, with producer Álvaro Gómez (Perrosky). Six years later, they released their second album, Resurrection Hotel, with Alejandro Gómez (Solar) in the group and with Bernardita Martínez (Guiso) as a special guest to help them achieve that characteristic sound of proto-rock n roll and psychedelia from the 70s. .

The Versions se formaron en Santiago de Chile en el año 2004.

Samuel Maqueira y Aldo Benincasa de The Ganjas, junto a Luciano Mariño de Los Chinches grabaron su álbum de debut, 4-Track Summer, con el productor Álvaro Gómez (Perrosky). Seis años después, lanzaron su segundo álbum, Resurrection Hotel, con Alejandro Gómez (Solar) en el grupo y con Bernardita Martínez (Guiso) como invitada especial para ayudarlos a conseguir ese sonido característico del proto-rock n roll y psicodelia de los años 70.

With a renewed line-up and a new album called Calling Lucifer, the Algo Records band releases their new single, “Summer Romance.”

The album is influenced by the Flamin ‘Groovies, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Iggy Pop’s Kill City album, Nikki Sudden & The Jacobites, and Dogs d’Amour, among others.

Con una formación renovada y un nuevo trabajo titulado Calling Lucifer, la banda de Algo Records lanza su nuevo single, «Summer Romance». El álbum está influenciado por los Flamin ‘Groovies, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, el disco Kill City de Iggy Pop, Nikki Sudden & The Jacobites, y Dogs d’Amour, entre otros.

Along with the new single, there is also a cover of “Fortune of Fame”, originally written by the British band Jacobites, and another of “It’s Not Enough” by Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers.

The Versions - “Summer Romance” video https://youtu.be/XGzu-_Dae0M The Versions - “Calling Lucifer” video https://youtu.be/mhqTvTMjyMI “Dusty rock” is an uncommon style in Chile, and perhaps it is this label that best defines the sounds of this quartet from Santiago with a clear predilection for hard-blues.

Psychedelic 70s-ish guitar riffs, long mantras with an aftertaste of desert sessions, and a clear inclination towards mental expansion make these heirs to the least histrionic Led Zeppelin, or the Davies brothers themselves, a solid selection for these times in which such classicism is absent from playlists.

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Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Junto al nuevo single, también se incluye una versión de «Fortune of Fame», originalmente escrita por la banda británica Jacobites, y otra de «It’s Not Enough» de Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers.

The Versions - “Summer Romance” video https://youtu.be/XGzu-_Dae0M The Versions - “Calling Lucifer” video https://youtu.be/mhqTvTMjyMI El “Dusty rock” es un estilo poco común en Chile, y quizás sea este sello el que mejor defina los sonidos de este cuarteto santiaguero con clara predilección por el hard-blues.

Riffs de guitarra psicodélicos 70s, mantras largos con regusto a sesiones desérticas y una clara inclinación hacia la expansión mental hacen de estos herederos del menos histriónico Led Zeppelin, o de los propios hermanos Davies, una sólida selección para estos tiempos en los que tanto clasicismo es ausente de las listas de reproducción.

jazz musician who Gary is a longtime fan of, features on ‘Before We Get Too Old’; and the GRAMMY Award-winning pianist and allround entertainer, Chilly Gonzales appears on ‘Oh What A Day’. British vocal powerhouse Beverley Knight lends her inimitable style to ‘Enough is Enough’ and on ‘What Leaving’s All About’ Alesha Dixon duets with Gary to muse the breakdown of a relationship. Long-time friend and legendary performer, Barry Manilow plays the piano on the aptly titled ‘You Make The Sun Shine’, a gloriously upbeat number guaranteed to bring a smile to faces.

New Music From England

Gary Barlow Releases Video For “Incredible” Off His New Album Music Played By Humans Watch ‘Incredible’ here: https://youtu.be/eLFLFR5-Hnw Gary Barlow has just released his new album, ‘Music Played By Humans’. Gary is one of Britain’s most beloved performers and songwriters.

Shot in London at the famous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and directed by Michael Baldwin, the video serves as the perfect accompaniment to this upbeat, feel good song arriving just in time for the holidays.

‘Incredible’ beautifully nods to the orchestral and big band music that captured Gary’s imagination and led to ‘Music Played By Humans’, an album of original compositions being made. Reflecting on the process of recording ‘Incredible’ and the album, Gary is thankful these special musicians were able to come together and create music: “Looking back, little did I realize how poignant this album would be in a time now that orchestras can’t sit in a room together. We finished our last session 2 weeks before lockdown and when I listen to the album now, it brings back some great

memories. We have some of the best musicians in the world in London...and they’re on my recordings - I’m so lucky.”

‘Music Played By Humans’ is Gary’s first solo album since 2013’s double platinum-selling ‘Since I Saw You Last.’ The album is an ode to the sounds of Gary’s childhood, the orchestral and big band music which captured his imagination and eventually led to this album of original compositions. Recorded with a full 80piece orchestra, ‘Music Played By Humans’ blends a multitude of eclectic sounds and styles to deliver one of the most exciting albums of the year.

“This is the first album I’ve made that’s really given me the opportunity to collaborate with this caliber of musicians on my songs, and they’re all so different in their own right. ‘Elita’ began as a duet with Michael until he suggested bringing Sebastián onto the record and that gave the song a whole new dynamic. ‘The Kind Of Friend I Need’ with Corden was just fun to record from the beginning - it’s a warm, good-humored, funny song that really celebrates British humor in a northern way!”

On ‘Eleven’, Gary teams ups with French-Lebanese Jazz Trumpeter and composer Ibrahim Maalouf; Avishai Cohen, the acclaimed

“My ambition when we started this album,” said Gary, “was to create something really bright, a celebration of music and the wonderful musicians we have in the UK and around the world. Some of it is recorded with an orchestra, some with quartets, a Latin band, and some of the tracks have jazz and big band sections - it really is music played by people, hence the title of the album.”

TRACK LIST 1. Who’s Driving This Thing 2. Incredible 3. Elita (ft Michael Bublé & Sebastían Yatra) 4. The Big Bass Drum 5. This Is My Time 6. Enough Is Enough (ft Beverley Knight) 7. Bad Libran 8. Eleven (ft Ibrahim Maalouf) 9. Before We Get Too Old (ft Avishai Cohen) 10. Supernatural 11. Oh What A Day (ft Chilly Gonzales) 12. What Leaving’s All About (ft Alesha Dixon) 13. The Kind Of Friend I Need (ft James Corden) 14. I Didn’t See That Coming DELUXE 15. Let’s Get Drunk 16. The Day The World Stopped Turning 17. You Make The Sun Shine (ft Barry Manilow) 18. Incredible (Live) 19. Incredible (F9 Charleston Remix)

OFFICIAL WEBSITE https://www.garybarlow.com FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/ OfficialGaryBarlow/

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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New Music From Italy

Sfera Ebbasta Releases His New Album Famosa And Releases New Video SFERA EBBASTA & J BALVIN JOIN FORCES FOR “BABY”

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Rock and Blues International • December 2020

After the release of his album FAMOSO, international superstar Sfera Ebbasta unloads the video for the standout single, “Baby” with J Balvin.

The new album, FAMOSO, was released on November 20th, has been welcomed internationally with a standing ovation. All 13 tracks debuted at the top 200 Global Spotify chart while disintegrating all past records and achieving new heights for Italian albums. It received 16M streams in 24 hours while climbing the first 13 positions in the Italian top 50 chart on Spotify. Famosa is the most-streamed album ever on release date on Spotify and the 2nd most-streamed album Globally.

Sfera Ebbasta flexes as a major player in the game with the release of the video for the international focus track, “Baby” with J Balvin.

J Balvin expressed the wish to see the birth of a truly international Latin gang, an artistic partnership between Italy, Colombia and the whole Latin world. “Baby” marks the beginning of a journey destined to bring Italian music where it has rarely landed. Sfera and J Balvin met when the king of the trap made a remix of the track “Machika”. In the film Famoso, directed by Pepsy Romanoff and distributed worldwide by Amazon Prime video, the Colombian artist talks about his relationship with Sfera: “At the time of the “Machika” remix I didn’t know him personally, but now we’re friends. There is nothing planned, no strategy, just a true friendship. One day I went to Italy, I looked at what was happening in the music world and there were 5 Sfera tracks at the top of the chart. I said to myself: and where is my music? (Editor’s note laughs) - and then adds - It’s a real movement! And for this, I respect my little brother because yes ... he is like a brother to me! He is a big star in Italy and I think he will soon be one everywhere. He has all my support and my respect. I really think we are at the beginning of a real worldwide Latin gang and I want to see my people win,” explained J Balvin.

In the video directed by Mattia Benetti and produced by Ocean Code Studio, we see Sfera and J Balvin together for the first time, immersed in a parallel universe, in those fantasy worlds where everything seems possible; golden statues emerging from the sea, sharks swimming over the city skyline and purple skies where gigantic planets stand out in a magnetic, almost hypnotic way.

Between mermaids swimming above Sfera’s car and landscapes like el dorado, the song, produced by Sky Rompiendo, with its up tempo makes us understand why it has been chosen as the first international focus single and how it is possible that in only four days after its release, “Baby” is already a hit. The track is already at #1 on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Youtube Italy.

Under the artistic direction of Charlie Charles, Famosa is the most important album in Sfera’s career, a boy who comes from nowhere and has never had help of any kind

and who together with extraordinary teamwork, managed to become the most important Italian recording phenomenon in recent history.

Results such as the one achieved by “Baby”, certify his entry into the very small circle of European artists who are truly recognized, respected, and above all listened to in the world.

However, knowing the hunger of Sfera Ebbasta, his desire to continually improve himself, we are only at the beginning.

Italian rapper Gionata Boschetti (aka Sfera Ebbasta) was born and raised in Cinisello Balsamo in 1992,a fact that he often referenced in his music. At the young of 13, his father passed away, leaving Sfera responsible for his mother and sister —a responsibility he coped with by writing rhymes. Together with his friend and producer Charlie Charles they founded their own brand, Billionheadz, through which they released merchandise and music; their first release was a mixtape titled XDVR Reloaded. Cinisello Balsamo — or Ciny as they referred to it —was located just outside of Milan, and in order to further pursue their dreams, both Sfera and Charlie moved to the bigger city, giving them access to a wider variety of media opportunities. By 2016, Sfera released his debut self-titled album; this time through publication deals with Universal and Def Jam. Sfera Ebbasta featured two collaborative tracks with French rapper SCH, “Balenciaga” and “Cartine Cartier.” In 2018, His album “Rockstar” became the most Italian streamed artist ever, with over 700million streams, 5xplatinums and collabs like Quavo, Tinie Tempah, Rich The Kid, Lary Over and Miami Yacine and for the first time ever, he had seven tracks on the 200 Global Spotify Chart.

Since then he hasn’t stopped, collaborating with massive Italian and international artists.

Racking up over a billion and a half streams and views plus eighty-seven platinum records, the biggest rapper in Italy and the country’s most prominent artist Sfera Ebbasta unleashes his anxiously awaited fourth full-length album and proper North American debut, Famosa, today.

He preceded the 13-track project with the confessional, yet catchy single “ Bottiglie Prive? .” Within just a few weeks, it has already amassed over 12.4 million streams, while the music video generated 3.7 million YouTube views and counting. At the same time, he impressively averages over 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify plus eightyseven platinum records .

He ignites Famosa with the new single “ Baby ” with J Balvin . Joined by Balvin , he pops off with a cross-cultural banger of epic proportions, fusing countries and styles.

Famoso’s blockbuster tracklisting also boasts “Abacadabra” [feat. Future ], “Macarena” [feat. Offset ], “Salam Alaikum” [feat. 7ARI & Steve Aoki ], and more.

Check it out below!

Watch Sfera Ebbasta become Famosa worldwide in 2020!

After a turbulent childhood in Cinisello Balsamo, Gionata Boschetti (aka Sfera Ebbasta) found solace in hip-hop.

Following the death of his father, he took care of his mom and sister, translating his frustration, anxiety, and anger into rap. He broke through with XDVR Reloaded in 2015 before his 2016 self-titled debut elevated him to national stardom. However, 2018’s Rockstar made history, amassing 700 million-plus streams and solidifying him as “the most-streamed Italian artist ever” as international stars like Quavo, Rich The Kid, and Tinie Tempah jumped at the chance to collaborate. Now, he’s primed to explode with Famosa .

TRACKLISTING 1. Bottiglie Privè 2. Abracadabra [feat. Future] 3. Baby [with J Balvin] 4. Macarena [feat. Offset] 5. Hollywood 6. Tik Tok [feat. Marracash & Guè Pequeno] 7. Male 8. Giovani Re 9. Gelosi 10. 6 AM 11. Salam Alaikum [feat. 7ARI & Steve Aoki]

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Photo Cred: Nina Jang

OK Cowgirl Release “Don’t Go” “GET GONE” / “DON’T GO” DOUBLE SINGLE OUT NOW Following their debut single from earlier this fall, Brooklyn lofi indie outfit Ok Cowgirl share their second track, “Don’t Go.” Under the Radar premiered the track, praising how “although the track displays a brighter side to the band, Lavigne once again shows herself to be a dynamic vocalist, able to deliver a belted pop chorus with as much impact as her sweet and restrained vocals on the verses. The result is a joyous few minutes of bright indie rock, filled with earworm synth lines and rose-colored memories.”

The dreamy, synth-laden track was inspired by being in the moment, those days when life feels electric. “It’s a wispy optimistic take on watching time drip by through rose colored glasses,” says frontwoman Leah Lavigne.

group’s arsenal while arguing the opposite attitude of “Get Gone.”

While “Don’t Go” stands as a sonic treatise on appreciating the good days (when they come), to treasure the moments of emotional reprieve, and to seek inspiration in the energy around us; the corollary and previously released single, “Get Gone,” serves as a louder, fuzz-laden and jaded reaction against superficiality, and the wanton desire to abandon it all.

These wide-ranging sentiments, and the ways in which they inspire varied forms of dreamy, layered indie rock, serve as a demonstration of the raw, uninhibited nature of Ok Cowgirl — and frontwoman Leah Lavigne’s exploration of what it means to accept the varied emotions that come with being alive.

“Don’t Go” (mixed by John Miller and The “Get Gone” / “Don’t Go” double mastered by Dan Millice) interweaves stillsingle release is now out everywhere. overdriven Fenders with dulcet vintage keyboards, maintaining the core sounds in the 32 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Ok Cowgirl, the lofi indie rock project of Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Leah Lavigne (Fair Visions, Ryan Egan) serves as an explosively dreamy testament to shedding insecurities, wholeheartedly embracing oneself, and carving your own path in a world that craves conformity.

The crux of Ok Cowgirl’s artistry revolves around an exploration of what it means to be a musician — and human — in a world rife with discursive challenges. “I started the band when I was trying to figure out what it meant to live by my own rules,” recalls front-woman Leah Lavigne, “and I was inspired by the mythology of the Cowboy figure as an individual who doesn’t take shit from anybody.”

Moreover, the project also represents a stylistic shift for Lavigne, whose solo career continued on next page

spanning nearly a decade was marked by a softer energy. “People would come up to me after shows and say ‘Leah, you’re my favorite sadgirl.’ I realized there was so much more I wanted to say.”

Driven to pursue a louder, yet equally introspective sound, the Detroit native stepped away from the piano and taught herself electric guitar — and since the summer of 2018, she, alongside long-time collaborator and percussionist Matt Birkenholz, bassist Jase Hottenroth, and lead guitarist Jake Sabinsky have laid down energetic, lyrically-driven rock tinged with soft synth and melodic, at times angsty lyricism, previously performing under the moniker Leah and the Lowkeys.

The band is about so much more than electric guitars to me, it’s about letting go of inhibitions, and wanting to be ‘ok’ with myself and my emotions,” Lavigne says. “It’s about growing into my best cowgirl: strongwilled, independent minded, and maybe flawed, but unafraid.” ““Don’t Go” has an upbeat, honeyed tone about it. The song’s dreamy synths bring out a warm and wistful feel, as the band recalls the simple pleasures of time well wasted with loved ones” - Under the Radar “‘Don’t Go’ is a steady, indie rock beat led by Lavigne’s wistful vocals, with a melodic synth counterpart that expertly combines for a vintage, feel-good type of

reminiscence.”

- From the Intercom “A scuzzy indie rock number that shows the Brooklyn-via-Detroit artist bucking toxic beauty standards— and capitalism. “ - American Songwriter “Certainly flush with dreamy guitars and floaty synths, there are precisely placed jolts of energy that snap it out of this reverbdriven lull. It’s the lyrical subject matter and Lavigne’s dynamite delivery that really sets the song ablaze, as “Get Gone” packs several punches in its fierce critique of societal standards.”

- Look at My Records

OK COWGIRL LINKS

“”They share with us the trials and tribulations of profound self-acceptance and the liberations of fearless vulnerability.”

- California Rocker

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ okcowgirlband Website http://okcowgirlband.com

October 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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New Music From The U.K.

As Everything Unfolds Announce Debut Album Within Each Lies The Other

By Nathan Pugh British post-hardcore band, As Everything Unfolds have announced that their new album, Within Each Lies The Other will be released this next year in March of 2021. The new album will be released through Long Branch Records.

“This album represents the very best and worst of ourselves, our anger, sadness, vengeance and happiness,” says singer Charlie Rolfe. “We can’t always be the best versions of ourselves and sometimes you need to travel through the hard parts for the happiness to exist in the end. Life is a road of regrets and accomplishments, you need to embrace every aspect of it for creating the person you are now.”

“More than just a family, more than just a subculture, we stand with everyone who feels like they don’t belong. We are hope for the hopeless and joy for the joyless, we are everything you didn’t know you needed. We are As Everything Unfolds.

band’s first full-length album release. Their previous release was 2018’s EP, Collide. So far, Collide has garnered over 1,000,000 streams and the attention that it generated help encourage Long Branch Records to sign them to their roster. Besides receiving a lot of streams of their EP, the band has also racked up a lot of fans through their constant touring. So far As Everything Unfolds has found themselves sharing the stage in Europe and the U.K. with bands such as Adept, Dream State, Our Hollow, Our Home and more. This 6-piece band has been making quite a name for themselves and fans of the band just can’t wait to get their hands on this new album.

Lead singer Charlie Rolfe has actually been around for quite a while. Although she may still be relatively young, she started her career out at an early age performing in a lot of different bands. She even performed a headlining gig at the Camden Barfly at the tender age of 13. Guitarists Adam Kerr and

Owen Hill have also been around for a while already. Both of them are old bandmates from The Saucy Republic and a pop-punk band called Overthrow The Night.

As Everything Unfolds is Charlie Rolfe - Vocals, Adam Kerr - Guitar, Owen Hill - Guitar, George Hunt - Bass, Jon Cassidy - Synth, and Jamie Gowers - Drums.

‘Within Each Lies The Other’ Tracklist: 1 On The Inside 2 Take Me There 3 Wallow 4 Stranger In The Mirror 5 I’m Not The Only One 6 Grayscale 7 Stay 8 Let Me Go 9 Hiding From Myself 10 One Last Time 11 Wither

As Everything Unfolds Online: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsEverythingUnfolds/ As Everything Unfolds hails from the Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aeuofficial Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe, Merch: https://www.musicglue.com/aseverythingunfolds/merchandise U.K.. Within Each Lies The Other is the 34 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

With that, Sidney attempted to clean out the closet in 2011, leading to some recording sessions that eventually had to be scrapped, and leaving her to feel “kind of hopeless,” she remembers.

New Music From Norway

But drummers are tough!

Sidney picked herself up and headed in another direction by beginning to finish up a Bachelor’s degree, which led to her being awarded a prestigious study abroad scholarship at the University of Oslo.

Hilarie Sidney, Co-Founder Of Legendary Elephant 6 Recording Co. Releases First Album In Thirteen Years With Her Band The High Water Marks.

“I am so lucky to have been a musician throughout my life,” says Hilarie Sidney of The High Water Marks, the band she fronts out of her adopted home town of Grøa, Norway. The foursome has just released Ecstasy Rhymes, its first album in 13 years, via Minty Fresh.

You probably know Sidney best for what she got up to during her time living in Denver, Colorado.

Sidney is the co-founder of one of the most influential musical collectives of the past, oh, forever amount of years.

Elephant 6 is a storied, and now legendary, musical collective and Sidney was as at its nucleus as a founding member of The Apples in stereo.

“Having been in the Apples and on the road since 1993, I started to have many more songs than could ever be released on an Apples record. I was piling up songs, and being surrounded by a group of men for so many years, one can lose oneself,” she confides.

Sidney eventually found new love, and a new musical partnership, when she formed The High Water Marks, releasing a debut album (Songs About The Ocean) in 2003. The record was written and demoed through the mail with her now-husband and bandmate, Per Ole Bratset, whom she initially met at an Apples gig in Norway in 2002. A follow-up album (Polar) arrived in 2007.

By that time, Sidney and Bratset were an item.

It was a “boys club,” Sidney confesses.

