Rock And Blues International - February 2021

FEBRUARY 2021

Rock And Blues International SAM BARLOW Faith In The Blues ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

EVELYN RUBIO GEOFF ACHISON ANN SAVOY ROOTS MAGIC FRANCESCA CAPASSO PARIS JACKSON CEELO GREEN

Rock And Blues International February 2021 Hello Rock And Blues International readers. As we start into the second month of the new year, things are still pretty brutal for the musicians out there in the terms of touring and performing, although I have seen schedules for tours starting up within the next few months. I’m sure that those are tentatively scheduled and could be cancelled with a moments notice. I pray that doesn’t happen. With the periodic lockdowns and restriction put into bars and music venues, thing seem pretty rough. For those of you familiar with Live Nation, their business is in limbo at the moment. I have quite a few friends there that have recently found out that they have completely lost their jobs there. I cry for those people. To some of them, this is the only kind of work they have known. More bands are now turning to virtual performances on the web. I salute them for taking the initiative to do whatever it takes to keep their music alive and their fans happy. 3 Doors Down and CeeLo Green are doing performances like this and you can read about them in this issue. We also have a story in this issue on Livestream Performances. I would ask all musicians, club owners, and recording studios to read this story. It might be a way for your business to evolve into a Livestreat Venue. Musicians need a professional looking spot with adequate services to stream their performance. Just read the story and you’ll see what I mean. The story is on page 86 & 87. I urge everyone to take the Covid vaccine shot when it becomes available to them. Anything we can do to protect ourselves and the people around us is worth a sore arm. I took the shot and had a slight reaction to it that lasted only a couple of days. I wish I had got it earlier. In December I had Covid and it wasn’t pleasant, but as you can see, I survived.

Let’s move on to something a little more happier. In this issue you can read stories about Sam Barlow, Francesca Capasso, Geoff Achison, Roots Magic from Italy, Evelyn Rubio, Lucy Spraggan, Nanowar Of Steel, Ouri, Lindsay Ell, Genghis Tron, Einherjer, Paris Jackson (yes, Michael’s daughter), Steve Aoki, Ultra-Violence (Italy), UB40, Depths Of Hatred (Canada), Eric Church (United States), and a lot more.

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” February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

3

Contents

VOL. 1 NO. 7

FEBRUARY 2021

6

6

ISSUE NO. 7

EVELYN RUBIO From Las Vegas To Turin To Mexico City to London This Girl’s Got It Working!

8 SAM BARLOW

8

Sam Barlow Releases His Debut Album, Faith In The Blues

14

14

GEOFF ACHISON Souldigger And Blues Troubadour Australian Blues Artist Geoff Achison Talks About His Long Career

ANN SAVOY

20

20

Ann Savoy’s Cajun Music: A Reflection Of A People Volume II Set For Publication This Month

22 22

ROOTS MAGIC Hard Blues And Creative Jazz Featuring One Of Italy’s Most Creative Bands

4

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Contents

VOL. 1 NO. 7

FEBRUARY 2021

24

24

ISSUE NO. 7

ELECTROHORSE featuring FRANCESCA CAPASSO Francesca Talks About The New Single, “Walk On Water”

62 PARIS JACKSON

62

Paris Jackson Rleases Captivating Music Video For “Eyelids” featuring Andy Hull

69 69

CEELO GREEN Sessions Presents Grammy Winner CeeLo Green In A Special Livestream Valentine Day’s Eve Special February 13

In This Issue: 6 8 14 20 22 23 24 28 30 31 34 36 38 39 40 42

Evelyn Rubio Sam Barlow Geoff Achison Ann Savoy’s “Cajun Music” Roots Music (English Roots Music (Italian) Elektrohorse featuring Francesca Capasso Alex Clare & Anjunabeats Justin Nozuka Lucy Spraggan Sarin Steve Aoki & A.C.E. As Everything Unfolds Living Dead Girl Azam Ali Ouri

42 44 46 48 50 52 55 56 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 66

Angelina Jordan Venus Furs Patriarchy Morgan Wallen Jeremy Zucker & Chelsea Cutler Curtis Waters Aluna Eric Church Al Staelely Juan Pablo Di Pace Anna Akana Decouplr Paris Jackson Morgan Wade Lindsay Ell Paul Leary

68 69 70 71 73 74 76 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 85 86 88

Petey Martin & Lauren Daigle CeeLo Green M. Caye Castagnetto Greenleaf Ghengis Tron Einherjer Sorizon Stalker Werewolves Beyond Grace Depths Of Hatred Nanowar Of Steel Ultra-Violence Aversed 3 Doors Down Evolution Of Live Streaming UB40

From Las Vegas to Turin to Mexico City to London This Woman’s Got It Working!

It’s Christmastime in the entertain- not been expecting this but welcomed ment capital of the world, Las Vegas the opportunity to perform her new Nevada and the gorgeous multi-talented album in front of this vibrant Las Vegas woman wearing a colorful sequin dress, a woman with marvelous vocal range, shares the stage with the Las Vegas jazz favorite, The Uli Geissendoerfer Trio.

The audience is comprised of show talent, casino workers, and visiting musicians. To perform with such an esteemed trio is a delight and this night Evelyn and the trio would set the room on fire. Prior to her debut, the maestro, Uli Geissendoerfer, armed with her song charts had worked through the charts meticulously. Upon Evelyn’s arrival they rehearsed prior to the show and arranged the playlist for the upcoming Saturday night event. However, on show night the maestro surprised Evelyn by moving away from their rehearsed plan by saying, “Evelyn this night I would like you to perform your complete “Hombres” album from the beginning all the way through to the end.” Evelyn had 6 Rock and Blues International • December October 2020 November 2020 2020

holiday crowd. As one might expect in Las Vegas the trio’s music was spot on, in fact, when it came time for Uli to

Photo by Jeff Fasano

perform his piano solos the embellishments were over the top, absolutely magnificent. The multi-talented sexy Hispanic lady from Mexico City rose to the occasion and performed flawlessly for the next sixty minutes. Prior to the event Evelyn had performed in northern Italy with The Black City Band starting in Turin. While performing at The Mattorosso the sexy Latin sweetheart broke into her chart climbing number “He Did Me Wrong But He Did It Right” presenting the song in two languages, English and Spanish. At the end of the song the women in the audience rose up in unison and acknowledged Evelyn with a standing ovation shouting Bravo, Bravo. These type of acknowledgements are not rare even if Evelyn is performing in the states, Europe, or her beloved Mexico. When it comes to studio participation Mr. Andy Bradley, the author of “House Of Hits” and recording engineer extraordinaire shares the following, “Not only does Evelyn know her craft but when I hire her for studio work she arrives fully prepared. I have told her what I wish to create and she comes in and nails it every time.” In 2020 Evelyn recorded in the studio with four professionals: Rock icon Al Staehely, Americana recording artist Chris Gardner, outlaw country artist Steve Griggs, and of pop fame Mr. Vincent Powell. Not only did she record duets but also completed and released

her latest album “Crossing Borders”.

Evelyn would go on to team with Relaxing Blues Productions who crafted a story telling music video out of Evelyn’s “I’m Gonna Love You Tonight” track from the new album. The video immediately shot up to 30,000 views on You Tube.

Most recently Evelyn recorded her new combination dance, sax, and vocal music video titled “Cruel”. The sexy, steamy video is almost too hot for You Tube and continues to gain attention to this day.

Evelyn Rubio was born in Mexico City and at a very young age her Mother realized that young Evelyn had that sparkle, that very special gift that some people are born with but yet they need polish. suggested that Evelyn look PhotoShe

by Gary Bedford closer at sharing her gift with the world.

Evelyn took her Mother’s advice and It wasn’t long afterward that she would be chosen to perform on multiple municipal stages around the area for children. She was so good at it that soon she began to manage the events. The area wide exposure found the attention of a Canadian producer who had been looking to cast the role of Mary Magnalene in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Evelyn, it would turn out, would be perfect for the part. Next she began to teach herself how to play the saxophone and caught on so well that she began touring throughout Mexico in a rock

band. The next major step in her developing career occurred as she made her move toward citizenship in the United States. A world famous entertainment lawyer learned of Evelyn and introduced her to Calvin Owens, the famous bandleader. Mr. Owens was successful as a music producer plus he had his own orchestra, The Calvin Owens Band. Upon hearing Evelyn’s voice and vocal range Mr. Owens presented the young naturalized American with a multiple album contract.

Evelyn agreed and the two of them teamed to produce the Billboard topping album “Hombres”. In March of 2016 the album came in at number one, three, and six respectively on Billboard’s charts.

Worldwide radio had picked up the release and DJs around the world were spinning “Hombres” big time. Today with the pandemic at hand Evelyn is still performing but now across the internet in live streaming performances. Her return to the stage at The Mucky Duck in Houston for her live stream event will occur on February 5th. Currently the sexy, sassy, singer, sax player is in talks with a Texas streaming studio regarding hosting The Evelyn Rubio Show.

Additionally she has entered into talks with a top jazz pianist regarding recording together. To stay in touch check out Evelyn’s official website, facebook account, as well as her latest postings on Instagram and Twitter.

Evelyn’s official website www.evelynrubio.com

Photo by Jeff Fasano

8

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

SAM BARLOW

Bluesman Sam Barlow Releases His Debut Album Faith In The Blues

By Kevin Wildman Montrose Records is happy to announce the release of Sam Barlow’s new album, Faith In The Blues, out now on Montrose Records. Richard Cagle, President of Montrose Records, had this to say about Sam and his debut album, Faith In The Blues. “Blues is a common language spoken around the world and we want to get Sam’s new release into the hands of DJs around the globe. Sam’s got the sound, the lyrics, and the swagger of what epitomizes the words ‘blues man.’

From the moment he entered out studio, he was prepared and laying it down from day one. This is a really good collection of Blues songs, Sam nails it big time.”

Sam Barlow was born in El Paso, located in West Texas. The man has certainly paid his dues even though he is relatively young. Starting off in the town of Austin, watching and learning from the Blues masters of Texas, Sam quickly started developing his own sound before moving back to El Paso. Sam has also shared the stage with many of those Blues greats. An experience like that makes a man grow up quick in the land of the Blues. From there he has moved on to doing his own thing, whether it be solo or with his full band on stages in concert halls, clubs, and juke joints all over Texas

and New Mexico.

With a fire in his belly to light up music halls everywhere, Sam knew it was time to record an album of his original tunes, and it was suggested for him to contact Richard Cagle at Montrose Records. Well, contact him he did, and when that happened, it just clicked for both of them. Sam saw in Cagle an experienced man that could take him places and Richard spotted a great talent that he could help get to those places. It didn’t take long for Sam to get into the Montrose Records recording studio in Ruidoso and start to work on the twelve songs that form Faith In The Blues.” This new album has everything that you would expect to hear from a seasoned Blues professional, hot licks, great melodies, and beautifully crafted songs, both fast and slow as molasses just oozing that great Blues sound that Sam is known for. Some of the great songs that you’re going to hear on this tour-de-force of a Blues album are “Sittin’ In The Jailhouse,” “Breaker Box Blues,” “My Babe” (featuring Blues goddess Annika Chambers), as well as the electrifying title cut, “Faith In The Blues,” along with eight more inspiring tunes.

and talk to Sam about his musical journey and find out a little about some of the songs on the album, what they are about, and what they mean to him.

Music News: Well Sam, how did you get started on this ride?

Sam Barlow: I spent most of my life growing up in Austin, Texas. I started playing there at a very young age and then got involved in the Blues Jam scene and started learning the etiquette and how to work with other musicians. I was meeting other musicians and of course, gathering the inspiration that goes along with the competitiveness of that scene at the time.

You know, some of the older players just really get into it.

Music News: There’s got to be a lot of competition on the Blues scene in Austin. How did that work out for you?

Sam Barlow: Oh man, back in the day there was a lot of hay cutting. There was always a Blue Jam somewhere. I had a mentor that kind of took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. And so that was a great way to come up and then we ended up moving back here to El Paso.

In about 2011 I won the Guitar Center

We managed to sit down for a while

continued on next page February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

9

bass, my best friend Dave Hamilton on bass. Like I said, all of us had creative input on the on the arrangements and I feel like everything came out really well.

There was an aspect when it comes to my harmonica playing where some of that was like written on the fly in the studio, if I recall correctly.

Music News: Richard is a very knowledgeable studio engineer. What kind of input did he give you on your arrangements?

Sam Barlow continued from previous page “King of the Blues” Competition here in town and then went on to represent El Paso in Houston where and I took Second Place. That kind of established me in the El Paso music scene. I met a lot of people because of that instance and was able to put together a Blues group here in town. I started touring with a bunch of Country bands, Texas Country bands I should say.

I went on the road doing that for a long time and then went on the road with a Funk group and different acts like that. I played every genre that you can imagine there for a while, and then kind of decided that I wanted to get back to my Blues roots and play my original Blues... sort of a contemporary like progressive thing. So that that was the start of the album that we have out now on Montrose Records called Faith in the Blues.

songs all written, or did you write any while you where in the studio?

Sam Barlow: Everything was already written. We had my band and we have been playing these tunes at clubs and such for probably, you know, some of them for many years. But I would say a good majority of them for the last three to four years, refining the arrangements. So by the time that we got to Richard’s, we had a real good handle on how we wanted to do things. Of course, Richard coached us on certain things… just creative input.

There are a few other guys that came in, especially my musicians that were working on it. There was Joe Seltzer on drums, Israel ‘Izzy’ Aguirre on organ, the late Anthony ‘Tony Mo’ Movsesian on

Music News: Is Faith In The Blues your first album?

Sam Barlow: Yes, this is my first full-length album. I also did one EP whenever I was 15 years old that still exists out there. It’s Sam Barlow Band: Texas Blues Man and His Soul Band. That was a good way to get some of the concepts started and then I met Mr. Richard Cagle a few years ago through Joe “King” Carrasco when I was on tour with him. Mr. Cagle liked the way I played and we became friends. He said that he would like to like to record me and feature me on the label. It’s been a real blessing to know him and watch this project kind of bloom.

Music News: When you went into the studio to record with Richard, were the 10 Rock and Blues International • February December2021 2020

Sam Barlow: I think it would be more the enhancements… things like we should do. We should double this chorus here or put a harmony vocal here. One thing that he did was he made my guitar sound absolutely huge on the record. I was so impressed with the way my guitar tone was represented because there’s a certain feel that I get off my instrument, like whenever you’re live on stage. Sometimes I’ve been in recording situations before where it just doesn’t translate through the microphone to the console and when you’re listening to a playback, it just doesn’t sound the same. But in regard to the way Mr. Cagle was able to represent that, I feel like it came through 100% me.

I really feel that. What else can I say.

Music News: Wonderful. It sounds like you had a great experience with the recording process. Let’s talk about a few of the songs. Tell me about the title song off the album, “Faith In The Blues.”

Sam Barlow: That was something that I had in my heart for a long time. I grew up in church listening to Gospel music and all Social Gospel music. Being that I grew up around a younger generation that really wasn’t listening to what I was listening to… I was definitely hanging out with people that were quite a

bit older than me in the clubs when we were playing. So I was trying to figure out this concept of well… I have faith in the Blues. I have faith that this is going to come back to the center and be at the forefront of popular music again. I’d really like to see more blues artists, and well I’d like to see at least one blues artist on the Top-40 radio. You know what I mean? That would be amazing if we could break back into that.

Music News: Lets talk about “Breaker Box Blues.” That’s a great electrified slow Blues song that really has an uptempo presentation.

Sam Barlow: ‘Breaker Box Blues” was one of the first original songs I’ve ever written. It was actually the first original song that I wrote. That waa written when I was 13 in Austin, Texas.

Music News: And how about “But, We Know.”

Sam Barlow: “But, We Know” is a tune that I wrote with one of my best friends and an amazing singer named Kendra Elliot. We put that together whenever we were touring with the Funk band together in Midland, Texas. She was not able to sing on it, unfortunately.

However, I feel like the vibe that we were going for on that song was very well represented. It’s pretty much a song about two lovers in the dark, if that makes any sense.

Music News: You also have a cool ballad on here called “Can’t Take Another You.” Sam Barlow: “Can’t Take Another You” was the first ballad that I ever wrote and the audience seems to really like that song a lot. I’ll get a lot of people that come up and request that tune between sets and that’s kind of neat.

Music News: You even have a Funk song on the album titled “Get Off Me.” It helps vary the songs on this album and fits in quite well. Everyone seems to be able to stretch out a bit.

Sam Barlow: Yeah, “Get Off Me” is a Funk tune where I think the band really came together well. Everybody got a line on that one and the late ‘Tony Mo’ Movsesian had an amazing bass solo featured on that.

Music News: What about “Soul On A Rail” and “My Little Lady.

Sam Barlow: “Soul On A Rail” is a great tune that I wrote just about hopping in a train and sending away your Blues.

“My Little Lady” is another real cool jam

tune for the band. That was one of the tunes that has been around the longest. I think we’ve been playing that tune for about 10 years. My worthy constituent, David Hamilton, was able to come in to the studio up in Ruidoso and play bass on that track, so he’s featured. He has an amazing solo on that.

Music News: “Valentine’s Special” seems like a pretty lively tune. It has a bit of a different style on here than the other songs.

Sam Barlow: That was something that is a kind of a Delta Blues tune that I put together. I’m playing dobro on it and everybody at one point… we all got in the circle and just recorded that live in the studio with ‘Tony Mo’ Movsesian on the washboard and a bunch of people that were hanging out just clapping along. It was a really cool tune to do.

Music News: Well you seem to definitely be in the Blues realm here with the tune, “Gonna Make Her My Baby.”

Sam Barlow: That’s a cool little shuffle tune that I put together. It’s a tune about wanting a woman. A lot of my tunes have a tendency to focus on some form of love or wanting to be with a female, and have some female compan-

ionship. You know, I feel like that definitely is a topic that comes up in the Blues a lot and I have definitely exploited that on this record.

Music News: Well, with a Blues album, you need to have some songs on there about women, whether it’s wanting them, not wanting them, losing them, or whatever. It’s an unspoken rule with the Blues.

Sam Barlow: Amen to that. Yeah, there’s definitely a few of them on here, “My Little Lady,” “My Baby,” “Gonna Make Her My Baby.” And “Can’t Take Another You.” There’s a common verb there.

Music News: Tell me about the song “Street Blues.” It seems a bit jazzier than the others do.

Sam Barlow: That’s another strong jam song. Whenever I was studying Jazz at the El Paso Junior College, that was a tune I put together because I wanted a chance to express a little bit of that influence that was coming into my life. So that was a song that evolved on stage.

That was an idea that I presented to my constituents at one point years ago. From that time till now it evolved and it’s still

continued on next page February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

11

Sam Barlow continued from previous page evolving. It’s actually one of the things about my group and what we do on stage.

We have always been jammers, especially my bass player Dave and I. We spent so many years on the road doing things like that, playing every genre you can imagine, so we like to definitely take off on stage, and with that tune and the other songs as well. They’re still evolving and I feel like they’ll continue to evolve. I mean, I often joke that one day these songs are going to be 10 minutes long, but that’s half of the fun for us. We are adventurous musicians and we like to play live. We like to take risks because that’s the fun of the improvisational side of the Blues and never doing the same thing twice.

Music News: You even have a couple of cover tunes on here. Tell me a little about them.

whatever reason we decided that we were going to jam something as a last tune. We had no idea that it would even make it to the record. However that is not the first track on the record and it’s getting some great reviews on the charts. “My Babe” featured Miss Annika Chambers and she came up with some amazing harmony parts on that. I can’t believe how well that tune came out and that’s another favorite of all of ours so far. I can’t wait to see how far that one will be able to go.

Believe it or not, whenever her part was recorded, I had not met her yet. I recorded that tune with my band of at the Ruidoso studio and she was in Houston at the time and recorded her part over there at the Houston studio. By the time that I had heard it, I was so amazed because it sounds like we’re in the same room together. I met her after the fact about a couple of months later and she was playing over at Richard’s Ruidoso studio, and so we actually had a chance to get together and meet and perform that tune in front of some people for the first time. So that was a cool experience.

Sam Barlow: As far as the covers are concerned, “Sittin’ In The Jailhouse” and “My Babe” are two of my favorite songs on the record for sure. “Sittin’ In The Jailhouse” is a slide tune that I’ve been listening to because I’m a huge For Sam Barlow and his band, the Johnny Winter’s fan. I’ve been listening to recording process at Montrose Records that since I was probably eight or nine recording studio went by quite painlessly years old and that was a tune that we had and it was a lot of fun for them. The no plans originally to put on the record. recording went by quite easily with no We did not even rehearse that at all more that two or three takes of each song. beforehand or played it live, but for 12 Rock and Blues International • February January 2021 2021

That’s what happens when you perfect your songs on the road before you record them. Sam also told me that the writing process for him is quite painless as well.

His songs simply flow in his mind and he just grabs a piece of paper and starts jotting down notes and adding lyrics and verses as needed. Sam says he always carries a small notebook in his back pocket for whenever the inspiration strikes. As far as his influences go, they can easily be found on this album. They may be slightly tuned down, or may pop up on the next album, but he cites Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, Muddy Waters, Eric Johnson, and even Michael Jackson.

He tells us that the inspiration behind the shuffle section of “Soul On A Rail” came from Jackson’s “Man In The Mirror.”

Well, as I’ve said many times before, you never know where inspiration will come from.

There are definitely a lot of great moments on this album. For me, the whole album is fantastic, but the proof is in the pudding on how you, the listener, feels about it, so I urge all of you out there into ‘The Blues’ to check out this fine new album. Be sure to check out Faith In The Blues” by Sam Barlow. It’s out now on Montrose Records.

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

13

Geoff Achison Photo by Gary Brad

14

Rock and Blues International • February December2021 2020

Photo by Gary Brad

Geoff Achison Souldigger and Blues Troubadour

By Barry (Baz) Maxwell from Blues on the Hill Geoff Achison earned a reputation in the 1990s as one of the more acclaimed young Blues guitarists. In 1995, Geoff represented the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, winning the coveted Albert King Award. This lead to an endorsement deal with Gibson Guitars.

In 2008, he was voted in Guitar Player Magazine as one of the Top Ten Hot New Guitarists. He has seen international success and has won awards for his guitar playing, song writing and live performances.

I have had the pleasure on numerous occasions to see the Souldiggers and also Geoff Achison solo and it’s always a wonderful experience. Geoff has played our blues club every year and is our annual Christmas party host where he mixes it with the next generation players coming through.

He is a jaw dropping guitarist and also one of the humblest and nicest people you would meet. Geoff Achison’s

pedigree is unquestioned. He was honoured in 2011 as official Patron of the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society and in 2020 he was inducted into the Blues Music Victoria Hall of Fame.

We recently had a chat about his career.

The beginning Geoff was born in 1965 and grew up in rural Victoria, Australia. “I played bass in my dad’s dance band and also in Alan Watson’s jazz band” said Geoff.

“Alan was my first music mentor and he took me under his wing. I guess it was because he could hear I had some ability to listen and improvise on a theme. So for the next six or seven years, all through my teens, I spent my weekends and school holidays, jamming at Alan’s place, where I began to learn all sorts of music styles.” Said Geoff.

“I became his bass player and that gave me a greater understanding of rhythm. One night, in a break between sets, somebody put on a John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers LP record. I ran to the record player and looked at the label

spinning around trying to figure out who it was. And then I got into a conversation with a guy who said yeah, that’s the blues man. And that started me on the path. A friend of mine gave me a stack of Blues albums to take home and listen to including “The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East’. In my view, there’s never been a better showcase for improvisational Blues rock than this.”

The Early Years with Dutch Tilders In 1987 Geoff made the move to Melbourne. “I met Bob Sedergreen. At that time he led the octet Blues on the Boil’, the only Blues band to emerge directly from the Jazz world. They were all jazz cats, they were a Blues band with Jazz sensibilities. It was like an adventure, they’d break all the rules and take the 12 bar Blues to Mars and back. And I just loved it. Then from Blues on the Boil’ the Just Blues Band was formed and that was the band I was in. Eventually, we opened for Dutch Tilders and the continued on next page

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

15

Blues Club, So Dutch got to see me play with the Just Blues Band and afterwards I got the call from him to come and play”. Said Geoff.

“Dutch became my next music mentor. Dutch didn’t play lead guitar, he would hire people like Martin Cooper, Phil Manning and Kevin Borich. So they were big shoes I was asked to fill. I think there were much better and more experienced guitar players than me, which Dutch could have called, but I think he realised that I really listened to what he was doing and I played my guitar licks around what he was singing and I think that’s why he gave it to me.”

“The time I spent with Dutch was very important because, I wanted to understand the Blues. So for several years, I didn’t listen to anything else and I didn’t play anything else. I was trying to absorb as much as I could from Dutch and at the same time I was writing songs and working on my own musical development.”

The Souldiggers After five years with Dutch Tilders, Geoff began to forge a different journey.

Geoff released his debut album ‘Big Machine’ in 1994. He represented the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 1995 and won the coveted Albert King Award for most promising guitarist.

Upon his return to Melbourne, Geoff was able to realise his musical vision with the formation of The Souldiggers and he built the group’s reputation with exciting and spontaneous live performances. Amongst many accolades, Geoff Achison and The Souldiggers won Group of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Artist of the Year at the 2017 Australian Blues Music ‘Chain’ Awards.

Geoff explains “There was a song I wrote called Souldigger and I thought that was a perfect name for my band.

The idea was to have a name that described the music. I greatly admired the Blues philosophy of digging deep into one’s soul for honesty and truth.

That’s what the name Souldiggers is meant to convey.”

I offered the observation that the Souldiggers are not afraid to embrace improvisation and Blues jamming in the same way The Allman Brothers Band had done. Geoff smiles “Yeah, that’s how I saw it. And coming from my years working with Alan Watson, who was big on original ideas. Every time we played, he said he wanted to hear original ideas

Photo by Karen Key

Geoff Achison continued from previous page and original takes on old songs. So that created such an impression upon me, I still think that’s how music should be approached. When I heard ‘The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East’ I thought that’s the kind of band I want to be in. It was Blues with extended improvisation. And that’s what I love. I agree it’s important to identify what different styles are, but they’re not

16 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

demarcation points. For me music styles for the musician are like different colours for the artist. Once you have your palette of all these different colours, one of the real skills is mixing them together to develop different shades and different effects.”

Encouraged by success at the International Blues Challenge in 1995 he established international touring routes

in the USA and UK. To overcome the difficulties of bringing a band from Australia, Geoff began hiring local musicians to form a backing group when required. I asked him how that arrangement came about.

“Well, I stole the idea from Chuck Berry” Geoff laughs. “He would go on tour with just his guitar and part of the deal was the promoter would supply the band and the equipment. Chuck would turn up, plug in and he would expect the band to know the songs. It got me thinking, I could tour around Australia, USA and the UK in the same way and hire local musicians wherever I was. I didn’t have to deal with the logistics of getting a band from Melbourne to Sydney to Los Angeles, New York and London. So now I’ve Souldiggers everywhere. I’m proud I work at the grassroots independent music level and so I have to make it affordable and doable.”

“I did my first exploratory trips to the US in 93 and 95. From 1997 onwards, every year, I’ve travelled to the US and the UK. And I gotta tell you, I didn’t do it for the money, I did it because it was the most incredible adventure in music I could have. Every time I play to an audience, no matter where I am, it’s the best. And I’ve met so many incredible musicians that became my good friends”.

Geoff Achison - Solo We’d talked about the Souldiggers, but I wanted to know a little more about Geoff’s solo career.

“Well, playing the solo shows allows me to explore a little bit of my folky side, as well as bringing the Blues right back to basics. Which I really enjoy. Yeah, I’m passionate about the acoustic guitar side of the Blues. For me, some of the joy of playing the acoustic stuff is rearranging the band songs… pulling arrangements apart and then rebuilding them just with one humble little instrument and seeing what I can do with it. Also, doing solo shows allowed me to build a following in areas where I’m not well known enough to do the whole band gig.”

Fur Peace Ranch Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch is near Pomeroy, Ohio in the United States. Jorma Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs with Hot Tuna. In the late 1980’s Jorma and his wife Vanessa wanted to create a place where musicians could come together, surround themselves with music for several days and

Photo by Sam Tilders

emerge with a new found inspiration.

They started hosting weekend camps for guitarists at the Fur Peace Ranch in 1989. Geoff has been an instructor at the camp and so I asked him how that came about.

“Yeah, it was the gig that kept on giving” said Geoff. “It fell out of the sky and into my lap. It was through the Gibson Guitar company. I had an endorsement deal with them and had visited the acoustic division to receive a couple of guitars. Before I left my host, a lovely fella called Robi Johns asked if I taught guitar as well. The truth was, I’d done very little but it sounded like there might be a gig offer so I said yes, of course! He explained that his friend Jorma Kaukonen had established a new concept where people go and stay at his place and learn guitar and that he was looking for professional players that could teach. To my eternal shame, I had no idea who Jorma was. I had never heard his name. I’m from Australia and Jefferson Aeroplane had one minor hit with ‘White Rabbit’ when I was two!

Anyway, Robi set it up and before I knew it, I was sent the contract and everything was ready for me to teach at Fur Peace Ranch the following October.

I turned up there and I met Jorma Kaukonen (who I soon realised was a bone-fide rock-god!) and he had no clue why this Australian kid he’d never heard of, had been hired. But, you know, this is one of the things that has got me through life… once the guitar comes out, once

we start playing music, the connection is made. Suddenly, we’re smiling at each other and we hit it off. It turned into this relationship that grew. I was there every year, until my last visit in 2017. Besides connecting with Jorma, I also developed a friendship with Jack Casady and, Jorma’s wife; Vanessa and the whole extended FPR family. All the students I’ve had in my classes over the years have often developed into long-lasting friendships. Just an aside, when I first spoke with my US Manager; Nancy Lewis-Pegel about possibly handling my tour bookings, she was unsure…this was pre-website and social media days. My awkward sales pitch over the phone was going nowhere until I happened to mention that I’d taught at Jorma’s. That was all I had to say. It sealed the deal.”

The Future I asked Geoff what he expected from 2021. Geoff smiled. “Well, the Souldiggers will be there as far as I’m concerned because it’s the best way for me to do my original work. The beautiful thing about the Souldiggers is, anything goes. There’ll always be an element of the Blues in there, because Blues is the bedrock of everything I do. But, it could lead in any direction, Jazz, Funk, Soul, it doesn’t matter. We just try to create good songs we can jam on.”

“So far as the music industry is concerned, I think 2020 has shown a lot of us in the music business that we will continued on next page

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

17

Photo by Karen Key

Geoff Achison continued from previous page have to adjust the way we approach existing at the moment, have geared their things in order to make a living. Particudistribution of music in such a way that larly if COVID continues around the musicians basically get paid pennies for world and prevents us from touring. I their work. And that’s disappointing. think the internet is the best and the Everyone needs to be able to make worst of things. Teaching, from home is money to survive and it’s no different for great and I can teach anyone, no matter musicians, so something’s got to change. where they are these days. But, for I’m encouraged there are still a lot of musicians, the online music platforms people who appreciate real music and 18 February 2020 2021 26 Rock Rock and and Blues Blues International International •• August November 2020

real song writing and real live performances. I hate to sound cynical, but, so far, the online delivery of music hasn’t delivered musicians much joy, or reward.

I just hope that the people in the corporate circles, realise that whilst they’ve found a new way to make money, the musicians deserve a better deal. It was okay when we were touring because online music is a great promotional tool, but sadly, without the touring, online music can’t be relied on to look after us.”

“But we need to be refreshed every now and again. So new songs are important. I think concepts that creep into our lyrics come about because of where we find ourselves these days. We are affected by what’s going on and songs become an historical record of the events of our time”.

Most Memorable Blues Moment My final question – what has been your most memorable Blues moment?

“Appearing on stage with The Allman Brothers, they were an important and early influence on me. Man, it was like getting on stage with The Beatles for me.

I met Greg Allman backstage when he walked into the rehearsal room. He’s a shy person and so am I. So we didn’t say anything to each other. It’s one of my regrets in life that I’m not more naturally outgoing. But then I was on stage with him and the whole band. I was on stage for 10 minutes jamming on an Earl King song. For me, that was my Mount Everest moment. I was at the summit for 10 minutes and it was captured on an Allman Brothers CD.” References https://www.geoffachison.com/ https://www.mbas.org.au/ https://blues.org/ https://www.gibson.com/ https://www.guitarplayer.com/ http:// www.bluesmusicvictoria.com.au http://www.bobsedergreen.com/ https://www.dutchtilders.com.au/ https://www.furpeaceranch.com/ About Barry (Baz) Maxwell I live in Melbourne, Australia where I’m – Presenter, Blues on the Hill radio show (https://www.facebook.com/ bluesonthehill and http:// www.sunburyradio.com.au) President, 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.

Ann Savoy’s Cajun Music: A Reflection Of A People Volume II Set For Publication This Month 36 Years After Volume 1 Was First Published In 1985 Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People Volume I, a sumptuous 444page book which had been published the previous year, was described in the Washington Post as “perhaps the most comprehensive stunning portrait of this music ever written.” Now, more than thirty-six years later, author Ann Savoy is set to publish Cajun Music A Reflection of a People Volume II, the 456-page companion to her earlier effort. The two books document the music and music makers that are central to a rich cultural tradition that dates back more than 350 years.

four children and toured the world.

Later they included their musically minded offspring in The Savoy Family Band and collaborated with Beausoleil’s Michael Doucet in the SavoyDoucet Cajun Band.

Ann would also form The Magnolia Sisters, an all-female Cajun band and join forces with Linda Ronstadt as the Zozo Sisters whose album Adieu False Heart was Grammy-nominated, one of four such nominations she’s received to date, Along the way, she performed and recorded with her gypsy jazz ensemble Ann Savoy and Her Sleepless Nights.

She also produced Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music that Boo Zoo Playing By Ann Savoy featured performances of While she had intended to publish classic Cajun repertoire by Ronstadt, a second volume of Cajun Music: A Linda Thompson, John Fogerty, Richard Reflection of a People, the planning for Thompson, Nick Lowe, which preceded publication of the first, Patty Griffin, Maria McKee, things did not work out quite as she had David Johansen and Rodney envisioned. As Cajun Music A Reflection Crowell. She went on to of a People Volume 1 went on to become produce Creole Bred: A the standard reference for Cajun, Creole Tribute To Creole & Zydeco and Zydeco music and win the American that included tracks by Folklore Society’s Botkin Book Award, Cyndi Lauper, Taj Mahal, Savoy got busy and couldn’t find the Tom Tom Club, David time to complete the follow-up she Hidalgo, Sweet Honey in always had in mind. the Rock, Zydeco & Zydeco In the intervening decades she, Cha-Chas, Michelle along with husband and master musician Shocked, Keith Frank, Ed and accordion maker Marc Savoy, raised Poullard, Darick Cambell, 20 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Keith Frank and Ed Poullard. Albums on which she appeared were released by the Rounder, Vanguard, Arhoolie, Valcourt and Memphis International labels. She worked with T Bone Burnett on two films — appearing as a musician in “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” and on the soundtrack for All The King’s Men. Ann Savoy recalls, “Before I finished ‘Book One,’ I had already started on ‘Book Two.’ The book was already massive and there was no way I could fit everything I had into it but I ultimately I put it all in a big box and thought, ‘Maybe my children will

David Bellard

complete this.’ As it happened, the stay-at-home constraints of the pandemic kept Ann off the road last year and she was finally able to realize the vision herself.

Bluebird Press will publish Cajun Music A Reflection of a People Volume II on February 17.

Like its predecessor, the new book is lushly illustrated with historic and recent photographs, transcriptions of thirty-five English and Cajun French interviews and biographies

The Frank Family and more than 100 songs with French translations and phonetics and musical notation. The book is not only a reference resource but also is, itself, a

Ann Savoy repository of cultural artifacts that document an idiosyncratic music and way of life focusing on such artists as Boozoo Chavis, Happy Fats, Harry Choates, Nathan Abshire, Octa Clark, Chester “Pee Wee” Broussard, Wilfred Latour, and many others from the entire spectrum of Cajun and Zydeco music. As an adjunct to the books, the Arhoolie Foundation’s website will host the Ann Savoy Collection, an aggregation of audio assets, almost 200 interviews that are part of the books, as well as interviews with Cajun, Creole and zydeco artists that were conducted over the past 60 years by Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz.

Over the course of her performing career, Savoy found that audiences wanted to know more about the music — what the songs were about, what Cajun music is, what Zydeco is — so she decided to compile a songbook of the repertoire of her favorite musicians. This simple idea of a songbook was quickly pushed aside when she began talking to and exploring the Cajun and Creole artists who made the music. During her

interviews with them, their spouses would bring out boxes of beautiful old photographs that told their stories better than any words could express. Ann borrowed those photographic gems, taking her own photos as she went from house to house. She developed the negatives in her darkroom, printed her own photos, even pasted up the book on story boards in those pre-computer times.

In a way, she was doing what folklorist Alan Lomax had done decades before when he travelled the south collecting song and producing field recordings that would serve to document a people and their culture. It was the same for Ann though she broke new ground as a woman who wasn’t backed by the Library of Congress and did what she did with babies in tow.

Writing in Country Roads Magazine, Jourdan Lahaye Fontenot shared the experience of Cajun Music A Reflection of a People Volume II:

Moise Robin By Ann Savoy

“Holding so very much, these pages use the power of oral and written histories to engage their readers in memories both quiet and monumental, building our culture’s musical icons into know-able people. And though so many of them are gone now, we can still know their music.”

CAJUN MUSIC: A REFLECTION OF A PEOPLE, VOLUME II softcover book is available for $45 + shipping at: annsavoy.com and savoymusiccenter.com. A special limited edition run of 200 first edition hardcover books will be available for $70.00 + shipping.

November February 2021 Rock and Blues International 21 February2020 2021•••Rock Rockand andBlues BluesInternational International 21 21

Roots Magic: Hard blues and creative jazz

By Edoardo Fassio Tradition and innovation mark the apparently opposing poles of two now classic genres of the twentieth century: rural blues and free jazz. They are also the musical modes of Roots Magic, a leading group of the Italian and European scene. Signed to Clean Feed, a Portuguese label devoted to the new trends in improvised music, the four from Rome bring effortlessly together licks from Mississippian holy and pagan shamans, such as Charley Patton or Blind Willie Johnson, with scores and variations by Julius Hemphill, Ornette Coleman and Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Alberto Popolla, clarinetist of the group and a clever musicologist in his own right, knows that the combination makes historical sense.

The fact is that the avantgarde of the 1960s tried to link to the evolutionary lines of “race” music to emancipate itself from the mainstream. A single cultural process, separatist not by choice but because of the historical conditions imposed by segregation, related the militant jazz of part of black America to the country blues, as well as to gospel, funk and to the sounds of the chitlin circuit, still far from getting integrated.

Inventive, sharp and technically stimulating, the Italian musicians have been loved by audiences in two continents, from the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale to the Konfrontationen in Nickelsdorf, Austria; from Goethe Garten in Lisbon to Elastic Arts in Chicago. But Popolla and his excellent partners (Errico de Fabritiis, saxophones; Gianfranco Tedeschi, double bass; Fabrizio Spera, drums and percussion) do not only perform on the strength of faith.

If, while they investigate, they stimulate the mind and set the story straight, it is to satisfy the ear with their sounds, and perhaps induce people to dance. On their third album Taking Root Among The Stars, dominated in equal measure by Skip James’s “Devil Got My Woman” under suburban hallucinations, by the reassuring soulful pace of Sun Ra’s “When There Is No Sun” and by “Humility In The Light of Creator”, a tribute to the forgotten Chicago baritone sax player Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, they show that jazz remains creative also thanks to its radical charge, far from being exhausted. And the blues? The magic of the roots, by definition, stays underground, still vital and essential, in any form it may manifest. Even at the cost of doing successfully without the two most typical instruments of the genre, the guitar and the human voice. www.roots-magic.com cleanfeed-records.com

22

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Roots Magic: Blues e jazz, duro e puro

By Edoardo Fassio Tradizione e innovazione marcano i poli, solo apparentemente contrapposti, di due generi ormai classici del Novecento: blues rurale e free jazz. Sono anche le bandiere della musica dei Roots Magic, gruppo di punta della scena italiana ed europea.

Accasati alla portoghese Clean Feed, etichetta ricettiva delle nuove tendenze della musica improvvisata, i quattro strumentisti di Roma fanno incontrare senza sforzo passaggi di sciamani sacri e profani del Mississippi come Charley Patton o Blind Willie Johnson con scritture e intuizioni di Julius Hemphill, Ornette Coleman e Art Ensemble of Chicago.

L’accostamento, lo sa bene Alberto Popolla, clarinettista del gruppo e attento musicologo, ha una valenza storica. È alle linee evolutive della musica “di razza” che l’avanguardia degli anni 1960 guardava per tentare di emanciparsi dal mainstream. Un unico processo culturale, separatista non per scelta ma a causa delle condizioni storiche imposte dalla segregazione, apparentava il jazz militante di parte dell’America nera al country blues, così come al gospel, al funk e ai suoni del chitlin circuit, ancora lontani dall’integrazione.

Inventivi, affilati e tecnicamente stimolanti, dei musicisti italiani si sono accorte le platee di due continenti, dal Juke Joint Festival di Clarksdale, al Konfrontationen di Nickelsdorf, Austria; dal Goethe Garten di Lisbona a Elastic Arts di Chicago. Ma Popolla e i suoi eccellenti comprimari (Errico de Fabritiis, sassofoni; Gianfranco Tedeschi, contrabbasso; Fabrizio Spera, batteria e percussioni) non compiono soltanto un atto di fede. Se, mentre indagano, stimolano la mente e riaffermano la storia, è per appagare l’orecchio e magari indurre la gente a ballare. Nel terzo album Taking Root Among The Stars, dominato in pari misura da un “Devil Got My Woman” di Skip James in preda ad allucinazioni suburbane, dalla rassicurante andatura soulful di “When There Is No Sun” di Sun Ra e da “Humility In The Light of Creator”, tributo al dimenticato baritonista chicagoano Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, dimostrano che il jazz si mantiene creativo anche grazie alla sua carica radicale, tutt’altro che esaurita. E il blues? La magia delle sue radici, per definizione, resta sotterranea, ma vitale e imprescindibile, in qualsiasi forma si possa manifestare.

Anche a costo di fare a meno, e con successo, dei due strumenti più emblematici del genere, la chitarra e la voce umana. www.roots-magic.com cleanfeed-records.com February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

23

Elektrohorse Featuring Francesca Capasso

‘Walk on Water’ - Elektrohorse Featuring Francesca Capasso ~ New Single and Video ~

By Kevin Wildman I’ve got to tell you, I’ve seen a lot of videos in my time, but the one for Elektrohorse has got to be one of the strangest and funniest ones I’ve ever seen.

The video is for his song, “Walk On Water,” and features the vocals and video talents of the lovely Francesca Capasso. Electrohorse is a deejay and producer from the South Side of Chicago. Without a doubt, he is a very unique fellow. He has created an entirely new dance sound of his own, which he has dubbed CDM (Country-Dance Music). Now here’s where it really gets interesting.

Electrohorse performs wearing a horse head over his real head. That’s right folks, when you see him perform, he looks just like a normal man, but he has a horse head instead of his normal head. It’s very quite unique and we hear that wherever he performs, he pulls in quite a crowd and puts on an extraordinary deejay show… think deadmaus, but with a horse head. That ought to give you the picture.

His new song, “Walk On Water” is definitely a faith driven song. The lyrics are spiritual, and the video is somewhat spiritual.

It shows him doing battle with an elderly woman of color along with a beautiful blond evangelist in the video and he seems to be

losing the battle. Walk on Water’ is a “heavy, faith-driven song that rings true for many,” highlighting how not to give into the hard times each and every day,” asserts musical artist Elektrohorse, who also produced the song. “Everywhere you look, you can see and feel the struggles that we all go through. Rich or poor, we are all in this together and you must remember to “Walk on Water,” adds Elektrohorse.

We had a chance to talk for a little while to Francesca about the new video and she told us that it was wonderful and inspiring to work with Elektrohorse on this Gospel tinged video. This great powerhouse singer has a lot to be thankful for. Besides being in this video, she is also a Stage 3 breast cancer survivor and is extremely grateful to be given a second chance at doing what she loves the most, singing…

Also in the video is the lovely Francesca Capasso, who sings the song and portrays a female evangelist who does battle with Electrohorse by singing and standing up to the man / horse figure who is taking the place of the devil in this video. Like I said before, the video is quite interesting and Francesca’s vocals are fantastic. The video is about good and evil and how two people combat the devil and win. The song is uplifting with a great spiritual message, and an uplifting Gospel / Blues song. The song is definitely Gospel, but fueled with great Blues overtones to it. The bonus is that it really is a good song with a wonderful message to it. It also has the traditional Gospel elements to it, such as good battling evil and good prevailing. As the lyrics go, “Satan why you testing me? Can’t destroy what God gave me!”

Music News: Well, this is a pretty bizarre song… at least the video is. If you just listen to the song it conveys a great spiritual message, but when you watch the video, it gets a little strange.

Francesca: I’ve heard that. The song is one thing, and the video is another thing.

Elektrohorse was introduced to me by a harmonica player friend of mine out here named Michael Rosen. Elektrohorse is a DJ that was dealing with the Country Music Dance kind of thing and he started wearing some sort of a rubber horse head mask that lit up and then he decided ‘hey, this is such a good gimmick. Everybody’s loving it and the kind of music that I’m mixing is so unique… you know, taking Country music and mixing it with Dance music is kind of weird, but continued on next page February 2021 • Rock and Blues International 25

people love it.’

Music News: Did you bond with him over this song? Did it say something to you?

Francesca: Well for me being from Texas originally and growing up with horses… for me if it seems so weird, because I understood him. I understand who this guy is as an artist as I got to know him. I got to work with him and to see who he is behind the scenes. So for me, it just felt like, oh this guy’s a horse and I’m a cowgirl at heart. The music is Gospel, but it’s blues, but it’s also Country. It’s just made me made me really want to sing it from my heart, and he hired me to sing on it. And so yeah, I think if you just listen to the song, it’s a Gospel song really. The first thing that I thought was, wow! But then he arranged it in such a way that it is a little different than a gospel song.

The video was all his idea, so I just had to go along with it and try to make my character come alive. He had shot part of it in Atlanta where he was working with some people there. He was there working on some music and he decided that he had some actors out there that he wanted to shoot the devil and the church lady part. I really love singing that song. It just came straight from the heart and we’re in a time period right now where everybody is kind of suffering. It’s affecting us and I just feel like faith is where I always turn to, and I feel like a lot of other people do too. I think when you just look at the whole aspect of faith and having dreams and and sticking to your morals, or whatever it is that you feel, it is going to help you get to the other side without letting the devil take over.

You know, I think I think a lot of people can relate to that.

Music News: Being that the song is about ‘Faith,’ how do you relate to that?

Francesca: You know who you are and so for me being a breast cancer survivor and living in LA for as long as I have, I have been going through all kinds of different situations.

You know, just paying my dues, if that’s what you want to call it. I just feel like faith is what got me through it every time. I really just connected to that song and he really worked me in the studio. He really did. He had me singing on all the tracks. I think you can hear I’m singing almost all the background vocals. There are a couple other singers that are singing as well, but I sing my butt off there and I’m just pretty happy with the way the song came out and it was just a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun to shoot the video, too.

Music New: It must have been quite interesting filming the video. It looks like it was done on the fly, just setting up at various locations and shooting it. I would imagine that some of the people watching you film it would have wondered why a Church lady was doing battle with a man in a horse head.

Francesca: We didn’t have a lot of money but they had a couple of cameramen

26

and we just did our thing out there on Balboa Lake, which is right out here in the San Fernando Valley, where I live in LA. Music News: Yeah. I can only imagine what some of the people driving by might have thought when they saw this going on… the guy with a horse head out there, because I could tell it’s not like you had the street blocked off or anything. He just went out and did it.

Francesca: Yeah, being that this is California, I think people here are used to seeing all these little, you know, ‘guerilla productions out on the street and then, big productions too. We’re just used to it. So in the beginning of the video where I’m calling to the people and telling them they have to listen to the story about my friend and all of that, we actually did have a little bit of a crowd of people starting to come around. It was like, ‘Oh what’s going on here?’ And you know, that’s just kind of how curious LA people are and definitely you get a lot of double takes if you’re out in public with Elektrohorse and his big horsehead get up.

Music News: Being that you are a Stage 3 cancer survivor, I can only imagine what ‘faith’ means to you, especially when you were commissioned to sing about faith in this video. Tell me a little about it.

Francesca: Yeah, there’s a line that says ‘Satan why you testing me,’ you know it really kind of got me. It’s like because I feel in my life, I’ve just had to overcome and get over so many obstacles. In my personal life with my health, my relationship, and just surviving, you always feel like you’re being tested. It’s like why, why, why? How many more of these do I have to go through? And then it says ‘I can. Then why are you testing me?’ My second chance at life doesn’t really have so much to do with me, but with the things that I can do for other people and what I give others. That’s why I’m still here. My time on Earth isn’t finished. I think it’s because as an artist, we feel a lot and then we express those emotions. So other people feel it and that’s part of being an artist. But I think also, just being able to help others that are going through what I went through. I’m in a lot of support groups online and I’m always helping women that are newly diagnosed with breast cancer and there’s a lot that goes along with it. Support really helped. I have so much support. So I feel like that’s why I’m around.