Sidney was the only woman among her band and the other two acts – Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control – that were the most visible members of Elephant 6, and as the umbrella opened to international recognition and acclaim, and to seemingly dozens of other bands that wanted to be a part, Sidney’s enthusiasm drifted.

Her passion for songwriting never wavered, however.

“Per and I had our son in 2005,” Sidney says of becoming a mother for the second time.

“I realized I wanted a break from touring. That whole life had begun to wear me out.”

The fallout from Sidney’s divorce, and life as a mom with two boys, led her to officially leave the Apples in 2006 and to put the music business on the back burner soon after.

“Still writing songs, always writing songs...”

“Moving was everything I had hoped it would be,” she explains. “In Norway, we have a work-life balance, health care, a living wage, five weeks of vacation, and freedom for our youngest son to roam without constant supervision.”

Perhaps most importantly, she started playing music again.

Thirteen years after releasing her last album as The High Water Marks, the band has completed a new album that reflects the maturity, perseverance, songwriting, and performing talent that made Sidney’s contributions to Elephant 6 and the Apples so

integral.

If she was marginalized at the time, those notions are blown out by Ecstasy Rhymes, 38 minutes of perfect power pop, one song after another that will take any fan of the songs that Sidney contributed to Apples recordings – her voice is instantly recognizable – right back to the most potent days of that band’s career.

As he did on previous releases, Bratset also contributes lead vocals on several songs, all of which were co-written with Sidney. In addition to Sidney on Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, and Drums, and Bratset on Vocals and Guitars, the band includes Logan Miller on Bass, Guitar, and Drums, along with Øystein Megård on Drums. Keyboards, and Backing Vocals.

“I feel like for the first time ever, we have a dream team,” Sidney says. “I have my partner in crime by my side, like always, but we managed to also find these two other fantastic people who we can work with so well. We finally have the best band we’ve ever had and a great record.”

Ecstasy Rhymes, the first album in 13 years by The High Water Marks, is out now on Minty Fresh.

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from ‘Phantoms of the Paradise.’ Like a pastiche of a past period of time. All of these videos parody some clichés of the twentieth century music, from the thirties to nowadays. This new album is a music piece which pays tribute to all the music of the past century.”

New Music From France

Photo Credit: Franck Percher

La Femme Release New Song and Video “Cool Colorado” Second Single from Upcoming Third Album After their unanimously acclaimed come-back single “Paradigme,” the French psych-pop band La Femme presents “Cool Colorado,” a new excerpt of their upcoming third album (details TBA). The single is released via the band’s label Disque Pointu, distributed worldwide by IDOL. Watch “Cool Colorado” here: https://youtu.be/LcB37w3Aou8 “‘Cool Colorado’ alludes to freedom, the insouciance of a journey,” the band explains. “We were somewhere between the states of Utah and Wyoming, during our last American tour, when this ode to the San Francisco of the 70s, which is so rare and precious to us even if we never lived in this period, came to us.”

spirit. “Colorado is the first American state which legalized cannabis, this is where the line ‘And I smoke in the streets without stress’ comes from,” La Femme adds. “This song is also related to the Beatnik spirit, to the literature of Kerouac. Do you remember the Magic Bus? It was going from Europe to Kathmandu on a nowmythical hippie trail.”

Directed by La Femme and Aymeric Bergada du Cadet, the video for “Cool Colorado” extends the mysterious universe and unique aesthetic of their video for “Paradigme,” released in September. “This is a sort of psychedelic mass parodying the cliché of the ‘teen idol’ in the way of Brian Jones or Swan

This new song composed by members Sacha Got and Marlon Magnée immediately evokes the psychedelic 36 Rock and Blues International • Decvember 2020

Formed in 2010, the then unknown band hoodwinked the French music industry by lining up a DIY US tour with only $3,000 and an EP. After playing 20 gigs around the US, La Femme returned home with immense interest from the Parisian music scene. “The industry was like, ‘What the fuck? They have an EP out and they are touring in the US and we don’t know them?” Magnée told The Guardian. “So the buzz began to start.

When we came back to France, it was red carpet. Fucking DIY.” The band’s 2013 debut album Psycho Tropical Berlin won a Victoires de la Musique award (France’s equivalent to the GRAMMYs), and their 2016 sophomore album Mystére was praised by Sound Opinions, Line of Best Fit, The Guardian, All Music, BrooklynVegan, and more.

Now, La Femme will return with a new album in 2021. “This album does not correspond to one specific period of our lives,” the band explains. “We have always composed songs all along the journey of the band. Therefore, this album is composed with temporality, it has to be seen as a big piece of a puzzle we create. It is an ongoing process, but all this stays in the range of a concept and remains uncertain.”

New Music From London previously unreleased tracks; “We Out Here” and “Bees & Honey”. The deluxe album will feature production from the likes of Clarence Clarity (Exec producer along with Rina) and co-writes from Nicole Morier (Britney Spears) and Kyle Shearer (Carly Rae Jepsen).

Rina Sawayama Announces SAWAYAMA: Deluxe Edition and shares new song SAWAYAMA: DELUXE EDITION OUT DECEMBER 4TH SHARES NEW SONG “LUCID” LISTEN: “LUCID” https://dirtyhit.ffm.to/lucid London-based, critically-acclaimed pop-futurist Rina Sawayama releases her new single “LUCID” via Dirty Hit, taken from her upcoming deluxe album SAWAYAMA: Deluxe Edition out December 4th. The addictive BloodPop (Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber) produced single marries Rina’s mesmeric vocals with a kaleidoscopic-like dance

soundscape, making “LUCID” an instant club bop.

Speaking on the song, Rina says: “It’s about living a different life through dreaming, whether it’s to be with the dream girl or to be the dream girl. Me and Lauren Aquilina wrote this together on the floor of my tiny rented living room back in early 2018. BloodPop sent us the beat and the melody flowed out so easily that I remember at one point I started hoovering cos i knew this would be easy to write lol. I’ve kept this song secret for 2 years so I’m so excited to finally release it to the world! 2020’s been a tough year so I wanted to finish it off with a dance bop to take us into a more hopeful 2021.”

“LUCID” follows Rina Sawayama’s debut late night TV performance of her hit single “XS” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as well as the announcement of her biggest show to date at London’s Roundhouse in November 2021. SAWAYAMA has been lauded as “a thrilling musical adventure” by Rolling Stone and a “model (of) the creative promise of music in the streaming era” by The New York Times.

SAWAYAMA is an intimate look into Rina’s world. The album was hailed No.3 in Rough Trade’s Albums of the Year whilst also featuring in BBC’s Albums of the Year.

“Rina Sawayama’s moment has arrived” Pitchfork “a thrilling musical adventure” Rolling Stone “there hasn’t been a pop star like Rina Sawayama in quite some time” Vice “Rina Sawayama is Not the Asian Britney Spears” The New York Times Rina Sawayama SAWAYAMA: Deluxe Edition Dirty Hit December 4, 2020 DISC ONE 1. Dynasty 2. XS 3. STFU! 4. Comme des Garçons (Like The Boys) 5. Akasaka Sad 6. Paradisin’ 7. Love Me 4 Me 8. Bad Friend 9. Fuck This World (Interlude) 10. Who’s Gonna Save U Now? 11. Tokyo Love Hotel 12. Chosen Family 13. Snakeskin

DISC TWO 1. LUCID 2. We Out Here (Bonus Track) 3. Bees & Honey (Bonus Track) 4. Love It If We Made It The deluxe album is an 5. XS (Live) extension of Rina’s most 6. STFU! (Acoustic) personal body of work yet, 7. Bad Friend (Acoustic) featuring fan favorites “XS” 8. Chosen Family (Acoustic) ft. Bree Runway, “Comme 9. Comme Des Garçons (Like The Des Garons (Like The Boys)” Boys) - Pabllo Vittar Remix - Pabllo Vittar Remix and a 10. XS feat. Bree Runway - Remix cover The 1975’s “Love it If 11. Bad Friend - Dream Wife Remix We Made It” alongside December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 37

New Music From Canada

Zoon Releases New Video “Landscapes” From His Debut Album Bleached Wavves 38

Rock and Blues International • Decvember December 2020 2020

By T.J. Zoon is happy to announce that his new video, “Landscapes” has just been released off his debut album, Bleached Wavves. Bleached Wavves was released via Paper Bag Records in June of this year. So far, Bleached Wavves has spend 7 weeks at the #1 position on Canada’s Earshot chart this year.

Zoon aka Daniel Monkman tells us that “‘Landscapes’ was a political art experiment about the concerning amount of soul sucking ‘jobs’ that are only available to people living under the poverty line. When I first moved to Hamilton, Ontario, I could only find factory jobs that were extremely repetitive so I tried to express that in a musical sense. My goal was to create something like a loop of sound to give the listener a sense of madness. Because that’s the reality of those types of factory / assembly line jobs. I saw so much pain in the workers and that stuck with me. I didn’t realize that when politicians say during their campaign ‘we created 10,000 new jobs’ that they actually mean they’ve created 10,000 new ways to slowly kill vulnerable citizens.”

Canadian musician Daniel Monkman is the man behind the moniker Zoon. Zoon refers to his music as “Moccasin-gaze.” His style of music is a form of combining guitar noise with rhythms inspired by First Nations traditions along with his inspiring lyrics and vocals. Monkman was raised near Winnipeg in the Brokenhead Ojibwe Nation. As a teenager, he was totally enamored by the music termed as ‘shoegaze’ and he was very much a fan of the band My Bloody Valentine.

Unable to find anybody interested in the same music he was in to, he moved to nearby Selkirk, where he started his odyssey into music. While there he formed a band called The Blisters, which performed between 2011 and 2015. During that time The Blisters recorded one EP titled “Insects.” After that he moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 2018 where he formed the band Bloom. It was there were he released his solo EP, titled “Bleached Wavves.” Several record labels became interested in him, but he decided to sign with Paper Bag Records, where he changed his name to Zoon, which is a shortened version of the Ojibwe word Zoongide’ewin, which means ‘bravery, courage, the Bear Spirit.’ Paper Bag Records really liked what they heard in his EP and now the expanded version of Bleached Wavves has blossomed into his first debut album. It’s been some kind of ride for Zoon, but he certainly made the best of it.

A lot of praise has been extended to Zoon and Bleached Wavves by sources such as Brooklyn Vegan, Talkhouse, Paste, Magnet, Exclaim, American Songwriter, Under The Radar, and Exclaim Magazine Bleached Wavves didn’t come that easy for Zoon (Daniel Monkman). Daniel spend a lot of time on these masterful songs working with just his guitar and a digital delay pedal trying to emulate the sounds he was hearing in his head. Sometimes he had to take long breaks of weeks before returning to a project

to finish it. Zoon has managed to take the lowest of lows in his life and combine that with the lessons that he learned through the studying of the Seven Grandfather teaching to create songs that he hopes will inspire hope in other people.

Songs on the new album include: “Clouded Formation,” “Vibrant Colours,” “Was & Always Will Be,” “Bleached Wavves,” “Brokenhead,” “A Perfect Sunset, ahead,” “Light Prism,” “Infinite Horizons,” “Landscapes,” and “Help Me Understand.”

“Monkman’s frustrations and courageous spirit exude through spiking guitar riffs and monstrous distortion.”

- KEXP “One of the album’s most enchanting tracks, “Brokenhead,” is ruled by a wicked overdriven guitar riff, which has an acute sense of longing. The windy guitars and calming percussion make for a transcendent experience.”

- Paste “Like much of Bleached Wavves, it’s intricate and subtle, familiar yet inventive, and rich with layers of life and sound. Zoon’s debut album is nothing short of remarkable.”

- Exclaim “Monkman covers a wide range of styles and moods in just half an hour, but it all ties into his message of healing and empowerment, along with a hint of nostalgic longing. He clearly has an abundance of ideas, and it’ll be fascinating to see where he goes from here.”

-All Music “If you consider that the word symphony is derived from a Greek word meaning an “agreement of sound”, it’s hard to argue that Bleached Wavves is anything but.

Its swirling sounds are overwhelming in the same way that visceral memories can open the gates to an emotional deluge.”

-Dominionated “The album is a thoughtful meditation on the lessons he learned studying the Seven

Grandfather teachings after an extraordinarily rough nadir.”

-Post Punk “Thick, hypnotic shoegaze may be Monkman’s mode of sonic expression, but there’s a deep appreciation for humanity that underpins his music” - Paste “As we cross the halfway mark of 2020, it’s important to critically appraise the legitimate candidates for Album of the Year as promptly as possible. The debut album from Zoongide’ewin, released 19 June, sits squarely in that camp.”

- DecayFM “Bleached Wavves is the perfect name for a shoegaze album deeply evocative yet highly enigmatic in equal measure.”

- Apple Music

BLEACHED WAVVES LP TRACKLIST 1. Clouded Formation 2. Vibrant Colours 3. Was & Always Will Be 4. Bleached Wavves 5. Brokenhead 6. A Perfect Sunset, Ahead 7. Light Prism 8. Infinite Horizons 9. Landscapes 10. Help Me Understand

Check out the video for “Landscapes” at https://youtu.be/vAJR3AJAUWA Check out the video for “Brokenhead” at https://youtu.be/rUFwCtYxpzw Check out the video for “Bleached Wavves” at https://youtu.be/vAJR3AJAUWA Zoon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zoonmusic/ Zoon on Twitter: https://tellallyourfriendspr.us10.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=63f1674ecdb2a4574b77e600b&id=fb22c99da4&e=28146e6e7b Zoon on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/zoongideewin December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Rock and Blues International • December November 2020 2020

Avatar Announce Unique 4-Part Concert Series In January 2021 Avatar Ages - An Impossible Concert Experience To Feature Full Album Performance Of Hunter Gatherer, As Well As Multiple, Fan-Selected Set Lists With Songs From Hail The Apocalypse, Black Waltz & More!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT AVATARAGES.COM WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: https://youtu.be/nvDjdHxK6Ns http://www.avatarages.com Sweden’s most creative and exciting export, AVATAR, have announced a series of concert streams — Avatar Ages - An Impossible Concert Experience—that will take place over the course of January 2021. The 4-part concert film experience launches January 9 and will feature songs from AVATAR’s celebrated catalog, starting with a performance of their latest album in full, Hunter Gatherer, out now via eOne. The subsequent January concerts will feature fan voted set lists—chosen by ticket purchasers—with songs from Avatar Country, Feathers & Flesh, Hail The Apocalypse, Black Waltz, Thoughts of No Tomorrow, Schlacht and Avatar.

The schedule of Avatar Ages - An Impossible Concert Experience concert stream events is as follows: Saturday, January 9 – Age of Dreams (Hunter Gatherer from start to finish plus Avatars biggest songs) Saturday, January 16 – Age of Illusions (Feathers & Flesh and Avatar Country fan voted set list) Saturday, January 23 – Age of Madness (Black Waltz and Hail the Apocalypse fan voted set list) Saturday, January 30 – Age of Memories (Thoughts of No Tomorrow, Schlacht and Avatar fan voted set list) About the performances, frontman Johannes Eckerström says, “Nothing can top the feeling of standing eye to eye with the roaring beast that is a metal crowd, hungry for blood. Instead, what we are setting out to do is a series of shows we could never do on a normal stage. You will see Avatar as you’ve never seen us before. More music, more madness. We enter this with a game plan like no other, but ultimately the power is

yours. This is something we’ll create together. We have missed you.”

Hometown Rising, Louder Than Life, Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival, and Welcome To Rockville.

Concert stream tickets are available for individual shows and as a 4show package. Various ticket bundles are also available, offering exclusive merchandise such as t-shirts, hoodies, vinyl, and a commemorative laminate. A limited number of exclusive virtual Meet & Greets with the entire band are also available. Fans will be able to select their date and time period in advance, and after their personal Meet & Greet, they’ll receive a video file of their conversation, as well as the opportunity to take pictures during the experience.

Visit www.AvatarAges.com for all details and to purchase tickets.

Each livestream debuts on its respective date at 1:00 PM Pacific / 4:00 PM Eastern / 10:00 PM CET remains ondemand for 72 hours.

Fan voting for the Age of Illusions, Age of Madness and Age of Memories concert stream set lists will be open to ticket purchasers through December 3, 2020 at 11:59 PM ET. Fans will be emailed a link to activate fan voting after purchasing their virtual concert ticket.

Purchasers will be able to choose their 10 favorite songs for each set list and submit directly to the band. Fan voting is only open to those who purchase a livestream ticket or bundle.

DWP recently entered the digital content curation space, promoting payper-view concert streams and creating the popular digital series Offstage with DWP. DWP is known worldwide for their stellar portfolio of music and lifestyle events, which includes Aftershock, Bourbon & Beyond, Epicenter,

AVATAR’s current album Hunter Gatherer, out now via eOne, marked the darkest and most thought-provoking release of the band’s over decade long career. A striking and bold manifesto, the album is an unflinchingly ruthless study of a clueless humankind’s ever-increasing velocity into an uncertain future, furthering the reach of the band’s always expanding dark roots. The band’s ambitious new era found the band featured as the cover story of Revolver Magazine’s Fall Issue, where frontman Johannes Eckerström reflects about the power of live performance during a year that has changed the landscape of live music. In 2019, AVATAR reunited with producer Jay Ruston (Stone Sour, Anthrax) at Sphere Studios in Los Angeles, California, where the foundation for each song on Hunter Gatherer was laid with the band performing altogether, as they’d done only once before, on Hail the Apocalypse (2014).

The old-school method of playing as one in the studio, more akin to how they are on stage, captured the essence of AVATAR. Recorded entirely to two-inch tape, Hunter Gatherer exhibits everything that makes AVATAR standouts in the vast, rich landscape of heavy metal’s past and present.

“Heavy as all hell and unflinching in its biting social commentary.” Revolver “Even when the world is turned upside down, we can count on Avatar to churn out an opus of groovy, melodic continued on next page

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tious compositions and vibrant visual storytelling AVATAR seamlessly blurs the line between sights and sounds.

AVATAR songs are new anthems for the ages, precision heat-seeking missiles targeting a cultural landscape ready for fresh songs to champion from a band with a giant persona to rally behind. The AVATAR experience is challenging, daring, and altogether captivating. The band’s latest addition to their celebrated catalog, out now via eOne, Hunter Gatherer is an expression of meticulous structure and creative force. While it is a large departure from what carved the landscape of Avatar Country, the sound direction on the new record pushes past previous boundaries and showcases the genuine compositional writing talent that the band possesses, all while reflecting AVATAR’s core elements. The band spent the majority of 2019 touring heavily worldwide. Including sold out headlining shows in Europe, sold out headlining shows in US and Canada (with Devin Townsend and ‘68), sold out support tour for Baby Metal in North America, festival appearances such as Domination Mexico, sharing the stage with Slipknot at the Festival De Nimes, Alcatraz Hard Rock & Metal Festival.

Avatar

continued from previous page metal that sings and soars.” - Consequence of Sound “Always fixated on a sense of groove whether it’s quick-hitting, sharp and choppy riffs or pendulum-swinging breakdowns over which maestro Johannes Eckerström presides with his snarling, guttural roar.” - Loudwire “Avatar are back and they are heavier than ever.” - Metal Injection “Silence in the Age of Apes a furious four-and-a-half minute blaze of machine-gun-style kick drumming, powerful chant vocals and guitar work to marvel aplenty courtesy of resident axemen Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström.” - Guitar World “Abundant, as always, the song includes blazing guitar riffs and frontman Johannes Eckerström’s brutal, 42

snarling growls.” - The Pit “Avatar continues to reinvent the wheel as they went from lighthearted humor with Avatar Country to dark and bleak with their upcoming album” Metal Insider “If Avatar is out to do anything with its in-your-face music, it’s hoping to be true to its namesake as that not-sosubtle teacher, helping fans open up to another possible way of being.” LiveKindly Avatar is: Johannes Eckerström Vocals / John Alfredsson - Drums / Henrik Sandelin - Bass / Jonas Jarlsby Guitars / Tim Öhrström - Guitars Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

About AVATAR: Through ambi-

About Danny Wimmer Presents: Since 1993, music industry veteran Danny Wimmer has been producing concerts and festivals, both large and small. In 2011, he formed Danny Wimmer Presents, which now produces several of the largest rock and alternative festivals in the U.S. By combining A-list talent with local cuisine and culture, DWP has become recognized within the industry for delivering the highestquality entertainment experiences to fans, artists, sponsors, partners and host cities. DWP creates memorable and allencompassing festival experiences, leaving both consumers and partners with lasting and meaningful impressions.

DWP will continue to add new music festivals to its already stellar portfolio, which currently includes Aftershock, Bourbon & Beyond, Epicenter, Hometown Rising, Louder Than Life, Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival, and Welcome To Rockville. Previous DWP festivals include Rock On The Range, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion and more. In 2020, DWP launched the popular digital series Offstage with DWP and ventured into the digital content curation space, promoting pay-per-view live streams.

New Music From The U.K.

St. Lundi Releases His Acoustic Reworking of Kygo Collaboration ‘To Die For’ St. Lundi has just released of his own acoustic rework of ‘To Die For’.