I have I have got work to do still. It’s a little

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

crazy. I’ve been all up and down the Sunset Strip back in the day when it was hot out there and everything. But you get a little bit older and things are happening. Then you realize, ‘hey, wait a second. It’s not about me, it’s about other people.’ It’s just that this isn’t about me. That’s just kind of how I feel.

Francesca has certainly come a long way with here career. When she was younger she performed in Houston, Texas till she was about 19 and then moved out to LA. In Houston, her father used to take to the local VFW Hall where she would perform with the Bob Reese Band. She then moved out to LA where her life has taken various twists and turns, but she continued to perform and sing.

She is now the lead singer with the Scorch Sisters, as well as with various other acts, such as Blowin’ Smoke & The Fabulous Smokettes, and The Paris Escovedo Band.

Francesca tells us that she plans on continuing with this wonderful career she has cultivated and we look forward to hearing much more about her in the future. Thank you Francesca for giving us a little insight into “Walk On Water” by Elektrohorse. We really love you in the video. And for all you people reading this story, be sure to check out the video for “Walk On Water” at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuGL34e59_Y For more information on Elektrohorse, check him out online at: www.elektrohorse.com www.facebook.com/elektrohorse www.instagram.com/elektrohorse https://twitter.com/elektrohorse https://twitter.com/fransings4u www.instagram.com/fransings4u For more information on Francesca Capasso, go to https://www.facebook.com/ francescacapassomusic

Rock And Blues International Employment Opportunities Available!

Rock And Blues International Is Looking For A Sales Manager and ad salespeople!

Please Email Your Resume To rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com

video

meet with Ilan and Maor, the three of them joined up to record “Hold On,” which was performed on some the world’s largest trance stages, such as the Untold Festival, Creamfields, and Dreamstate LA

New Music From The U.K.

“We always got shivers while listening to Alex’s ‘Too Close’. It was a huge record in the U.K.,” explains Ilan and Maor. “As it turned out Alex was teaching a friend of ours to play the guitar. Another mate went to the same gym as Alex, so managed to get in contact.”

“We originally sent Alex a different instrumental to record on. He sent us the vocal back and we were so inspired by it that we decided to create a completely new record that fit his vocal better.” ‘Hold On’ is about embracing every moment in life: “..it’s too short to be filled with tears.” With the world on hold, they are words we can all take to heart.

“Ilan put together some beautiful chords while I worked on the groove,” says Maor. “We wanted the message of the lyrics to shine through and we think we achieved that. It’s a powerful track, and today, the song’s message feels more important than ever.”

Singer-Songwriter Alex Clare joins Anjunabeats Stalwarts Ilan Bluestone and Maor Levi On New Single “Hold On”

By Nathan Pugh Singer Songwriter Alex Clare has teamed up with Ilan Blueston and Maor Levi of the Anjunabeats to participate on their new single, “Hold On.” Ilan and Maor have been best friends for years. Their collaborations together began back in 2011. Since then they’ve released several singles, including “Will We Remain,” “Can You,” and “The Distance.” They have also together remixed projects by Armin Van Buuren, Above & Beyond, and Gabriel & Dresden. In 2019, along with Emma Hewitt, they produced their Elysian project. The lead single from this endeavor launched just as lockdown took over the planet due to Covid-19, putting a stop to all future plans.

first project in 2011. His first project was the Island Records album release, “The Lateness Of The Hour.” The album was produced by the original Major Lazer lineup of Diplo and Switch, and included the hit songs, ‘Treading Water’, ‘Up All Night’ and ‘Too Close’.

“Too Close” went on to become double platinum and hit the Top 10 in both the UK and the US. After that he released two more albums, 2014’s ‘Three Heats’ and 2017’s ‘Tail Of Lions’, along with collaborations with Rudimental, Sub Focus, and Don Diablo.

London born and based singer / songwriter Alex Clare also broke out with his

28

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

From that and a chance

“Hold On” is now out and your can check it our here: Stream here https://anjunabeats.ffm.to/ ibmlacho.opr Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/anjunabeats/ ilan-bluestone-maor-levi-feat-alex-clare-holdon YouTube https://ymlpcdn2.net/ 026e0jmumeaoaewsbyagahqeapamheb/ click.php

CONNECT WITH ILAN BLUESTONE Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ibluestone Twitter https://ymlpcdn2.net/ 01d98jmumjazaewsbyavahqeavamheb/ click.php

CONNECT WITH ANJUNABEATS Home https://anjunabeats.com

Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/ibluestone Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/ 1yoZuH2j43vVSWsOwYuQyn?si=0zdJrD9pT 2OQ7Mkcx3Hzpg

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/anjunabeats Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/anjunabeats

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

29

the song pretty much wrote itself.”

“I had just started seeing someone during this time, and the song was an expression of my experience. Just a real classic and effortless connection, feel good summer love, honestly. We hit up another friend of ours who’s a great drummer/artist (Alex from BBNG), we got together at his studio shortly after this. When we got there, Alex handed me a beautiful Gretsch, put it through a Binson delay, set up a vintage pencil mic for my vocal, and he sat down at the CS60. We ran two takes and the 2nd take was the vocal/guitar/CS-60 you hear on the track now. Eventually got more players and sounds at Marquee Sound Studio.”

Justin Nozuka Shares “summer night o8” Track + Video

By T.J. Justin Nozuka is back with another great song for you. The Toronto-based R&B sensation has just released his new single, “ summer night 08.” This song follows up his last hit single, “No One But You,” which was released last October. “ summer night 08” was produced by Mitch Reed (Niina Rosa) and recorded with Alex Sowinski of BBNG. The new song is being described as a sweet, laid-back summer love song.

The video for the deeply emotional song was directed by Julia Hendrickson and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/ ptVnGx0sS9Q. Justin has definitely drawn the attention of the Canadian music industry as he was nominated for a couple of JUNO Award nominations. In addition to that he has also won an NRJ Award in France. Prior to the pandemic, you could find Justin touring internationally. He has also appeared on various US television shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show and Good Morning America and has also racked up over 100 million streams as well.

30

Justin said about “summer night 08”, “This song was written in August of 2019. It was a beautiful summer day and my friend Mitch and I made plans to make some music. We took a healthy dose of psilocybin and went to the park.

This big storm cloud kept approaching and we were ready to be under it, but it seemed to never arrive. Mitch went up to my spot to grab his things as he was gonna get going. As he left, the storm finally arrived and I lay under it. The rain poured down heavy. I then had this urge to write and ran back, saw Mitch just as he was leaving and asked “yo, let’s jam?”. He was absolutely down and we came back up to my spot, he sat on the keys, I grabbed my guitar and

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

For those of you that would like to know a little more about the New York City born Justin, he is the son of a Japanese father and an American Mother.

Justin is one of seven children. He relocated to Toronto just after his parents’ divorce and started writing music at the tender age of 12. Through performing shows in Toronto on the folk and singer / songwriter circuit, he attracted the attention of the British label, Outcaste Records, who also handled Joss Stone and KT Tunstall.

Outcaste signed Justin very early in his career and released his album Holly (2007). He later moved on to Glassnote Records who released his first album,

LUCY SPRAGGAN

32

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

By Pinky Black UK singer / songwriter Lucy Spraggan has just released a new song and video for “Animal.” “Animal” is the third single of her upcoming new album Choices. Choices is set to be released this month on February 26th on Cooking Vinyl and is said to be inspired by her life experiences that have allowed her to “mature and grow, both musically and personally. So far, the singles that have been released off of “Choices” have received over one million plays on Spotify and the video for one of her previously released singles, “Sober” has been viewed nearly a half million times on YouTube.

You may remember from Lucy from her appearance on the English version of X Factor in 2012. She is the first X Factor contestant to have had a Top 40 single and an album before the live shows began in 2012 with her independently released album, Top Room at the Zoo. She has since gone on to release five Top 30 albums. When she auditioned for the X Factor, she did so by performing one of her own songs, “Last Night.” Unfortunately she had to cut her appearances on the X Factor short due to illness, so she wound up finishing in 9th place that year. However, following the show, Lucy was quickly signed to Columbia Records. Her debut album with Columbia Records, Join The Club, peaked at #7 on the UK charts. Since then she has released three more albums on the Cooking Vinyl Records label. Those are We Are (2015), I Hope You Don’t Mind Me Writing (2017), and Today Was A Good Day (2019).

In the meantime, Lucy has become one of the most exciting and talented performers today in the UK and worldwide. She has also been making headlines for herself as a Champion and proponent for the LGBTQ community. Lucy came out as gay at the age of 14. In June of 2016 she married Georgina Gordon and their marriage lasted until November of 2019 after nearly 3 and a half years of marriage.

On “Animal” Lucy says: “I do a lot of skipping, ‘cause I do a lot of working out and do a lot of weight lifting, and my favorite thing to skip to is Bollywood music. It’s fucking sick! Bollywood music, bhangra music - we don’t have a Western rhythm like that. There’s so much energy and it makes me feel so passionate and alive. I was skipping and came in and just started writing that little guitar riff.”

Lucy has spent quite a bit or her time as an advocate for positive mental health.

She has worked closely with charities such as CALM, Alzheimer’s UK, and has joined the BBC’s anti-bulling campaign for Children In Need. Indeed, Lucy isn’t your average singer / songwriter, she has a lot of deep-rooted morals that propel her to participate in causes such as these. There’s a lot to be admired in Lucy and her convictions. That takes us back to her new single, “Animal” which deals with cyber bullying and encourages them to feel more confident in themselves.. “If someone wants to be derogatory, they often call you an animal. Call me a dog, call me a

LUCY SPRAGGAN Releases “Animal” From Stunning New Album Choices Out February 26 via Cooking Vinyl shark, I’ve been pushed far enough, I can be an animal if you want me to be one, I just won’t be a nice one,” says Lucy.

As we’d really like to emphasize, there’s a lot to be admired in Lucy and her new album. She has spent a great deal of this pandemic dealing with the positive aspect of it and has been focusing all her attention on completing her new album Choices. In addition to working on Choices, Lucy has also been working on launching her new fitness brand.

Be sure to check out the new video and song, “Animal” at https://youtu.be/TQDd52Q-QQ

3. Sober 4. Run to the Hills 5. Heartbreak Suits 6. If I Had a God 7. I Spent a Night in the Desert 8. You’ve Let Yourself Down 9. Animal 10. Wild 11. Run 12. Choices (Don’t Be Afraid) 13. Why Don’t We Start from Here Check out Lucy Spraggan online at: Website https://lucyspraggan.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ Lucy Spraggan - Choices tracklisting 1. Flowers lucyspraggan/ 2. Roots February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

33

SARIN SIGN TO PROSTHETIC RECORDS; NEW ALBUM ,’YOU CAN’T GO BACK’, OUT ON FEBRUARY 5

By Shenna Johnson Canadian Post-Metal rockers, Sarin, have announced that they have just signed a deal with Prosthetic Records. In addition to that the band is set to release a new album on the Prosthetic Records label. The band is set to release their new full-length album You Cant’s Go Back this month on February 5. Sarin has already released the first single and video from the album, “Reckoner” which can be seen and heard at https://youtu.be/HbUqg4ySRHI. The music video was produced by digital and analog cinematgrapher Gabriel Masewich.

David Wilson, lead guitarist and vocalist for Sarin tells us, “We’ve always thought of Prosthetic as being at the forefront of modern heavy music, whether that’s all out hardcore or more drawn out and experimental styles, and we’re ecstatic to be sharing the space with bands like Undeath and Vile Creature. I still get excited seeing the same Prosthetic Records logo on our album that I saw on so many albums I loved growing up.”

The new album was recorded in 34

London Ontario at The Sugar Shack studios. It was recorded and engineered by the renown Simon Larochette and later mastered by James Plotkin. They tell us that the album “ captures SARIN’s crushing post-metal at its dynamic best.

The emotionally charged origins of the album’s lyrical themes lend themselves to the tonally dense and memorable song structures that build tension throughout, balancing crushing intensity with fleetingly gentle passages, that reveal the therapeutic nature of the record.”

David Wilson further explains that “’Reckoner’ is about scrambling and ultimately failing to hold on to an old identity. The record was written during a period of personal change, and the song encapsulates the struggles and rewards of consciously choosing to take more command of your life. Sonically, it’s probably one of the most direct songs we’ve ever written, and serves up the heaviness with as little fluff as possible.”

The cover artwork for You Can’t Go Back was done by artist Eliza Xenophon and is said to have hints of the emotions contained on the album illustrated on the cover. We’ve been

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

further told that this new release is a bold statement by the band filled with great melodies, haunting riffs and shows the bold new direction the band is taking with their music. It is supposed to really be an “inspirational listen.”

Be sure to get your copy of Sarin’s You Can’t Go Back when it is released on the 5th of this month. In the meantime, check out the song and video for “Reckoner” at https://youtu.be/ HbUqg4ySRHI. You Can’t Go Back tracklist: 1. Cold Open 2. When You Melt 3. Reckoner 4. Thick Mire 5. Otherness 6. Leave Your Body Follow Sarin online at: Facebook - https:// www.facebook.com/sarinofficial Instagram -https:// www.instagram.com/sarintheband/

FULLER’S VINTAGE GUITAR IS NOT ONLY A VINTAGE GUITAR STORE, WE ALSO CARRY THE LARGEST SELECTION OF NEW GUITARS IN THE SOUTH

WE BUY, SELL & TRADE

LESSONS REPAIRS

(713) 880-2188 116 NORTH LOOP • 610 AT YALE HOUSTON, TX 77008

BEST SELECTION OF MARTIN ACOUSTICS

Thank Your For Supporting Us During The Pandemic!

BEST SELECTION OF CHARVELS & EVH BEST SELECTION OF GRETSCH

BEST SELECTION continued on next pageOF RICKENBACKERS

BEST SELECTION OF JACKSONS

BEST SELECTION OF TAYLOR ACOUSTICS

BEST SELECTION OF STRATS

BEST SELECTION OF TELES

AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR RICKENBACKER • GIBSON • EPIPHONE • ROBERTSON • TRUSSART • WATERLOO • FENDER • JACKSON USA • CHARVEL • ELLIS • GRETSCH • COLLINGS • SANTA CRUZ • GALLAGHER • NATIONAL • MARTIN • YAMAHA • TAYLOR • EASTMAN • DEERING

18

Rock and Blues International • August 2020

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

35

Steve Aoki Joins K-Pop “Fav Boyz” A.C.E on “Gold Star Remix” Featuring Thutmose

By Greg Fontaine Steve Aoki has done it again. The Dim Mak bossman is always breaking barriers and pulling off extraordinary things. This time around he has teamed up with the K-Pop group A.C.E., aka Adventure Calling Emotions, for their first internationally focused single, “Goblin (Favorite Boys).” In addition to that, he has also taken that a step further and enlisted the vocals of Nigerian-American rapper Thutmose. Here Steve takes the original A.C.E. track “Goblin (Favorite Boys) and adds his signature kicks and synths to the song, as well as adding a rap

by Thutmose to the mix, creating an extraordinary dance tune that is set to propel this mix into the stratosphere.

Steve comments on this by telling us that “From The Chainsmokers to Lil Uzi Vert to BTS, I’ve had several opportunities to work with artists on the brink throughout my career. A.C.E are stars in the

36

making and I’m so excited that we were able to collab on this. I think everyone will enjoy this song and it has a relatable visual concept — Finding hope after a dark time.

I hope this song can be a little ray of light for all of you as we start the new year.”

The new mix, titled “Fav Boyz” is Steve’s most current journey into the land of K-Pop. Previously he has contributed his skills to the likes of Monta X, Kang Daniel, Zico and BTS. With BTS, Steve has worked on three different collaborations, including their first international hit, “Mic Drop,” whom Steve was seen performing the song live at their 2020 New Year’s Eve livestream event. Aoki has worked his ass off putting together a track that completely compliments A.C.E.’s original vision taking it to a new dimension. On top of that, the K-Pop’sters have added their English rap skills to an additional added verse perfected by Aoki.

And if that weren’t enough, there’s another

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

mix that features another Aoki verse with a rap added by Thutmose. Without a doubt, this new foray into K-Pop for Aoki is yielding a new mix that the industry will be talking about for quite a while.

In a statement, Thutmose said, “Steve is a legend in his own right and the A.C.E guys are ill, so I was definitely excited to add that Thutmose flavor to this record. I love the bounce of the song and I love the way it makes me feel. Shoutout to everyone involved in this process, from the artists to our teams behind the scenes.”

The video for this mix was directed

by Dot Production and takes place in a post-apocalyptic state of suffering where the agitated and suffering members of A.C.E. (WOW, ByeongKwan, Jun, Donghun and Chan) are forced to live in a run-down garage living a disillusioned life.

As the music plays, they are propelled in uplifting their spirits and the music of Aoki

coupled with Thutmose’s lyrics raise their hopes and give them the spirit they need to overcome their situation.

In a statement from A.C.E., the K-

Pop group tells us that, “We’ve been fans of Steve Aoki for a while and have even told our fans how he was a dream collaborator of ours. Having him put his touch on a song that is really special for us as a

group was literally a dream come true.

With our new rap sections and music video, we put our all into making sure this remix brought A.C.E to a new level when working with top-collaborators like Steve Aoki and Thutmose.”

A.C.E. was formed in 2017 by Beats Interactive. This past year, albeit a hard year for most performers, was a good year for the K-Pop group as they made it to the #1 spot on Dazed’s end-of-year “40 best KPop songs of 2020. They were also featured in various publications, such as Forbes, BuzzFeed, TeenVogue and Billboard. The group is definitely making waves worldwide hitting millions on Spotify and hitting playlists such as K-Pop Rising, RADAR Korea, and Korean OSTs. It’s hard to pin down A.C.E. to any particular style as their songs add elements of everything from electronic music to their own traditional Korean culture.

Be sure to check out the official music video for “Fav Boyz” at https:// youtu.be/-McMSPJfMK4 To buy or stream the song, go to https://ffm.to/favboyzremix February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

in support of their new release. They were lucky enough to share the stage with bands such as Dream State, Our Hollow Our Home, ADEPT, and many more acts.

It didn’t take long for the band to come to the attention of Long Branch Records, who quickly signed the band to their label in 2020.

With that signing, the band is enjoying great publicity from the label, which are really excited about the progress the band is making on their new album. It’s safe to say that Long Branch Records is really enthused with the band’s release of four singles so far and the future indeed looks bright for As Everything Unfolds.

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

AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS Share New Single “Wallow” Debut Album ‘Within Each Lies The Other’ Out March 26, 2021 via Long Branch Records

By Albert Schwartz Well, UK rockers As Everything Unfolds has done it again. They’ve gone and released another single and video from their forthcoming debut album, Within Each Lies the Other. At this rate, the band will have released all the songs way before the album is officially released. I’m not complaining, the music is great and I really can’t wait to hear all the tunes on their debut release. The new single is called “Wallow” and it’s the fourth single to be released by the band. Check out the video for “Wallow” at https://youtu.be/HGAhxk24ohI Within Each Lies the Other is scheduled for a March 26th release on Long Branch Records. The previously released singles are “Take Me There”, “Hiding From Myself”, and “Stranger In The Mirror”. So far the band has racked up over 1 million streams on the three previously released singles. We can only imagine that when the album hits the ground, this band will be moving a lot of copies. You can stream “Wallow” and pre-order ‘Within Each Lies The Other’ at

38

https://aseverythingunfolds.lnk.to/ withineachliestheother As Everything Unfolds vocalist Charlie Rolfe had this to say about “Wallow,” “Anger and sadness really drove this track lyrically, and there’s a lot of frustration that’s presented through the use of primarily harsh vocals. It’s a song about betrayal, liars, and anyone who has ever done anything to you to make you deliberately feel worthless. There’s a lot of energy that was released through this song, and we invite you to do the same.”

As Everything Unfolds says the band is “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.”

The six-piece As Everything Unfolds post-hardcore band hails from Wycombe, UK. The band released their first EP Closure in 2018 and almost immediately started participating in multiple tours across Europe

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Check out their first three singles here: As Everything Unfolds - “Hiding From Myself” (Official Video) - First Single https://youtu.be/LjLwzFBnxk0 As Everything Unfolds - “Take Me There” (Audio) - Second Single https://youtu.be/44cFYxfHeh8 As Everything Unfolds - “Stranger In The Mirror” (Official Video) - Third Single https://youtu.be/WwAT0b813dU ‘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/ Instagram: https:// www.instagram.com/aeuofficial Merch: https://www.musicglue.com/ aseverythingunfolds/merchandise

Living Dead Girl, formed in 2017, already has three independently released singles under their belt and their new full-length album is set for a release sometime this year. The band has already released their first single from this project, titled “Alive”. It was released in October of last year and has been receiving quite a bit of airplay in Canada on stations such as Toronto’s mainstream rock station 94.9 The Rock, 89.1 Max FM in Barrie, Orilia and the Muskokas, X92.9 Calgary and X100.7 Red Deer’s Alternative, and is on CBC Radio Canada’s online playlist.

You can check out the video to “Alive” at https://youtu.be/ 8qTrGsHCeFg Exorcism is produced by Mitchel Marlow and features 11 new songs by Rennick showcasing her trademark “goth girl gone bad” attitude and her haunting goth vocals that go from “high-pitched croons” to “haunting growls” highlighted by “harsh barks.”

LIVING DEAD GIRL Exorcizes Emotions in New Lyric Video for Title Track of Upcoming Album

By Pinky Black Canadian metal band, Living Dead Girl, spearheaded by bandleader Molly Rennick is back in the news again. This time, the Canadian rockers have released a new video for the title track of their upcoming new album, Exorcism.

The style of Living Dead Girl is described as a “ unique combination of Marilyn Manson meets fellow Canadian frontwoman Avril Lavigne, possessing an amalgam of genres including goth, rock, metal, industrial, pop and punk rock.” Molly tells us that this is definitely an accurate description and fits her personality to a “T” as she describes it as “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.”

Check out the video now at hhttps://youtu.be/7UNhPXiZ-Wc “Exorcism is, essentially, a love song,” says vocalist and Living Dead Girl leader Molly Rennick. “It’s about being in a relationship where you discover new parts of yourself and let all your ‘evil’ out. It’s a fun, sexy song, but with horror influence and biblical metaphors. The video perfectly shows both sides of that, and the combination of those two worlds IS what my world looks like.”

Songs already on the album include “Worship Me,” “Villain,” “Beautiful,” and “Alive.” From the opening riffs of “Exorcism” throughout the entire album, Molly Rennick overpowers your senses and takes full control of your mind, commanding you to pay full attention to the songs on this new project.

Be sure to check out the already released videos for the two singles that have been released.

Watch “Exorcism” now https:// youtu.be/7UNhPXiZ-Wc Watch “Alive” now https:// youtu.be/8qTrGsHCeFg LIVING DEAD GIRL online: www.livingdeadgirl.ca www.facebook.com/ LIVINGDEADGIRLBAND www.instagram.com/ livingdeadgirlofficial/ www.youtube.com/channel/ UCELYELo6t95V_mXNa4f3dXQ/ videos?view_as=subscriber

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

39

COP International Records Announces The Signing Of Azam Ali been nominated for two JUNO awards.

By Troy Wilson In addition to that, her music has been A big congratulations goes out to COP International Records this month on featured in major film and television shows, such as “True Blood,” “Missing,” their signing of Iranian singer and “Nip Tuck,” “Bones” and “Crossing musician Azam Ali. Ali’s last project Over.” was 2019’s Phantoms, which was her first project released with English lyrics, Other collaborations for Azam Ali bringing her music to an even wider include working with Peter Murphy audience. Billboard hailed Phantoms as (Bauhaus), The Crystal Method, Pat “ripe with dreamy sounds and melanMastellato and Trey Gunn of King cholic lyrics, bridg[ing] the gap between Crimson, Dredg, Chris Vrenna (formerly organic and electronic with grooves that of Nine Inch Nails), Ben Watkins of Juno gently ground the songs.” Most of Ali’s releases were focused on Persian, Indian, Reactor. Some of the amazing composers Ali has worked with includes Harry and Eastern European techniques.

Gregson- Williams, Mychael Danna, Previous to Phantoms, Azam had released 8 previous albums with the Graeme Revell and Ramin Djawadi and bands VAS and Niyaz, as well as four has appeared in scores for “Thor- The solo albums of her own. She even Dark World,” “Matrix- Revolutions,” appeared on an album by rock artist “300” and “John Carter,” among others.