The original composition was created by Kygo and Dermot Kennedy - Dermot writing the lyrics and then deciding to use them for another project. Left with the stripped-back production, Kygo reached out to St. Lundi to write a completely new concept using his production. Over the course of a weekend, St. Lundi wrote ‘To Die For’, which ended up being a last-minute addition to Kygo’s billboard charting ‘Golden Hour’ album (check out the original version of ‘To Die For’ https://youtu.be/ oh_Y5A9hiHU).

After the initial release, St. Lundi went into the studio and arranged a beautiful acoustic version of the song.

An artist with a core talent for writing affecting love songs - St. Lundi’s voice has struck a chord with fans, many

of whom have compared him with Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Support across DSP’s has lead to his debut EP ‘Heavy Words’ being streamed in excess of 2 million times and - when adding collaborations - he is approaching 15 million streams in total.

Holloway and Nick Atkinson, whose recent credits include Lewis Capaldi, Dean Lewis, and Gabrielle Aplin.

“Stardom beckons for this young man” - Record Of The Day

‘To Die For’ will be St. Lundi’s “Finely honed musicality with final release in what has been a busy shades of Ben Howard and - dare we say 2020. He is currently working on a it - a youthful Chris Martin.” - Clash second EP for release in early 2021, Music which will be produced by Edd Listen on all platforms here: https://propellerrecordings.lnk.to/todieforlinkAd and on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/stlundi/to-die-for-acoustic-rework Watch the performance video here: https://ymlpcdn2.net/172c0jewsqavaewsusavajwjanamheb/click.php St. Lundi socials Spotify URI - spotify:artist:3i94wxAKQqlJyiPLDmjNdH YouTube - youtube.com/stlundimusic Instagram - instagram.com/st.lundi/ TikTok - vm.tiktok.com/ZSxEnpCV/ Decmber 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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New Music From Australia

Vera Blue 44

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Vera Blue Strips It Back For The “Lie To Me” Acoustic Video “Lie To Me” Hits Over 4 Million Streams Vera Blue releases the video for her acoustic version of her current single “Lie To Me”—watch it here at https://youtu.be/ tcPKBHmcSFU! Filmed at The Grounds in Alexandria, Sydney, the video performance shines a spotlight on Vera Blue’s seemingly endless vocal range and follows her surprise release last month of a stripped back version of the original single.

The new video comes off the back of Vera Blue’s intimate Sydney show for Great Southern Nights where the electro pop-powerhouse transported her fans to a whole new world performing her songs for the first time with a string section.

Vera Blue premiered “Lie To Me” as part of the YouTube Music Sessions and most recently gave an incredible performance of the song on the first episode of ABC’s The Sound. Watch the standout performance here at https://youtu.be/ sowfAWn9Kao. On release, “Lie To Me” was instantly added to triple j and hit #1 most played on the youth broadcaster. With support coming from local and global playlists across all DSP’s, “Lie To Me” has now amassed over 4 million global streams, taking her overall music streams to well over 250 million.

Next week, Flume’s track “Rushing Back,” which features Vera Blue on vocals, will be up for Song Of The Year and Best Dance Release at the 2020 ARIA Awards.

The metamorphosis of gifted folk singer/ songwriter Celia Pavey into the electro pop powerhouse Vera Blue has been as visually electrifying as it has musically scintillating.

It began with the release of the critically lauded EP Fingertips and its achingly ethereal breakthrough platinum single “Hold.” Musically, the track fuses Pavey’s raw lyrical insights and captivating vocals with elegant, hypnotic electronica; while the accompanying black and white video plays with close up perspectives and a hauntingly interior tone.

The rapturously received debut album Perennial came next; along with that danceinducing, double platinum single “Regular Touch” – and its far more cinematic visual direction. This time, a Goddess-like Vera Blue is captured in sweeping colour against majestic snow peaks and rolling, faded green mountain ranges; her soaring vocals as wild and resplendent as her flaming hair.

The blinding success of Perennial was followed by the globally penetrating Flume collaboration “Rushing Back” (which reached #2 on Triple J’s Hottest 100); and two chart topping post album singles. The breezily melodic “All The Pretty Girls” scales down the electronica and turns up the folk-pop; while “The Way That You Love Me” moved back towards electronic grunge and showed us how sometimes love can be taken advantage of.

Which brings us to the next exhilarating chapter in the Vera Blue Odyssey, and the brand

new single (from the upcoming second studio album) - called “Lie To Me.” If the tracks on Perennial were written in the ashes of a devastating break up, then “Lie To Me” is Pavey losing her mind at the other end of the romantic spectrum – falling IN love.

“When you go through a lot of emotional shit, you can’t imagine yourself in a new relationship. Then you suddenly fall into one, and the fear and mistrust can be overwhelming: ‘is this as amazing as it seems - or is it going to blow up in my face again!’”

The song is anchored to a pulsating, tropical beat, (and a shrewd hybrid of live and electronic drums); but then interweaves a scattering of ominous sounding vocal samples and synths. It’s a summery dance hit – with extra layers of sonic tension.

Back on board are Pavey’s essential Vera Blue producing/co-writing collaborators – siblings Andy and Thom Mak; as well as engineer Jackson Barclay. According to Blue, it was hearing the first chorus for the first time that provided the most exhilarating, break through moment in the team’s writing/recording process on “Lie To Me.” “The stacked vocals flare up and Andy took almost everything away except this really interesting sound that was a bit like a marimba. It sounded really fresh and made the lyrics more direct and powerful.”

“Would you lie to me? If I lie, would you lie? Say goodbye to me?”

Intriguingly, Vera Blue is not directing these lyrical questions at the object of her affection – but at the warring voices in her own head: some validating and amplifying her panic and jealousy, the others imploring her to take hold and not destroy a good thing.

when I first started performing – my voice was so sweet and innocent! I could not have reached the belting moments at the end of ‘Lie To Me’ back then. My voice is stronger than it ever has been which enhances what we create in the studio.”

Pavey acknowledges that the styling and dressing of Vera Blue has also been critical to her creative evolution and burgeoning on-stage persona. As her musical identity and live audiences have expanded – so have her fashion choices!

Working with stylist, Jana Bartolo, her outfits range from spectacular florals and prints to reflective materials and kilometres of tulle; fans and followers can’t wait to see what Vera Blue will wear next. “We deliberately choose things that are enhanced by movement – that you can see from the back row.”

She also teases a bold new visual direction and a “kaleidoscope of colour” for the “Lie To Me” video clip: “There is a psycho element to this song that is very theatrical and cinematic – I can see myself becoming a whole different character in the video.”

One thing is for sure, if falling in love is as terrifying as it is intoxicating – you may lose a little bit more of your mind every time you listen to Vera Blue’s compulsive new single.

But what could be better than a nervous breakdown you can dance to?

VERA BLUE: ONLINE

“Lie To Me” builds these duelling perspectives to a fully blown musical psychosis about 2 minutes and 43 seconds into the song: where one hundred Vera Blue’s howl their collective paranoia at the world, as they are enveloped by a menacing, throbbing soundscape.

It’s one of several moments throughout the track that exploit the elevated power in Pavey’s extraordinary vocal capacity; which she credits to three years of relentless live performing and projecting her voice over festival crowds. (Apart from her sell out domestic shows – Vera Blue has played Splendour in the Grass and Lollapalooza both as a solo artist and as part of a world tour with Flume; and supported indie pop prodigy Maggie Rogers in North America).

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/verabluemusic Instagram https://www.instagram.com/verabluemusic/ YouTube https://music.youtube.com/channel/ UC8iyVa4WY1o5Kp-8gJx3Nrw Website https://www.verablue.com Press Photos Credit - Jason Henley

“I recently watched some vision of myself

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 45

ADVERTISE HERE Advertise in a revolutionary new magazine that will be taking the music world by storm! call us now at 281-650-1953

Thomas Rhett Earns Highest Charting Debut Of Career With “What’s Your Country Song” Fresh off surprising fans last week with new music, ACM Awards “Entertainer of the Year” Thomas Rhett today earned the highest chart debut of his career with “What’s Your Country Song” as country radio’s most-added song with 150 stations, debuting at No. 18 on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart and No. 25 on the Mediabase/Country Airplay Chart.

Rock And Blues International

Thomas Rhett’s most recent release, his GRAMMYnominated fourth studio album CENTER POINT ROAD continued to propel his meteoric career as “few singers have played a larger role in defining the sound of country music over the past half-dozen years” (Rolling Stone), debuting atop the Billboard 200 and spawning three No. One hits including its PLATINUM lead single, “Look What God Gave Her,” which was first introduced on SNL. Thomas Rhett has scored nearly 10 BILLION total career streams and received two CMA Triple Play awards for penning three No. One songs within a 12month period, adding to his collection of trophies from the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Billboard Music Awards, CMT Music Awards and more. “At the top of his musical game” (Winnipeg Free Press), the indemand entertainer has headlined multiple nationwide and international tours as well as major festivals. For more information, visit www.thomasrhett.com

tine.”

Lady A echoes new life into “the most powerful and passionate work that the trio has created” (People), with Ocean Deluxe Edition that will include Lady A’s current Top 10 and climbing single “Champagne Night” from the primetime series Songland.

Additionally, Dave Haywood returns to the producer role and creates a breezy rendition of the “eargrabbing production” (Billboard) with “Champagne Night (Tiki Bar Version).”

Over the course of their decade-plus career, Lady A has become one of the 21st century’s premier vocal groups, blending deeply felt emotions with classic Country sounds. As a Countryradio staple, the trio has amassed recordbreaking success ushering in 10 No. One hits with more than 18 million album units, 34 million tracks sold and nearly 5 billion digital streams. The trio earned the biggest first week streams of their career with their critically acclaimed No. One album Ocean that has been touted as “the finest album of the band’s career” (Nashville Scene).

Known for their 9X Platinum hit “Need You Now” which is the highest certified song by a Country group, they have earned CMA “Vocal Group of the Year” trophies three years in a row and countless other honors including five GRAMMY awards, Billboard Music Awards, People’s Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards and a Tony Award nod. Lady A has been known to take their “triple-stacked harmonies” (Rolling Stone) all over the globe while selling out arenas and amphitheaters throughout the country. For more information visit www.ladya.com.

Lady A Rides The Wave To Ocean Deluxe Edition In Celebration of One Year Anniversary Six New Tracks Include “Heroes” featuring Thomas Rhett and Tiki Bar Version of Top 10 Single “Champagne Night” In celebration of the one year anniversary of Lady A’s critically-acclaimed No. One album Ocean, the multi-Platinum trio announces details today to expand the project into Ocean Deluxe Edition (BMLG Records.. With six additional tracks, the band offers up live renditions of fan-favorites like “Let It Be Love (At Home Version)” and their chart-topping Platinum hit “What If I Never Get Over You (Live from 3rd and Lindsley).” Lady A also recruits ACM “Entertainer of the Year” Thomas Rhett on “Heroes.” .

“It’s crazy to think this album is only turning a year old because it has already been part of so many moments for us as a band,” Hillary Scott said. “We wanted to share our appreciation with our fans with a couple of never released tracks we thought they might like and put a spin on some others that have been fun to play around with during quaran-

Ocean Deluxe Edition Track Listing 1. “What If I Never Get Over You” Written by Sam Ellis, Jon Green, Ryan Hurd, Laura Veltz 2. “Pictures” Written by Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Sarah Buxton, Corey Crowder

3. “Crazy Love” Written by Charles Kelley, Nathan Chapman 4. “You Can Do You” Written by Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Corey Crowder, Jordan Schmidt 5. “What I’m Leaving For” Written by Sam Ellis, Micah Rayan Premnath, Laura Veltz 6. “Be Patient With My Love” Written by Charles Kelley, Dave Barnes, Ben West 7. “Alright” Written by Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, busbee, Justin Ebach 8. “Let It Be Love” Written by Hillary Scott, Jordan Reynolds, Amy Wadge 9. “On A Night Like This” Written by Dave Barnes 10. “Boots” Written by Charles Kelley, Ross Copperman 11. “The Thing That Wrecks You” (feat. Little Big Town) Written by Daniel Tashian, Tenille Townes, Kate York 12. “Mansion” Written by Chris DeStefano, Hillary Lindsey, Josh Miller 13. “Ocean” Written by Tofer Brown, Sarah Buxton, Abe Stoklasa 14. “Heroes” (feat. Thomas Rhett) ** Written by Charles Kelley, Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Sean Douglas, Jesse Frasure, Joe London 15. “Champagne Night (From Songland)” ** Written by Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Patricia Conroy, Ester Dean, Andrew DeRoberts, Tina Annette Gemza, Shane McAnally, Madeline Rae Merlo, Ryan Tedder, Dave Thomson 16. “Underwater” ** Written by Jon Green, Corey Sanders, Laura Veltz 17. “Let It Be Love (At Home Version)” ** Produced by Dave Haywood 18. “Champagne Night (Tiki Bar Version)” ** Produced by Dave Haywood and Dave Thomson 19. “What If I Never Get Over You (Live from 3rd and Lindsley)” ** Produced by Lady A

**New Tracks December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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explore the darker realms of the human psyche... where hilarity and shimmering beauty are spawned because there would be no art without them,” Josie explains. “I wrote these songs with utter abandon, urging Shonen Knife to blow up the world, sending love letters to Sammy Davis Jr. with an ode to Jim Jones’ massacre. I stalked Elvis in the Piggly Wiggly, fell down a rabbit hole, found a missing head, discovered and forgot Gurdjieff... I tried to fix the broken things but found that’s where all the magic is.”

The album took her a while to record and produce in the beginning, stretching into years of songwriting and recording. For this album, she managed to list a who’s who of musicians and producers to accompany her on this musical voyage. Those luminaries included Paul Roessler (Screamers, Nina Hagen), David McConnell (Elliot Smith, Wilco), Kenny Lyon (Lemonheads, Los Super Elegantes), Patrick Warren (Tom Waits, Gwen Stefani, Emmy winner for music on True Detective) and Michael Lockwood (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple) and Shon Sullivan (The Eels, Eliott Smith, Neil Finn), and more. The album may not have been exactly what her public expected, but Josie felt the need to grow and evolve, which I feel she really accomplished on this album.

We will be hearing more from Josie in the future, as she still has an album or two to reissue, not to mention that she is currently working on a new album that is slated to be released this next year.

Photo Credit: Mike Ruiz

Josie Cotton Reissues Fourth Album Movie Disaster Music

By Greg Fontaine Well, Josie Cotton is back in the news again. This time she is reissuing her fourth album, Movie Disaster Music. It was first released in 2006. As with her previous releases, Josie is releasing the album on her own label, Kitten Robot Records.

departure from her hugely pop sounds.

There’s a bit of pop there, but it is not quite as pronounced as her previous releases.

However, as you would expect from Josie, the styling on this album vary from song to song brining in anything from the beatnik sounds of “Creeps” to the country western sounds of “Looking For Elvis.” Yes, it really is everything that you’d expect from a Josie Cotton album, as it is filled with a great versatility in her performances.

This album was a bit of a departure for Josie from her previous albums. It was more of an experimental time for her as she delved deep into more keyboard sounds and “This is the album where I began to atmospheric tones, making it a slight 48 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

“Josie Cotton continues to write intelligent and witty pop songs which contain a healthy and refreshing dose of social commentary. From the cynical new wave of ‘Rabbit Hole’ to the dreamy pop of ‘Kung Fu Girl,’ Cotton’s voice never sounded better.

Wise, sarcastic and intuitive, Cotton is as melodic as she is insightful, and Movie Disaster Music demonstrates she is an artist of great depth and maturity.” - Amplifier “Cotton’s voice is a thing of wonder that’s alternately heartbreakingly sincere and gum-snappingly playful, the songs are endlessly frothy and fun.” - All Music Guide Movie Disaster Music Track listing Rabbit Hole Bridget in the Sun King Fu Girl Lookin’ for Elvis Happy Face Creeps Nikita End of Story Beautiful But Deadly Fabulous You’re the Boss

Robbie Parrish - The Sharp Dressed Drummer To The Stars Where does one begin with Robbie Parrish? You may not know him but there is a very good likelihood that you have listened to his work. More than hanging out with the stars Robbie continues to be in the thick of it both on stage and as a world class drum tuner. Most of us never give much thought about what goes into reproducing the quality of sound on stage just as it was produced in the studio but Robbie does and he does this in a big way. Robbie Parrish is known as the consume’ go to sound reproduction man and when it comes to setting up microphones around the drum kit in a studio.

The man is also a top rated drummer and has performed on Broadway in Oh Calcutta! and Tommy among others. On stages around the world Robbie Parrish has performed with Annie Lennox, Edgar Winter, The Temptations, Dick Dale, Etta James, Dr. John and a long list of others. He performed with Chuck Berry in twenty plus shows including being on American Bandstand with him. Closer to home Robbie played in the great rock band Dr. Rocket with band leader Rock Romano. When it comes to dress Robbie is well known as “that sharp dressed drummer guy” and it is not uncommon to find him out and about looking every bit the way he lives his life. It was Duke Ellington that encouraged Robbie’s desire to look rather dapper both on and off stage. Plus as luck would have it a young Robbie Parrish not only received front row seats from Jimi Hendrix but back stage passes as well. He noticed the close to flamboyant dress of Mr. Hendrix and how the man stood out. Those two experiences struck home. Robbie is also the man that handled the sonics for early MTV, Woodstock II, and Live in Pompei with David Gilmour. In his early days Robbie met the Glimmer Twins, Keith and Mick who are better known today as the Rolling Stones. He would go on to prepare the drum sounds on Martin Scorsese’s “Live At The Beacon Theatre” featuring the Rolling Stones. His musical roots were planted back when Robbie was just ten. It was his Mother that took him to the music store and noticed a drum kit perched up on a shelf and mentioned that maybe drums were something he might want to learn. He did and the rest is history of course. Support at such a young age is what brings the best out of those that have the ability within, those that have a natural passion for music. What you have just read is about a man that was encouraged to investigate the mysteries of music and the nurturing encouragement he received that sparked an ember. As time advanced that ember turned into a roaring fire. If Robbie Parrish were to take a Myers Brigg test he would probably test out at about the maximum level in regard to being an introvert. Yet music lives within him so much so that it fuels a passion for perfect sound, to a depth that most of us would never dream of investigating on a regular basis. This otherwise introverted quiet soul becomes a wildly creative yet disciplined extrovert on stage and behind it. He sees music in colors and separates the hues into finely tuned sounds. The benefit is that millions of music lovers are enjoying recordings and live performances that a man of this caliber is fine tuning behind the scenes. World class sound engineer Andy Bradley shares, “Robbie Parrish is the best drum technician in the world” Learn more about Robbie at either https://www.facebook.com/robbieparrishproductions121 or Linkedin.

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 49

New Music From London

(https://ffm.to/arlo-parks-black-dog), both of which were playlisted simultaneously on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music A-lists and have amassed millions of streams worldwide. Arlo also recently lent her vocal to the Glass Animals single “Tangerine,” and Fraser T. Smith’s latest track “Strangers In The Night” with the pair recently performing together on Later With… Jools Holland.

2020 continues to see Arlo ascend, as she adds a starring role in the recent Gus Van Sant directed campaign for Gucci, alongside Billie Eillish, Harry Styles, Florence Welch and more, to her accumulating accolades. Recent press features have seen Arlo grace the cover of Evening Standard Magazine, Rollacoaster Magazine, NME and Dork Magazine as well as being included on the 2020 Dazed 100 List (https:// www.dazeddigital.com/projects/article/ 48866/1/arlo-parks-musician-biographydazed-100-2020-profile). Arlo was also recently named the winner of the BBC Introducing Artist Of The Year Award.

Arlo has also been named an ambassador for the British mental health charity, CALM. Whilst her songwriting has seen her gain new fans in Billie Eilish, Florence Welch, Michelle Obama, Angel Olsen, Phoebe Bridgers and Wyclef Jean, amongst many others.

photo credit: Alexandra Waespi

Arlo Parks Releases New Song “Caroline” Debut Album Colapsed In Sunbeams Out January 29th Via Transgressive Arlo Parks released new single “Caroline” alongside a lyric video. The Discussing the song, Arlo offered track is another gorgeous offering from the following. “Caroline is an exercise her her highly-anticipated debut album in people watching and seeing situations Collapsed In Sunbeams - due on January unfold without context. It’s an explora29th 2021 via Transgressive Records. tion of how something once full of Premiering as Annie Mac’s ‘Hottest healthy passion can dissolve in an Record,’ “Caroline” once more offers instant.” another insight into the beguiling sound of Arlo Parks - an alternative love song “Caroline” follows “Green Eyes” laced with her trademark breathy vocals, (https://arloparks.ffm.to/greeneyes) and atop lamenting guitar licks and a the recent hit singles “Hurt” (https:// euphoric heartbroken chorus. ffm.to/arlo-parks-hurt) and “Black Dog” 34 Rock and Blues International • August 2020 50 December 2020

This is all whilst performing standout shows for the revered COLORS and NPR’s Tiny Desk series - plus being one of only three artists to perform at Glastonbury this year.