Buckethead where she sang the song “Coma” with Serj Tankian. She has also Azam is now based in Los Angeles 40 Rock and Blues International • February November2021 2020

where she is working on her COP International Records debut with the legendary John Fryer. Fryer will also be lending his musical talents to the album, as well as producing it. You may recognize Fryer’s work from artists such as include Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and Love & Rockets. He is also COP’s Artist and Repertoire (A&R) agent. He signed Azam this last year to the ever-growing label.

Azam Ali said about her signing to COP International Records that “2020 was a year of loss for so many globally, however there were also some precious gains. One of them for me has been producing music with the legendary John Fryer, whose productions have been a part of my life for decades. It is beyond a dream come true to be creating a body of work with him. And what better home

for this music than COP International.

From my first conversation with founder Christian Petke, I knew I wanted to collaborate with him for the release of this music into the world. I cannot wait to share what we are creating with everyone.

COP International Records A&R director added that “Working with the legendary siren Azam Ali is like a dream come true, she is one of the best vocalists in this universe and beyond.

It’s one of those special moments that you hope will last forever.”

Even COP International Records founder chimed in with “When John Fryer and I started to talk in earnest about the future of COP International we pretty much immediately opened up the format. We want a label that has roots, but is broad enough to bridge the gaps between genres. It is an audacious endeavor, because the bar is high when you look at Mute or 4AD as a role model. And of course we have our secret weapon with John Fryer. Every band that he produces has a unique character. They sound like the best version of themselves. But there is also an undeniable quality in the production that connects them across the label,” he says, adding, “Signing Azam Ali makes perfect sense if you look through this open lens. She transcends the term vocalist—her voice seduces, nurtures, and captivates you like one of the siren’s of Homer’s Tales. John sent me a track of theirs and I was immediately hooked.

The more I dug into her back catalog the more I was impressed. Some voices have that special magical quality and Azam can carry you away on a wave of sorrow, desire and wistfulness. Pairing Azam and John is a match made in heaven. Her ethereal voice meets the fuzzy edges of John’s deconstructed, distorted soundscapes. Music is a bit like alchemy—you take elements and transmute them into something far more valuable, and Azam and John are turning lead into gold.”

2019 was a big year for COP International as the label enlisted the

Azam Ali and John Fryer signing her contract with COP International (photo credit: Loga Ramin Torkian) help of renowned producer John Fryer to form a new production company that will be overseen by COP. Fryer is now the go-to guy at COP International as he will be producing and engineering the lionshare of all the new artists that will be entering into the label. As we mentioned before, John is also the A&R director and he will be very instrumental in selecting future acts for the label.

“The level of craftsmanship, artistic talent and meticulous attention to detail is what sets John’s work a world apart,” says COP International founder Christian Petke. “After working with him on some remixes for COP and Deathline International’s new album Pax Americana, I knew I found the perfect partner for COP International. When we first started talking, I brought up John’s relationship with 4AD where he was the

principal engineer and producer. This is exactly what we have in mind for this collaboration. Scout, nurture and develop exceptional talent. Driven by the desire to create a body of work that speaks for itself.”

An additional congratulations also goes out to the label for celebrating it’s 30th Anniversary.

Find Azam Ali Online Website: https:// azamalimusic.com/ Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/azam.ali.music/ Instagram: https:// www.instagram.com/azamaliofficial/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ azamaliofficial YouTube: https:// www.youtube.com/user/3delara February 2021 • Rock and Blues International 41

Ouri Releases New Video For “Shape Of It” Watch “Shape Of It” at https://youtu.be/6bR3oc0IR6Q Montreal-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Ouri shares a new video for “Shape Of It.” The track’s accompanying visual, as understated and delicate as the song itself, uses stark camera movement to focus on a performance by Ouri that explores intimacy and human connection. The track, originally released at the tail-end of 2020, is built around a complex instrumental arrangement composed solely of Ouri’s performance on the harp and cello accompanied by her ethereal voice. “Shape of It” follows her track “Fonction Naturelle” that appeared on the EVER NEW compilation alongside artists such as Mac Demarco and Jessy Lanza, in benefit of Canadian social justice organizations - Black Health Alliance, Indspire, and The 519.

Ourielle Auvé, known professionally as Ouri, grew up in France and moved to Montreal at the age of 16 with dreams of becoming a composer. As Ouri developed her compositional ability, as well as her production and vocal chops, she integrated herself with late night DJ sets in Montreal’s underground rave scene and was eventually selected to take part in Red Bull Music Academy’s Montreal Bass Camp.

From there, her profile began to grow as she headlined Boiler Room’s Montreal showcase, toured with the likes of Yves Tumor and Jacques Greene and released her first EP’s Superficial and We Share Our Blood. Now, as she gears up for a Ouri by Fatine Violette new project, she showcases the expansion of her distinctive sonic spectrum beginning with “Shape Of It.” Watch “Shape Of It” above, connect with Ouri below and stay tuned for more coming soon.

Connect with Ouri: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ourimusic/

15-Year-Old Vocal Prodigy Angelina Jordan Releases Music Video For “Million Miles” Watch at https://youtu.be/ XA1_CUaM52I “Million Miles” marks Angelina Jordan’s highly anticipated major label debut following her win on Norway’s Got Talent at just 8years-old which brought her international acclaim 15-year-old Los Angeles-based, critically acclaimed vocalist, Angelina Jordan has released the official video for her new single “Million Miles” – watch at https://youtu.be/XA1_CUaM52I. Produced by GRAMMY® Award-winning production duo Stargate [Beyoncé, Sam Smith, Rihanna] and written by Angelina, the song is Angelina’s debut single via Republic Records – listen at https:/ /angelinajordan.lnk.to/MillionMilesPR. A musical prodigy, Angelina Jordan sang for the first time at barely a year old, and she never stopped. The Los Angeles-based 15year-old singer and songwriter amplified her voice around the globe, racking up over half-a-billion YouTube views, just shy of 2 billion Facebook views, and praise from Time, CNN, BBC, and People. Along the way, she performed for world leaders at some of the most influential events in Europe, appeared on European and North American television, and quietly enraptured a growing fan base. She graced the stage of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony and delivered an emotionally charged rendition of “What A Wonderful World.” A year later, she wowed an audience at Brilliant Minds in Stockholm. Touching down in Seoul during 2017, she joined a powerhouse bill alongside PSY and Norah Jones in front of 40,000 people at Muse In City Festival. Quincy Jones personally invited her to perform at his 85th birthday at London’s O2 Arena. Catching the attention of Republic Records, she inked a deal with the label in 2020.

WEBSITE https://www.angelinajordanofficial.com FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/angelinajordanofficial

“Shape of It” video still 42

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Subscribe Now To

Rock and Blues International and have it delivered directly to your email when it comes out every month!

Just email us at rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com and in the subject line put “Sign Me Up Now” and we will email you your own personal copy every month!

Rock And Blues International Employment Opportunities Available!

Rock And Blues International Is Looking For A Sales Manager and ad salespeople!

Please Email Your Resume To rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com 68

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

71

Photo Credit: Sean Mundy

Venus Furs Share “New Inspiration” Video Via Under The Radar Venus Furs Out Now On Silk Screaming Records Today, Venus Furs share the video for “New Inspiration,” a psychedelic exploration into the soul of the track. Under The Radar premiered the music video with high praise, commending how the song “swirls with flickering intensity, surrounded by layers of distorted guitars and a hazy psychedelic undertone,” while the visuals “conjure the same nocturnal haze as the track itself.”

created a lushness that I feel when listening to the song. Ending the video with a visual effect that I’ve never seen or made before was a wonderful surprise for me, and I think matches the madness at the end of the song.

Paul Kasner, the man behind Venus Furs, says the following on “New Inspiration”: This is a late-night, moody song about needing to accept that you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped “New Inspiration” was directed by watching someone go down dark or dangerJustis Krar of IMMV Productions, who has ous paths time and time again, and trying to previously worked with Zoon and Mundy’s help them, but not being able to if they don’t Bay. On the background of the video, Krar want things to change themselves. The title says: I wanted to present the visuals as a refers to the character’s motivation to put relation to both the lyrical tone and musical themselves in harm’s way - the desire to tone of the song. Heavily affected visual alleviate boredom in their search for new effects layered onto night time footage 44 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

inspiration, and there’s a nod to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray in the lyrics (“Casually he introduces himself, As the wild son of love and death”).

Venus Furs is the moniker of Montreal’s Paul Kasner, a multi-instrumentalist, writer, producer and self-described “perfectionist”. In the preceding years the act has taken many forms, supporting the likes of The Horrors and The Twilight Sad as he worked on refining and determining exactly what Venus Furs was meant to be. After years of hard work and multiple hurdles, Kasner is on the verge of releasing Venus Furs, a rigorously crafted set of songs that voyage heedlessly through sonic and mental terrain in a way that could only be the product of a

single idiosyncratic mind. This speaks to his remarkable determination to create the album he long envisioned, and has now realized with the dazzling Venus Furs. Once you press play on the self-titled record you’re immediately welcomed into a world of sound that sits at the nexus of psych rock and garage rock, shot through with grand melodic hooks that echo the British alternative scene that he’s always greatly admired, all produced with a finely-tuned ear and precise hand.

“This album, for all intents and purposes, is just a huge experiment in dealing with minutia,” Kasner says, having arrived at this collection of songs through a years-long process. At first just sitting with his guitar or piano and letting the sounds suggest themselves until forming a rough shape, he then meticulously layered, carved and contoured them into songs, eventually reaching an electrifying but carefully balanced result. It was his express intention on this record “to capture the energy and feel of a live performance, utilizing the sounds of the live room as much as possible,” and while Venus Furs is filled with furiously-pitched guitars, walls of sound and driving rhythms, the finer instrumental aspects are not lost; each can be picked out from the turbulent blur, but in unison they enhance each other, creating a polychromatic and passionate whole.

LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Venus Furs - “New Inspiration” https://youtu.be/S6ld0q5Wv8w LISTEN & SHARE: Venus Furs - Venus Furs Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/ 07sRU5DFE0TPCaeo3DwYLQ?si=8wL8Ui3XS_O_yrv8XxLvpQ LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Venus Furs “Paranoia” https://youtu.be/S6ld0q5Wv8w LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Venus Furs “Page Before” https://youtu.be/d72RsjXkIsg LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Venus Furs - “Living In Constant” https://soundcloud.com/venusfursmusic/living-in-constantshorter-edit/s-IRY7w Venus Furs - TRACKLISTING 01. Chaos and Confusion 02. Friendly Fire 03. Guards in the Garden 04. New Inspiration 05. Paranoia 06. Fire in her Eyes 07. Living in Constant 08. Page Before LINKS Website https://www.venusfursmusic.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/venusfursmusic/ Twitter https://tellallyourfriendspr.us10.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=63f1674ecdb2a4574b77e600b&id=09ebff07e3&e=341417b8bc ““New Inspiration,” swirls with flickering intensity, surrounded by layers of distorted guitars and a hazy psychedelic undertone.”

- Under The Radar “[Paranoia is] one of those tracks that really does seem to corner you” - Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music delve into the intricacies of Venus Furs’ modus operandi and this is clearly a record that was meant to happen.”

- Under The Radar (8/10 Review) “The whole record is bold, ambitious and above all a synaesthesia dream. [...] It’s psychedelic, but not completely as we know it, with

metallic shimmers against a backdrop of darkness as opposed to a technicolour glare, and the result is completely majestic.”

-Louder Than War “A real odyssey for those of us who love slightly nasty things being done to the humble guitar.”

-Backseat Mafia “Across five and a half minutes of rampant psych-indie, the tension doesn’t let up, with Kasner’s imagery only getting more doomy and hallucinogenic as we tread further into his mind. By the end of “Paranoia” we feel emotionally wrung out – but invigoratingly so, as if this cathartic rock song has just vanquished all those persistent fears that have been dragging us down.”

-Beats Per Minute “Page Before” goes from catchy indie rock song to a wild shoegaze jam midway through with waves of guitar chords crashing nonstop.”

-BrooklynVegan “Page Before” is defined by its rumbling guitar distortion in the verses and a squealing guitar lead in the chorus along with Kasner’s disaffected vocals. What starts out as a straightforward rock song transforms and mutates over the course of its over-seven-minute run time.”

-MXDWN “Kasner crafts an epic eruption of swirling guitar riffs, throbbing bass lines, and warped callbacks to underground rock legends like Pixies and My Bloody Valentine. There’s an emotional density here that isn’t easily cast off, and the effects of it linger in your thoughts for hours.”

-Beats Per Minute “Venus Furs hits on all facets of his self-described “psychadelicsurfpunkpop” sound. A sonic experience that runs over seven minutes, “Page Before” is like a big painting with multiple focal points. More than half the song is an epic instrumental jam to the end.

The beachy guitar and fast percussion keep driving the song to far out places, rolling behind a contrastingly dark story.”

-Pancakes And Whiskey “Venus Furs is a rigorously crafted set of songs that voyage heedlessly through sonic and mental terrain in a way that could only be the product of a single idiosyncratic mind.”

-Glide February 2021 • Rock and Blues International 45

Photo Cred: Michael Deleon Romero

Patriarchy Shares “I Don’t Want To Die” Geneva Jacuzzi Remix and Music Video Via POST PUNK Reverse Circumcision LP Out Now Via Dero Arcade With Remixes By Nitzer Ebb, ADULT., 3TEETH, Light Asylum, Front Line Assembly + More Last month Patriarchy shareed “I Don’t Want To Die” (Geneva Jacuzzi Remix), the second single off the upcoming Reverse Circumcision REMIX LP, out January 29th on Dero Arcade. POST PUNK premiered the track, praising the collaboration with Geneva Jacuzzi as “a perfect fit for the rebirth of her track.” Featured remixers on the project include Nitzer Ebb, ADULT, Light Asylum, Front Line Assembly + more.

Patriarchy is releasing an album of remixes early 2021 with the label Dero Arcade. All of the remixed songs come from the first Patriarchy album, Asking For It, released in November of 2019.

Throughout the pandemic, Actually Huizenga has delved into a safely-distanced blossoming of creative connection with some of her favorite fellow artists and friends. By sharing her stems, the songs have grown into something exciting and magical, taking on a new life

46

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

within this polarizing time of sickness and enlightenment, confusion and change. The remixes turned out so well that Actually insisted that she make videos for the singles, before the full LP release.

Each video is not only a remix of past footage pertaining to the original song’s original video, but it has new footage which either involves the remix artist directly (acting in the video like Bon Harris and Geneva Jacuzzi) or by researching and having a creative discussion with said artist, in which Actually actually becomes the artist’s character and ego (like Deb Demure in the Drab Majesty remix video) or references their iconic symbology (like in the Front Line Assembly remix video).

Join us in our bacchanalia where we find romance in the perverted while reversing the symbols and structures of the known Patriarchy - to reverse the circumcision.

ADVERTISE HERE

Patriarchy is a stunning and equally surprising collaboration between the “Predator Romantic” herself Actually (aka Actually Huizenga) – LA-Based multidisciplinary artist/ film maker – and Andrew Means (3Teeth multi-instrumentalist), revealing a new focus toward the darker, heavier side of synth-punk/new-wave & industrial music.

Their fresh work explores themes of sex, power, subversion & death, with what appears to be an intense interest in Ancient Greek Mythology & 80’s slasher films, a heavy dose of Mulholland Drive, and a sound that is equal parts ABBA and NIN. LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Patriarchy - “I Don’t Want To Die” (Geneva Jacuzzi Remix) Bandcamp - https://patriarchy.bandcamp.com/track/i-dontwant-to-die-geneva-jacuzzi-remix YouTube - https://youtu.be/cfEgAcNe4aU LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Patriarchy - “Burn The Witch” (Drab Majesty Remix) YouTube - https://youtu.be/UZau8CyH2IE LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Patriarchy - “Hell Was Full (Nitzer Ebb Remix)” Bandcamp - https://patriarchy.bandcamp.com/track/hell-wasfull-bon-harris-nitzer-ebb-remix Youtube - https://youtu.be/wp02gTQl7AQ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/ 2jcaBo418B35zk6GH4EvwA?si=j1ssVgVmT76Bvq8W8Jg6vA

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

PATRIARCHY LINKS Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/actuallypatriarchy/ Website - http://www.actuallyactually.com YouTube - https://tellallyourfriendspr.us10.list-manage.com/ track/ click?u=63f1674ecdb2a4574b77e600b&id=36458b7fa8&e=28146e6e7b Bandcamp - https://patriarchy.bandcamp.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_patriarchy_/ Reverse Circumcision LP TRACKLISTING 01. “I Don’t Want To Die” Geneva Jacuzzi 02. “Hell Was Full” Bon Harris (of Nitzer Ebb) 03. “Burn The Witch” Drab Majesty 04. “It Goes Fast” Second Skin 05. “He Took It Out” John Fryer (of This Mortal Coil) 06. “Sweet Piece Of Meat” Xavier Swafford (of 3TEETH) 07. “Grind Your Bones” Rhys Fulber (of Front Line Assembly) 08. “I Don’t Want To Die” Light Asylum 09. “Hell Was Full” ADULT.

Rock And Blues International

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

47

Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous Is #1 Debuts Aatop Billboard 200; Earns The Largest Streaming Week For A Country Album In History 48

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Big Loud/Republic Records’ multi-platinum superstar Morgan Wallen is taking the world by storm with sophomore effort, Dangerous: The Double Album, debuting at #1 this week atop the Billboard 200 Albums chart and earning the largest streaming week for a Country album in history.

Dangerous set a new bar across all streaming platforms.

Breaking global debut records for most first-week streams and ondemand Alexa requests of any Country album on Amazon Music, Wallen also had the #1 most added artist station across all genres on Pandora, among the top 10 highest streamed artists of the week. Last week, Wallen demolished first day streaming records, becoming Spotify’s biggest all-time first day stream record for a Country album and setting the record for the biggest first day and biggest first week for a Country album of all-time at Apple Music in just two days.

Making history, 27 of the 30 songs on Dangerous have landed inside the Billboard Hot Country Songs Top 50, with six in the Top 10, setting an unprecedented new record. Early favorite “Wasted On You” debuts at #1, making Wallen the only artist with multiple #1 Hot Country Songs debuts in the chart’s 62-year history. The song also earns him his second Hot 100 Top 10, debuting at #9 this week and touting 19 current entries throughout the chart. Wallen is the first artist ever to debut at #1 on the Top Country Albums and Hot Country Songs charts simultaneously.

“This is absolutely insane,” Wallen shares exclusively with Billboard. “Thank you to the fans for making this one of the best weeks of my life. When we decided to go for it with a double album, I knew we were taking a risk, but I believed in the music and hoped it would be something y’all loved. This goes way beyond any of my expectations. I have to thank my family and friends for always believing in me, my team for all of their hard work in putting this project together, and everyone who has supported me along the way.

I’m blown away by the success of this record and all 30 of these songs. I will never forget this!”

With 265,000 in total consumption and over 240 MILLION streams, Dangerous is the #1 streaming album and had the #1 streaming week for a country album in its debut, also landing spots atop the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the Billboard Top 200 Album Sales chart. Only Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande had larger streaming weeks for a non-hip-hop album, marking the biggest week for a Country album since 2018 and the biggest Country album without a ticket bundle since 2015.

“A sprawling coronation at the beginning of 2021” (Billboard), rave reviews for Dangerous came pouring in nationwide, alongside high-profile features in GQ at https://www.gq.com/story/morganwallen-dangerous-interview, The New Yorker at https:// www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/28/how-morgan-wallenbecame-the-most-wanted-man-in-country, and The Tennessean at https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/05/ morgan-wallen-interview-new-album-hard-lessons-and-mulletorigins/4128723001/b’/get-access/ ?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennessean.com%2Fstory%2Fentertainment%2F music%2F2021%2F01%2F05%2Fmorgan-wallen-interviewnew-album-hard-lessons-and-mulletorigins%2F4128723001%2F%27. This week, Wallen covers Billboard magazine – read “Is Morgan Wallen Country’s Next Global Star?” here at https://www.billboard.com/index.php/articles/columns/ country/9510855/morgan-wallen-dangerous-billboard-cover-storyinterview-2021.

Morgan Wallen has staked his claim as Country music’s next superstar with over 3.7 BILLION on-demand streams, MULTIPLATINUM certifications, and four consecutive chart-toppers. The SNL guest’s widely praised sophomore effort, Dangerous: The Double Album (Big Loud/Republic Records), is out now. Featuring 30-tracks, the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and earned the biggest streaming week for a country album in history. It includes another record-breaking achievement in current single and one of TIME’s Top 10 Songs of 2020, “7 Summers” – which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and inside the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 – as well as 3X PLATINUM Diplo collaboration, “Heartless,” and recent PLATINUM chart-topper “More Than My

Hometown.” As “the most wanted man in country” (The New Yorker), the Tennessee native has stacked up the accolades, winning 2020’s CMA New Artist of the Year and iHeartRadio’s Best New Country Artist awards, reigning #1 atop Billboard’s 2020 year-end Country Airplay chart with “Chasin’ You,” plus high-profile features in The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, The Washington Post, Genius, GQ and more.

CRITICAL PRAISE FOR DANGEROUS “In just a few short years, Morgan Wallen has dominated the country music charts” – Associated Press “the country set to beat in 2021” – Billboard “the hottest act in country music at the moment” – Entertainment Tonight “Wallen is that rare country artist with the range to pull off arena rock, easy-vibes Americana, and traditional country ballads.” – GQ “Dangerous unpacks the realities of being a young man seeking his place in the flyover. His yearning, kicking-back, seeking-love, getting-hurt and having-fun-along-the-way 808s-’n’-bluegrassinstrument pop-meets-country cocktail may be the best look yet at small-town coming of age for a nation seemingly further divided by the day.” – HITS “What makes the music breathe, especially as the collection stretches into its second hour, is Wallen’s singing, which has a soulful flexibility...” – Los Angeles Times “what makes Wallen’s writing so magnetic is the easy, idiomatic shorthand that plunges you directly into his world.” – Pitchfork “Wallen has a penchant for making classic Nashville themes his own, adding dashes of winking self-awareness, aggrieved insecurity, and flirty playfulness to otherwise worn-out formulas.”

– Rolling Stone “Morgan Wallen is primed to become Country’s biggest crossover star in years” – Stereogum February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

49

34 50

2020 Rock and Blues International • August February 2021

Singers, songwriters and producers Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler return to the stage to bring fans a brent ii livestream experience, which will air worldwide on Moment House on Wednesday, February 10th.

During the show, they will be performing their new EP brent ii in its entirety for the first time, as well as some fan favorites from brent and previous collaborations.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, January 20th at 12pm ET at https:// www.momenthouse.com/jeremy-zucker-andchelsea-cutler, with Spotify Produced by Moment House, the show will be streamed globally, commencing at the following local times: Asia & Australia: 12:00am PT/3:00am ET UK & Europe: 11:00am PT/2:00pm ET North & South America: 6:00pm PT/ 9:00pm ET On Friday, Zucker and Cutler dropped their new single “this is how you fall in love” ahead of their forthcoming EP, brent ii, releasing February 5th. Listen HERE at https:// brentii.lnk.to/TIHYFILPR, watch HERE at https://youtu.be/6qkgVgjN188 and pre-order/ pre-save HERE at https://brentforever.com.

ABOUT JEREMY ZUCKER Growing up in suburban New Jersey, 24year-old singer, songwriter and producer Jeremy Zucker has always been surrounded by music. In 2015, he released his first EP as a freshman at Colorado College pursuing a degree in Molecular Biology, and by 2017 he had signed a major label record deal with Republic Records. Since then, he has released four EP’s with breakthrough singles, such as Gold Certified singles, “talk is overrated” featuring blackbear and “all the kids are depressed,” and his biggest song to date, “comethru,” which is Platinum Certified and has surpassed over one billion streams. In 2019, Jeremy collaborated with Chelsea Cutler on brent and their Platinum-Certified global viral hit, “you were good to me.” Last spring, Zucker released his long-awaited debut album, love is not dying, to praise from critics and fans alike, as he recently crossed over a staggering 3.2 billion total streams across his catalogue with his latest single, “supercuts.”