On a personal level, Parks struggled with her identity growing up; a self-confessed tom-boy who was super sensitive and “uncool,” she says it was like “I’m a black kid who can’t dance for shit, listens to emo music and currently has a crush on some girl in my Spanish class.” By the time she reached 17, she shaved her head, figured out she was bisexual and produced/wrote an album’s worth of material.

Growing up in South West London, half Nigerian, a quarter Chadian and a quarter French, Arlo Parks learned to speak French before English. A quiet child, she’d write short stories and create fantasy worlds, later journaling and then obsessing over spoken word poetry, reading American poets such as Ginsberg and Jim Morrison and watching old Chet Baker performances on YouTube. These days she references Nayyirah Waheed,

Hanif Abdurraqib and Iain S. Thomas as her favorite modern poets, and it is clear that their works are as influential on her song-writing as any musician. Books too, such as The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.

Parks says, “the way Murakami writes in that book is how I aspire to write my songs; gritty and sensitive and human.”

Fela Kuti’s Water and Otis Redding’s Sittin On The Dock Of The Bay sound tracked Arlo Parks’ childhood, but it was aged around 13 that she discovered King Krule; an artist who would heavily influence the music she writes today. Later listening to more hiphop (from Kendrick Lamar, MF Doom and Earl Sweatshirt to the more confessional sounds of Loyle Carner) and rock (Jimi Hendrix, Shilpa Ray and David Bowie), as well as the subdued, pained sounds of Keaton Henson, Sufjan Stevens and Julien Baker, Parks explains, “I would write stories so detailed you could taste them, while maintaining the energy and life of the hip-hop I loved.”

There’s a visual, almost cinematic quality to her writing too, which is born from her love of horror films, streetwear and abstract art.

10.Eugene 11.Bluish 12.Portra 400 Arlo’s recent UK tour announcement saw tickets sell out in under an hour. Further dates at independent records stores around the country have now been added, with Arlo’s full schedule as follows: Upcoming Tour Dates 2021:

Arlo Parks Collapsed In Sunbeams Transgressive January 29, 2021

4/9 - Brussels, Belgium @ Le Botanique, Orangerie 4/10 - Luxembourg, Luxembourg @ Rotonde 4/12 - Hamburg, Germany @ Mojo 4/13 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Hotel Cecil 4/14 - Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Theater 4/15 - Munich, Germany @ Ampere 4/17 - Zürich, Switzerland @ Mascotte 4/18 - Milan, Italy @ Magnolia 4/20 - Lyon, France @ Ninkasi 4/22 - Barcelona, Spain @ Apolo 2 4/24 - Madrid, Spain @ Independance 4/26 - Bordeaux, France @ I.Boat 4/29 - Paris, France @ Trabendo 4/30 - Utrecht, Netherlands @ TivoliVredenburg 5/1 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg Oude Zaal 5/2 - Cologne, Germany @ Gebäude 9 5/3 - Tourcoing, France @ Le Grand Mix

1.Collapsed In Sunbeams 2.Hurt 3.Too Good 4.Hope 5.Caroline 6.Black Dog 7.Green Eyes 8.Just Go 9.For Violet

5/12 - Manchester, UK @ Gorilla – SOLD OUT 5/18 - Edinburgh, UK @ Mash House – SOLD OUT 5/19 - Glasgow, UK @ St. Lukes – SOLD OUT 5/21 - Brighton, UK @ Chalk – SOLD OUT 5/22 - Dublin, Ireland @ Whelans

Speaking about her debut LP, Arlo says “My album is a series of vignettes and intimate portraits surrounding my adolescence and the people that shaped it. It is rooted in storytelling and nostalgia - I want it to feel both universal and hyper specific.” Collapsed In Sunbeams will be released on January 29th 2021 on Transgressive Records. The album is available to pre-order on limited edition vinyl, CD and cassette at https:// arloparks.ffm.to/collapsedinsunbeams

“Caroline” LISTEN: https://arloparks.ffm.to/caroline WATCH: https://youtu.be/T4kYkFRYbaU

– SOLD OUT 5/25 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds – SOLD OUT 5/26 - Leeds, UK @ Belgrave Music Hall – SOLD OUT 5/29 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms – SOLD OUT 5/30 - Bristol, oUK to @ C rThekla e d i t L– u c a P i e r r o Pho SOLD OUT 6/2 - London, UK @ Village Underground – SOLD OUT 6/3 - London, UK @ Village Underground – SOLD OUT “A minor key moonbeam” NPR “Her songs are the results of an alchemy that combines shiver-inducing highs with sweet, molasses-coated lows” W Magazine “gritty, visceral storytelling that shines through her songwriting” Pigeons & Planes “Arlo Parks gives teen angst a human face” The FADER “Arlo Parks is sooo cool. I love Arlo” Billie Eilish “She’s an incredible poet” Phoebe Bridgers “Obsessed” Florence Welch

PRE-ORDER: Collapsed In Sunbeams https://arloparks.ffm.to/collapsedinsunbeams December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Montana recently shared a post on his Instagram account about the EP celebrating his relationship with Michael Knox. Tim has a heart of gold and a personality to match as evidenced by the plethora of luminaries and Hollywood stars that have joined in to help him celebrate the announcement of the new EP. Who else could command such high respect from sports athletes, actors, war heroes, and fellow musicians.

In addition to being a musician, Tim is also the star of his own TV show, Tim Montana’s Wild Side” which can be seen on the Velocity Outdoor Channel. He is also a shrewd businessman and is involved with products such as Polaris, Black Rifle Coffee, Fender, Gerber, Giant Bicycles, Indian Motorcycles, Kicker Performance Audio, Orange Amplifiers, Snap On, Traeger Grills, Whisker Bomb Pepper Sauce (with his fellow Whisker Brother, Billy Gibbons) and more.

This isn’t Tim’s first rodeo. His music has been utilized in NHL Games, NASCAR telecasts, action movies, and was even selected as the theme song for World Series Championship runs. Some of you may have even been privileged to see him on stage with Foo Fighter’s Dave Grohl as well as the legendary Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, not to mention opening up for Kid Rock.

Tim Montana Releases New EP Cars On Blocks

By Troy Wilson Country Rocker Tim Montana has just released his new EP Cars On Blocks. Cars On Blocks is Montana’s label debut for Music Knox Records / BBR Music Group. Already news of the release is being spread across social media platforms with luminaries such as Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen, Josh Brolin (yes, Thanos himself), Thomas Jane (The Punisher) and Rob O’Neill (the NAVY Seal who killed Osama bin Laden) releasing videos about the new album on their social media outlets.

To celebrate the release of the album, Tim Montana appeared on Fox & Friends to perform the song “Do It Fast.” This performance was the song and the album’s TV debut. “Do It Fast” was written in tribute to Tim’s friend and X Games Champion, Travis Pastrana along with motorcycle madman, Evel Knievel. Travis , who hails from Butte, Montana tells us that the new four-song EP is also a tribute to Butte and his trailer park roots. He tells us that the title song off the EP, “Cars On Blocks” and “River

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Kids” reflect the lifestyle of his “Blue Collar Butte Live”. He further illustrates that the song “Stronger Than You” describes what he has gained out of that upbringing. Michael Knox produced the album.

“I love that those ol’ boys are just as excited about the new music as I am—it’s nice to have people in your corner,” said Tim Montana “There’s something about this project that just feels really good too.

Not only because the music feels so ‘me’ but teaming up with Knox and having the label’s support, everything just feels elevated from what we’ve done before.”

Tim also stayed pretty busy during the pandemic, donning his producer’s hat to make a video for his and Mat Best’s song, “Quarantine.” Joining in on the action for the video were his friends and guest stars, Charlie Sheen, Lee Brice, Chris Kirkpatrick, Michael Ray, Chase Rice, and Travis Pastrana, to name a few.

The song is a bit humorous, but it is still Country with a Rock edge to it.

Rock and Blues International • December November 2020 2020

Check out Tim Montana’s new EP Cars On Blocks the first chance you get.

You’re going to love it.

Track Listing: 1. “Do It Fast”— Tim Montana, David Lee Murphy, Michah Wilshire 2. “River Kids” — Tim Montana, Erik Dylan Anderson, Michah Wilshire 3. “Stronger Than You” — Tim Montana, Brandon Kinney, Josh Thompson 4. “Cars on Blocks”—Tim Montana, Jeremy Bussey, Monty Criswell, Derek George, Frank Rodgers

Photo Credit: Josh Halling

Strung Like A Horse Share “Crazy Like Me” Music Video Debut Studio Album WHOA! Out Now Strung Like A Horse has released the official music video for their single “Crazy Like Me” from their debut studio album WHOA!, out now via Transoceanic Records. The album was produced by multiple Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Brandi Carlile, John Prine) and recorded at the legendary Sound Emporium in Nashville, TN. Watch “Crazy Like Me” via YouTube: https://youtu.be/X4Y4vixmRR0 Listen to WHOA! here: https://ffm.to/pyp3dgb Upon release, WHOA! debuted at #2 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart, #2 on the Amazon Alt-Country/Americana chart, and #4 on the Alt-Country Specialty chart. The album has earned praise from The Bluegrass Situation, Glide Magazine, Chattanooga Times Free Press, The Alternate Root, No Depression, Gimme Country, Lightning 100, WUTC and more including American Songwriter who said, “the magic touch of award-winning producer and ‘Memphian’ Matt Ross-Spang…played their chemistry to their advantage. Each

component plays a part in the story delivery, without one filler track.” The Alternate Root chose the first single “F*ck What They Think” as their #1 track of the week upon release.

In their review of the album American Blues Scene exclaimed, “This is my first experience hearing Strung Like a Horse and I couldn’t be more glad they were able to finally fly into my radar. I don’t look at the album title as WHOA! like stop. I look at it like WHOA! what did I just hear? Let me play that again!” Glide Magazine noted the record, “manages to capture the vibe of their rightfully celebrated live shows perfectly... Given what we’ve been through over the past nine months and what still lies ahead, WHOA! seems to be coming out at just the right time, offering a perfect 45 minutes to escape into.”

approach Americana is truly unique.”

Strung Like a Horse is helmed by Clay Maselle (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, mandolin), along with Eric “Crispy” Crisp (drums, bells, percussion), Tyler Martelli (lead guitars, piano, organ, keyboard, mandolin), and Dan Pinson (upright double bass, electric bass, lap steel guitar). Their high-energy live shows, sense of joy, and the originality of their sound, a trademark blend of Americana roots, Southern rock, bluegrass, and folk-punk, have made the band a cult favorite on the road. Noted

by Amos Perrine in No Depression as among the “Best New Music” and a “Don’t Miss” at AmericanaFest, the group’s official showcase also wowed London at AmericanaFestUK this past January.

Check Out Strung Like A Horse online:

“I’m very excited to be working with Strung Like a Horse on their new record in Nashville,” says Ross-Spang.

“I was intrigued immediately by the band’s energy and sheer love of music.

You can hear their home and heroes in these songs, but just enough to help them carve out their own sound. The way they

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ strunglikeahorse/timeline/ Website http://www.strunglikeahorse.com

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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By Pinky Black Courtney Paige Nelson has just released her new music video for “Saved Myself”.

This is Courtney’s final video in a trilogy of videos and songs highlighting mental health.

The first two releases were “Sorry I’m Not Perfect” and “Better Now” and were released earlier this year. These three songs chronicle Courtney’s life as she battled mental illness and went into recovery after trying to take her own life.

The San Francisco native and mental health advocate uses her music as a form of self-therapy and also to help others going through the same difficulties. “The video is meant to highlight mental health and the way it makes people uncomfortable, especially when you admit going to get treatment,” shares Nelson.

Courtney appears to have come from a somewhat dysfunctional home where she was not allowed to sing. She was kicked out of her parent’s home when she was only 17years-old. She had no musical background at the time and moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of picking up some modeling work, which didn’t really work out to her favor. Just as she was about to give up on modeling and try to return to school, an unexpected turn of events took place for her. She was picked up for the 23rd cycle of America’s Top Model.

Nelson did very well on the show and made it to the final episode and placed fourth in the competition “I never got a big break in modeling,” says Nelson. “But, during a six-month stay in Australia, I got on stage and sang in front of people for the first time. I was 27 years old. It changed my life. From there, I started taking vocal lessons and entertaining the idea of music and singing as a career.”

Courtney’s vocal styling have been described as smooth and there have been comparisons of her styling to those of Dua Lipa. The one thing that really sets Courtney apart is the subject matter of her lyrics. Not only are they thought provoking, but they also show the tender side of her personality.

“Releasing music for the world to hear has been an amazing dream,” shares Nelson.

“Because I don’t have a musical background, everything I have written and everything that comes out musically is just this raw part of me I hid for so long. And, honestly, music is the only thing that makes sense to me.”

Courtney Paige Nelson Drops Official Music Video For “Saved Myself”

Check out the video for “Saved Myself” at https://youtu.be/W6oPGO5tnC4 You can find out more about Courtney Paige Nelson on her Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/courtneypaigenelson/

The Empowering, Revealing, and Emotional Track Highlighting Mental Health Is The Final Chapter In Nelson’s Three-Part Journey

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Earcandy Release Their Debut Album An Earcandy Christmas

By Sheena Johnson Just in time for the Christmas season, Tik Tok sensations, Earcandy has just released their debut album, An Earcandy Christmas. This 11-person a capella group has been dominating Tik Tok for the last two months. So far the group has racked up over 60 million views and has received over 13 million likes. In addition to that, they also have over 10 million followers spread out over all their social accounts. This great group of singers has just killed it on Tik Tok with the songs off their new album.

series Glee. Mastering on the project was handled by Grammy Award-Winning Engineer Bill Hare. An Earcandy Christmas was also produced and edited by awardwinning a cappella mogul, Justin Crichfield. As you can see, these 11 individuals have a great group of people behind them. No doubt that this will become a million selling album by this Christmas.

Earcandy is Jonathan Tilkin, Sri Ramesh, Anthony Gargiula, Taylor Edlin, Kavya Borra, Ryan Narciso, Jilaine Marie Orton, Naomi Joy Turner, Nina Ann Nelson, Lyric Slaughter, and Republic Records newest solo signing, Lyn Lapid.

An Earcandy Christmas was released on Republic Records and is currently available on all streaming platforms as well as Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Itunes, deezer, Tidal, and Amazon Music.

Now is a good time to start gathering all your Christmas music together and you can start with An Earcandy Christmas.

The new album, An Earcandy Christmas was expertly mixed by Ed Boyer, who has had a lot of experience with vocals and a capella groups such as the multiplatinum group Penatonix. He also worked on the Emmy Award-Winning musical TV

An EARCANDY Christmas TRACK LISTING

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Silent Night Sleigh Ride Grown-Up Christmas List White Christmas I’ll Be Home for Christmas You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 10.This Christmas

1. Intro (Christmas From the Heart)

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December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Cloud Nothings by Daniel Topete

The Cloud Nothings Share New Song “The Spirit Of” Off their Upcoming New Album, The Shadow I Remember Due Out February 26 Via Carpark Records ANNOUNCES LIVESTREAM SHOW Cloud Nothings share a new song from their forthcoming record The The band is also announcing a Shadow I Remember, due February 26th Bandcamp album release livestream on via Carpark Records. Released alongside February 17th which will find the band a vibrant animated visualizer, “The Spirit performing live from The Grog Shop in Of” is a driving, power-pop gem that Cleveland. The livestream schedule can hurdles toward a noisy climax. Followbe found below and tickets are available ing “Am I Something,” “The Spirit Of” for $10 here. is the second song released from The Shadow I Remember, which finds the 8:00 AM Sun, February 28, 2021 band reunited with producer Steve AEDT Melbourne Albini, who helmed the production for 9:00 PM Sat, February 27, 2021 their breakout 2012 album Attack On GMT London Memory and finds Baldi exploring his 4:00 PM Sat, February 27, 2021 place in the world as both a human and EST New York band a decade into its career.

56 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

1:00 PM Sat, February 27, 2021 PST Los Angeles Recently, the band announced the re-release of their debut album Turning On. Recorded by Baldi on a computer in his parents’ basement, Turning On is an essential album to fully understand the world of Cloud Nothings. Including live staples like “Hey Cool Kid” and “Can’t Stay Awake,” Turning On will be reissued with its original tracklist on January 29th by Carpark Records in celebration of its 10 year anniversary.

Listen to and watch “The Spirit

Of” above, see The Shadow I Remember album details and tracklisting below, and stay tuned for more from Cloud Nothings by following the band on social media.

For a band that resists repeating itself, picking up lessons from a decade prior is the strange route Cloud Nothings took to create their most fully-realized album. Their new record, The Shadow I Remember, marks eleven years of touring, a return to early songwriting practices, and revisiting the studio where they first recorded together. In a way not previously captured, this album expertly combines the group’s pummeling, aggressive approach with singersongwriter Dylan Baldi’s extraordinary talent for perfect pop. To document this newly realized maturity, the group returned to producer Steve Albini and his Electrical Audio studios in Chicago, where the band famously destroyed its initial reputation as a bedroom solo project with the release of 2012 album Attack on Memory.

Another throwback was Baldi’s return to constant songwriting à la the early solo days, which led to the nearly 30 demos that became the 11 songs on The Shadow I Remember. Instead of sticking to a tried-but-true formula, his songwriting stretched out while digging deeper into his melodic talents. “I felt like I was locked in a character,” Baldi says of becoming a reliable supplier of heavy, hook-filled rock songs. “I felt like I was playing a role and not myself. I really didn’t like that role.” More frequent writing led to the freedom in form heard on The Shadow I Remember.

What he can’t do alone is get loud and play noisily, which is exactly what happened when the entire band— bassist TJ Duke, guitarist Chris Brown, and drummer Jayson Gerycz—convened.

The band had more fun in the studio than they’ve had in years, playing in their signature, pulverizing way, while also trying new things. The absurdly catchy “Nothing Without You” includes a first for the band: Macie Stewart of Ohmme contributes guest vocals.

Elsewhere, celebrated electronic composer Brett Naucke adds subtle synthesizer parts.

The songs are kept trim, mostly around the three-minute mark, while

being gleefully overstuffed.

Almost every musical part turns into at least two parts, with guitar and drums opening up and the bass switching gears. “That’s the goal—I want the three-minute song to be an epic,” Baldi says.

“That’s the short version of the long-ass jam.”

Lyrically, Baldi delivers an aching exploration of tortured existence, punishing selfdoubt, and the familiar pangs of oppressive mystery.

“Am I something?” Baldi screams on the song of the same name. “Does anybody living out there really need me?” It’s a heartbreaking admission of existential confusion, delivered hoarsely, with an instantly relatable melody.

“Is this the end/ of the life I’ve known?” he asks on album opener “Oslo.” “Am I older now/ or am I just another age?” Despite the questioning lyrics, the band plays with more assurance and joy than ever before. The Shadow I Remember announces Cloud Nothings’ second decade and it sounds like a new beginning.

LISTEN/WATCH: “The Spirit Of” https://found.ee/CN_SpiritOf PRE-ORDER: The Shadow I Remember https://found.ee/CN_TheShadow

Paste “The kind of cathartic uncertainty that’s best sung with hordes of other people” Rolling Stone Cloud Nothings The Shadow I Remember Carpark Records February 26, 2021 1. Oslo 2. Nothing Without You 3. The Spirit Of 4. Only Light 5. Nara 6. Open Rain 7. Sound Of Alarm 8. Am I Something 9. It’s Love 10. A Longer Moon 11. The Room It Was Connect with Cloud Nothings:

What The Press Is Saying About “Am I Something”:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/ cloudnothings/

“Classic Cloud Nothings” Brooklyn Vegan

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/ cloudnothings

“a jagged and melodic return to form” The FADER “existentialism with killer guitar lines”

Website http://www.cloudnothings.com

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 57

GIMME RADIO Launches A New Groundbreaking Fan Experience With GIMME TV 24/7 Video Channels On The GIMME METAL and GIMME COUNTRY Platforms Featuring Curated Music Videos, Artist Created Content, Music Documentaries, Live Streaming And More!

Gimme Radio has announced Gimme TV, two 24/7 video channels Gimme Country TV and Gimme Metal TV. Gimme TV combines the power of MTV-like linear broadcasting with live streaming. Gimme TV will feature music videos, short form artist-created content, long form music documentaries and movies, live streaming music performances, live streaming artist lifestyles/ storyteller pieces and much more.

Download the Gimme Country or Gimme Metal app on your Android or iOS phone to tune in.

interaction with various artists while watching content. For example, Gimme Country TV will air the Sarah Shook & The Disarmers documentary, What it Takes: film en douze tableaux, and members of the Disarmers will be in the live feed. Gimme Metal TV has the documentary about the legendary metal band Death, Death By Metal, with the director in the live chat giving viewers deeper detail and context into the movie they won’t find anywhere else. With the capability to offer live music, unreleased content and exclusive access, Gimme’s Gimme TV is truly presenting the ultimate fan experience.

While many music fans are at home and streaming more than ever, In addition, Gimme TV will give Gimme TV is super-serving their music artists and fans the ability to create live community with a wide range of live video content with the highest quality streams, unmatched behind the scenes audio and HD video that can be captured content and firsthand stories. Fans can by using up to three iPhones. Gimme watch the highest production events as TV is uniquely able to bring fans music well as impromptu at-home sessions. television for the 21st Century thanks to Gimme knows that fans want more than Gimme’s partnership with Otter Netjust shows; they want intimate access to their favorite artists’ lives, a tour through work, creator of Otter Channels. Otter Channels is a cloud-based TV programa musician’s record collection, quarantine projects that have been keeping their ming and production platform that lets users create and manage their own 24/7 favorite bands busy and more. Another streaming TV channels and include unique aspect of Gimme TV will be live 58 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

multi-cam livestreams in the mix.

Gimme TV is poised to captivate the rich community that Gimme Radio has cultivated through its highly curated music experience. Gimme Country and Gimme Metal have amassed devoted fans that love these respective genres, and those music lovers are being served with the very best in programming, fan community interaction, exclusive offers, merchandise and much more. Gimme TV will continue to add to this unparalleled experience, building deeper connections between the music and fans. Always serving the underserved fan, Gimme TV offers even more ways to discover music via music videos and specialty programming.

Tyler Lenane, Gimme CEO says, “Right now there is this mad rush to become the live streaming destination.

But I think these other companies are missing the point that fans don’t just want to watch a live performance in an empty club on their laptop…they want deeper access to artists, and they want to experience it with other fans. Gimme learned how to build communities with

online radio and we are going to make those communities even stronger with real video.”

Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, host of Gimme Metal’s The Dave Mustaine Show, raves, “Adding video to Gimme Radio is something that I’ve wanted to do since I first met the Gimme creators!

How rad would it be for Gimme Metal fans to be watching music videos with me and other metalheads around the world? There will be so much killer stuff too!! How does watching official videos of the songs, live concert footage, recording of records, b-roll, cool jamming, and of course our amazing DJ’s, LIVE in their studios sound? This is game changing.”

Jesse Dayton, host of Gimme Country’s The Jesse Dayton Station, says, “Gimme Radio has been my go-to place to discover new artists & reconnect with deeper cuts by classic artists that I may or may not have heard or lost touch with. Gimme Country TV will provide the same thing with new and old music performances, interviews and a more indepth look into artists, that frankly the light-speed editing/short form of Tik-Tok doesn’t provide.”

Otter Network CEO Nick Tangborn says, “We’re excited to partner with Gimme, because they have been truly innovative in bringing audio and now video to music lovers in the mobile space, just as we’ve brought broadcast-

quality video production to anyone with a smartphone. I spent a long time running a record label and working at some of the earliest online music platforms, so working with Gimme to use Otter’s video technology for musicians and fans is really fun.”

About Gimme Radio: Founded by digital music veterans from Apple Music, Google Play, Beats Music and Rhapsody, Gimme Radio is the ultimate music service for the true music fan. As the only online music service designed with the idea of community and to “serve the underserved,” (also available for iOS and Android app), Gimme currently offers the unique musical experiences of Gimme Metal and Gimme Country (apps available for both iOS and Android) with upcoming plans to expand genres and launch new channels within genres.

Gimme believes in the passion of the music community to give its listeners great programming - not algorithms.

That’s why every song played on Gimme is hand-selected by the musicians, music journalists, producers, labels and tastemakers that music fans already know and trust. Gimme is dedicated to building a community of fans within the service. On Gimme, listeners, DJs and artists can all engage in a conversation around the music - as it’s playing.

former entertainment executive, and Nick Tangborn, a digital media veteran of Rhapsody, BitTorrent, CNET and the original Napster. Its mission is to make video production and live streaming fast, easy and accessible for all, with a suite of patent-pending cloud-based multi-cam video production tools. Otter’s products include the web-based video switching program Otter Director™ HD, Otter Camera™ HD for the iPhone, and the new Otter Channels, which allows users to program their own cloud-based TV stations. Visit otter.network.

Gimme Country: Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/gimmecountry/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ GimmeCountry Instagram: https:// www.instagram.com/gimmecountry Website: https:// gimmecountry.com Gimme Metal: Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/gimmemetal Twitter: https://twitter.com/ gimmeradio Instagram: https:// www.instagram.com/gimmeradio Gimme Radio: https:// gimmeradio.com/#/corporate

About Otter Network: Otter Network was founded by Harry Friedman, a tech entrepreneur and December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Ricky Eat Acid Release New LP When They Align Just So, Memories Of Another Life Bleed Into My Own Via All DSPS

Photo Cred: Nick Hughes 60

Rock and Blues International • Decvember December 2020 2020

Philadelphia-based experimental electronic artist Ricky Eat Acid releases When They Align Just So, Memories Of Another Life Bleed Into My Own. Do you know that feeling you get when hearing certain music for the first time - it’s sort of like nostalgia for something you can’t actually remember, or didn’t actually happen. Lately, it’s been happening to me with the Ernest Hood album Neighborhoods so strongly I almost feel myself ‘living a thousand different lives, to completion, in the blink of an eye, and forgetting them again like dead dreams brushed from tired eyes in the morning light’ to quote a long time favorite writer. I don’t really have a better way to describe it, but it comes up a lot in the blank static void of other people’s lives on the internet.

You’ll see it a lot in Youtube comments, on old flash videos, really anywhere you turn if you look under the proverbial logs in the online forest, beneath the leaves on the forest floor, where the salamanders live. When I was a kid, I got the same sort of feeling when playing certain videogames - Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Majora’s Mask, and so on - it was like the kind of “Wanderlust feeling” that’d come from reading certain books, watching certain movies, but for somewhere that wasn’t real, and couldn’t actually be accessed, except maybe in dreams I suppose.

I’ve been very preoccupied, the last few years, with the idea of memory, and false memories especially - how easy it is to convince someone they experienced something that never actually happened. Honestly, how easy it is to convince ourselves we experienced things that never happened. I would practice, sometimes, as a kid even, telling myself to “remember” something wrong - that is, I’d tell myself over & over an innocuous lie was the truth, things like “I ate three oranges for lunch today” when I’d really had a sandwich, just to see if, as time passed, I’d remember the lie as the truth. I kept track in a notebook, where I’d record each to remind myself of what was objectively real.

Then I lost the book, and I forgot both versions in time anyway - the lie & the truth - so that it didn’t matter anyway ultimately.

I still remember the first time I really, truly realized what time was - or how we perceive it & what it represents to us, anyway. I don’t know how old I was, but I couldn’t be more than five years old. It was close to the fourth of July & I was eating watermelon at the kitchen table, with the window open across from me letting a breeze blow through the hot room. I had a little bowl to spit the seeds into, but I preferred to take a spoon & try to poke them out of each slice, one by one, before eating it, so that I wouldn’t accidentally swallow one and let it grow inside me (as I’d been told, and still at least half-believed). It occurred to me suddenly that

soon this moment would be gone, and I’d be somewhere else, doing something else, and soon enough I wouldn’t even remember it, though it was undoubtedly happening and if I no longer remembered it, even though it happened, would it really have ever happened at all? I worried that everything I remembered before that moment could be a lie, even though I could remember so much of it, there was no way to prove that it really actually happened, once it was gone.

(Coincidentally, the first “R Rated Movie” I’d watch, just a couple years later, would be the director’s cut of Blade Runner.) I decided to commit every detail of the moment to memory, to see if I could ‘hold on’ to it, so to speak - I don’t think I thought I could move about freely through time like Billy Pilgrim, but I was still curious what would happen if I managed to ‘capture’ it in my mind well enough to return to it, the way it smelled, the feeling of the hot air in our non-airconditioned house, the sweet taste of the watermelon and the feeling of the few little black seeds well hidden enough that I’d bite down on them still, accidentally. It wasn’t until a few weeks later, in the backseat of our car as we drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, when I remembered my goal again suddenly & began pouring over each detail, trying to see if I could ‘force’ myself back into that moment. I marveled at how much time had passed, but I was disappointed to find I still had no way to prove that my memories, even the watermelon eating, were real - I could remember the taste, the smell, the feeling of the moment with convincing verisimilitude, but there was still nothing tangible - I’d have to take my memory at it’s word, essentially. I don’t remember much from my childhood (they say trauma will do that) but I can still recall that moment in the kitchen with the same certainty as I did then.

How does it relate to this record? Not perfectly, that’s for sure - but isn’t that the point of art?

I began writing this record in 2015, when I had a tentative job lined up to compose the music for a new indie game that was being developed. The details aren’t important, nor mine to share, but it was something very much in line with the retro JRPG/SNES sensibilities & art styles of subsequent games like Undertale and Stardew Valley, among others. Considering

LISTEN & SHARE Ricky Eat Acid - When They Align Just So, Memories Of Another Life Bleed Into My Own https://youtu.be/ BYl1UTeXGOw?list=OLAK5uy_m8LeBkRTFgg44cTxnuRD31CC7b2Wm6bbw LISTEN & SHARE: Ricky Eat Acid - “smoking a cigarette or is it weed” https://youtu.be/g-nmWy26Alk LISTEN & SHARE: Ricky Eat Acid - “waking up at home after the storm (something very beautiful)” https://youtu.be/BrDmD85zr3M LISTEN & SHARE: Ricky Eat Acid - “world map” https://youtu.be/jB5UuK7YLkE

that the music of games like Final Fantasy 6, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, Banjo Kazooie, Majora’s Mask, Mother III, (and so on) was what first inspired me to begin learning about music, music theory, and how to compose it, this was perfect for me, and I happily overcommitted myself to the project, so much that when the game itself ended up cancelled, I continued to work on the soundtrack anyway, just for fun. Luckily, I was allowed to keep the work I’d done and use it for anything I wanted, as long as I scraped any trace of their IP from it (in the titles, and so on - hence my intentional & caution vagueness in talking about any of it) I became very interested in how I could make a proper album from it all, and what it might be like, what it might mean and represent - etc. What stuck out to me as the most interesting facet was the absolute overwhelming nostalgia at the heart of projects like these, whether it’s something seemingly observed and capitalized on simply to sell a project, or out of personal, real love for the style & tropes (seeing as Undertale & Stardew Valley were, famously, both labors of love from a single creator, I’d readily drop both into the latter category). It’s not just that we go back to these touchstones from our childhoods a lot (and a lot more after a certain age, especially) but things that are even vaguely reminiscent of them can still elicit the same knee-jerk emotional response despite not having the actual memories attached to them, or anything like that - like hearing a certain kind of retro synth sound used in other music, or a certain composition style meant to evoke music from those games & composers. Even with my own music as Ricky Eat Acid - which, to be fair, is frequently inspired in various ways by these things, notably in songs like “Inside my house, someplace I keep dreaming about” which I wrote to mimic the opening song that plays when starting a new game in Chrono Trigger not the composition/style itself but the emotional undercurrent of it - how I felt when listening to this song, with or without the actual memories of the game, so to speak. (Coincidentally, this is by far the most popular song I’ve

continued on next page December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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tion, innovation, and prolificacy Ricky Eat Acid releases have encompassed many, many different styles over the past decade, from purely ethereal, beautiful ambient music, much more challenging drone, noise, and experimental sounds, hip hop & dance - of many eras & styles, trendy & nostalgic alike - and pop in its many, many fractured forms. Having long-held the project’s truest and most consistent ambition to be that of a pop-act, he likens the many Medusa-head-like tendrils of the form to something akin to the glow of a lighthouse, or nocturnal attraction of moths - best summed up in the singular & succinct press release for his to-date most popular & enduring album, Three Love Songs, as ‘lately i’ve been really into music that sounds like it’s reaching upwards to God and falling short, over & over’

Ricky Eat Acid continued from previous page released, to date.)

So, could an album written specifically in conversation with all of these influences and composers evoke the same sort of emotions from a listener personally familiar with them, despite not having any of the same memories attached to the music? Obviously it would be a slightly different thing altogether, but in a broader sense it gets back to the question of memory, and of the ease with which false memories can slide in alongside (or in place of) our own experiences, sometimes as easily as by an offhand suggestion subsumed into the brain’s pulpy, static ooze. Could an album designed this way also stand alone as a musical project completely separate from its concept, to anyone without any knowledge of its influences or conception - not to mention someone completely oblivious to any of these games and the music that accompanies them, for any reason?

The goal, of course, is that it will; I wouldn’t want to release something that required any kind of prerequisite knowledge. At the end of the day, I just wanted to make a good record that I loved a great deal, personally, and everything else could be additional to that. Hopefully you enjoy it for what it is, either way, I don’t have any answer for any of this myself but I think it’s important to give a bit of an explanation for the project, and it’s existence, to anyone who cares & is interested. I know that it’s more pretentious than ever, in this day & age, to talk so much about one’s art, but I also don’t really mind or care - I’ve always loved reading the author’s preface to certain books when it’s written with particular care, in a way that influences the reading and gives greater clarity and context to it (Slapstick, by Kurt Vonnegut, is a particular favorite example of this, and there’s a reason my wife & I share matching tattoos of the campaign slogan logo from it).

There is a lot more I want to say, but you’ve suffered this far, and I thank you for it; to go on beyond this point would be simply

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cruel. Thank you for listening to this record; it means a great deal to me, and I am incredibly happy to finally share it with you after five long years of writing, re-writing, shuffling & reshuffling it. I want to thank my wife, Kitty, for helping me shape it into the album it became and for helping me find the confidence to finish it and release it - as well as for agreeing to release it through her label, Pretty Wavvy. I know I’m not an easy artist for a label to work with sometimes (though it’s only because I care a great, great deal about the work I do, even when it would benefit me to dial it back and let go some - hah!) so I have to say thank you double for that. I want to thank my other friends who heard it along the way & helped me to form it into the complete, final version you can hear now. I want to thank Jesse Cannon for mastering it and allowing it to sound as good as it does; I can’t even begin to explain how amazing it felt to hear after four & half years spent listening to the original quiet, tape-hiss & static coated draft.

Ricky Eat Acid is a solo electronic/ experimental music project started by Sam Ray sometime around 2009 or so, in Baltimore Maryland. He currently resides in Philadelphia, and has been based all around the country - in Florida, Los Angeles, New York City, and elsewhere, including many months - maybe years - spent nomadically making music & living mostly out of hotels & on friendly floors.

For 4 - going on 5 - years he’s been married to fellow musician & producer/performer Kitty, whose project is eponymous though equally varied in sound & style, and they have several collaborative projects, including the rave-pop/ future-pop/hyper-pop/EDM etc duo & conceptual/performantive art project The Pom-Poms, and Ray’s long-term experimental pop/rock/ metal/whatever band/project Teen Suicide (also named - at various points - American Pleasure Club, Julia Brown, Starry Cat, Dumpster, God’s Knife, and many, many other things).

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

True to his reputation for experimenta-

A favorite of edgy, idiosyncratic, and genre-bending producers, rappers, singers, and Icons like Jaden Smith, Kevin Abstract, Iggy Pop, Jamie XX and even beloved handsome actor Cillian Murphy, all of whom have either sampled, collaborated with, or performed/DJ’ed his music - his biggest mainstream break to date has come from his frequent collaboration & artistic+intellectual synergy with Jaden Smith, who’s spoken frequently about Ray’s influence as an inspiration for his debut record ‘Syre’, of which Ray produced the title track - but though the sudden onslaught of real-world, real-life attention & interest would most likely prove intoxicating and tempting to another artist, he’s chosen to follow it all up with one of his most intriguingly strange releases yet - wow! It’s great.

Photo Credit: Sam Ray WHEN THEY ALIGN JUST SO, MEMORIES OF ANOTHER LIFE BLEED INTO MY OWN - TRACKLISTING 1. underground cavern with light coming from high above 2. main theme (opening credits & title screen) 3. waking up at home after the storm (something very beautiful) 4. world map 5. inside someone’s house 6. nearby town at sunset 7. snowy mountain road 8. desolate ice cavern (something very cold) 9. dark & gloomy dungeon 10. ordinary battle theme 11. bicycle theme (cool sky blue) 12. wildflower meadow (woods theme) 13. suddenly it’s starting to rain 14. listening to his radio in the park 15. smoking a cigarette or is it weed 16. inside someone else’s house 17. creepy dinosaur world 18. in the graveyard & haunted house (with ghosts) 19. deep underground in the crystal caves 20. pirate ship theme 21. inside a totally different person’s house 22. the air filled with cherry blossoms or some other sort of flower petal 23. great big ravine 24. boss battle & dungeon clear 25. airship theme 26. true ending (something vaguely sad)

By Pinky Black World-renowned and Emmy Award winning singer / songwriter Stan Bush has just released his new album, Dare To Dream.

Dare To Dream is Stan’s fourteenth album and his song “Born To Fight” off the album is already taking off on multiple medias. It is being featured in the crossover promotional video for Netflix’s BAKI and it is also being featured on Kengan Ashura Shows, which are two of the most popular anime shows on Netflix. “‘Dare to Dream’ is a ray of hope in these dark times,” Bush says. “I’m very proud of the new album, and I’m grateful for the support!”

This new 11-song album features as the opening track, “Born To Fight.” Also on the album is the hit single, “The 80’s” which was released over the summer month, along with a music video for the song, which is a tribute to the 80s, a decade that helped shape the lifestyle for a generation of teenagers.

The title track off the album, as well as the song, “The Times of Your Life” will no doubt become Stan Bush classics and hits. Both songs are filled with positively and profound messages that only Stan Bush can deliver.

For those of you who are unaware of Stan Bush, no doubt you’ve heard his music and didn’t even know it. He is best known for the song “The Touch” which was featured in Transformers: The Movie and the latest Transformers film, Bumblebee. It has become the anthem for Transformer fans all over the world. In addition to being used in Transformers, “The Touch” has also been used in movies and TV series such as the movie Boogie Nights, on NBC’s Chuck, Fox’s American Dad, ABC’s The Goldbergs (ABC), and the Guitar Hero and Saints Row IV video games. Because of this, Stan was inducted into the Transformers Hall Of Fame.

“Throughout my career, people have told me that ‘The Touch’ has been an inspiration,” says Bush. “That may be truer for me than anyone. ‘The Touch’ began a succession of songs and albums with a

Stan Bush Releases His Fourteenth Studio Album, Dare to Dream message of hope, of believing in yourself and going for it. It’s very humbling when a fan says my music changed his life, but I believe each of us makes his own reality, and that we have way more power than we realize.

In 1997 Stan was awarded an Emmy in the category of Best Original Song for his track ‘Til I Was Loved

By You,’ which was featured in the TV Show Guiding Light.

Stan has even touched the Olympics as his song, “Capture The Dream” was featured in the 1996 Olympics. Stan’s songs have also been used in two Jean-Claude Van Damme films, Kickboxer and Bloodsport. Stan’s songs have become a big part of musical history, as well as his collaborations with songwriting geniuses such as Jonathan Cain (Journey), Jim Vallance (Bryan Adams, Aerosmith), and Paul

Stanley of KISS. Stan has definitely made his mark on the music business, and we can’t wait for all of you to hear his new album, Dare To Dream. We’re sure that it will touch you as much as it touched us.

Dare to Dream track listing: 1-Born to Fight 2-Dare to Dream 3-The Times of Your Life 4-A Dream of Love 5-The 80’s 6-Live and Breathe 7-Heat of Attack 8-Dream Big 9-True Believer 10-Never Give Up 11-Home

STAN BUSH online: http://www.stanbush.com http://www.facebook.com/ stanbushmusic https://twitter.com/Stan_Bush http://www.youtube.com/user/ OfficialStanBush Deccember 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Amenra Announce Live Stream Event Happening December 12

Photo Credit: Stefaan Temmerman “The band’s focus on the inherent and desolate beauty that’s found in life imbued with a painful ambiance not often found within their doomed sludge style…in the clashing of tender and serene passages with intense screams and walls of noise that touch upon the actuality of life. It will hurt and terrify, but there can be salvation.” – Metal Hammer Belgium’s AMENRA announce the Le Cercle live stream event happening December 12th. Ticket presales begin Thursday, November 26 at 4pm CET. Tickets are available at: https://dice.fm/partner/ churchofra-vzw/event/plw8k-amenra-lecercle-12th-dec-stream-via-bruxellesbrusselstickets?_branch_match_id=860328818252785416 AMENRA comment on the event: “On a summer night this year we all came together on a meadow in our hometown, Kortrijk, to play our latest album, MASS VI in its entirety. This recorded performance was as a part of the European Metal Alliance online festival, and was the last concert we would be playing with our bass player, Levy Seynaeve.

For one last time the circle of that AMENRA era was complete. We would now like to provide you with another opportunity to view this memorable meeting of friends. It was only us, and a crew of extremely talented friends. The sparse natural setting, special light set-up and drone footage makes for a unique concert experience like never before.

A link to be replaced in this chain of strength.

A circle of fire to be drawn over and over again.”

Formed in 1999, the critically acclaimed band have since captivated audiences through their raw, ethereal, sonic energy, both live and in the studio.