SOCIALS: INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/jeremyzucker/

JEREMY ZUCKER & CHELSEA CUTLER ANNOUNCE brent ii LIVESTREAM PRESENTED ON MOMENT HOUSE “this is how you fall in love” OUT NOW brent ii TO BE RELEASED FEBRUARY 5TH

TWITTER https://republicrecords.us5.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=3051269687d98ad95ab882a80&id=1c205d491e&e=8c586f3e2f FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/jeremyzuckermusic ABOUT CHELSEA CUTLER Instantly-relatable lyrics and handcrafted lo-fi soundscapes have established Chelsea Cutler as a quiet, yet disruptive, force for popular music. Within two short years, the singer, songwriter and producer went from bedroom-constructed uploads to 750 million-plus cumulative streams and acclaim from Billboard, The New York Times, E! News, PAPER Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, UPROXX, L’Officiel, and more. In 2017, her breakthrough single “Your Shirt” paved the way for her debut EP, Snow In October. Leaving college shortly after, she hit the road alongside Quinn XCII at the top of 2018 before kicking off a prolific string of releases, including the independently released mixtapes Sleeping with Roses and Sleeping with Roses II, leading to two completely sold-out nationwide headline tours in 2018 and 2019 and appearances at Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and more. Signing to Republic

Records in 2019, Chelsea uncovered undeniable chemistry with Jeremy Zucker on the collaborative brent EP, which spawned the platinum single “you were good to me.” Honing her style further, she unveiled her 2020 debut album, How To Be Human, featuring the breakout single “Sad Tonight.” Bringing the new music to fans across the country, Cutler launched the sold-out How To Be Human Tour last spring, highlighted by two consecutive sellouts at Terminal 5 in New York City.

SOCIALS: INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/chelseacutler/ TWITTER https://republicrecords.us5.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=3051269687d98ad95ab882a80&id=65fa3bccfa&e=8c586f3e2f FACEBOOK https://republicrecords.us5.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=3051269687d98ad95ab882a80&id=76ada0d28b&e=8c586f3e2f

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

51

CURTIS WATERS

52

Rock and Blues International • February November2021 2020

Curtis Waters Unveils New Song, “Doodoodoo” “Stunnin’” Officially Certified Gold In The US! Debut Album ‘Plity Party’ Is Out Now! LISTEN “Doodoodoo” https://curtiswaters.lnk.to/DooDooDooPR LISTEN ’PITY PARTY’ https://curtiswaters.lnk.to/PityPartyPR

By Sheena Johnson We’ve got some new music out of North Carolina for you in the form of a new Curtis Waters song. The Nepal-Born Waters has just released his first song of 2021 with “Doodoodoo.” Curtis jokes about the song, telling us that “Doodoodoo, it’s a song about taking a bath :).” The song is out now and featured as a World First on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show and you can check it out everywhere at https:// curtiswaters.lnk.to/DooDooDooPR. “Doodoodoo” is Waters’ first release since his music videos for “Better” and “Shoe Laces” were released. Both songs appeared on his latest album, Pity Party. The video for “Better” was directed by Logan Fields (Watch it at https://youtu.be/ ELy3SagzhAA?list=PLweLDYLfMFRKrN_hlvptX1-m3fsnUhouZ) and the video for “Shoe Laces” was directed by Jovy Bergen (Watch it at https://youtu.be/3I1xUKuIoNs). Curtis is now considered on of the great ‘break-out artists’ of 2020 and a new force to watch out for in 2021.

Pity Party was released through Curtis’ own label, which is licensed through BMG. The album was written, produced, mixed, and performed by Curtis. “‘Pity Party’ is an album I started when I was at a very low point in my life when I dropped out of college and moved back home last year.” Curtis shares, “I had a lot of time to think about all my struggles growing up as a brown kid in North America dealing with mental illnesses and the guilt that came with it. It’s about getting better at coping with life. I get a lot of brown kids messaging me telling me I make them feel like they can do anything too, which is awesome. Hopefully people can listen and feel less alone. That would make all the difficulties worth it.”

Listen to ‘Pity Party’ here at https://curtiswaters.lnk.to/ PityPartyPR. Pity Party was made in his bedroom studio at his home in North Carolina. The album also features his debut hit single, ‘Stunnin’’ Ft. Harm Franklin [Official Video at https://youtu.be/ Qgduhk26sIw], which was recently certified RIAA Gold in the US and included in Rolling Stone’s ’50 Best Songs of 2020’ list at No. 26.

“Stunnin” has now amassed more than 650 global streams. It has also made it into the US Radio Top 40 charts. “Stunnin” has also been certified Gold in Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and India, and Platinum in Canada. ‘Pity Party’ also includes the songs ‘System,’ (Official Video at https://youtu.be/x9mg4PC3Yx8), ‘The Feelings Tend To Stay The Same’ (Official Video at https://youtu.be/HeJn631tD_0], ‘Freckles,’ (Official Video at https://youtu.be/LckHFgHWkKA), “Shoe Laces,” and “Better” along with six more additional songs.

settling down with his parents in Calgary in his youth. By the time he was 17 he and his family had moved to North Carolina, where he still resides. It was there where Curtis started focusing on his musical future. Curtis never felt like he fitted in there and just emersed himself in writing poetry and getting involved in graphic design. He soon started teaching himself how to make beats and produce music thanks to the help of YouTube. It wasn’t long before the young Waters started marketing his beats to other artists. Curtis tells us that he was inspired by Kanye, Tyler, the Creator and Odd Future, which led to him writing, engineering, and producing his own songs. He then published them online, which finally led to his debut album Pity Party, and a new promising career in music. ‘Pity Party’ is out everywhere now. Already his songs are racking up millions of streams and garnering his incredible praise from magazines such as Rolling Stone and Pigeons and Planes. Yes, the young 21-year-old Curtis Waters is also racking up fans from all over the world. This guy is definitely the one you need to watch in 2021.

Listen to “Doodoodoo” at https://curtiswaters.lnk.to/ DooDooDooPR and stay tuned for more news from Curtis Waters in the pages of Rock And Blues International.

TWITTER | https://highrisepr.us14.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=e1881ce6fa06ce0191b442b67&id=e9a45287d0&e=0f5e3131ed FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/IMCURTISWATERS/ SOUNDCLOUD https://soundcloud.com/imcurtiswaters SPOTIFY | https://open.spotify.com/artist/2JbE7jUIGtpXSzytnyMg6U APPLE MUSIC https://music.apple.com/us/artist/curtis-waters/1236971284 “Curtis Waters is quickly becoming one of the year’s most popular emerging musicians.” – HypeBeast “One to watch.” – Billboard “A shimmery, sentimental pop reflection.” – GRAMMY.com “If love’s a game, Curtis Waters is winning.” – Rolling Stone “Naturally, Waters is full of good vibes and boosts your selfesteem by 100.” – Alternative Press “Simultaneously self-deprecating, sincere, and disarmingly honest.” - NYLON “Waters now has a world of discovery and experimentation ahead of him.” – SPIN Magazine

The Nepal born songwriter migrated to Germany, before February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

53

ALUNA RELEASES RENAISSANCE REMIX ALBUM [MAD DECENT] FEATURING REMIXES BY TSHA, LADY BEE, AUSTIN MILLZ, BELLA BOO, UNIIQU3 AND MORE Debut Solo Album, ‘Renaissance’ Is Available Now at https://maddecent.ffm.to/renaissance RENAISSANCE (REMIXES) LISTEN @ https://maddecent.ffm.to/renaissancermx ‘RENAISSANCE’ LISTEN @ https://maddecent.ffm.to/renaissance VINYL @ https://shop.maddecent.com/products/aluna-renaissance2xlp-digital-album Aluna is back with a brand new 10track collection of remixes, RENAISSANCE (Remixes) featuring club-ready re-workings of tracks from her debut solo album, Renaissance, out now via Mad Decent.

Spanning multiple genres of dance and electronic music, the collection features exciting collaborations with a diverse array of predominantly POC and female producers, including Lady Bee, Austin Millz, TSHA,

54 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Bella Boo & UNIIQU3 to name a few.

Speaking about the new project, Aluna reveals, “For the first time in a long time we have the idea of a better future to celebrate,

one with more unity than ever before and that’s what this remix collection embodies it’s more like a festival line up of the future than a remix album-melanated, lgbtqia, global and bringing the queen shit.” at https://maddecent.ffm.to/ warriortshaListen to London-based DJ and producer TSHA’s take on “Warrior” at https:/ /maddecent.ffm.to/warriortsha Also included in the remix package, Bronx, NY-based producers, remixers and DJ duo The Martinez Brothers’ remix of “The Recipe,” originally a collaboration with KAYTRANADA, which fuses afrobeat elements in with his trademark percussion and the mesmerizing vocals of Nigerian singer-songwriter Rema. Listen to “The Recipe” (The Martinez Brothers Remix) at https://maddecent.ffm.to/ therecipemartinezbros Last fall, Aluna unveiled the official video for “The Recipe”, directed by Reggie.

(AKA Clay Dirkse and Jake Herman). “I wanted to play with the way history has been dictated to us,” she says. “Growing up in England you are constantly exposed to glamorous white history of period dramas without a black person in sight. I feel that since the British Empire was so heavily funded by slavery that history is ours too, we’ve just never been pictured in the finery...and I wanted to see what that would look like.” Watch the video for “The Recipe” at https://maddecent.ffm.to/therecipe Earlier this winter, to commemorate World AIDS Day (December 1st), (RED) and Africa’s most influential record label, Mavin Records, joined forces to raise funds to fight two pandemics: COVID-19 and AIDS. The remix of hit single “Jaiye” by Mavin Artist LADIPOE, features Aluna and Sigag Lauren, is available to stream and download worldwide, with all proceeds going to support (RED)’s efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on life-saving HIV/AIDS programs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Listen to “Jaiye” (Aluna and Sigag Lauren Remix) at https://lnk.to/jaiye-remix The special “Jaiye” remix is a teaser to the Afrobeats-inspired DANCE (RED) SAVE LIVES Vol. III album, with a track listing cocurated by Aluna and Don Jazzy, which will be available on streaming services worldwide this Spring.

2020 was, in many ways a momentous year for Aluna, with her latest string of singles amassing nearly 40 million combined global streams and more than 10K global radio spins across 41 territories, garnering worldwide support from some of the world’s

most respected radio stations, including BBC Radio 1, Triple J, KCRW, KEXP, and Sirius BPM, as well as ‘Envious’ being playlisted on Capital’s newest station Capital Dance.

Spotify’s New Music Friday has championed her in more than 20 countries this year, as well as placing her on the cover of their flagship dance playlist Mint and Massive Dance Hits. Nectar (Amazon Music) and New Music Daily (Apple Music), along with support from radio staples Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden continue to amplify her solo project.

Last summer Aluna also penned a powerful open letter to the global dance community, demanding the community reassess the platforms and positioning of Black creators within the dance world. “When I started looking at all the challenges I face being a black woman making dance I realized I wanted to do more than just create a space for myself - I want all black people to know that the genre of Dance is their heritage and they should feel included and encouraged to create under that banner by expanding the genre to be culturally and racially inclusive.”

Read the full letter here at https:// www.instagram.com/p/CB3S5t2JVHR/

renaissancermx Tracklist: Aluna - Body Pump (UNIIQU3 Remix) Aluna - Body Pump (Lady Bee Remix) Aluna & KAYTRANADA - The Recipe (feat. Rema) [Bella Boo Remix] Aluna & KAYTRANADA - The Recipe (feat. Rema) [The Martinez Brothers Remix] Aluna - Envious (GuiltyBeatz Remix) Aluna - Envious (Kiddy Smile Remix) Aluna - Envious (Rezident Remix) Aluna - Warrior (feat. SG Lewis) [TSHA Remix] Aluna - Warrior (feat. SG Lewis) [Austin Millz Remix] Aluna - Ain’t My Business (Yazzus Remix) OFFICIAL WEBSITE https://www.aluna.site TWITTER https://highrisepr.us14.list-manage.com/ track/click?u=e1881ce6fa06ce0191b442b6 7&id=e4ee1a3271&e=0f5e3131ed FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/ alunageorge/

RENAISSANCE (Remixes) is out everywhere now @ https://maddecent.ffm.to/ February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

55

Eric Church to Church Choir: “Three Albums Arrive in April”; HEART & SOUL Set for Release Beginning April 16 Highly Anticipated Albums Set for Release Friday, April 16: Heart Tuesday, April 20: & Friday, April 23: Soul

By Nathan Pugh When Eric Church speaks to the Church Choir, he is speaking directly to his fans, the folks that keep this man rockin’. In a special message, the CMA Entertainer of the Year let them know that he now had some really exciting news for them. He is undertaking a feat that not many entertainers like him do. He is releasing three new albums at one time. As Eric explained, “I have three albums coming out in April. They came out of my 28 days in the mountains of North Carolina, where the songs were recorded and written. The collection is entitled Heart & Soul.”

However, the only way to get all three albums, is to be a fan of his and join his fan club. Eric believes in putting the fans first and is delivering the second of the two albums, &, to the fans only. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, the first album is titled Heart, the second album is &, and the title of the third album is Soul. Pretty catchy, huh… The second album was specially written and recorded for the fans and it will only be available in vinyl. The album will be released on Tuesday, April 20th. The other two albums, Heart and Soul will be released on Friday, April 16th and Friday, April 23rd.

Pre-orders from the album started last month on January 29th, so if you want one, you’d better act pretty quickly. This also means to join the fan club as well.

56

This is quite a feat for any musician and Church was really excited to record such a body of work in just 28 days. It really helped him with his constant desire to push the limits of himself creatively. Besides trying to please his fans, he was also doing his best to please himself during this amazing creative process.

“I’ve always been intrigued when a song is born in a writer room – there is a magic that happens there,” shares Church of the unique process that went into making this project. “I wanted to put that in the studio form. So, every day, we would write a song in the morning and we would record the song that night. Doing it that way allowed for the songwriters to get involved in the studio process and the musicians to be involved in the creative process. You felt a little bit like you were secretly doing something that was special, and you knew it… You started going, ‘hmm, wait ’til the world finds out about this.’”

Stereogum praised this amazing 24song collection from Church as “the most consistently interesting star in the Nashville ecosystem.” It features an extraordinary list of guest musicians and songwriters that participated during the extensive writing and recording sessions. Church solely conducted the project. Alongside him was longtime producer Jay Joyce along with backing vocalist Joanna Cotton. Playing alongside Rock and Blues International • February 2021

the great guest Nashville studio musicians on this album was also his touring band. We are including a list here of all the musicians who participated. Believe me, it’s quite a list.

“The interesting thing about this process is that Jay kept asking me the last three or four days, ‘Are we done?’ and at that time I didn’t know what the project was,” notes Church. “I kept saying ‘God, this is going to be really hard. There’s a lot here. Is this a double album? And if it’s a double album, how do we leave out these five or six songs?’ I am the hardest critic on making sure every song deserves to be on the record, and I beat this thing to death going ‘this can’t be that good.’ But, it was just a special, special time and a special, special project that I think will be among our best.”

Concluding his video message to fans, Church reflected, “It’s been a long 10 months. With the power of music and love for each other, we will get through this, we will gather again soon. I cannot wait to play this music for you live.”

Eric Church is the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, as well as a recent GRAMMY nominee. He has spent the last year continuously turning out great music at a breathtaking pace. Church is a seven-time ACM Award winner, four-time CMA Award winner, and 10-time GRAMMY nominee.

His latest album, Desperate Man, received a

GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album. This is the third time that he has been nominated for this. Desperate Man went on to produce his latest No. 1 hit single, “Some Of It.” His previous releases include the Platinum-certified Sinners Like Me (“How ’Bout You,” “Guys Like Me”), Carolina (“Smoke a Little Smoke,” “Love Your Love the Most”) and Mr. Misunderstood (“Record Year,” “Round Here Buzz”), the Double-Platinum certified The Outsiders (“Like a Wrecking Ball,” “Talladega”) and the 3x Platinum-certified Chief (“Springsteen,” “Drink In My Hand”), as well as 22 Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum certified singles.

Doing Life With Me (Eric Church, Casey Beathard, Jeffrey Steele) Do Side (Eric Church, Casey Beathard) Kiss Her Goodbye (Eric Church, Casey Beathard) Mad Man (Eric Church, Casey Beathard) Lone Wolf (Eric Church, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell)

Spillman) Lynyrd Skynyrd Jones (Casey Beathard)

Heart & Soul Musician Credits Vocals: Eric Church Additional Vocals: Casey Beathard, Craig Wright, Jason Hall, Jay Joyce, Jeff Hyde, Jeffrey Steele, Joanna Cotten, Jonathan Singleton Acoustic Guitar: Bryan Sutton, Casey Beathard, Charlie Worsham, Eric Church, Jay Joyce, Jeff Cease, Jeff Hyde, Jeffrey Steele, Soul Track List Kenny Vaughn, Luke Dick Electric Guitar: Charlie Worsham, Rock & Roll Found Me (Eric Church, Driver Williams, Eric Church, Jay Joyce, Jeff Casey Beathard, Driver Williams) Cease, Kenny Vaughn, Luke Dick, Rob Look Good And You Know It (Eric McNelley Church, Jonathan Singleton, Travis MeadFor the latest information and to learn Steel Guitar: Luke Dick ows) how to join the Church Choir, visit Slide Guitar: Jeff Cease Bright Side Girl (Eric Church, Jeff www.EricChurch.com and follow on Banjo: Charlie Worsham, Jeff Hyde Hyde, Scotty Emerick, Clint Daniels) Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ Mandolin: Bryan Sutton, Charlie Break It Kind Of Guy (Eric Church, ericchurch and Twitter @ericchurch and Worsham, Jeff Hyde Casey Beathard, Luke Dick) Instagram @ericchurchmusic.

Dobro: Bryan Sutton Hell Of A View (Eric Church, Casey Resonator: Bryan Sutton Beathard, Monty Criswell) Heart Track List Bass: Lee Hendricks Where I Wanna Be (Eric Church, Synth Bass: Billy Justineau Casey Beathard, Jeremy Spillman, Ryan Heart On Fire (Eric Church) Drums: Craig Wright Tyndell) Heart Of The Night (Eric Church, Percussion: Craig Wright Jenny (Eric Church) Jeremy Spillman, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell, Tambourine: Jay Joyce Bad Mother Trucker (Eric Church, Travis Hill) Piano: Billy Justineau, Moose Brown Casey Beathard, Luke Dick, Jeremy Russian Roulette (Eric Church, Casey Mellotron: Billy Beathard, Monty Criswell) Justineau People Break (Eric Electric Organ: Billy Church, Luke Laird) Justineau, Jay Joyce, Moose Stick That In Your Brown Country Song (Davis Naish, Keyboards: Jay Joyce Jeffrey Steele) Synthesizer: Billy Never Break Heart (Eric Justineau, Jay Joyce Church, Luke Dick) Programming: Jay Crazyland (Eric Church, Joyce Luke Laird, Michael Heeney) Hand Claps: Billy Bunch Of Nothing (Eric Justineau, Brian Snoody, Church, Jeff Hyde) Casey Beathard, Charlie Love Shine Down (Eric Worsham, Craig Wright, Church, Casey Beathard, Driver Williams, Eric Jeffrey Steele) Church, Jason Hall, Jaxon Hargrove, Jay Joyce, Jeff & Track List Cease, Jeff Hyde, Jimmy WATCH: Eric Church Announces Plans for Heart & Soul Mansfield, Joanna Cotten, Through My Ray-Bans https://www.ericchurch.com/news/Special-Message-To-ChurchJohn Peets, Lee Hendricks, (Eric Church, Luke Laird, Luke Dick Barry Dean) Choir February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

57

International Entertainment Lawyer By Day - Rocker By Night In both rock and legal circles the name Al Staehely is extremely well known among the who’s who within the entertainment industry. Never sitting still you can find Al attending the Grammy’s one day and jetting to London the next to be with one of his long standing rock career friends or perhaps landing in Paris to attend the annual MIDEM event at Cannes. Most recently Al traveled to the famous creative hot spot for artists and songwriters Marfa Texas. There he entered into the studio with a session crew second to none where he birthed his soon to be released newest creation. That’s Al and it’s always been Al. Upon interviewing Al Paul Heath of Radio X in Belgium stated, “the man literally walks around with a Martin six string ready to create from scratch or add to his latest inspiration”. Al’s not a poser, he’s a life long main stage rocker that just happens to be an entertainment lawyer and if you ask him he will actually reinforce that notion. That is what is enduring to his peers. In a few words - you either is or you ain’t and Al Staehely certainly is. To this day Al remains the front man on stage armed with his Al Staehely, Wilma Schindeler at the Grammys precious bass guitar and a voice that every rocker admires. Al was the front man, heart throb, for the rock group Spirit with a way to reach large audiences that automatically generated a warm welcome with his guy next door personality. He is the man that went to law school to keep a rock group together. He not only earned his law degree but kept fueling his creations at the same time. Al graduated in Texas and then he and his brother John moved to Malibu California. At the time the west coast was red hot with acts like Janis Joplin, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and more. Al and John were in the thick of it and the relationships they would forge there are lasting a lifetime. The cool thing is that it is not over, the odyssey continues. Writing, performing, and recording are the priorities and then you throw in some serious legal work and that about Ed Cassidy, Al, John Locke, & John Staehely sums up where the respect comes from within the industry. On the fan side the man remains a draw. Currently Al and John are live streaming their shows from the noted listening room in Houston, The Mucky Duck. However, previous to the no audience rule caused by the pandemic The Duck would realize sold out crowds every time the men announced an upcoming show. Huge arenas are fine and Al has certainly headlined them but as it goes with most seasoned rockers nothing beats the intimacy of being able to see the audience members and interact on a more one to one footing. If an artist, a songwriter, sees and hears the appreciation of those in front of them there is just something extra special about that experience. That’s Al Staehely. You can learn even more at www.alstaehely.com Left - Mark Singer, Al Staehely 58

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Juan Pablo Di Pace, Argentine-born actor and musician, today announced the release of “Fall On Me,” the first single from his upcoming E.P. Inspired by the sound of autumn, the track is an adult contemporary ballad, with languid piano and cello lines.

The music video was shot in Madrid during the pandemic and directed by Manolo Pavón, photographer on Academy Award-winning filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s films.

The upcoming E.P., available in March, is Juan Pablo’s first music project in two years and includes six songs: five originals, one cover, and one Spanish language song. His first-ever single “We Wanna Rock,” released in 2010, quickly jumped to No. 1 on the iTunes Spanish Charts.

“The lyrics of ‘Fall On Me’ tackle that feeling we’ve all experienced of wanting to be there for our loved ones as we navigate through fights together and hurdles together.

It’s an earnest plea of the desire to be needed, trusted and loved,” said Juan Pablo.

Juan Pablo has played to sold-out venues around the world including Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, New York, and Madrid.

Before the pandemic hit, Juan Pablo sold out the 3,000 seat Houston Symphony with The Music of George Michael, an orchestral show of the late singer’s catalog which featured a 70-piece orchestra.

As an actor, the multi-talented heartthrob is well-known for his stellar performance as Jesus Christ in NBC’s A.D. The Bible Continues (Best Actor Award, Movieguide Awards), as series regular billionaire businessman Nicholas Treviño for season 3 of the TNT drama Dallas, and his hilarious portrayal of Fernando on Netflix’s award-winning series Fuller House (People’s Choice Award for Best Comedy Series) for five seasons. On stage, Juan Pablo has appeared in Chicago, The Musical in London, as well as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Mas de 100 Mentiras, and the film version of Mamma Mia! alongside Oscar winners Meryl Streep and Colin Firth. In 2009 he appeared in the music video “Time Is Running Out” by Muse. This Christmas, he starred in the LGBTQ+ holiday movie “Dashing in December” for Paramount, which has already changed the landscape of the holiday film market, gathering stellar reviews for Juan Pablo’s groundbreaking role.

Juan Pablo Di Pace Releases “Fall On Me,” The First Single from his Upcoming Debut E.P. Single Available Here @ https://jpdipace.lnk.to/FallOnMe February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

59

Anna Akana Releases Her Newest Single “Run” From Her Upcoming EP No Longer Yours Anna Akana has released “Run,” her second single following November’s “Pink.”

Both singles are leading up to Akana’s upcoming EP No Longer Yours, out February 19th, 2021. Alongside “Run,” Akana shares a cinematic music video directed by Auden Bui. Forbes premiered the track and video, detailing the backstory of how “Akana was inspired by the relief one feels after finally getting over a relationship.”

On her debut album, 2019’s Casualty, Anna Akana took an unapologetic and uncompromising look at all the battles she’s faced throughout her life, examined through the rawness and heartbreak of a toxic relationship that was still fresh on her mind.

Fast forward a year – one marked by the clarity of sobriety – and she returns with her anticipated follow-up, No Longer Yours.

Says Akana about the 6-song project: “This EP is about the process of assembling the broken pieces and stitching them back together. It’s about the moment you finally see the person who used to make you nauseous and realize it doesn’t sting so much anymore.

I had so much clarity about the things that weren’t working for me, what I had to let go

60

of, and how I wanted to shape my life moving forward with more self-awareness about what was within my grasp to change.”

Returning to work with close collaborators Jenga Productions (Nicci and Jim Funicelli, Shayon Daniels), the team that produced Casualty, Akana and co. up the ante on No Longer Yours, at once expanding and improving their pop sensibilities while creating a more succinct record than its predecessor. Always one to use her own life experience to lead by example, Akana has again proven her ability to create high energy, addictive pop records full of inspiration and courage.

LINKS Website http://www.annaakana.com NO LONGER YOURS TRACKLISTING 01. I Feel Nothing 02. Run 03. You Don’t See Me 04. All The Time 05. Swim 06. Pink

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

“Akana’s voice is not sparkly but relaxed, and the tracks are more for jamming than dancing.”

- Forbes “The simple piano chords that begin the track, aided by fluttering synth swells, provide an elemental framework for the singer’s story of self-discovery, open-hearted and soaring as a Broadway ballad” - The AV Club LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Anna Akana - “Run” YouTube https://youtu.be/AD_C7eISjAY WATCH: Anna Akana - “My crushes react to a song I wrote about them” Youtube https://youtu.be/fmmJIIFEmgs LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Anna Akana - “Pink” YouTube https://youtu.be/JktFJGcRUcI

Philadelphia electronic-indie duo DECOUPLR (Bailey Walker and Adam Laub) are premiering the video for their brand new single “Changes,” off their upcoming debut full-length DIGITAL BONFIRE (Out February 19th).

The futuristic, glittering, trip-hop instrumentals of “Changes” create a shower of dancing energy that serves as the foundation for Walker’s graceful, soul-inspired vocals. The video is directed by the expert visual design team SUPERVOID.tv, who have worked visuals for The Disco Biscuits, Magfest, Tom Morello & The Atlas Underground, and even Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live. Combining psychedelic colors and effects with sketch art, animations, and clips of Walker and Laub, SUPERVOID matches the electric mood of “Changes” while paying homage to the melancholy message of the lyrics. “‘Changes’ is a sleepy dance anthem about wishing things were different,” says Walker. “It’s enjoying that beginning of the year upbeat feeling while leaving behind a rather dreadful 2020.”

Laub adds, “We were extremely excited to get to work with SUPERVOID.tv on the music video for ‘Changes.’ They are great friends and insanely talented visual artists. It was incredible to see what they were able to do with just some simple footage of us sitting near a tree.”

DECOUPLR “Changes” Link/Embed: https://youtu.be/3JNgnSgf74 Smartlink: https://distrokid.com/ hyperfollow/decouplr/changes Beginning in West Philadelphia just last year, DECOUPLR came to be when they realized that meshing Bailey Walker’s long history of live vocal performance with Adam Laub’s world of electronic music (and electronics in general) created a unique sound altogether. Their debut DIGITAL BONFIRE is an 11 track album that offers a fresh take on the digital meeting the physical.

Influenced by musicians like Trent Reznor, Sylvan Esso, and Flying Lotus, the album ranges from dreamy and sweet with tracks like “Keepsake” and “Osage”, to punchy and playful on “Changes” and

Electronic-Indie Duo DECOUPLR release Kaleidoscopic Video for “Changes” Debut Full-Length DIGITAL BONFIRE out Feb 19th “Punchline”. The album draws from the helpless feelings of countless pandemic hours spent sitting on voice chats and video calls, while at the same time snarkily expressing the hopefulness found in the changing forms of communication within our closest relationships.

Lyrically, Walker opens up about everything from nomadically moving around the country, to growing up with touring musicians, to the feelings of dread and anxiety we have in our everyday conversations. Musically, Laub pulls deep, live sampled hip hop drums, mellotron flutes, vintage synth pads and twinkly arpeggiators to create a palette of electronic sounds that range from hip hop to dance. The digital age is a tether that keeps people connected no matter where they are, and DIGITAL BONFIRE explores the ever increasing feelings of loneliness that are associated with this new connection. It embraces the oftentimes cold nature of electronic music as a framework to express the very real feelings we have surrounding the uncertainty of our modern world.

9. Back To That 10. Aces 11. Osage BAILEY WALKER Inspired by musicians such as Lianne La Havas and Talking Heads, Bailey started her solo career in Savannah, GA performing with local musicians Rich Animals. After recording a solo EP under the name Bailey Mae Walker at Low Watt Recording with Sean and Brendan Kelly of A Fragile Tomorrow, Walker moved to Philadelphia and began performing live with local neo soul group, Likebirds.

ADAM LAUB A long time resident of the Philadelphia music scene, Laub played drums in local wacky indie pop band, OhBree, before starting Sleepless Sound Studio with other Philadelphia area recording engineers. Laub has released electronic and trip hop music under the name <radioaddict> and annually produces and performs in a 24 hour long live streamed noise and ambient music performance as a member of the noise and ambient music collective, Tidal Archive.

DIGITAL BONFIRE Tracklist 1. Keepsake 2. Cold Sweat 3. Changes 4. In My Pocket 5. Serotonin Fund 6. Punchline 7. Got It Covered 8. Tourist Town

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/decouplr Website https://www.decouplrmusic.com

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

61

Paris Jackson Releases Captivating Music Video For “eyelids” Featuring Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull Critically Acclaimed Debut Album wilted Out Now Watch “eyelids” Video Here At https://youtu.be/BFa3jTSIsL8 22-year-old singer, songwriter, actress, model and activist Paris Jackson releases the official “eyelids” video – watch here at https://youtu.be/BFa3jTSIsL8. The song features vocals from Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull, who co-wrote and produced the track, as well as Jackson’s first full-length album, wilted, out now – listen here at https://parisjackson.lnk.to/WiltedPR. The video was directed and edited by Phillip Lopez (Selena Gomez, Kygo, Avicii, Lauv) and executive produced by Tara Razavi (Justin Bieber, Tyler, the Creator, G-Eazy & Bebe Rexha).

Upon release, wilted hit #1 on the iTunes Alternative Albums Chart and was praised by NPR, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, E! News, People, NME, NYLON, Refinery29, WWD and more. Rolling Stone hailed the album “well-crafted indie-pop,” while NME described it as “11 intimate songs that’ll fit like your favourite sweater.” Following the release, Paris performed the lead single “let down” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! – watch here at https://youtu.be/3xNEtqbQXvM. While Paris hails from one of the most successful families in music history, she is best known for her activism, acting & modeling work, the latter of which has seen her front campaigns for international brands like Calvin Klein, grace the cover of top fashion magazines, including numerous Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar titles, and make her runway debut earlier this year at JeanPaul Gaultier’s final show. On the acting front, Paris has taken on several TV and film roles, collaborating with acclaimed industry professionals, including Lee Daniels, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, and Rachel Winters. Aside from music, Paris’ biggest passion has always been in using her platform to shine light on causes important to her, notably going off script while presenting at the Grammy Awards and MTV VMAs, to highlight the Dakota Access Pipeline and events of racial injustice in Charlottesville, respectively. Paris also serves as an Ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) and is passionate about continuing her godmother’s legacy of ridding the stigma and finding a cure for the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/officialparismichaelkatherinejackson/ TWITTER - https://republicrecords.us5.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=3051269687d98ad95ab882a80&id=906a063dab&e=8c586f3e2f 62

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Who were you before I knew your name?

Were you drunk at midnight waiting for the train?

You could have been anyone back then – Just another kid reaching for the wind.

You said you hate the smell of cigarette smoke, You only use to smoke when you drank, When you lived in Chicago, Unsure where the wind blows, I wish I had known you in your wilder days And now here we go You got me falling in love again.

You gotta secret, I wanna keep it – I wish I’d known you in your wilder days.

Credit: David McClister

Morgan Wade Announces Debut Album Reckless Out March 19th

Delivers New Song “Wilder Days,” Co-Written with Sadler Vaden Dubbed by BroBible as a “powerpacked country rocker,” Morgan Wade grew up surrounded by bluegrass while possessing an affinity for pop and rock, steering the Floyd, Virginia native to meld her influences and create a sound uniquely her own.

“I feel like the last couple of years have been me trying to figure out where I fit in, who I fit in with, and what’s going on,” Wade says. “When I wrote these songs, I was going through a lot, just trying to figure out who I am.”

With her upcoming full-length debut Reckless, available March 19, Wade is embracing her strengths and quirks as she

continues to ask questions about who she is and who she wants to be.

“A lot of the songs are about figuring out what the hell I’m doing,” Wade shares.

“This is different than anything I’ve ever done before. It’s opened up a bunch of different lanes––and I’m proud of it.” She pauses and grins. “Maybe record number two will be a little bit more about knowing who I am.”

Working alongside Sadler Vaden as producer, long-time guitarist for Jason Isbell as well as an acclaimed solo artist, and Paul Ebersold as engineer, the trio worked together on a new set of songs, spread out over the course of two separate weeks in the studio, shaping songs Wade has written over the years and developing brand new tracks, including today’s release “Wilder Days.”

“Wilder Days” follows the release of “Don’t Cry” in December 2020, along with a music video featuring Wade performing at Dee’s Cocktail Lounge and Bar in Nashville, Tenn. Watch the video at https://youtu.be/_IJaUoUt6zQ. Pre-order Reckless and listen to “Wilder Days” and “Don’t Cry” at https://orcd.co/morganwadereckless.

Wade, now 26, only began performing in public seven years ago at 19, when she put her backing band the Stepbrothers together via Craiglist and discovered she loved the stage. Since then, the singer-songwriter has taken her writing and her voice public, with Whiskey Riff declaring, “Morgan combines a powerful, bone-chilling voice with close-to-theheart lyrics and open, honest songs about the struggles of everyday life and love…every fan who wants their music real, raw and true, can find solace in Morgan Wade.”

For more information, follow Wade on Instagram @MorganWadeMusic, Twitter @TheMorganWade and Facebook.com/ MorganWadeMusic.

Reckless Track List: 1. Wilder Days (Morgan Wade, Sadler Vaden) 2. Matches and Metaphors (Morgan Wade, Sadler Vaden) 3. Other Side (Morgan Wade) “It honestly just came together 4. Don’t Cry (Morgan Wade, Paul perfectly in the studio,” Wade reveals.

Ebersold) “Sadler and I had the same visions for how 5. Mend (Morgan Wade, Paul ‘Wilder Days’ should sound. We even went Ebersold) for ice cream after – we were that pleased.”

6. Last Cigarette (Morgan Wade, Sadler Vaden, Paul Ebersold) Co-written with Vaden, Wade 7. Take Me Away (Morgan Wade) elaborates “Wilder Days” is about “falling in 8. Reckless (Morgan Wade, Sadler love with someone at the wrong time. Two Vaden) people being at two different stages in life 9. Northern Air (Morgan Wade, Sadler and just wishing they were on the same page.

Vaden) It’s about knowing if they could go back in 10. Met You (Morgan Wade) time, they would work.”

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International 63

Lindsay Ell To Deliver Live heart theory Performance With #Liverdesigned Streaming Experience February 12, 2021 Special Event Will Put Crew Back to Work and Will Benefit Crew Nation and Other Organizations Just in time for Valentine’s Day, accomplished triple threat musician, vocalist, and songwriter Lindsay Ell will be performing songs from her critically-acclaimed sophomore album heart theory for the first time ever in a #LiveRedesigned concert experience on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. The show will be a charity event, with all net proceeds donated to Crew Nation and other beneficiary organizations soon to be announced. Lindsay’s band and onsite crew will be paid, but all companies involved will be donating their time and equipment, while 64 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

artist, creatives and management will be donating their time and services.

Ell will deliver the performance via a live, elevated streaming experience architected by Fireplay, explained on @nick_fireplay’s Instagram post here, and supported by VYE and PRG. The show will not only allow Ell to bring heart theory to life for the first time since the album’s release, but it will also put a large number of live

entertainment crew members back to work. Special guests performing with Ell are soon to be announced. Tickets, which will be based on a pay-what-you-can model, are on sale now and available here. The stream will remain live for 48 hours after the premiere event.

“To say that I’m excited to finally be able to play heart theory live for fans around the world is an understatement,” says Ell. “I am so grateful to Fireplay, PRG, and VYE for bringing this to life. More importantly, I’m humbled to be able to put my band and this incredible crew back to work and to raise money for some organizations who continue to work tirelessly to support the behind-the-scenes workers who have been so gravely affected by the pandemic. I hope this is a night of celebration and healing for so many. Cannot wait for music fans from around the world to join the show!”

The heart theory performance won’t be a typical livestream, however. The production quality of the show will rival the incredible arena shows Fireplay is famed for creating, with a few never-before seen tricks, featuring Ell backed by a full band in a cinematic concert performance that audience members can enjoy and interact with using Virtual Crowd technology from the safety and comfort of their home.

This event comes on the heels of a successful 2020 launch of this album. heart theory debuted inside the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums and Top 5 on the UK Country Album Chart. The 12-track concept album explores the seven stages of grief and garnered critical acclaim, with American Songwriter hailing it a “masterpiece of an album” and Rolling Stone calling it Ell’s “most empowering album to date.”

Billboard praised that Ell “turns her heartache into art with a uniformly strong pop-country set” and that the record “demands to be listened to as a whole from start to finish to appreciate fully the journey Ell is taking us heart theory has already on.”

Durinig streek-week, Ell appeared on NBC’S TODAY with a stunning performance of her current single “wAnt me back” from Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium. The track was #1 most-added at Country radio in its debut week and continues to climb. Upon release week of heart theory, “wAnt me back” skyrocketed more than 275% across all streaming platforms, with a 5,710%, 220%, 107% and 26% increase on Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music respectively.

Lauded as “one of the most exciting and talented young artists in country music” (Forbes), Lindsay Ell is a triple threat: accomplished musician, unique vocalist and awe-inspiring songwriter. The Calgary native learned to play guitar while traveling with her father to country-bluegrass camps as a young girl. Ell honed her craft as a musical stylist and songwriter after being discovered by BTO and The Guess Who’s Randy Bachman (“American Woman” / “Taking Care of Business”) who discovered her at the age of 13. The multi-instrumentalist was soon touring alongside the likes of Luke Bryan, Buddy Guy, and Keith Urban. Ell also shared the stage with distinguished country group, Little Big Town, along with other powerhouse female artists in one the biggest moments of the 2019 CMA Awards where she was also nominated for Musical Event of the Year. Ell’s nominations do not stop there. She has been nominated for New Female Artist of the Year in both 2019 and 2020, in addition to her 2020 ACM nomination of Music Event of the Year. Ell also won 2020 CCMA Interactive Artist or Group of the Year for the second year in a row. These wins and nominations are well earned after Ell exhilarated audiences as part of Keith Urban’s Graffiti U World Tour, Brantley Gilbert’s Not Like Us Tour, and Brad Paisley’s Weekend Warrior World Tour. Ell’s first full-length album The Project debuted at No. 1 on the Country Album Sales Chart and was named Billboard’s “Best Country Album of 2017.

“What Happens In a Small Town,” Lindsay’s duet with Brantley Gilbert, claimed the top spot at country radio, marking her first No. 1 in the US. She has two No. 1 singles under her belt in Canada. Her new single “wAnt me back” is out now from her critically-acclaimed sophomore album, heart theory. For more information visit: www.LindsayEll.com.

Fireplay is a dynamic, open, and collaborative multidisciplinary design studio made up of artists from all walks of life who combine their talents to make each and every project impeccable. With a team of live design masterminds, Fireplay has quickly become the go-to team when an artist is looking to take their tour to the next level. From Super Bowl performances to sold out world tours; from conceptual performance spaces to art installations; Fireplay’s team has the skill to create exhilarating productions that build a bridge between the worlds of entertainment, art and technology. For more information, please visit www.fireplay.com.

VYE VYE is a boutique digital company creating turn-key yet unique solutions for artists, comedians, and creators to expand their audiences and revenue streams while bringing fans at home the next best thing to live entertainment.

Strategically aligning with leaders in technology and entertainment, VYE’s boutique company approach guarantees focus on each project in order to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience with ease for both the artist and viewer at home. For more information, please visit https://vye.live Crew Nation Live music inspires millions around the world, but the concerts we all enjoy wouldn’t be possible without the countless crew members working behind the scenes. Crew Nation is charitable fund, created to help the touring and venue crews who depend on shows to make a living. Crew Nation is powered by Music Forward Foundation, a charitable 501c3 organization, that is administering and managing the fund.

So far, the fund has raised $15 million, helping 15,000 live music crew members across 48 countries who were impacted by the rescheduled or cancelled shows due to the pandemic.

With concerts and festivals still largely on pause, there are hundreds of thousands of crew members who still need help. The fund hopes to double its impact and raise at least $30 million so that it can continue providing support for these independent workers who are the backbone of the live music industry.

To find out more about ways to get involved, donate, buy merchandise or apply for relief, head to: livenation.com/crewnation.

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International 65

66

Rock and Blues International â&#x20AC;¢ February 2021

Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers) Shares “What” Video Via Brooklyn Vegan, ‘Born Stupid’ :Out February 12th On Shimmy disc / Joyful Noise LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Paul Leary - “What Are You Gonna Do” https://youtu.be/8kNkYBsfhjw LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Paul Leary - “Born Stupid” https://youtu.be/qIEv9dZCTy4 Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers) shares “What Are You Gonna Do,” the second single following up on “Born Stupid” from earlier this month. Brooklyn Vegan premiered the track, praising it as “the kind of wigged-out genre-blender you’d expect from Leary, with elements of metal, industrial, psych-rock, and synthpop meeting at what sounds like the mouth of hell.” After nearly 30 years on hiatus, Leary is back with a new second solo LP Born Stupid, out February 12th on Shimmy Disc/ Joyful Noise.

Paul Leary issued his debut solo album The History Of Dogs in 1991. And now, thirty years later he’s releasing the follow up Born Stupid. Thirty years may seem like an oddly excessive length of time between albums, but that’s apropos, as nearly all the highlights of Leary’s legendary career have been odd and excessive.

Leary is best known as guitarist/vocalist for the infamous psychedelic noise rock band Butthole Surfers. The Butthole Surfers’ aggressively surrealist recordings and live shows have become mythology in the world of underground music. The headline of a 2016 profile in Vice magazine summed this legacy up neatly, stating the “Butthole Surfers Were the Epitome of Every Hell-Raising Rock ‘n’ Roll Legend You Ever Heard.”

Beyond the group’s extreme persona, Leary was creating seriously brilliant music with the Butthole Surfers. The significance of that work can be measured in the far-reaching

scope of the band’s influence. It’s widely known that Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was an ardent admirer. Comedic iconoclast Eric Andre has acknowledged being inspired by the group.

Pillars of arena rock like U2, and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones can also be added to this list — and both have collaborated with Leary in various capacities.

Much of the subversive creative spirit that fueled the Butthole Surfers’ best work can be found inside the grooves of Leary’s charmingly twisted new album. Musically, Born Stupid largely steps away from the atomic punk energy and fuzzed-out metal riffing that defined the Butthole Surfers’ sound. Instead, Leary has crafted an equally compelling soundscape filled with carnival sideshow calliopes, spaghetti western guitar motifs, and off-kilter German beer hall waltzes. But where the Butthole Surfers’ work was often squarely focused on the manipulation of sounds and textures, Born Stupid is heavily rooted in the craft of song, and the record’s finely structured musical landscapes work to support the stories being sung.

The connection between Born Stupid and vintage Butthole Surfers’ music is not just stylistic. Longtime fans of Leary’s work will be pleased by the presence of a couple radically reworked interpretations of Butthole Surfers-era material, including a giddily demented singalong version of the “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave.”

According to Leary, there was no grand vision behind the conception of Born Stupid. “I wasn’t planning on making another album, but over the years songs kept popping into my head. So I figured I might as well record them.” Leary has seized a ripe cultural moment to send this music out to the world, as Born Stupid speaks effectively to the damaged state of contemporary U.S. culture. There’s no better example than the album’s title track, a perfect anthem for the modern American age. “With so much strife and peril in this world I’d like to help make things better. But, instead, I had to be born stupid,” Leary croons in a warped country drawl, evoking the voice of Lee Hazlewood as sung through a cancer kazoo. Throughout the

album Leary is joined by drummer Josh Freese, known for his work with a range of artists, including The Vandals, Guns N’ Roses, and Devo.

It’s important to note that Born Stupid will be the first release on the newly relaunched incarnation of Shimmy-Disc, the influential independent record label founded by producer/musician and underground music impresario Kramer in 1987. Kramer revived Shimmy-Disc for his 2020 tenure as Joyful Noise Recordings’ Artist in Residence. Leary and Kramer have enjoyed a long collaborative relationship. “I’ve known Kramer since the early 1980’s when he was playing for Shockabilly,” Leary shared. “I was a big fan and we met when Shockabilly played in Austin, Texas. Then later on the Butthole Surfers were without a bass player, and Kramer offered to play bass for us on a European tour. We’ve been friends ever since.”

Leary’s Born Stupid is a fitting project for Shimmy-Disc’s reboot, the album shares the label’s dark sense of humor, and irreverent approach to experimental music. So perhaps it’s not surprising that Kramer (who also mastered the LP) is effusive in his praise for the project.

“Paul Leary’s first solo LP in thirty years is the first release on my 21st century Shimmy-Disc label, which had to begin with a big bang,” Kramer explained. “But I think that what we have here is far more than just a bang.

It’s more like a shot heard ‘round the world, I reckon. Deafening in its genius. An entire universe of sound and song, simultaneously poignant and pugnacious, fearlessly culled from over forty intrepid years of infinitely mind-bending stupidity. Born Stupid is so inspiring it makes me want to quit music right now, quit while I’m ahead. It can’t possibly get any better than this. Too late now, though. I already bought a new turntable. Looks like I’m in ‘til the bitter end. Thanks a lot, Paul. I owe you one.”

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ paul.leary.165 Twitter https://tellallyourfriendspr.us10.listmanage.com/track/ click?u=63f1674ecdb2a4574b77e600b&id=151 419cffa&e=28146e6e7b Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paul.leary/ ?hl=en

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

67

Palm Tree Records.

Petey has been extremely busy in the last couple of years. In 2019 he produced and wrote Kygo’s “Thing About You.” From there he went and wrote Seeb’s “Bigger Than.” Soon he broke out as an artist collaborating with Matoma on the song “Keep It Simple.”

And then last year Petey wrote and produced the five songs on Kygo’s Golden Hour that we mentioned before.

He has also participated in releases by Loud Luxury, and Frank Waller, as well as a remix for Seeb.

This year is only the beginning for Petey as he releases his debut single, “Come Back Home.” You can expect some big things coming from Petey this year. He has a slew of new projects and original slated for 2021. Keep your eyes and ears open. In the meantime, check out “Come Back Home” at https://lnk.to/ ComeBackHome CONNECT WITH PETEY MARTIN Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ peteymartin/

Petey Martin Signs to Kygo’s Palm Tree Records Shares Debut Single “Come Back Home” Feat.

Lauren Daigle

By Sheena Johnson Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and producer Petey Morgan has just signed to Kygo’s Palm Tree Records.

Petey is releasing his debut single, “Come Back Home,” featuring Lauren Daigle. “Come Back Home” is already available now and you can check it out at https://lnk.to/ComeBackHome

producing where he decided to specialize in dance music. Assisting him in this endeavor is Kygo himself and his staff at

Petey Martin has become Norwegian DJ and songwriter Kygo’s go-tocollaborator. He produced five songs on Kygo’s Golden Hour. He also wrote and produced the song “Ashes,” performed

by Celine Dion and featured on the Deadpool 2 movie soundtrack, which helped to really project him into producing. This took him even further into 68 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/ 30B2OY2t19A6zCXGFUNlGB?si=szTUSo6Ts2qEuFMnybleA Twitter https://ymlpcdn2.net/ 522cfjmsemapaewsbmaxaewyazamheb/ click.php Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/ 40LHVA5BTQp9RxHOQ9JPYj?si=brm Cj7J7QkOsGVfb1wopeg Twitter https://ymlpcdn2.net/ 6319ejmsehapaewsbmafaewyatamheb/ click.php

Hey all you lovers, set your clocks at 6PM ET on February 13 to join the spectacular, one and only CeeLo Green (Goodie Mob, Gnarls Barkley), in a rare, intimate livestream performance for what promises to be the coziest Valentine’s Day Eve special exclusively at Sessions. The performance will last 60 minutes and be followed by a VIP Meet and Greet lasting 30 minutes. GA tickets are $19.99; Bronze packages which include a ticket and a signed tour pass are $34.99; Silver packages which include a ticket plus the After Party are $49.99 (limited capacity); Gold packages which include a ticket, tour pass, and merchandise are $69.99; and the VIP packages which include a ticket, tour pass, merchandise and the After Party are $99.99 (limited capacity).

The iconic hip hop/r&b superstar invites you into his Atlanta home for this very special occasion where he will be performing his classic hits including “Crazy” and “Forget You (Fuck You)”, as well as covers of personal favorites.

Starting out with Goodie Mob in the 1990s and progressing through his partnership with Danger Mouse as Gnarls Barkley, CeeLo has established himself as one of the fundamental figures in hip-hop and pop music. This special Valentine’s session promises to showcase the full range of CeeLo’s dynamic talent. Beyond music, CeeLo has made his mark as an actor, entrepreneur, and television personality as host of the hit NBC show, The Voice, making him one of the most compelling figures in the entertainment industry.