AMENRA’s monstrous live performances and cinematic albums have earned them a cult following. Touring the world over, the band has played some of the most prestigious festivals in Europe and North America.

AMENRA will release a highly anticipated new album in 2021. Stay tuned for more information in the near future.

What the press is saying about AMENRA: “Ethereal hardcore/sludge band Amenra touches on black metal, gothic folk and post-rock in the most organic of ways.” – Brooklyn Vegan “Simply staggering.” – Rock A Rolla “An elephantine beast of a record, whose greyness of hue is matched by its thunderous assault…a band with grim gravitas that’s all their own.” – Terrorizer

“They are the uncontested visionary of monochromatic heaviness, AMENRA. The last time I witnessed an AMENRA performance they blew us all away and that would be a grossly undersold miscalculation. They set a new standard for me that afternoon, demonstrating just how forward-thinking and discovery-rich DIY music can be; a transcendent marriage of heaviness, artistry, nonlinearity, energy, and soul which vaulted from AMENRA’s stage and through the audience.

They’re a modern band, they defy categorization, and they are single-minded in their commitment to an unwavering artistic vision of beautiful cacophony. If this music could take physical form, it would render mountains to dust.” - John Baizley (Baroness) “For us in Neurosis and Neurot Recordings life has always been a quest searching for something deeper, something more meaningful, something that moves one to feel something real in a world full of soul killing triviality. AMENRA is deep, and real, and moving, and incredibly inspiring. Their family is dedicated and like minded in a way that we relate to completely. Kindred spirits.

Their musical and visual aesthetic is pure and runs through everything they do, their music, their words, their graphics, their visuals, and print media. That unspoken spiritual core that we seek, weaves throughout their being.” Steve Von Till (Neurosis)

“Their live performances have become particularly entrancing communions, with AMENRA Is: stunning visuals, uncompromising sonic Colin H. Van Eeckhout - Vocals power and a visceral, enigmatic turn from Mathieu Vandekerckhove - Guitars Eeckhout, who somehow manages to Bjorn Lebon - Drums captivate an audience whilst predominantly Lennart Bossu - Guitars playing to the back of the stage.” - INDETim De Gieter - Bass PENDENT December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 65

Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre 66

Rock and Blues International •• November December 2020 2020

By Kevin Wildman One of the most famous and popular bands in Classic Rock was Jethro Tull.

Formed in 1967, the band started out performing a mixture of blues-rock and jazzfusion. Later on they would incorporate a more rock sound into their music. “This Was” is the first album released by Jethro Tull. It was released in 1968. The original members were Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, piano, mouth organ), Mick Abrahams (guitar, vocals), Glen Cormick (bass) and Clive Bunker (drums). By the time the band recorded their second album “Stand Up,” in 1969, Mick Abrahams had been replaced by Martin Barre, and that’s were this story really begins. With over 20 albums to their credit, the only two constants on those albums were Ian Anderson and Martin Barre.

Throughout the years, Jethro Tull’s music evolved so quickly. While This Was and Stand Up were very close in sound, the albums Benefit, Aqualung, and Thick As A Brick changed quite drastically from album to album. This continued on through the end of Jethro Tull. Every album was an adventure and a new direction. Martin explains the changes as just growing musically. “ I guess we were learning a lot. We were touring continuously listening to other bands, listening to music that was playing and I think in the early days of all those bands out there, we were learning how to play. I think there’s a lot of naivete in the musicianship. It was sort of raunchy and raw and it worked because of that. Everybody just wants you to play better and they wanted to listen to other musicians and see and hear what they were doing, and pick up tips and ideas and inspiration. I guess we were learning a lot.

We were touring, so it’s a real steep learning curve in the 70s and I guess that explains why we sort of just went crazy with the music writing, with the direction we took, but it didn’t seem unnatural. It just sort of it seemed that it was a totally normal direction.

We were aware that we were sort of giving the fans a bit of a ride for their money, you know, where the music was going, but we were having fun and we found it exciting.

And we hope that translated into what we were recording.”

Martin still carries on this approach with his solo career as he moves from album to album. “That ‘s always been the way that I feel and thing about music and I carried that through into what I do. I like to start from scratch. Every album… every CD… we just start at O and build it up. I hate repetition and even when we’re playing concerts, we’ll change the set… even in the middle of a tour.

I think change is healthy. I wouldn’t say that people expected that, but Tull fans were always very flexible in that way. They heard our music and they knew that they never knew what was going to come next, but they sort of forgave us for things that they did not like, and they were really happy when we did something they did like. They never knew what was gonna come and I like that about music. I don’t want everything to be predictable or retro... all the same. You know, I mean all those adjectives. I hate them all

Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre Releases 50 Years Of Jethro Tull and maybe that’s the way I’ve approached the 50th Anniversary CD. I just wanted to do tracks that weren’t shortcuts to doing something quick and easy. I wanted to put a lot of thought and a lot of emotion into what I did. Otherwise it would mean nothing.”

In fact, one cannot really think about Jethro Tull without thinking about the unbelievable guitar-work presented by Martin Barre on those albums. Martin would remain with the band until the band’s untimely demise in 2011. In 2011 Ian Anderson came in one day and announced to the other members of Jethro Tull that he was going to ‘call it a day’ and disband Tull. Needless to say, that was perplexing to Martin and the remaining members, but they all parted and went their separate direction.

After the confusion of this decision diminished, Martin knew that there was only one course of action for him. He would continue on with his solo career. In 1994 Martin had released his first solo album, A Trick Of Memory. Another couple of solo albums, The Meeting (1996) and Stage Left

(2003) followed that up. At the time of these releases, Martin had no inclination to leave Jethro Tull at all. That was as much his band as Ian Anderson’s, although Ian had been their first. It didn’t take long for Martin to hit the road and start performing again as a solo act. Since then he has released several more solo albums, including Away With Words (2013), Order of Play (2014), Back To Steel (2015), and Roads Less Traveled (2018). All of those albums were received with great enthusiasm by his fans and sold well.

Now Martin Barre is back with a new album, however this one is a return to his roots… a return to Jethro Tull, his one true love. Face it folks, Tull wouldn’t have been the Tull we all grew to love without Martin Barre. It would have been different and it would have sounded different. Last year Martin Barre re-recorded several songs that he always loved during his Jethro Tull days and has released the album as a 2-CD project called MLB - 50 Years of Jethro Tull. The first CD or album in this two-album set was continued on next page

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Sunday Feeling,” “Love Story,” and “Song For Jeffrey.” As Martin explains, this was not an issue with him, he always enjoyed playing those songs. “That’s not an issue with me,” says Martin, “I just make a judgement on the song and I’m not particularly highlighting what I did in Tull. I just love the history. It was my celebration of having 50 years in this music and the debt that I owe fans for enabling me to be there and play guitar for so long. So yeah, I didn’t really think too hard about what I’m playing and my choices are pretty simple. If it sounds great on stage and it’s bluesy and it’s rock and it’s heavy, and it’s got a great tempo and a lot of guitar playing in them, then I’m going to do it.”

50 Years Of Jethro Tull continued from previous page recorded ‘live’ at the Factory Underground studio in Norwalk, New York. The second half of the album was an acoustic studio version of Jethro Tull songs and was recorded in Martin’s home studio. This album contains 24 Jethro Tull classics that range from the first album, This Was through 1991’s Catfish Rising. They are all songs that Martin loves performing and he does a fantastic job at with the new arrangements and his own indisputable stamp on them.

For the recording of MLB - 50 Years of Jethro Tull, Martin recorded both in the United States and his native country of England. The project started out here in the United States at The Factory Underground as Martin explains. “Well, The Factory Underground is a sort of very cool place in Norwalk New York State. We did a few rehearsals there. It’s a facility that has recording, a small stage for an audience and it has TV recording facilities. We got quite involved with them and we had a couple of days off on a US tour and that I wanted to start on this album, so we booked into a two day session, but essentially, the first day we did everything. Disc one is recorded really in one day and it’s live, no vocals in a booth. We just set up the back line, and we just wanted to sound really authentic. I didn’t want a big studio album with those tracks. I wanted it to sound as if we’re doing a gig. It’s a cool place to record and it was fun to do. Then I came back to the U.K. and we did the studio tracks at my studio in Devon and brought the girls into sing the acoustic songs. This too is more the sort of quieter side of Tull, but in my mind the two sides always work hand-inhand. We always did acoustic segments with electric. There’s always that sort of dynamic between the two.”

album seemed to favor Stand Up and This Was predominately, the acoustic versions leaned heavily on Aqualung. “It wasn’t planned that way,” says Martin. “The studio album was the 4-piece Martin Barre Band, and we just play music that sort of sounds heavy and strong and people really react to it.

We’re a rock band in the old-fashioned sense.

We’re a touring band. We sort of live together… play together… eat together, and we like to sort of rock out together on stage as much as we can. It’s a great band and I think the heavier material and the guitardriven stuff comes from the earlier days anyway so we sort of leaned in that direction.”

It was interesting to see that there were several songs from the pre-Martin Barre era album, This Was. Those songs are “My

The song choices on the albums were very interesting. While the “live” part of the

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Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Also included on the ‘live’ section of the album are two songs from the Benefit album. Those are “Nothing To Say” and “Teacher.” “In actual fact,” Martin tells us, “I often quote that as my favorite album. On Stand Up we were treading lightly. We weren’t really sure on how people were going to react to the music, because before Stand Up, Tull was a blues band. So people had to react to the new direction we were going in.

It was a bit nervous and anxious, but we had such great success with it. We came back from the United States and we did U.K. tours with it and then we went and did Benefit. We had that much more confidence in what we were doing and it was a really fun album to play. So, for me, I have a really good feeling about Benefit as a period of time in Tull’s history and we play songs off that album as well and that will continue to.”

Although it may seem that there’s no rhyme or reason for the tracking order of these songs or the selection, Martin tells us that there is a plan. For instance, on the ‘live’ segment, the choice from Aqualung is just one song, “Hymn 43.” “ I like the song, and that chord progression,” explains Martin “A lot of bands did it. Cream did it famously.

It’s just sort of very much of that era. We started playing it on stage because Tull finished in 2011, and we’d never played “Hymm 43” for probably 30 or 40 years. I just thought we’re here and we need to give

that one an airing and so the Martin Barre Band played it. It sounded great. It was just like a real straight-ahead Rock track… really simple, really great tempo. It just works as a live track. That’s why it’s there.”

Also on the ‘live’ section is “Sealion” off of the War Child album. Martin tells us that he picked it because, “It’s quirky. I just like to be really going the direction that people don’t expect, so again Tull when we were together, didn’t play it. We chose the “War Child” album and played it, but then it sort of got buried and never resurrected again.

I thought, I know it’s got a great riff. It’s really so weird, but it’s weird and wonderful.

So again, you know, I want to do it. I want to play it and it sounded good. You know, you just have to make the cut by virtue of it being a good piece of music to play.”

When Martin set out to do a 50 year retrospective on Jethro Tull, he didn’t want to just slap a few songs on a disc and send it out, he wanted something special for the fans, as he explains. “ I’ve seen bands, including Tull, put out sort of quite meaningless ‘best of’ albums and compilations and they just sort of repackaged old tracks and not even remixed them. I just think that’s not very meaningful. That’s not very thoughtful. And I never want to be part of that mindset. To me everything’s got to be re-recorded, revisited, fresh, straight off the shelf. I just want to give them their due musically.”

When it comes to the acoustic studio tracks on Disc two of the album, there’s quite an interesting combination of songs on it.

Four of the eleven songs on it come from Aqualung, and the others come from Minstrel In The Gallery, Catfish Rising, Crest Of A Knave, Stormwatch, This Was, Stormwatch, Under Wraps, and Crest Of A Knave.

Production on these is exquisite and the vocals are fantastic. The way the songs have been re-envisioned is unbelievable. “I think that’s when the acoustic songs were really at their peak and I think Ian’s songwriting really was at its best in the acoustic material.

They’re just beautifully formed. Lyrically and musically that they’re just lovely things and so when I started looking at them and I just picked out some of the acoustic songs, I’ve always really liked. There’s a few that there wasn’t space for now. I love “Reasons For Waiting” and “Sossity.” There’s a lot of material, but you just got to pick out a few things that you think represent all of those years. The girls had never heard any of these songs and Alex and Becca knew nothing about Jethro Tull, so I played them these songs, and they’re young kids and they love them. They just thought that’s a great song and then straight away, they sang them with such conviction. And I love what they do to them. It just refreshes the songs and makes them really like new. I love what they do.”

Some of the songs picked out for this album were picked out because Martin felt that it would also help spotlight the other performers on the album. One might look at the song choice and wonder, ‘why this one, and why not that one.’ It’s a tough decision for Martin to make. Just how do you put the

acoustic work of one of the greatest bands in history with over 20 albums to its credit on just one album? It’s virtually impossible.

Martin tells us, “I can’t give all the reasons. I just picked out things I really like. They work well. They gave everybody a bit of attention. I wanted the girls to be up front on the CD because they’re an important part of my life. I wanted Dan’s vocals to have real frontline attention. It’s a difficult decision, but there will always be what I didn’t do and that’s infinite, almost infinite. It’s impossible, but I just I’m happy with what I chose and I stand by them and I apologize for things I didn’t do.”

Yes, it’s going to be inevitable. The process for selecting songs for this great reimagining of Tull songs had to be a daunting challenge for Martin, but the results on this two-disc set is fantastic. It really is a great selection of songs filled with old favorites and some of the more obscure ones as well.

“Well,” says Martin, “it’s an impossible choice, but this is an enjoyable one. It’s nice to have too much material to select from, rather than too little.”

This album is really a gem for Jethro Tull fans. It’s another chance to revisit old favorites with a new twist on them, an unbelievable chance that most bands or musicians don’t offer. There are a total of 24 great Jethro Tull songs on this two-disc set that will definitely take you on a trip down memory lane. For new listeners it will be an incentive to go out and start buying that Jethro Tull catalog that you were unaware of.

I can’t stress enough about what a great collection of songs this is. Go out and pick it up today and discover your inner Jethro Tull,

courtesy of Martin Barre and the Martin Barre Band.

Track listings and albums they are from: Disc 1 - “Live At The Factory Underground” My Sunday Feeling - This Was For A Thousand Mothers - Stand Up Hymn 43 - Aqualung Love Story - This Was Sealion - War Child Song For Jeffrey - This Was Back To The Family - Stand Up Nothing To Say - Benefit Hunting Girl - Songs From The Wood Teacher - Benefit Steel Monkey - Crest Of A Knave Nothing Is Easy - Stand Up New Day Yesterday - Stand Up Disc 2 - Acoustic Wond’ring Aloud - Aqualung Someday The Sun Won’t Shine This Was Life Is A Long Song - Aqualung Cheap Day Return - Aqualung Under Wraps - Under Wraps One White Duck - Minstrel In The Gallery Still Loving You Tonight - Catfish Rising The Waking Edge - Crest Of A Knave Home - Stormwatch Locomotive Breath - Aqualung Slow Marching Band - The Broad sword And The Beast

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Crawling Spider: A Tribute To Mike Montgomery Vol.1 - The LA Sessions

By Kevin Wildman Tony Braunagel, Terry Wilson-Slesser and Mike Montgomery. Basically, the nucleus of One of the most unique releases that we’ve encountered this year has got to be the Back Street Crawler was filled with members album, Crawling Spider: A Tribute To Mike of a band from Houston, TX called Bloontz.

Those members were Mike Montgomery, Montgomery Vol.1 - The LA Sessions. The album is a touching tribute produced by Tony Braunagel, and Terry Wilson. Terry Wilson-Slesser was from an English band Mike’s son, Marlon Montgomery. Mike Montgomery was the keyboardist and chief called Beckett. Bloontz initially moved from songwriter in a band that some of you might Houston to England to join Kossoff in the new project. have heard of, Back Street Crawler. To refresh your memories, Back Street Crawler Sadly, Mike Montgomery passed away was the band that former Free guitarist Paul Kossoff formed after leaving Free. The band in 1991 after a long battle with lung cancer. consisted of Paul Kossoff, Terry Wilson, This album pays homage to Mike Montgom70 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

ery and his talented writing abilities. This album contains 15 tracks, which feature reinterpretations of songs from the Back Street Crawler days along with songs from Mike’s R&B band, Rough House. And believe it or not, Mike Montgomery, also performs on some of these songs. Some of the songs on this a album are demos that Mike had put together, but had never been published. Marlon has a selection of those and they have been added to this release as well.

Marlon has assembled quite a cast of

musicians to reinterpret his father’s songs on this release. Among them are John “Rabbit” Bundrick (keyboardist for The Who), Johnny Lee Schell (Eric Burdon, Bonnie Raitt), Robbie Wyckoff (lead vocalist from Roger Waters - The Wall Tour), Billy Watts (John Mayall, Coco Montoya), Clive Edwards (UFO, Pat Travers, Uli Jon Roth), Teresa James (Eric Burdon, Bonnie Raitt, Walter Trout & more), Bill Leverty (Firehouse), and Jimmy Kunes (Humble Pie, Cactus, Savoy Brown), not to mention former Back Street Crawler members Tony Braunagel, Terry Wilson, and Terry Wilson-Slesser. Songs covered by these artists on this record include “Survivor,” “Rock & Roll Junkie,” “It’s A Long Way To The Top,” “Stealing My Way,” “Jason Blue,” and “All The Girls Are Crazy,” which were all featured on the Back Street Crawlers album, The Band Plays On.” Also

contributing a song to this compilation is the legendary Omar & The Howlers, who perform Mike’s song, “Just A Song Of America.” In fact, songs like “It’s A Long Way Down To The Top” and “Jason Blue” was written for Mike’s previous band, Bloontz.

to name a few. Other musicians include Brian Robertson and Scott Graham from Thin Lizzy, Jimmy Bain from Rainbow and Dio, Paul Thompson from Roxy Music and Concrete Blonde, and Mike Montgomery. As you can see from this list, it was quite an unbelievable list of performers. And, by the way, you’re going to just love these demos.

They rock!!!

However, the crowning jewels on this release are the recently discovered demos of Mike Montgomery that Marlon found. These “Those tracks were from my father’s songs are strictly unbelievable and feature a solo album,” explains Marlon. “After Back Street Crawler he had recorded some tracks cast of characters that would make any musician blush. Now hold on to you socks as in New York and London with the guys he used to hang out with. A couple of years ago we read this list of performers off to you.

The six demo songs included on this release I came across some quarter inch demo tapes feature performances from Grammy Award with these songs on them and I thought I’d like to add them onto the album as bonus winning guitarist Bob Kulick, who has worked with KISS, Meat Loaf, Alice Cooper, continued on next page Michael Bolton, Lou Reed, and W.A.S.P., just December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 71

Most of the new tracks were recorded live there with the keyboard parts being added later because of logistics. On several of the songs they were going to have John “Rabbit” Bundrick perform on them, and he was based in London, so his parts were added later.

Mike Montgomery continued from previous page material.”

As a matter of fact, the bonus songs on the album came from a variety of places.

Besides the ones that Marlon had come across, one of Mike’s former producers in New York had some tapes that he passed on to Marlon and Mike’s second wife Mary Montgomery also passed on some tapes to Marlon as well. Assisting Marlon on this plethora of tapes that he had acquired was Terry Wilson. “Terry Wilson,” continues Marlon, “is not only a great bass player and songwriter, but he is also a great mixing and mastering engineer. He took all these tapes I sent him from different sources and different tapes… the reels and the cassette tapes, and he worked his magic and somehow he removed the noise and got them all to fit together. I don’t think they even sound out of place from the newly recorded tapes.”

Mike Montgomery has had a really distinguished career. He formed his first band at the age of 15, and from there he just kept moving up the ladder of success. He joined the band Bloontz in Houston, Texas, and later moved to New York where he became Johnny Nash’s musical director.

Soon he became a hot guy on the studio session circuit and found himself recording with David Bowie, Lulu, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and more acts. In 1975 he was even

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approached to replace Ian Hunter as front man in Mott The Hoople, but instead relocated to England to join Paul Kossoff in Back Street Crawler. After leaving Back Street Crawler, he recorded a solo album with members of Meatloaf, Thin Lizzy, Blood, Sweat, & Teas, and more. Mike then moved back to New York where he found himself immersed in a multitude of projects with people like Johnny Winter, Roy Buchanan, Rick Derringer and more. He then went on to form his own outfit, Rough House, which played a mixture of R&B, Rock, and Blues.

Marlon Montgomery is extremely pleased and happy with the release of Crawling Spider: A Tribute To Mike Montgomery Vol.1 - The LA Sessions. It took him about 5 years to put this project together.

Marlon was just a freshman in high school when his dad died of lung cancer. At the present time, Marlon is older than his father was when he passed away. This album is titled Vol. 1, and there is a reason for that. It seems that Marlon has some more material that he’d like to include on a Vol. 2 of this same project.

Some of these tracks on Crawling Spider: A Tribute To Mike Montgomery Vol.1 - The LA Sessions were recorded in Tony Braunagel’s home studio. Tony and Terry Wilson helped Marlon produce the album.