“This is live-streaming and Sessions at its best. CeeLo Green live, letting fans into his home. What an amazing opportunity to enjoy and engage with a master artist at work.

This intimate event will be enjoyed by fans all around the world. Together, and I’ll be one of them,” says Sessions Co-founder Tim Westergren, the digital music pioneer and Pandora founder. Sessions is the only live streaming solution providing all of the necessary components for musicians to succeed: audience development, fan engagement, and state of the art monetization drawn from the most advanced techniques of virtual gaming. Sessions invests in marketing for every show through a proprietary marketing technology to help artists build a fanbase and earn an income. Sessions is creating a space to bring artists and fans together for intimate live experiences.

CeeLo Green is a five-time Grammy Award Winning singer-songwriter-producer, television personality, actor, entrepreneur, pop culture & fashion icon. In 2011, CeeLo received five Grammy nominations for his worldwide hit “Forget You” (aka “F—k You”), winning the category for “Best Urban/ Alternative Performance” and earning certified Gold status. He has released 5 solo albums including “CeeLo Green and His Perfect Imperfections” (2002), “CeeLo Green… Is the Soul Machine” (2004), “The Lady Killer” (2010), “CeeLo’s Magic Moment” (2012 / Holiday Album), “Heart Blanche” (2015), and “CeeLo Green is

Sessions Presents Grammy Winner CeeLo Green in a Special Livestream Valentine Day’s Eve Special February 13 Get Cozy in this Exclusive Intimate Livestream Beaming from CeeLo’s Living Room in Atlanta February 13 at 6pm EST Tickets Start at $19.99 https://sessionslive.com/CeeLoGreen/tickets Co-founded by digital music pioneer Thomas Callaway” (slated for 2020); plus and Pandora founder Tim Westergren, two albums as Gnarls Barkley including “St. Sessions is creating a space to bring artists Elsewhere” (2006), “The Odd Couple” and fans together for intimate live streamed (2008); and five albums with his rap-group experiences. Using an AI-driven marketing Goodie Mob including “Soul Food” (1995), engine, gaming mechanic and sophisticated “Still Standing” (1998), “World Party” monetization capabilities, Sessions empowers (1999), “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” musicians to build a global fanbase and earn a (2004), and “Age Against the Machine” sustainable income. Available worldwide, (2013). The 2006 album as Gnarls Barkley artists and fans can play more, earn more, featured his worldwide hit with Danger experience more in Sessions. Visit Mouse “Crazy”, which reached #1 in various singles charts. In addition to his music career, SessionsLive.com or download on iOS or he was one of the original judges on the hit Android devices.

TV show The Voice from 2011 – 2014. His voice can be recognized on numerous Follow Sessions: animated films like Hotel Transylvania and as Twitter - https://twitter.com/ an actor, he has been featured in films such as SessionsLive Begin Again, and Sparkle. Additionally, he has had the honor of performing during the Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ SuperBowl Halftime Show with Madonna SessionsLIVE (2012), and on some of the world’s biggest stages from the Grammys to SNL to the Follow CeeLo Green: Billboard Music Awards. On a personal note, Twitter CeeLo Green grew up in Atlanta, GA and has https://twitter.com/CeeLoGreen a non-profit organization GreenHouse Foundation which helps make “green Facebook education” easier and accessible to students https://www.facebook.com/ceelogreen in underserved school districts.

About Sessions February 2021 • Rock and Blues International 69

M. Caye Castagnetto Releases “Hands” Video ‘Leap Second’ LP Out Now On Castle Face Records Peruvian artist Caye Castagnetto (they/them) shares the official video for “Hands On The Business.” Alongside an exclusive premiere of the video, Self-Titled did an interview with Castagnetto to decode their debut LP, Leap Second, out now on Castle Face Records.

On “Hands On The Business,” Castagnetto says: This song was written after going to an opening event at the State park in Chinatown, Los Angeles. After hearing real estate agents discuss the site’s beautification, armed with portfolios of landscaping pathologies: plants separated from the ground, followed by animals and humans in unbroken sequence.

Influenced by a life split between Lima, London, and Twentynine Palms, Peru-born Caye Castagnetto’s Leap Second is an intriguingly personal and hard to classify debut album.

The album is a thick collage of samples Caye recorded with different artists and musicians, including Beatrice Dillon and the late Aileen Bryant, that spans 5 years in the making. There is something in Leap Second that tracks the speed of bodies, how they approach and retreat. The 10 tracks are speedy and languid, thick ruffles, and dirges.

In parts it feels like you’ve stumbled upon a forgotten incredible 70’s folk record but that feeling gets broken quickly by clever sleights of hand. Caye’s balladry is angular, time is elastic. Each song is a fresh cape. How dandies really mean it, so masc that it’s fay, how the only moment is this one and it’s just passed, etcetera.

“While it doesn’t really sound like anything else, there are moments that feel like a Latin flavored Nico, that’s edging its way towards some of the outings of the Sun City Girls. In my opinion it checks all the boxes, by checking none of them.” - Bjorn Copeland, Black Dice “A truly interesting conglomeration of loose inspirations and conjurings. A hard to decipher sound all together which makes it worth every moment, A sprinkling of Catherine Ribeiro, Dr. John, Terje Rypdal & Nico. Far out sun-soaked odysseys & moon dappled woodland night creepers..” - John Dwyer It’s out now on Castle Face Records.

70

WATCH & SHARE: M Caye Castagnetto “Hands On The Business” (Official Video) YouTube @ https:// youtu.be/30Sc3SjD-A0 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

LISTEN & SHARE: M Caye Castagnetto - Leap Second Spotify @ https://open.spotify.com/album/ 6y4jM8CUou3QGrfEH0D5wt?si=1MUoNgEEQDyYfkiXvz7Aaw WATCH & SHARE: M Caye Castagnetto - “Slippery Snakes” (Official Video) YouTube @ https://youtu.be/jRr2rypWM-g LISTEN & SHARE: M Caye Castagnetto - “Hands on the Business” YouTube @ https://youtu.be/oZ5bqNcUdEk LEAP SECOND LP - TRACKLISTING 01. I Invented Disco 02. Stopping You 03. Slippery Snakes 04. Mi Mentira 05. All Points North 06. Amor Cabra 07. Hands On The Business 08. Until 09. Street Trees, Evening Green 10. Chase Water, Blue Moon “A courtesan rococo of desert scatter carcasses and spoken deliriums.”

- Self-Titled Mag “An idiosyncratic mix of collage-style samples and psychinfluenced pop music that sounds like little else out there.”

- mxdwn “M. Caye Castagnetto architects a strange new world on their debut album Leap Second, building songs from samples that clash soft, organic instrumentation with murky electronics and surreal atmospheres.”

- AllMusic

2021 is destined for heaviness: Sweden’s finest stoner rock four-piece Greenleaf have just announced their upcoming full-length, Echoes From A Mass, out March 26 via Napalm Records! The successor to their 2018 epic, Hear The Rivers, is poised to disperse their renowned sludgy energy to all disciples of the genre.

Once again, Greenleaf have combined all of the finest stoner metal ingredients for their forthcoming offering – impacting with a prog and psychedeliclaced punch that accents the Swedes’ already motile sonic firmament. Heavy desert riffs, sprawling drums, captivating melodies and grooving rhythms make their new record an absolute must-listen.

Their first single, “Tides”, and its intense official music video, immediately draw the listener into a swirl of guitar driven soundscapes, while Arvid Hällagård’s remarkable voice merges with hypnotizing background vocals, ceremonially inviting the listener into a heavy reverie.

“2020 was a shitty year for sure but there was at least a little bit of light in the darkness, Echoes From A Mass was written and recorded! This is an album that we are extremely proud of and we hope you will like it as much as we do.”

Watch the new video for “Tides” at https://youtu.be/K9c2bnArf4w Pre-order the new full-length Echoes From A Mass at https:// www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/ greenleaf Once again, Greenleaf prove that they dare to think outside the box and deliver a heavy roller comprised of Sebastian Olsson’s rumbling drumming performance, fuzzy guitars, Fröhlich’s haunting bass lines, Arvid Hällagård’s

photo credit: Peder Bergstrand

Heavy Stoner Rockers GREENLEAF Announce New Album Echoes From A Mass Out March 26, 2021 via Napalm Records Pre-Order at https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/ greenleaf Listen/Watch the New Single + Music Video “Tides” at https://youtu.be/K9c2bnArf4w powerful yet ghoulish vocals and undeniable heavy stoner, southern desert and blues vibes. Echoes From A Mass was recorded at Studio Gröndahl in October 2020 by former band member Karl Daniel Lidén, who also mixed and mastered the record at Tri-Lamb Studios.

Lidén is recognized for his work with well-known acts such as Katatonia, Bloodbath, Lowrider and Crippled Black Phoenix, to name a few.

Echoes From A Mass Tracklisting: 01. Tides 02. Good God I Better Run Away 03. Needle in My Eye 04. Love Undone 05. Bury Me My Son 06. A Hand of Might 07. March on Higher Grounds 08. Hang On 09. On Wings of Gold 10. What Have We Become

Echoes From A Mass will be available in North America in the following formats: - 1 CD Digipak - 1 CD Digipak + Patch Bundle - 1 LP Gatefold Vinyl Black - 1 LP Gatefold Vinyl Cream/Black Inkspot (Napalm Mailorder only limited to 300) Greenleaf are: Arvid Hällagård - vocals Tommi Holappa - guitar Hans Fröhlich - bass Sebastian Olsson- drums Greenleaf online: Napalm Records https://label.napalmrecords.com/ greenleaf Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ greenleafrocks

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

71

Subscribe Now To

Rock and Blues International and have it delivered directly to your email when it comes out every month!

Just email us at rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com and in the subject line put “Sign Me Up Now” and we will email you your own personal copy every month!

Rock And Blues International Employment Opportunities Available!

Rock And Blues International Is Looking For A Sales Manager and ad salespeople!

Please Email Your Resume To rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com 72 68

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

71

Photo by Arnie G

Genghis Tron Announce Dream Weapon, First New Full-Length album In 13 Years “Dream Weapon” Music Video: https://youtu.be/tMS_Mvp8wjw Pre-Order & Watch “Dream Weapon” HERE https://orcd.co/genghistrondw GENGHIS TRON make their return with their highly anticipated new album, Dream Weapon! The band’s first new studio outing in over a decade, GENGHIS TRON’s Hamilton Jordan and Michael Sochynsky are now joined by two new collaborators: vocalist Tony Wolski and Sumac/Baptists drummer Nick Yacyshyn.

Together, the lineup perfects the unique mix of extreme rock and electronic music GENGHIS TRON has pioneered over their storied career. A melding of hypnotic rhythms and densely layered synth soundscapes, Dream Weapon was recorded and produced alongside long-time collaborator Kurt Ballou at God City Studio in Salem, Massachusetts, with additional production and engineering by Ben Chisolm (Chelsea Wolfe) JJ Heath (Rain City Recorders) and was mastered by Heba Kadry.

Watch GENGHIS TRON’s new “Dream Weapon” music video, directed by Mount Emult (Dying Fetus, The Pixies) at https:// youtu.be/tMS_Mvp8wjw Dream Weapon is out March 26, 2021 on CD/LP/Digital. Physical pre-orders via Relapse.com are available at http://relapse.com/ genghis-tron-dream-weapon/. Digital Downloads/Streaming are available at https://orcd.co/genghistrondw.

Artwork by Trevor Naud Dream Weapon Tracklist: Exit Perfect Mind Pyrocene Dream Weapon Desert Stairs Alone In The Heart Of The Light Ritual Circle Single Black Point Great Mother Lyrically and conceptually, Dream Weapon picks up where Board Up The House left off.

“That album’s closing track, ‘Relief,’ was about how humans have become a burden to the planet, and how Earth will endure long after we’re gone,” Hamilton Jordan explains. “There is sadness at the end, but some relief—and beauty—too. Dream Weapon is, loosely, an album-length meditation on that theme.”

From the ethereal, almost robotic vocal phrasings accompanying the industrial attack of “Pyrocene,” to the chaotic, pulse-pounding drumming acrobatics and cyclical guitar patterns in the album’s triumphant title track, Dream Weapon is not just a nod to GENGHIS

Photo Credit: Scott Kinkade, Aaron Jones, Ryan Wagner TRON’s celebrated past as a metal/progressive/experimental outfit.

The new album redefines what these genres, sounds, and musical elements can achieve. Dream Weapon is a record that captures GENGHIS TRON at a matured, focused state; the ebbs and flows of the album are just as hard-hitting as they are dreamy, soaring, and meditative.

Seasoned GENGHIS TRON listeners will find Dream Weapon to be both excitingly fresh and reassuringly familiar. “Though it sounds a bit different than our previous albums, I don’t think we approached Dream Weapon any differently than the others,” Jordan explains.

“Michael and I take years to write and trade demos, with about 80% of our ideas landing on the cutting-room floor. Once we have a rough song idea we both like, we write dozens of drafts of a song over months before we end up with a final demo.”

“I think one difference in our approach for this album was that we had a strong sense from the outset of what kind of vibe we wanted to create,” Sochynsky adds. “Something more cohesive, meditative and hypnotic.”

Through the album’s inventiveness and rejuvenated approach, Dream Weapon marks another bold step forward in the wildly creative career of GENGHIS TRON, and cements the band’s legacy of groundbreaking, genre-defying innovation.

OFFICIAL LINKS: GENGHIS TRON on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GenghisTron/ GENGHIS TRON on Twitter https://relapse.us2.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=0d7dba5a27266057cc106ad66&id=7a322c17c7&e=f338f1e27d GENGHIS TRON on Bandcamp https://genghistron.bandcamp.com February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

73

Photo Credit: Jørgen Freim

Norse Heavy Metal Legends EINHERJER Release Second Single and Video For “The Blood And The Iron” New Album, North Star, out February 26 Re-Mastered Version of Legendary Debut Album, Dragons Of The North, out February 26 Watch The Video for “The Blood And The Iron” Watch at https://youtu.be/7LRi5Pw1U0U Pre-Order for North Star at https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/einherjer Pre-Order for Dragons Of The North at https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/einherjer 74 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

“Where’s your horizon?

Where’s your light of day?

Will the tide ever turn?

We’re all cast away”

Viking Metal pioneers Einherjer will release their eighth studio album, North Star, on February 26, proving their status as the pioneers of blending Nordic Black Metal and Folk Metal genres into pure Norse Heavy Metal once again.

The album marks the band’s return to Napalm Records after 25 years, and the release of their legendary Dragons Of The North album (1996), which will be re-released as a re-mastered version on February 26 as well.

With powerful double bass grooves, a catchy chorus and technically skilled guitar solos, Einherjer are more uncompromising and energetic than ever on “The Blood And The Iron”! The second single is underlined by a strikingly authentic video, recorded at Bukkøy Viking Village in Norway, that takes you straight into medieval times, when blood and iron was all humanity could rely on. “‘The Blood and the Iron’ is a total ripper! An energy blast with topical lyrics. Not political, but as close as we get to environmentally engaged. A focus shift from warfare and a blood & iron policy to the welfare of our own planet could do wonders. It could even mean a future.”

Watch the official video for “The Blood And The Iron” at https://youtu.be/7LRi5Pw1U0U North Star was recorded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic at the in-house Studio Borealis, owned by founding member and mastermind Frode Glesnes. The raw production ties in seamlessly with its predecessor Norrøne Spor and makes North Star probably the most powerful Einherjer album to date! North Star is Einherjer’s musical mission towards something bigger - the search for guidance by the North Star in a constantly changing world that is searching for stability.

“North Star is our 8th full length album, and follows in the (Norse) tracks of Norrøne Spor. The North Star is a symbol with numerous meanings. It can be guidance, or it can be a personal mission. Something to reach for. It’s the Anchor of the Northern Sky. We need something steady in this rapidly shifting world we live in. The North Star album is us reaching for something greater. Developing ourselves through a musical journey in classic Einherjer style – no bullshit, just proper Norse Heavy Metal!”

Pre-Order your copy of North Star at https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/einherjer North Star Tracklist: 1. The Blood And The Iron 2. Stars 3. West Coast Groove 4. Ascension 5. Higher Fire 6. Echoes In Blood 7. Listen To The Graves 8. Chasing The Serpent

North Star will be available in North America in the following formats: - LP Gatefold Vinyl Marble Green transparent with black + Slipmat + Poster - strictly limited to 200 copies (Napalm Records mailorder only) - LP Gatefold Vinyl Gold – strictly limited to 300 copies (Napalm Records mailorder only) - LP Gatefold Vinyl Black - 1 CD Digipack - Digital album [LP Gatefold Vinyl Marble Green transparent with black + Slipmat + Poster strictly limited to 200 copies (available at Napalm Records mailorder only)] Einherjer will re-release their groundbreaking debut album, Dragons Of The North, in the year of its 25th anniversary in a re-mastered version!

The seminal work of pioneering Viking Metal masters Einherjer has stood the test of time with a legacy that continues to this day. The 1996 classic album Dragons Of The North has paved the genre’s path for years to come and will now be re-released after its initial release on Napalm Records 25 years ago!

Pre-Order Dragons Of The North at https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/einherjer Available as Black Vinyl Gatefold LP, as well as Blue/White Vinyl Gatefold LP (limited to 300 copies), this is a must have for fans of early northern Viking Metal with Black Metal inspired production and sound!

Dragons Of The North Tracklist: 1. Dragons of the North 2. Dreamstorm 3. Forever Empire 4. Conquerer 5. Fimbul Winter 6. Storms of the Elder 7. Slaget ved Hafrsfjord 8. Ballad of the Swords Dragons Of The North will be available in North America in the following formats: - LP Gatefold Vinyl Inkspot Blue/White & Poster – strictly limited to 300 copies (Napalm Records mailorder only) - LP Gatefold Vinyl Black & Poster - 1-CD Jewel Case - Digital album Einherjer is: Gerhard Storesund: Drums, Keyboards Frode Glesnes: Vocals, Guitar & Bass Ole Sønstabø: Lead Guitars Tom Enge: Guitars, Backing Vocals More Info: HOMEPAGE http://einherjer.com/ FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/einherjerofficial/ February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

75

Progressive Metal Band SORIZON Reveals Details and Announces Pre-Orders at https://sorizon.bandcamp.com for Third Full-Length, Thanatos Rising changes, SORIZON now rocks an undeniable chemistry with Tim Hall on guitar (since 2011) and Kevin Vickers on bass (since 2012).

At the close of 2009, SORIZON released their debut full-length album Behind the Emerald Starscape. The album was mastered in Finland at the famous Finnvox Studios by Mika Jussila. (Children of Bodom, Dragonforce, Nightwish). The fall 2013 release of the second album, Somnus, marked an enormous leap forward for the SORIZON sound. The combination of musical maturity and extensive collaboration within the lineup led to this classic album. Somnus is a themed album based on sleep and dreams, and song inspirations ranged from personal dreams, insomnia, the Greek gods of sleep and more.

The cover art by Dennis Hamilton is a graphic depiction of a post-apocalyptic Mann had, which also inspired the music for the song “Illusions.” The album was professionally mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination St. studios in Sweden (Opeth, Amon Amarth, Kreator, Symphony X).

Thanatos Rising Set for Release on February 26 Pre-orders are now available for Thanatos Rising, the third full-length from Southern California progressive-leaning metal quintet SORIZON. Though the group’s music has a definite progressive metal bent, SORIZON aims to break down subgenres to bring metalheads together. SORIZON’s previous releases have garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews, including proclamations that they “rival the better work of Symphony X” and “the guitarists complement each other like not many bands have done; Maiden and Priest come to mind.”

Thanatos Rising, featuring powerful artwork painted by Eliran Kantor (Testament, Sodom, Havok), is scheduled for released digitally and on limited edition blood red and black galaxy vinyl on February 26. Music samples and pre-orders are available via the SORIZON’s Bandcamp page at https:// sorizon.bandcamp.com/. “‘Thanatos Rising’ is a journey through the nightmarish battles of life and death, ending with worth and wisdom,” says guitarist Dr. Danny Mann.

The themes of Thanatos Rising resonate with the state of the world: death, fear of the unknown and the hope of renewal. Thanatos Rising brings SORIZON’s peak of songwriting and critically acclaimed production. Through 2020, Sorizon began building momentum for Thanatos Rising throughout 2020 by releasing eight singles from the upcoming album on all

76

major online music platforms. Check out the sci-fi inspired video for “Imminent Contact” at https://youtu.be/T9ZloX1IRWs and the album’s title track at https://youtu.be/ MPWX7RjzAxY. During lockdown, SORIZON continued to stay connected with fans through regular livestreams where the whole band partied with the audience by playing interactive games, giving away free prizes, sharing exclusive previews of new music and answering crazy questions. They also have been bringing their local metal community together by inviting special guests from other bands to the livestreams and promoting a Spotify playlist featuring some of the best underground metal in California.

Thanatos Rising track listing: 1. Descending into Darkness 2. Thanatos Rising 3. A Distant Echo 4. Lost in a Dream 5. Eternity’s Door 6. Prisoner to Yourself 7. Hidden Evils 8. Imminent Contact 9. Destined for Despair 10. Awaken to this Light 11. Virtual Deception 12. Worth and Wisdom Keith McIntosh (vocals), Dr. Danny Mann (guitar) and Sean Elston (drums) began making metal in the band Joust in 2006. After a short but successful run, they decided to get heavier and more progressive, thus spawning SORIZON in 2008. After a few lineup

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

In 2016, SORIZON unveiled their third independent release titled End of Entrapment.

The title not only relates to the lyrical theme of the EP, but it also represented breaking any musical chains that had bound the band to any specific sound. This six-song, high-energy, rock ‘n’ roll release was a departure from what most SORIZON fans were used to but also featured their fastest song ever, “Lay to Waste,” as well as their shortest song, “Minutemen” and even an acoustic version of the fan-favorite “Cosmic Eden” from the first album.

SORIZON online: www.sorizon.net www.facebook.com/SorizonOfficial www.instagram.com/sorizonofficial https://sorizon.bandcamp.com/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/ 30EaKgppyLwOxt4voft8Zo?si=e0AiPcp 7R6uM5AGmq9SvPQ

New Zealand speed metal powerhouse STÄLKER returns with a sweatinducing visual from their 2019 tour across Europe – a nostalgic collection of intense live footage from a pre-pandemic time!

Along with the blistering single “Sentenced To Death” cut from their 2020 Napalm Records release Black Majik Terror, STÄLKER gives us a taste of what we’re in for as soon as live shows are up and running again!

Watch the Official Music Video for “Sentenced To Death” at https://youtu.be/ oeSmR_1YtWg Formed in 2016 in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, STÄLKER quickly gained attention in the global metal scene with the release of their blistering threetrack demo, 2016’s Satanic Panic, which sold close to a thousand cassettes and 7" copies in the blink of an eye: a staggering feat for any metal band from the southern hemisphere. Shortly after being signed to Napalm Records, STÄLKER set out to drop jaws with their much-anticipated fulllength debut, Shadow of the Sword. The high-powered release shines a light on metal’s true lifeblood while showcasing STÄLKER’s strong melodic voice, mixing primeval thrash, punk, and spandex-andleather-clad 80s metal influences into a relentless sonic attack. Followed by relentless tours around the globe and the release of their critically acclaimed Powermad EP in 2019, STÄLKER went back to the rehearsal room to craft what is now known as their newest offering, Black Majik Terror. The trio wasted no time in disproving the lurking presence of the dreaded sophomore slump. Now the band is back with more speed, more power, and most importantly, more riffs. Black Majik Terror is a cacophony of speed metal mayhem sure to enchant any and all freaks, from the nefarious hordes of metalheads to the street side mobs of low down rock n’ rollers. With primal energy fueling their assault, Daif, Nick, and Chris put on a truly adept performance as they riddle their fans with a hail of piercing tracks that will leave the world in putrid flames. Black Majik Terror is here, and it is here to raise hell.

[Photo Credit: M i c h a e l M a h n e L a m b]

STÄLKER Releases Official Music Video for Blistering Single “Sentenced To Death” Watch at https://youtu.be/oeSmR_1YtWg Latest Album, Black Majik Terror, Out Now via Napalm Records at https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/stalker Order Black Majik Terror here at https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/ stalker Black Majik Terror is available in North America in the following formats: -CD Jewelcase -CD Jewelcase + T-Shirt Bundle (Napalm Mailorder only) -Gatefold Vinyl (Black) -Gatefold Vinyl (Black) + T-Shirt Bundle (Napalm Mailorder only)

STÄLKER is: Daif: Vocals + Bass Chris: Guitars Nick: Drums STÄLKER online: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ stalkerheavymetal Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ stalkerheavymetal/

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

77

NEW WEREWOLVES SINGLE, ‘CRUSHGASM’, OUT NOW

By Tank Australian death metal band Werewolves have released a new video from their newly released album, What A Time To Be Alive. This is the third song and video that the band has released.