When it came to re-recording the older material from the Kossoff days, Marlon took his wish list of personnel and song requests for the album to Tony and Terry and presented it to them. “I brought the long list that I though it would be great to do from the different time periods and part of the challenge was trying to narrow down the list.

Of course, I’m so close to it, I wanted to do all the songs in the catalog. So Terry and Tony helped me out there in picking the songs that would best work together and still honor the original tunes with a little modern twist on them. They definitely helped out there. They were fantastic. Not only are they great players, they’re great producers. Once we picked the songs, we had Tony and Terry on drums and bass. Then we started going through who would best fit each song.”

“Of course we wanted to use Teresa,” continues Marlon “We needed to know who would make the most sense on vocals. We knew Mark Campbell from Jack Mack And the Heart Attack. He would bring his unique voice of rough rock and roll to “Rock And Roll Junkie.” Robbie Wyckoff can sing anything. The clarity of his vocals was just a perfect fit. And we rounded out our house band with Johnny Lee Schell. He’s an incredible guitar player and he plays slide on “99 Days. Billy Watts was the other guitar player. His solo on “Survivor” is incredible.

We were also able to bring in Adam MacDougall. I’m a huge Black Crowes fan, so it was great to have him. Of course, Rabbit played a big part in this. Terry and Tony reached out to him and brought him on board as well. He’s a genius on the keys.”

As I said before, Marlon is extremely proud of this project, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually gets Vol. 2 off the ground soon. He certainly has the stamina and the drive to do it. Personally, I think that if Mike is looking down from Heaven right now, he would just be knocked out at what his son has accomplished for him. It has truly been a labor of love for Marlon and I wish him the best in the follow-up to this album.

“I think the true testament to my dad is that these songs still hold up,” says Marlon.

“That was one of the main reasons for releasing this album, besides just honoring my dad, these songs still hold up, they deserve to be out there.

Rock and Blues International • December 2020 Photo by Arnie G

Dion’s Late Career Juggernaut Continues With Two New Christmas Songs Out This Month “Hello Christmas” Features Amy Grant, “You Know It’s Christmas” Includes Blues With Friends Collaborator Joe Bonamassa

By Sheena Johnson With Christmas just around the corner it seems fitting that we’re all getting into the Christmas spirit. It’s also great to see that so many musicians are filled with the Christmas spirit also. Rock Hall of Famer, Dion DiMucci is one of those people. Dion has teamed up with Amy Grant and Joe Bonamassa for two new holiday-themed songs and videos to go with them. Both of the songs were co-written by Dion and Mike Aquilina, who also co-wrote many of the songs off of Dion’s most recent release, Blues With Friends, which has remained on the Billboard Blues Chart since it’s June release. The two new Christmas songs are ‘Hello Christmas” and “You Know It’s Christmas.” These two songs really show the versatility of Dion as a songwriter and a performer. Not only can he write pop, rock, and blues songs, but he can also turn out some pretty good holiday songs as well. No wonder he’s in the Hall Of Fame.

“Hello Christmas” features the backing vocals of the legendary Amy Grant. When Dion and Mike wrote this song, Dion could hear Amy Grant in the mix, so he gave her a call, as he explains. “I was talking with a friend about how the world this year can use a little lifegiving love and harmony. I told him that Christmas was the grace that changed my life and that I was looking forward to a shot of that this year. The next day I got together with Mike and I picked up the guitar, started singing and words started to flow. Later I was walking with my buddy [and co-writer] Steve Bottari and he started singing along – with some new words.

The song just seemed to write itself, a gift to finish off this challenging year. From the start I heard Amy Grant’s voice on it; she just sounds like Christmas to me. I sent the track to her and she fell in love with it and added a beautiful counter-melody which makes it really sublime.”

Amy Grant commented “I was so happy to join my old friend Dion on ‘Hello Christmas.’ The song makes me smile every time I hear it.”

WATCH THE VIDEO https://youtu.be/cvjUh3u7D4k The next song that Dion and Mike wrote was “You Know It’s Christmas.” “Blues is my home and I wanted to write a Christmas song with that feeling,” explains Dion. “Mike suggested a ‘brag blues’ (in the tradition of “The Wanderer”) so we thought what would a bluesman brag about at Christmas? How he bought just the right gift for his girl and how she’s going to love it! Christmas is all about giving and I think the song catches that vibe perfectly. Joe Bonamassa gave me a great Christmas present by playing lead on it.”

Bonamassa remarked, “It is always an honor to play alongside Dion, he is a National Treasure!”

Link to “You Know It’s Christmas” https://youtu.be/k5hjPOkKIJY Follow Dion on Social Media Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OfficialDion Instagram https://www.instagram.com/diondimucciofficial/

Twitter https://www.twitter.com/thewandererdion Website - https://diondimucci.com Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/ 15FyiY3ChN0QRspHIQYq0W?si=Jfl3ehtQS4GuSI2OVM7M0Q

YouTube https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCSEUnfW0GArtSBLVYsUZaYA&source=gmail&ust=1606079785702000&usg=AOvVaw2XJc4qobQQYL_lrk7oxlr3 December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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violation and a war crime,” said Serj Tankian. “All of us in System realize this is an existential battle for our people, so this is very personal for us. What we need right now is for the world to put politics aside and support Armenia by sanctioning Turkey and Azerbaijan and recognizing Artsakh.”

It Took An Attack Against Armenians To Bring It About, But The Wait Is Over System Of A Down Release 2 Brand New Songs

By Tank After a 15-year hiatus in recording, System Of A Down is back with two new songs. Yes, the GRAMMY® awardwinning band is back. Of course, it took attacks on Artsakh and Armenia to bring the Platinum-selling band together to record these new songs. The songs are titled “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz.”

Guitarist and vocalist Daron Malakian wrote the songs. Daron tells us that “We’re probably the only rock band that has governments as enemies, the only rock band that’s at war, so I wrote these songs to boost the morale of our troops and Armenians around the world.”

The catalyst for these new songs is the new conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan being aided by Turkey in what has been described as the “ greatest violence the region has endured in 26 years”. In addition to writing both the music and lyrics to these two songs, Malakian also produced them as well. Fans of the band have been wondering just what it would take to get System Of A Down back into the studio to record again and now all their questions have been answered, it took a war. For the last 15 years, the band has been unable to come to terms on

how they should record new music. It’s not that anyone was particularly mad at each other, they just couldn’t put together a plan.

After a series of unjustified attacks against Artsakh and Azerbaijan by Azerbaijan and Turkey, Daron said enough is enough. It’s time to bury any problems the band had and do something to help this cause.

“I texted,” said Malakian, “no matter how we feel about each other, no matter what issues linger from the past, we need to put them aside because this is bigger than System Of A Down and bigger than all of us.....we need to do something to support our people.”

After a conference call between the band, they all came to the same conclusion, something needed to be done. The only way for them to do this was through their music…. new music.

“The aggression and injustice being perpetrated against the Armenian people in Artsakh and Armenia by Azerbaijan and Turkey is a human rights

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In addition to releasing the two songs, the band has also released a video for the “Protect The Land. The video shares footage of the ground forces fighting in Artsakh along with recent footage of the protests that are taking place there now. As all System Of A Down videos have been taken care of before, bassist Shavo Odadjian was the executive producer of the project and assembled all the artwork for the project. “I wanted to show the unification of our people around the world for one common cause, illustrating the power in numbers,” he said, “so we brought together people from all ages and professions who believe in and are fighting for that same cause. It’s one thing to come up with an idea, but to see it come alive as happened with this video, has been just incredible.”

Odadjian also tells us that in regard to the band reconvening for the productions of the two songs and the video, “It was such a pleasure for us to be together in the studio again, very comforting and natural, like no time had passed at all.”

System Of A Down is Daron Malakian/guitars, vocals, Serj Tankian/ vocals, Shavo Odadjian/bass, and John Dolmayan/drums.

You can check out the music video for “Protect The Land” at https://youtu.be/ XqmknZNg1yw https://systemofadown.com

Clockwise, from Top Left: Daron Malakian, John Dolmayan, Shavo Odadjian, Serj Tankian Photo Credit: Armen Keleshian

Alter Bridge Release Official Lyric Video for New Song “Last Rites” As the band’s latest single “Native Son” continues to impact radio, Alter Bridge releases a lyric video for their original song “Last Rites” from the EP Walk The Sky 2.0.

The video uses a dark and mystical aesthetic utilizing a fortune teller making a prediction based on the song’s lyrics. The song was born from an idea that bandmembers Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips began sharing after the cancellation of their entire 2020 touring schedule and written, recorded and completed entirely during the Covid-19 lockdown. “Last Rites” is available on all streaming partners.

Watch the video for “Last Rites” at https://

youtu.be/xsO-Tkq6hPg

(Napalm Records Mailorder only).

In other news, Alter Bridge’s latest single “Native Son,” which has racked up over five million worldwide streams to date, has broken in to the Top 40 at Active Rock radio. The band released a video for the single - an animated short created completely using stop-animation techniques and incorporating origami to create a unique visual effect. The video for “Native Son” was created by Stefano Bertelli and can be seen at: https://youtu.be/A514cEfnbcA Alter Bridge burst onto the music scene in 2004 with the release of their goldselling debut, One Day Remains. In 2007, the band released Blackbird, the album that elevated the band’s profile worldwide. The epic solo in the title track “Blackbird” was voted “Greatest Guitar Solo Of All Time” by Guitarist Magazine. ABIII was released in 2010 and the single “Isolation” gave the band their first #1 single. In 2013, the band reached an elevated creative and critical plateau with Fortress. It bowed at #12 on the Billboard Top 200, moving over 30,000 copies firstweek and earning unanimous tastemaker praise. The record garnered perfect scores from Total Guitar and KERRANG! as well as acclaim from Billboard, The Guardian, Loudwire, Ultimate Guitar, and many more.

In between sold out tours in Europe and North America, the guys appeared on VH1 and graced the cover of Classic Rock

The new Walk The Sky 2.0 EP – was released November 6 via Napalm Records – and is comprised of “Last Rites”, along with live versions of “Wouldn’t You Rather,” “Pay No Mind,” “Native Son,” “Godspeed,” “In the Deep” and “Dying Light” all recorded during the band’s US tour at the beginning of the year. The new EP is available for preorder in various configurations including a Jewelcase CD (available worldwide), Jewelcase CD + T-Shirt (Napalm Records exclusive worldwide except North America), and Cream-colored Vinyl Gatefold LP (available worldwide). The album will also be available in a digital bundle with the original Walk The Sky and Walk The Sky 2.0 together as well as a limited edition 2-CD Earbook with both versions included 76 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

Magazine who labeled Fortress, “The best thing they’ve ever done,” while Eddie Trunk called it, “A top 10 album of the last 10 years.” 2016’s The Last Hero gave the band their first Top 10 album since their debut.

Alter Bridge has appeared on The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live and their music has been used by the WWE, Major League Baseball and NASCAR to name a few. The band released the video and audio of their career highlight, Live At The Royal Albert Hall, featuring Alter Bridge backed by the 52-piece Parallax Orchestra led by conductor Simon Dobson. Alter Bridge released their latest album Walk The Sky (Napalm Records) to critical acclaim and career milestone chart success. The latest album brought the band their first ever #1 on Top Current Albums chart. The band’s newest release found a home at #1 on over a dozen charts around the globe and in December 2019, Guitar World magazine voted Mark Tremonti the Guitarist of the Decade. Alter Bridge are showing no signs of slowing down.

Tracklisting for Walk The Sky 2.0 Last Rites Wouldn’t You Rather (Live) Pay No Mind (Live) Native Son (Live) Godspeed (Live) In The Deep (Live) Dying Light (Live)

Ghostemane Releases A New Video from His New Album Anti-Icon

By Tank Hardcore Doom Metal singer, Ghostemane has released his new album Anti-Icon and a new video for the song “Hydrochloride,” off of It.. The video was directed by Poppy. This is the third video off the album with the first two being “AI” and “Lazaretto.” Kerrang describes “Lazaretto” as being a “genre-blending banger.”

Of all the music that Ghostemane has made over the years, this is perhaps his most personal statement yet. This is the follow up to his 2018 release, N/O/I/S/E. Rolling Stone magazine says the album “segues smoothly, if bracingly, from full-throated screams to rat-atat raps, from unhurried hip-hop to full-tilt rock.” As expected, Ghostemane has been getting quite a bit of attention with this new release and can be seen in the magazines Kerrang!, 1883 Magazine, and Alternative Press. In addition to the new album and video, Ghostemane has also released some new merchandise, which includes the first commercially available version of his comic book, Dr. Nihil and The Tremendous Blunder.

Ghostemane, aka Eric Whitney, aka Eric Ghoste, aka Baader-Meinhof, aka Swearr, Aka Limsa Lominsa has been releasing music for quite a while now. His first release under the moniker Ghostemane was 2015’s Oogabooga, which was followed

by six more albums preceding Anti-Icon.

Eric started his career performing in some pretty hardcore bands and his lyrics usually revolve around the subjects of occultism, depression nihilism, and death. Ghostemane cites his biggest influence at being the black metal band Bathory. Some of his favorite acts include Deicide, Death, Carcass, and Mayhem but he also likes another genre of music as well…. Rap. He states that some of his other influences include Outkast and Three 6 Mafia, and tell us that Bone ThugsN-Harmony was an early influence.

Ghostemane’s influences have certainly helped shape his career, with him now taken an extreme approach to every album or project he gets involved in. He does an excellent job in incorporating such styles as industrial, hardcore, acoustic, southern “phonk” rap, and experimental genres to create a sound all his own.

WATCH: “Hydrochloride” https://ghostemane.ffm.to/hydrochloride LISTEN: ANTI-ICON https://ghostemane.ffm.to/anti_icon

“like Nine Inch Nails and Three 6 Mafia albums thrown in a meat grinder” NME “stunning and abrasive” Revolver “Ghostemane’s instincts have been right all along” Rolling Stone “occupies his own corner of the musical landscape” Stereogum Ghostemane ANTI-ICON October 21, 2020 1.Intro Destitute 2.Vagabond 3.Lazaretto 4.Sacrilege 5.AI 6.Fed Up 7.The Wings of Change 8.Hydrochloride 9.Hellrap 10.ASMR 11.Melanchaholic 12.Calamity 13.Falling Down

“redefining punk and creating a new wave of industrial music” Alt Press December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

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Zombie Americana Release Self-Titled Debut Album Zombie Americana

By Albert Schwartz Zombie Americans have just released their self-titled debut album Zombie Americana. Their debut album has been written in the form of a rock opera about a country on the precipice of a “social collapse”. The album was a collaborative effort by the duo of Bryce Fox and Ross Ryan. Ross Ryan produced, recorded and engineered the 10song epic.

which didn’t take much effort as it was all laid out in the lyrics for us.”

Topics on the new album range from people being consumed with their cell phones, to being completely absolved from thought and relying on the current celebrity spokesman and the almighty media headlines to give them guidance. The album is about a society in disarray and the total collapse of a modern day America where its citizens are totally turning into media zombies. However, the duo of singer/songwriter Bryce Fox [Nashville, TN] and songwriter/producer Ross Ryan (AKA Stayloose) [Denver, CO] are in hopes that their messages resonates with their fans and gives them hope of a better future. Hopefully they will find salvation and solace in this media controlled generation.

The two of them started the project as an EP back in the summer of 2018. Gradually the project grew into a full-blown album.

It was just us two in a room, alone, just thinking with our hearts and our feelings rather than with our heads on what’s going to fit or what’s going to make sense for both our projects”. What resulted was a cornucopia of influences, from 90s boom-bap hip-hop to punk-rock riffs and piano ballad moments.

Almost as if the two were channeling a future yet to come, they let the album of material ZOMBIE AMERICANA marinate on their hard drives for over a year TRACKLISTING before seeking a means of release. “Upon listening to the work again almost a year later, it just made so much sense to us, so we 01. Not Human coined a name and came up with an aesthetic, 02. Zombies 78 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

03. Bad Trip 04. Save Me 05. Crybabies 06. Propagate 07. Too Close 08. Bullets 09. Garden 10. Better Off Dead

By T. J. Canadian Metal rockers, Living Dead Girl have just released a new single and lyric video for their song, “Alive”.

The theme of this cool song is about taking control of your life rather than letting life control you. Living Dead Girl is fronted by 21 year old Molly Rennick. “‘Alive’ is about standing up and doing whatever you need to do to feel completely alive and to be yourself,” says vocalist Molly Rennick. “It’s about foraging your own path rather than following the one society has paved for you. Taking control of your life, staying true to yourself, being free-spirited and enjoying the ride. This song is an anthem for anyone who feels the need to break free from something that is holding them back from doing what they truly love.

Whatever obstacle is in your way, this song is about getting past it to live your life to its full potential.

Living Dead Girl take their influences from goth, rock, metal, industrial, pop and punk rock to build a unique style all their own. Lead singer Molly Rennick tells us that their style is in the vein of “Marilyn Manson meets Avril Lavigne and is an extreme contrast to each other. As Molly explains, it as if “one wears baby pink and Hello Kitty and listens to pop music, and the other a goth girl in fishnet stockings who listens to Marilyn Manson.” Molly started her first band at the age of 15 and has been in full control of her music career ever since. She describes her vocals as ranging between high-pitched croons to menacing harsh barks to haunting growls. Without a doubt, this woman’s

Rising Modern Metal Band LIVING DEAD GIRL Unveil New Single, “Alive” sometimes-eerie vocals will captivate the heaviest of metal fans out there.

Living Dead Girl has released three independent singles so far and is set on releasing their new album soon. That album is titled Exorcism and is produced by Mitchell Marlow, who you may remember from his work with All That Remains and In This Moment. Marlow recorded the album at Cuddle Death Studios in Glendale, Ca. The album was mastered by Howie Weinbery (Nirvana, Metallica, U2, Smashing Pumpkins). Songs on the album include “Alive,” “Exorcism,”

“Worship Me,” “Villain,” and “Beautiful.” The new album is scheduled for release this next year in 2021, Watch the video for “Alive” now at https://youtu.be/8qTrGsHCeFg Check out Living Dead Girl online at: www.livingdeadgirl.ca www.facebook.com/ LIVINGDEADGIRLBAND www.instagram.com/ livingdeadgirlofficial/ www.youtube.com/channel/ UCELYELo6t95V_mXNa4f3dXQ/ videos?view_as=subscriber

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classic Spaghetti Western movies into their depths of their Black Metal foundations to create a new and unique musical experience.

It’s kind of like the ‘old west’ meets Black Metal’ through the scores of those old western movies that were driven by the imagination of Ennio Morricone.

Right now Untamed Land is working on their second album release, but the first for Napalm Records. Their first album release was 2018s Between The Winds. The new album is yet untitled.

Untamed Land Sign Worldwide Record Deal with Napalm Records

By Troy Wilson Napalm Records is happy to announce that they have just signed Untamed Land to their ever growing roster of fine acts.

Napalm Records tells us that this fine act that they’ve plucked from the ‘depths of the metal

underground’ is the very first Black Metal band to incorporate the unique sounds of classic western movies into their sound.

We’re told that Untamed Land blends the ‘sound and atmosphere’ of those old

Patrick Kern of Untamed Land states: “I’m incredibly honored and excited to be working with this legendary label. Napalm Records has worked with so many amazing bands and has been an enduring part of the story of metal music. To have the opportunity to be a part of this legacy is absolutely unbelievable and I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has supported this project. Stay tuned for a new adventure coming soon.”

Napalm Records A&R Sebastian Muench states: “Untamed Land is one of the most exciting new bands we came across in recent years and is a perfect blend of Summoning, Caladan Brood with a touch of a post-apocalyptic world feel in the style of the Marshall Bravestarr TV-series. Welcome to the Napalm family!”

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Rock and Blues International • December 2020

McRib. “The joke’s on them though, we got a good kick out of hate comments!”

Emerging Band Gürschach Release Improved Reimagined Cover of Metallica’s “St. Anger”

By Tank Leave it up to a band from the San Francisco Bay Area to get the Metallica Army a bit upset. The bay area experimental metal quartet of Gürschach (pronounced Ger-shock) has just released a new video of a cover tune. For that one, they selected a song and a band that would no doubt create controversy.

They selected the revered Metallica song, “St. Anger” as their first single and video. On top of that they chose to make the song their own, so it is a bit different from the Metallica version. “‘St. Anger’ was actually the first Metallica song I heard, and it was the whole reason I got into the band,” says guitarist/vocalist X. “It’s still one of my favorite songs by the band, but I couldn’t deny the issues that many people have with it. I just wanted to address all the common complaints with the album in order to show people that the song has more potential than most people think.”

Watch the video at https://

youtu.be/urRruX2PrY0. The single is available now on Spotify So far the video has received over 40,000 views receiving a bit of controversy over it, but why not… what a great idea!!! Metallica fans are all trying to get a view of this cool video to express their likes or dislikes over the revamping of “St. Anger.” Gürschach has even responded with a 20-minute video to let the people know how they feel about all the criticism. On the video they both read the criticisms and express their views to the response. Really, this is a genius move for the guys in Gürschach.

So far it appears to be a somewhat fifty/ fifty response for what they have done.

Check out the “Hate Comments” video at https://youtu.be/5lF3K7OtCmg.

Gürschach was originally formed in the San Francisco Bay Area by X, Leyland Reid, and Daniel Justo- Sanchez in 2011. They started out performing songs that they mainly had written white they were still in High School. In 2014 the band welcomed Scotty McRib into their fold and the current lineup was completed. The following year, in 2015, the band released their first foray into the music business as Gürschach with an independently released EP titled Beautiful Nightmares. This EP would be the first and last time that the band would present a straightforward Thrash Metal record. They have decided to move on with a sound that was completely all their own and abandon a straight Thrash sound.

By 2016 the band had released their first music video for the song “Life In The Sewers.”

This was followed constant touring in 2016 and 2017. In December of 2017 the band decided to release their first full-length debut album, Dark Matter.

This album was also filled with non-stop touring in 2018 and 2019. By 2019 the band had reached a permanent decision on their status and re-named their tour the Kiss Our Jobs Goodbye Tour.

Now the band has taken one step forward and released the new single, “St. Anger” this year, and plan on releasing more new material soon. Watch the video at https://youtu.be/urRruX2PrY0. The single is available now on Spotify Gürschach online:

http://www.gurschach.com http://www.facebook.com/ gurschach http://www.instagram.com/ gurschach http://www.twitter.com/gurschach http://gurschach.bandcamp.com December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 81

“We knew that when we covered the song that there would be hate, because a lot of Metallica fans are extremely dedicated and would reject our version, whether they liked the original or not,” says vocalist/bassist Scotty

The Offspring Reissue Conspiracy Of One As Limited-Edition Deluxe Color Vinyl To Commemorate The 20th Anniversary Of Its Release 82

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

To commemorate its 20th anniversary, Conspiracy of One, the sixth album by punk rock trailblazers the Offspring, will once again be available on vinyl - the first time since its release in 2000. On December 11, Round Hill Records/UMe will release a deluxe version of Conspiracy of One pressed to yellow and red splatter vinyl, which includes spot gloss on the cover and a custom turntable slipmat featuring the Offspring’s flaming skull silhouette logo. A non-deluxe, limitededition canary yellow vinyl variant will be available on uDiscover & The Sound of Vinyl. A standard black vinyl version will be released in early 2021. Listen or preorder Conspiracy of One HERE. All editions will feature the bonus track “Huck It.” The anthemic, sub-threeminute blast was featured on their 2000 VHS/DVD Huck It and used to soundtrack various skateboard stunts, including longtime Offspring drummer Ron Welty doing a successful board-to-board leap over two of his bandmates. “Huck It” will be released as a stand-alone digital single on November 13. A lyric video featuring footage from the Huck It VHS/DVD will also be released on November 13. In addition, the official videos for Conspiracy’s first two singles - “Original Prankster” and “Want You Bad” - will be available on the Offspring’s Official YouTube channel in newly remastered HD. Conspiracy of One, the first Offspring album of the 21st Century, was the fourth album from the game-changing punk group to be certified Platinum, a feat completed only a month after its release on November 14, 2000. The album is best known for its lead single, “Original Prankster,” a song that broke the Billboard Top 100 and hit Number 2 on the U.S. Alternative Airplay charts. The song and its mischievous video by director Dave Meyers included a funky sample from War’s “Low Rider” and a cameo from hiphop legend Redman. The album’s followup single, “Want You Bad,” could be heard in the film American Pie 2 and the video game Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller.

About the release, Dexter Holland said, “When we put Conspiracy of One out in 2000, Bill Clinton was still President, and September 11 hadn’t happened yet.

However, it was obvious that tensions were rising in the Middle East, and we could all sense that acts of terrorism were on the rise, both domestically and internationally.

In the U.S., we had all experienced the tragedy of the Oklahoma City bombing and had only recently apprehended the Unabomber, while internationally, there were instances of terrorism such as the sarin nerve gas attack in Japan, suicide bombing attacks in Chechnya, and the bombing of the USS Cole. It occurred to us that this was going to be a new way of waging war going forward. While in the

past, nations were generally attacked by other nations - army vs. army - we realized that the world was changing and that future attacks against our country were just as likely to occur by an individual or a small group...a “Conspiracy of One.” Of course, we had no idea what was in store for us on September 11, 2001, or how our title portended things to come.”

“Conspiracy of One seemed to come together pretty quickly, compared to some of other records,” said Noodles. “It was our first time recording with Brendan O’Brien, and we learned a lot from him about how to get the sounds we were looking for. We still play ‘Prankster’ & ‘Want You Bad’ from this record, almost every show, and we’d like to add more to the set. ‘Come Out Swinging’ & ‘Million Miles Away’ always stoke the fans, and ‘Special Delivery’ was such a dynamic & fun part of our set when we played it back then. I still love all these songs.”

For Conspiracy of One, the Offspring used their flaming skull logo on an album cover for the first time - the nowiconic Alan Forbes illustration has since appeared on no small number of T-shirts, stickers, tattoos, and, recently, a custom tank in the multiplayer online game World of Tanks. The Offspring’s first collaboration with producer Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine), Conspiracy of One captures both the Offspring’s trademark locomotive pop-punk (“Come Out Swinging”, the 99second “All Along”) and their genrecrossing experiments (the bridge of midtempo “Special Delivery” borrows the ooga-chaka from Blue Swede’s 1974 version of “Hooked on a Feeling”).

“Alan Forbes is a fantastic graphic artist who did the artwork on Conspiracy of One and ‘Huck It,’ Dexter shared. “We had been fans of his work for years and

were thrilled to have him help us with our album package. Part of our conversations with Alan were about how it would be cool to have an official Offspring band logo.

We worked together and came up with the ‘flaming skull.’ It’s been our logo ever since!”

With more than 40 million albums sold worldwide, The Offspring are one of punk rock’s most significant ambassadors.

Since 1985, their lineup has featured vocalist Dexter Holland and guitarist Noodles, with the entirety of the 1990s, spent with the Conspiracy of One rhythm section of bassist Greg K and drummer Ron Welty. Featuring “Come Out And Play (Keep ‘Em Separated)” and “Self Esteem,” their 1994 breakthrough Smash remains the largest selling album ever released on an independent label, certified six times Platinum. The group currently has festival dates scheduled across Europe for the summer of 2021.

Conspiracy of One Tracklist: Side A 1. Intro 2. Come Out Swinging 3. Original Prankster 4. Want You Bad 5. Million Miles Away 6. Dammit, I Changed Again 7. Living In Chaos Side B 1. Special Delivery 2. One Fine Day 3. All Along 4. Denial, Revisited 5 Vultures 6. Conspiracy Of One 7. Huck It

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ing Moods” with strings, and the extended, 5-minute plus version of “Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse.”

Of course, it also Includes all the band’s classic singles -12 U.K. top-20 hits including the debut single “Speak Like A Child” and the utterly sublime “Long Hot Summer.” The album also features key album tracks and fans’ favorites such as “Headstart For Happiness” (full tracklisting for format details below).

A demo version of the U.K. Top 5 single “My Ever Changing Moods” will be released as an ‘instant grat’ on September 10th; https:// TheStyleCouncil.lnk.to/ MyEverChangingMoodsDemoPR Long Hot Summers features rare photos, an introduction by Paul Weller, a new essay by Lois Wilson, and sleevenotes from ‘super-fan’, actor Martin Freeman. The album was remastered at Abbey Road Studios.

Long Hot Summer The Story Of The Style Council Greatest Hits / Anthology Released On Polydor / UMe “We set out to have fun, document the times and at the same time we wanted to elevate pop to an art form - I think we did that.”

Paul Weller “The Style Council gave so much to my youth. Who am I kidding? Yes, and to my adulthood as well”.

Martin Freeman

And now, finally Long Hot Summers - the long-awaited and eagerly anticipated definitive career anthology teaming with all the greatest hits and more is released on October 30th.

Named with a nod to the band’s biggest hit, Long Hot Summers is endorsed and co-compiled by Paul Weller himself. As well as the huge U.K. hit “Long Hot Summer,” the album also includes the band’s sterling debut top 5 U.K. single “Speak Like A Child” as well as other masterpieces such as the languid “You’re The Best Thing,” “Ever Changing Moods” and dance floor filler “Shout To The Top.”

SANTA MONICA, CA - September 10, 2020 - The Style Council was emblematic of its creator. Paul Weller, smart, fearless, audacious, with a social conscience totally unafraid to push the possibilities of pop. With their generous slew of U.K. chart hits, The Style Council were one of the defining pop Long Hot Summers includes two bands of the 80s. And they didn’t need unreleased tracks - an intriguing demo of big hair to get there. the U.K. top 5 single “My Ever Chang84 Rock and Blues International • December 2020

When Paul Weller announced The Style Council’s arrival in March 1983, he’d come a very long way. In fact, at the age of just 24, he was already a musical veteran with six albums and nine U.K. Top 10 singles under his belt with The Jam. As their leader he had become a deity-like figure and for his fans, The Jam’s split was unimaginable.

But creatively restless and of inquisitive mind, Paul jettisoned them at their height to form a collective with an eventual core line-up of Paul with Mick Talbot, Dee C Lee and Steve White.

In a quest for new sounds, the group travelled to realms previously unchartered for a pop group incorporating musical influences as wide ranging as Blue Note jazz and Chicago soul, Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, Chicago House and Jacques Brel.

At the same time, as battle lines were drawn in a decade under Margaret Thatcher culminating in the miner’s strike of 1984-85, Paul’s lyrics spoke with the language of the activist and his state of the nation addresses were both fierce and eloquent. Over four albums and 17 singles, The Style Council made a stand and became the standard bearers of progressive soulful pop and social comment. And it’s all here on this exceptional anthology.

Format details: As well as digitally, the album will be available on triple album vinyl: limited editions of both vinyl formats: black vinyl and a highly covetable colored vinyl version. All format details and tracklistings below:

Digital 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Headstart for Happiness Long Hot Summer My Ever-Changing Moods Walls Come Tumbling Down!

Party Chambers Wanted (or Waiter, There’s...)

Shout to the Top! It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands 9. Come to Milton Keynes 10. Why I Went Missing 11. Waiting 12. Ghosts Of Dachau 13. Down in the Seine 14. The Paris Match 15. Boy Who Cried Wolf 16. Life at a Top People’s Health Farm 17. Homebreakers 18. Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse (Extended version) # 19. Speak Like a Child 20. The Lodgers (Or She Was Only...)

21. Money Go Round 22. You’re the Best Thing 23. How She Threw It All Away 24. A Man of Great Promise 25. The Piccadilly Trail 26. A Solid Bond in Your Heart 27. All Gone Away 28. Sweet Loving Ways 29. Promised Land 30. Have You Ever Had It Blue 31. It Didn’t Matter 32. Spin’ Drifting 33. Here’s One That Got Away 34. A Woman’s Song 35. Changing of the Guard 36. My Ever-Changing Moods (Demo) #

37. Shout To The Top (Instrumental)

4.

5.

3LP Standard black vinyl Disc one Side 1 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Headstart for Happiness Long Hot Summer My Ever-Changing Moods Walls Come Tumbling Down!

Party Chambers

Side 2 1.

2.

3.

Wanted (or Waiter, There’s...)

Shout to the Top! It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands 4. Come to Milton Keynes 5. Why I Went Missing 6. Waiting

Disc two Side 1 1.

2.

3.

4.

Ghosts Of Dachau Down in the Seine The Paris Match Life at a Top People’s Health

You’re the Best Thing How She Threw It All Away

Disc three Side 1 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

A Man of Great Promise The Piccadilly Trail A Solid Bond in Your Heart Sweet Loving Ways Promised Land It Didn’t Matter

Side 2 1. Have You Ever Had It Blue 2. Spin’ Drifting 3. Here’s One That Got Away 4. Changing of the Guard 5. My Ever-Changing Moods (Demo) # # previously unreleased

3LP - coloured vinyl (Blue, pink & orange discs) Same tracks as standard black vinyl edition, above

Farm 5. Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse (Extended version) # Side 2 1. Speak Like a Child 2. The Lodgers (Or She Was Only...)

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Island Records/UMe Release Remastered And Expanded Versions Of No Need to Argue By The Cranberries 86

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

O’Riordan, who recently passed away in 2018. Dolores O’Riordan wrote all the lyrics to The Cranberries songs. The song was about the Warrington IRA bombings in 1993 that took the lives of two children.

By Greg Fontaine Fans of The Cranberries will have a chance to rejoice again this month.

Last month on the 13th, Island Records/ UMe has remastered and re-released the band’s 2nd album, No Need To Argue.

The new release is an expanded edition that is available as a 2 CD version and a 2 LP version. It is also available digitally. No Need To Argue was originally released on October 3, 1994.

No Need To Argue is The Cranberries best selling album. To date it has sold over 17 million copies worldwide.

It also contains the band’s most successful single, “Zombie.” “Zombie” is also the band’s most watched video. It has been seen over 1 billion times on YouTube, which is a first for Irish bands.

So far they are the only Irish band to achieve this. They even surpass U2’s record for video views. “Zombie” is also one of the band’s most political songs. It was written by lead singer Dolores

For this album, the band elected to present a more heavier and rockier presentation to their songs than they did in their first album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We. The mood on No Need To Argue is also a bit rougher than their first release. With this one they decided to add more distortion and beef up the volume of their new songs. When the album was first released, it sold over 5 million copies in its first six months. The album was hot!

The band received a Juno Award in Canada for Best-Selling Album in 1996.

Billboard Magazine ranks it at #90 in their list of the 300 Best-selling Albums Of All Time.

Just in case you never realized it, the cover on their first two albums featured the same couch and both pictures were taken by the same photographer, Andy Earl. By the way, the couch was a rented couch. For the second album, they had to track down the couch and rent it again. This couch was carried all around Dublin and had many pictures taken of it with the band.

Every single sleeve that the band released featured the band on the sofa in a different location. The same sofa resurfaced a year later when the British band, Supergrass used it in their video for the song “Alright.”

Now on to the meat and potatoes about this new release. The remastering on this project is extraordinary. They did a fantastic job and the album sounds even better than it did in its initial release. And, as you can expect, there are a lot of great gems on this cool reissue. Both the CD and digital version contain the remaster of the album along with three B-sides: “Away,” “I Don’t Need,” and “So Cold In Ireland” from their original tapes. The crowning moment on these releases lies in the unreleased material. There are 19 previously unreleased tracks. Among those are two additional tracks that were never officially released. The first one is “Yesterday’s Gone,” which was actually

recorded unplugged for MTV in 1995.

The second is a demo for the song “Serious” that has been floating around on YouTube as a low-quality live bootleg. Also included on the CD are several previously unseen photographs that were taken during the photo sessions for the album.

The previously unreleased songs on the album contain B-sides and extras as well as 9 demos. They also contain some live cuts. There are 5 songs recorded live at the Liverpool Royal Court on October 14th, 1994 and three songs that were recorded live at the National Stadium, Milton Keynes on July 30th, 1995. There is really a fantastic live version of “Zombie” on the National Stadium release.

Now if you’re into vinyl, Island Records/UMe has it for you. The vinyl configuration features the remastered album along with the same B-sides, as well as the extra track “Yesterday’s Gone.” It also features a cover of the Carpenters “(They Long To Be) Close to You.” Both the CD and LP sets also include a 5,000-word essay on the history of No Need To Argue written by the band’s official archivist Eoin Devereux. Devereux also wrote the sleeve notes for the reissue of The Cranberries debut release, Uncertain.

Uncertain was originally recorded in 1991 as an 4-song EP.

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9. Ridiculous Thoughts 10. Dreaming My Dreams 11. Yeats’ Grave 12. Daffodil Lament 13. No Need To Argue

B-sides + extras 14. Yesterday’s Gone (MTV Unplugged) 15. Away 16. I Don’t Need 17. So Cold In Ireland 18. (They Long To Be) Close To You 19. Zombie (A Camel’s Hump Remix by The Orb)

Demos + live tracks

4. Zombie

B Magic shop demos 1 Song To My Family 2 So Cold In Ireland 3 Empty 4 Ridiculous Thoughts 5 Everything I Said 6 Yeats’ Grave

continued from previous page 2CD digital tracklist 2020 remaster + extras 1. Ode To My Family 2. I Can’t Be With You 3. Twenty One 4. Zombie 5. Empty 6. Everything I Said 7. The Icicle Melts 8. Disappointment

Demos 7 Serious 8 Away 9 I don’t need

Live @ Liverpool Royal Court 14.10.1994 10 Dreaming My Dreams 11 Daffodil Lament 12 The Icicle Melts 13 No Need To Argue 14 Empty

Live @ National Stadium, Milton Keynes, 30.07.1995 15 I Can’t Be With You 16 Ridiculous Thoughts 17 Zombie

2LP tracklist A 1. Ode to My Family 2. I Can’t Be with You 3. Twenty One 88

Rock and Blues International • December 2020

1. Empty 2. Everything I Said 3. The Icicle Melts 4. Disappointment 5. Ridiculous Thoughts

C 1. Dreaming My Dreams 2. Yeats’ Grave 3. Daffodil Lament 4. No Need to Argue

D - Bonus tracks 1. Yesterday’s Gone (MTV unplugged) 2. Away 3. I Don’t Need 4. So Cold in Ireland 5. Close to You

most introspective album release.

Mary cowrote 14 of the album’s 17 songs.

These songs offered a deep insight to what Mary was going through at this stage in her life. During this time she was battling depression, battling drugs and alcohol, and was also in an abusive relationship.

Production on the album was handled through Sean “Puffy” Combs new label, Bad Boy Entertainment. To produce the album, Mary turned to Bad Boy Entertainment’s “Hitmen” producers club member, Chucky Thompson, a Washington, D.C. record producer. Sitting behind the boards was master engineer Prince Charles Alexander, another alumni of Bad Boy Entertainment.

Mary indeed had a winning combination with these two. Mary also spiced up her songs by adding some really cool samples from artists such as Roy Ayers (“My Life”), Curtis Mayfield (“I’m The Only Woman”), Isaac Hayes (“I Love You”) and Al Green (“No One Else”).

Mary J. Blige’s My Life Reissued by Geffen/Ume

By Greg Fontaine Geffen/UMe has reissued Mary J. Blige’s album My Life. Mary and Geffen/ UMe reissued the album last month in November to celebrate the anniversary of My Life’s original release in November of 1994.

This was the legendary singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist and honorary Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s second record release and is considered to be her big breakthrough album.

My Life received quite a bit of attention and yielded the hit songs, “You Bring Me Joy,” and “I’m Going Down,” her rendition of a song by the band Rose Royce.

My Life debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at #9 and worked its way to #7. It also hit the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at the No. 1 position and spent 8 weeks toping out that chart. It then went on to spend 46 weeks on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and 84 weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.

It also toped the Canadian and U.K. Albums Chart. By December of 1995 it was certified triple platinum by the Recording Association Of America (RIAA) for selling over 3 million albums in the United States. She also won the Billboard 1995 Music Award for Top R&B Album. My Life was also nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Album in 1995.

My Life is considered to be Mary’s

My Life was released in three different formats, a 2 CD version, a standard weight black double vinyl, and a triple vinyl edition in translucent blue with a lenticular cover, including bonus tracks featuring LL Cool J, and Smif ‘N Wessun. There will also be a 3 LP version available the will feature a commentary by Mary on the original album tracks. This 3 LP version will also be available digitally.

Since the release of the album, Rolling Stone has ranked the album #17 on their list of 50 Essential Female Albums, #93 on their 100 Great Albums of the 90s, and #279 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. TIME deemed it one of their ALLTIME 100 Albums, declaring that it has an “instant intimacy that cleaner singers never approach.”

My Life Track Listing (2xLP) Side A Intro Mary Jane (All Night Long) You Bring Me Joy Marvin Interlude I’m The Only Woman

Side B K. Murray Interlude My Life You Gotta Believe I Never Wanna Live Without You

Side C I’m Goin’ Down My Life Interlude Be With You Mary’s Joint

Side D Don’t Go I Love You No One Else Be Happy

My Life Track Listing (2CD / 3xLP CE) Side A Intro Mary Jane (All Night Long) You Bring Me Joy Marvin Interlude I’m The Only Woman

Side B K. Murray Interlude My Life You Gotta Believe I Never Wanna Live Without You

Side C I’m Goin’ Down My Life Interlude Be With You Mary’s Joint

Side D Don’t Go I Love You No One Else Be Happy

Side E (Bonus Tracks) Mary Jane (All Night Long) [Remix] Feat. LL Cool J I’m Goin’ Down (Remix) Feat. Mr. Cheeks I Love You (Remix) Feat. Smif N’ Wessun

Side F (Bonus Tracks)

Be Happy (Bad Boy Butter Remix) Be Happy (Ron G Remix) (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 89