The song is called “Crushgasm” and it was released on January 8th, just weeks before What A Time To Be Alive was released on January 29th. The album was mixed by Joe Haley (Psycroptic) and the artwork was designed by Mitchell Nolte

Antichrist Imperium). The new song, “Crushgasm” comes across as a combination of metal and grind with a sound that could only come from the minds of Werewolves. You can check the song out now at https://youtu.be/sF28ZbJ4x4I

then it’s your money back” What A Time To Be Alive by Werewolves was released via Prosthetic Records on January 29, 2021.

What A Time To Be Alive track list

Speaking on Crushgasm’s release, Sam Bean (Bass / Vocals) comments: “Crushgasm has it all: Madonna quotes, savage Freudian imagery, our magnificent album title, and it’s all packaged neatly with no guitar solos, melody, or mercy. We guarantee it will take you momentarily away from your woes, whether that’s going broke or avoiding the plague. If it doesn’t make you want to assault everyone in punching distance

This is the second album release for the Australian three-piece band. The band features Dave Haley (Psycroptic, Ruins, King), Matt Wilcock, and Sam Bean (both of The Bezerker, The 78 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

1. I Don’t Like You 2. Sublime Wartime Voyeurism 3. Mission Statement 4. Crushgasm 5. Unfathomably Fucked 6. Antisocial 7. Traitors and Bastards 8. A Plague On All Your Houses 9. They Will Pay With Their Own Blood

Prosthetic Records Signs UK Band, Beyond Grace Their New Single, “Fearmonger” Is Out Now Watch The Music Video For “Fearmonger” at https://youtu.be/r-t8d2yeMzU

By Tank Another big “Congratulations” goes out to Prosthetic Records for signing another great band. Prosthetic Records is starting 2021 in a big way and is extremely happy to sign British death metal band, Beyond Grace. This is another example of Prosthetic Records’ pledge to bring in a new roster of fine entertainment this year. And with that, Prosthetic Records and Beyond Grace are kicking this signing off in fine style with the release of their first Bandcamp only single, “Fearmonger”, along with a spectacular new music video produced by ERD Visual Media.

The Nottingham, Nottinghamshire band said about their signing, “Signing with Prosthetic isn’t just a validation of our bloody-minded perseverance over the years, it’s an opportunity, and a responsibility, to showcase what we can do, what we’re really capable of, and prove that we’re a band worth listening to.

And we’re going to take that opportunity and run with it as far as we can.”

heavier hooks, tighter, punchier writing - there’s no filler, and everything is just more focussed and fluid. And then, obviously, the speech from Edward R. Murrow serves to reinforce how everything the song is talking about - the cultivation of discord and division, the weaponisation of ignorance and paranoia - isn’t new, and reminds us that we can’t allow ourselves to give in and be driven by fear.”

Fearmonger is available via Bandcamp now. Stay tuned to Rock And Blues International for more information about Beyond Grace in the near future.

Fearmonger (single) 1. Fearmonger (04:58) twitter https://www.twitter.com/BeyondGraceDM facebook

Prosthetic Records’ EJ Johantgen adds: “Beyond Grace mark the dawn of a new era in British death metal.”

The new single for the band is a precursor to the band’s as yet untitled album that they will be delivering to the label later this year. The band promises to bring a heavy album filled with “ blow after blow of audio violence.”

Beyond Grace says of the new single, “Musically it’s very representative of the direction of the next record - bigger riffs,

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

79

DEPTHS OF HATRED NEW SINGLE, ‘SADISTIC TRIALS’, OUT NOW

By Tank Death Metal Canadian rockers, Depths Of Hatred have just released the second single from their upcoming new album, Inheritance. The new single is title “Sadistic Trials.” This is the second single released from the album. The first single to be released from Inheritance was “Fastidious Imitation.” Inheritance is set for a March 19th release via Prosthetic Records. It will also be the first time that the public will hear their new vocalist, William Arseneau, on one of their releases. Although Arseneau’s voice has been described as “sweet as honey,” the band feels that it will lend a new dimension and stay true to their signature death metal foundations. Arseneau actually joined the band two years ago.

For those of you out there who can’t wait to reserve your copy of Inheritance, you can pre-order the album at https://youtu.be/ lrR6hocK78c Watch the video for “Sadistic Trials” at https://youtu.be/lrR6hocK78c Watch the video for “Fastitious Imitation” at https://youtu.be/kHKs4bDIlUE

take their time and work at their own pace perfecting the new project to their strict standards. They then took the tapes to The Grid Studio where Christian Donaldson (Beneath The Massacre, Shadow Of Intent) then mixed and mastered the album. The result is described to be a new “polished, mature sounding collection of songs” that have a reinvigorated sound to them.

The band just can’t wait to get back on the road again and in a statement from the band, they said “we worked hard with our new lineup and on our new sound to really bring things up a level. With a diverse choice of songs, we feel that the final product is a new chapter for Depths Of Hatred. We cant wait for everyone to hear what we’ve put together.”

Depths Of Hatred was formed in Montreal, Quebec in 2009 and has already released several singles along with 2 fulllength albums and one EP. The albums are Aversionist (2012) and Hellborn (2014). The EP is titled Bloodguilt (2018).

Depths Of Hatred are William Arseneau (vocals), Martin Trottier (guitar), Felix Demers (guitar), Karl Desjardins For the recording of Inheritance, the band decided to keep everything in house and (drums) and Antoine Millette (bass).

80 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

Inheritance track list 1. Enslaved Through Lineage 2. Sadistic Trials 3. Pulsating Rhythm 4. Fastidious Imitation 5. Drop Of Red 6. Illusive Obsession 7. The Gift Of Consciousness 8. Shivers 9. Inheritance 10. The End Of Ourselves 11. Emerging As One

February 2021 â&#x20AC;¢ Rock and Blues International

81

And sooner or later you need to face them.

We’re getting close to the 40 years old threshold and after so many years in the music industry we have to face the fact that – despite the growth we experienced in the last years and an important record deal with Napalm Records – metal and heavy music in general cannot give us the kind of financial sustainability our lives require at this stage.

NANOWAR OF STEEL Announce Major Style Shift in New Statement, to Release New Pop Single on February 8

By Tank Italian Metal comedic band, Nanowar Of Steel has just released a statement to their fans and supporters about their new change in direction for their future music. The band that built their reputation on comedic satires about rock music has decided to take a more serious approach to their music. Their direction in the past was to incorporate jokes into their music and satirize the metal genre.

Originally the band was named Nanowar, but in 2006 they changed it to Nanowar Of Steel as a parody to another Italian band called Rhapsody. Due to a legal dispute Rhapsody changed their name to Rhapsody Of Fire. Since the formation of the band they have released five studio albums and one live album. They are Triumph of True Metal of Steel (2003), Other Bands Play, Nanowar Gay! (2005), Live - Made In Naples (2007), Into Gay Pride Ride (2010), A Knight At The Opera (2014), and Stairway to Valhalla (2018).

working with a group called Feudalesimo e Liberta, a pseudo-parody political movement which advocated the return of the Empire and Feudal Rights In Europe. They went on to release a music video that same year which was covered by major newspapers and really rocked Italy. By 2019 they released the song Norwegian Reggaeton. It reached 2.8 million views within the first month and combined the elements of Hard Rock and Reggaeton.

Also in 2019, they released a song called Valhallelujah, which was a Christmas song that combined the elements of heavy metal and gospel. The song was dedicated to Odin and IKEA. In 2020 they went even further and released a song titled “Sneeziem of a Yawn, which was a song about their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Below is the release from the band, which outlines their new direction and intentions.

Dear fans, friends, metalheads and

haters.

2020 has been a particularly hard year Nanowar has certainly been active in for whom – just like us – chose to make a their quest for comedic metal. In 2012 they living out of music. released a video for a single titled Giorgio We don’t want to compare our troubles Mastrota, which garnered over 100,000 views to those of who had to suffer the conseon YouTube. It has currently reached over quences of the epidemics first-hand, however, two million views. The video became problems are still problems regardless of their extremely popular in Italy and was broadcast size and rank. on radio and TV. In 2013 they started 82 Rock and Blues International • February 2021

If you follow us on social media, you should already be aware of the fact that we have announced a radical change of direction our music will take. We can now state that this change means our new style will be considerably lighter and oriented towards a broader audience.

We’re sorry to put this in these terms – which might sound way too cold and materialistic – but we want to make things clear before our fans and all those who, in the last years, supported us for what we were, a parody METAL band.

However, this does not mean that the irony and irreverence that has always been part of our music will disappear. On the contrary, they’ll be always at the core of a style aimed for the public at large and might allow us, one day, to make a decent living thanks to the music we make.

On this new way, we swapped some of the roles within the band, with Mohammed Abdul taking the lead singer role, Mr. Baffo on the keys and Potowotominimak becoming Mauro Repetto.

Alongside our music, our image and band logo changed, too. The latter, in particular, has been redrawn taking inspiration from a famous Finnish pop band.

With our new music, new projects and new energy we are aiming at climbing the charts, going to Sanremo, join the Eurovision and – first and foremost – conquer the hearts of those who do not know the band we mocking when we sing “By sunlight we ride, ten thousand side by side”.

We hope that who followed us to this point might at least understand our reasons even if in disagreement. We hope you will have the patience to give us a chance along the new path our lives will take.

We put a short teaser for our new music online for those who want to have a sneak peek into Nanowar Of Steel’s new course WEBSITE https://www.nanowar.it/ FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/ nanowarofsteel/

By Tank Italian Thrash-Metal rockers, Ultraviolence have just released a new video and single from their upcoming album. The new single is titled “The Storm”. The new video signals a new path and new era of maturity for the band, which is to be expected from a band that has been together since 2009 and has 3 full-length albums and an EP to their credit. Ultra-Violence was formed in 2009 in Turin, Italy. It didn’t take long for them to be signed with Candlelight/Spinefarm records.

Ultra-Violence’s previous albums are Privilege To Overcome, Deflect The Flow, and Operation Misdirection and their EP was titled Wildcrash. The band has also shared the stage with top acts like Exodus and Jungle Rot in Europe as well as performing in Japan. “’The Storm’ is the first song we completed for this cycle,” explains vocalist and band founder Loris Castiglia. “We think it’s the best way to present this new era of the band to the world. The song is all about how we ‘made it through hell’ being a band in the music industry for the past 10 years - starting at the age of 15, dreaming about touring the world and doing this for a living, and being slapped in the face year after year by how hard and discouraging this journey can be.

But we won’t stop. This music is what makes me feel alive and the fact that doing it in a sustainable way is super hard makes me want it even more.”

Ultra-Violence founder Loris Castiglia teamed up with renowned producer and director Damiano Affinito to produce the newest video for Ultra-Violence. Together the two of them created an inspiring minimalist video of the band performing in a white room highlighted by strategically placed neon lights to create a distinct look concentrating solely on the band.

“It’s a super exciting moment because it’s the beginning of a whole new chapter for the band,” Castiglia says. “I wanted something that felt futuristic and dark at the same time. That’s probably because my vision for humanity’s future doesn’t look so bright, so I wanted to capture that with the band.”

“We started thinking about new music pretty soon after the release of our latest

Italy’s ULTRA-VIOLENCE Returns with Matured Metallic Sound on New Single, “The Storm” album ‘Operation Misdirection,’” the singer says. “With that album we completed a trilogy of albums that we call ‘The Droogs Trilogy’ and we knew that we wanted to find a new sound and a new identity for the next chapter of the band. That was one of the most exciting things ever. It was like starting all over again. It felt like writing our very first songs again but with a lot more experience than we had when we actually started in 2009. We realized we could do pretty much anything with the music and we started exploring all the possibilities, every sound and idea, but we kept only what sounded fresh and exciting. Also, I was getting better at production so we knew we could start introducing new sounds and electronic arrangements to the songs.”

Ultra-Violence tells us that for this new album they have taken a new direction and done something that they have never done before… they have brought in an outsider to help them with the writing and producing on their new project, guitarist Joakim “Jolly” Karlsson from the band Bad Omens. Joakim was more than happy to help out the band with the new songs as his band had hit a stalling process, courtesy of the worldwide Covid-19 Pandemic. After just a few months working together, Ultra-Violence and Joakim have managed to take their previously written songs and refined them into the feeling and message that they have today.

“We ended up rewriting some,

scrapping some and writing a couple of new ones from scratch,” says Castiglia. “Working with Jolly was amazing; he brought new ideas to the table all the time and made me feel very inspired and excited. He would send me a riff idea, I would say ‘Cool, let me work on that,’ come up with a new part and send it back to him. Same with vocals, I would send him a chorus, he would say ‘What about this instead?’ So, at the end of the day it felt like writing two records, without releasing the first one. This way our evolution is two steps ahead.”

Ultra-Violence’s as yet untitled album is scheduled for release later this year. www.facebook.com/ ultraviolencemusic www.instagram.com/ ultraviolencemusic https://twitter.com/ultraviolenceIT https:// ultraviolencemusic.bigcartel.com www.youtube.com/ultraviolencemusic

https://open.spotify.com/artist/ 6krhRWKGQ106VQGYdDFHAO https://itunes.apple.com/it/artist/ultraviolence/1233460403 https:// ultraviolencemusic.bandcamp.com February 2021 • Rock and Blues International 83

New England Extreme Metal Act AVERSED Reveals Second Video, “Laboratory,” from Upcoming Album Impermanent

By Tank Aversed has just leaked a new song and video from their upcoming album Impermanent. The new song from Boston, Massachusetts based Metal act is titled “Laboratory. The first song and video from the album that the band released is the title track for the album, “Impermanent.” You can watch the video for “Impermanent” now at https://youtu.be/mVqdIzCtqxM. The video for video for “Laboratory” is available at https://youtu.be/xPIulxYpvFM “‘Laboratory’ turns self-reflection and actualization on its head, discussing the consequences of ignoring and exploiting the natural world for our own gain regardless of its spiritual or intellectual benefit,” says drummer Jeff Saltzman. “In this interconnected world, we sow the seeds of our mechanized destruction if we only look inward rather than aim to help others.”

Drummer Jeff Saltzman reveals that “Laboratory” was inspired by his own time working in a biology laboratory and his

84

views on the possible effects it had outside the laboratory in the real world. “Despite our cutting-edge research, we weren’t helping a soul,” he says. “What’s the point? ‘Laboratory’ is my criticism of the pursuit of scientific progress just for the sake of progress.”

The release date for Impermanent is scheduled this month on March 19th. The album was mixed and mastered by Christian Donaldson, whom you may remember for his work with acts like Cryptopsy, The Agonist, and Shadow of Intent. The band tells us that the new album illustrates a new slant to their songwriting with some really advanced compositions and a concentration on great new hooks and melodies. If you’d like to claim your album now, you can preorder Impermanent now at https:// aversed.bandcamp.com/merch. In addition to that you, you might also want to check out their new assortment of swag on this same website as well. They’ve got some cool new T-shirts and bundles to offer you there.

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

This is Aversed’s first full-length album since their inception, although they have two previously released EP’s, the selftitled Aversed (2011), and Renewal (2016).

The last time before this that we heard from the band was their single released last year, “War Aorta.” They tell us that this new album will move them from their melodic death metal sound to a “ nuanced balance of blackened and orchestral melodic metal.”

AVERSED is: Haydee Irizarry - Vocals Sungwoo Jeong - Guitars Alden Marchand - Guitars Peter Albert de Reyna - Bass Jeff Saltzman - Drums AVERSED online: www.facebook.com/ AVERSEDmetal www.instagram.com/aversedmetal www.youtube.com/channel/ UCoGMPHQufI2Ry-cnN07OR9A https://aversed.bandcamp.com/

setlists are varied for three unique fan experiences.

The “3 X LIVE” PPV series will be streamed and ticketed by Mandolin. Individual show tickets are $20, and the three show bundle is $50. The band will be offering limited and exclusive merchandise packages, including show t-shirts, exclusive posters, and more available during each show. All shows will be available to stream on-demand for 48 Hours from the original date and time. Click HERE for more information or to purchase tickets.

3 DOORS DOWN frontman and celebrated songwriter Brad Arnold shares, “I think we can all safely say 2020 is a year we all want to get behind us.

We jumped when presented with the opportunity to kick-off 2021 with these PPV shows. As a band, we didn’t get to play together last year, so we’re looking forward to rocking these shows for our fans across the world and looking forward to hitting the road later in 2021.”

Confirmed appearances include: February 5, 2021 | The Better Life 20th Anniversary

3 Doors Down Presents “3 X LIVE” Pay Per View Series With Three Unique Live Shows ‘The Better Life’ album to be played in its entirety plus acoustic and electric greatest hits shows!

Tickets on sale now at www.3doorsdown.com Series Announcement Video at https://youtu.be/TXvv8-dtGUY 3 DOORS DOWN is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of their multi-platinum debut album The Better Life with three opportunities to watch them from the safety and comfort of your living room performing live from Nashville, TN. The series kicks off on February 5 and will feature the band, for the first time, playing their debut album in its entirety plus three never before heard songs from their vault. February 19, “Greatest Hits Acoustic,” and March 5, “Greatest Hits Live & Electric” will mark the next shows’ dates in the series. The

February 19, 2021 | Greatest Hits Acoustic March 5, 2021 | Greatest Hits Live & Electric All three performances begin at: 9 EST / 8 CST / 6 PST 3 DOORS DOWN Formed in 1995, Grammy Award®-nominated multi-platinum Mississippi rock band 3 Doors Down consistently captivates audiences worldwide. The quintet’s many accolades include selling 20 million albums globally, receiving a Grammy nomination, two American Music Awards, and five BMI Pop Awards for songwriting, including “Songwriter of the Year.” Their debut, The Better Life, became certified seven-times RIAA platinum and was fueled by the success of juggernaut hit “Kryptonite.”

3 Doors Down Links: www.3doorsdown.com www.facebook.com/3DoorsDown

`

www.twitter.com/3doorsdown www.youtube.com/user/3DoorsDownVEVO www.instagram.com/3doorsdown

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

85

The Evolution of Live Streaming For Independent Artists & Recording Studios The return to income for studios and artists

By John in Houston The music industry has always evolved from one delivery mechanism to another and of late its distribution path is morphing once again. Until recently one of the newer components of change had been the introduction of digital delivery of music via online distribution channels. This introduction would eventually spawn the growth of subscription radio and bring about in depth data collection even within a number terrestrial stations.

Digital delivery embraces the collection of demographic information about subscribers upon sign up. Information that may prove to be of value to a station’s or network’s sales team as well as their supporting ad agencies.

Prior to the digital collection of information many radio stations could only verify the number of pings they were receiving hourly.

However, with the advent of listener information collection digital stations can now provide a more exacting description of their listenership. The bottom line is that a newer path, subscription radio, did not end terrestrial distribution however on the other hand it has encouraged a morphing of sorts within the existing path. The same is occurring within the television industry. Over the air broadcasting entities have also added digital distribution which for them provides enhanced resolution and sound to their viewers. Stations and networks are currently announcing the availability of their programming on multiple stream capturing digital devices. The early days of television were considered its wild west days. Early variety shows were being established and some would become weekly standards inside millions of homes. Today a new distribution path within the music industry which includes a path to profits is occurring, it is known around the world as live streaming. This article examines the state of live streaming for independent artists and the monetary opportunities associated with its inception.

Current income strategies for both studios and artists. The generation of income within the music industry for both studios and artists has evolved across the board. Generating income in recent days has moved from

86

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

weak to almost non-existent. Whereas in the past album sales had fueled the independent’s income today with the advent of subscription radio physical sales have tanked to an all time low. Labels and artists teamed in regard to the deficit and the 360 was born. Then as CD sales began to slump even further all that was remaining was performance and merchandise revenues as the mainstay. Exasperating the problem would be the introduction of a world wide pandemic which would end the vast majority of live income opportunities for the artists and their labels. These conditions formed a vacuum within the music industry. On the consumer / fan side the pandemic spawned a new normal for the music lover. Millions of workers in multiple industries around the world have been laid off due to the virus. These otherwise busy workers found themselves with plenty of free time on their hands. Many of them decided to access music videos on platforms such as You Tube and Vimeo. They began to access entertainment for hours at a time as they were and are still confined to their homes. Then something interesting occurred, leading edge listening rooms (restaurants with a stage) decided to try and save their businesses without an in house audience. They announced that live events would be streamed from their establishments. This innovation opened a pathway to their consumers who would receive invitations to live streaming events while their meal could be delivered to their home. The new marketing approach: don’t worry about getting the virus all you need to do is sit back enjoy the show, place your order, and your meal will arrive piping hot right to your front door. Even more interesting to note - beyond listening rooms this new reach would subsequently turn out to be valuable to more than just listening rooms. Overall, having an approachable live market, which artists do, is now fueling the new normal. Live entertainment streamed to a

digital device anywhere in the world by any size event by any aspiring artist could work.

The music industry reacts to the switch from physical distribution to the new normal. Physical distribution, CD sales, were further hampered when car manufacturers no longer delivered new cars and trucks with built in CD players. It can also be noted that whereas digital downloads had come into vogue through massive online libraries such as iTunes the amount of gross revenue that CDs had been providing eroded even further with the advent of subscription radio. On top of that the volume of downloads which had been the primary revenue resource for track sales would give way to the new subscription radio pay out methodology. Basically, income from physical sales and digital downloads for most independents would reduce to an all time low. Recording studios soon realized that their business was experiencing a reduction as well. The artist needs to be profitable so that they can continue to invest into professional recording services. Some of the studios who were tracking the acceptance of live streaming by the new normal decided to make a design change at their studios. They would add live streaming suites, live streaming availability. Today, still in the experimentation phase, both listening rooms and studios alike realized that tip jar participation might actually generate a nice return for all involved through live streaming. However, further income eexpansion via live streaming will require access to additional viewers beyond the artist’s immediate fan list. The allure of the live streaming pathway remains constant but it should be noted that it is in its infancy. Currently live streaming is in its early adopter phase and will definitely expand into the early majority market phase and then on to a majority phase. However, it needs a bit of assistance. Primarily, the slight hiccup is due to a nontechnical requirement. The further success of live streaming in regard to income requires informing additional, potential, new normal audience members that they can access the event. Companies such as Stage It and others are available. They offer the new normal live entertainment seeker a list, a schedule, of “today’s” events. Reaching beyond an artist’s direct social media list would be the icing on the cake as it would allow not only existing fan engagement but the introduction of the artist/band to literally thousands of first time viewers. For the more enthusiastic artist or studio massive database companies exist that rent entries that are sorted by demographics of all sorts. So the potential is there. Attending real live events is never going to go out of style but being able to take in an online event that is not in your backyard is cool too. Add to that the pandemic situation at the moment and this new marketing segment has great potential.

The segmentation of the new pathway in regard to income.

Currently the vast majority of live streaming events hosted by independent artists are comprised of a living room, a camera, a forty five to ninety minute performance with the artist/band armed with great hopes for a somewhat quality show. As live streaming continues to attract independent artists the desire for professional streaming studios (services) will continue to grow among funded

artists. Market eexpansion is already revealing a segmentation between home spun shows versus professional level high quality presentations on multiple levels. Some recording studios have added, while others are now adding, the availability of streaming suites for the funded artist. Additionally, professional remote audio capturing services are investigating the possibility of delivering live streams of both digital audio and visual content from mini-festivals and club venues. Whereas prior to the introduction of live streaming through these size venues would be cost prohibitive as live streaming events increase in numbers this may be a new path for them as well. Live streaming from major events is occurring today and this segment of the live streaming market will continue to grow as well. It is the introduction of cost effective mechanisms to the smaller independent artist/band and record label that is attracting increased speculation within remote services companies.

Beyond quality segmentation the live show’s format, the format of the presentation itself, is now revealing various shapes. One example of a typical format would be a band’s live performance stage show while a new format that may come into vogue is the combination talk show slash performance format. The talk show combination performance presentation will itself segment even further with some such shows hosting guests while others will not. Ultimately online audiences will determine which format is more popular. Any noticeable discernment will drive a response from the live streamers who will adopt to the favored format. Currently the vast majority of live stream shows are almost identical as they present the customary standard show performance format. This is to be expected as 98% of the industry may well follow the early adopters, the other 2%. These are leading edge innovators that take risks early on. Currently live streaming as an industry is in its infancy. However a tsunami may well be approaching and segmentation by type of event matched with dependable transmission quality along with a healthy scheduling partner may deliver new fans and profitability to the independent artist/band.

There are four phases of existence within a growth pie chart.

The early adopter phase, which is the most expensive and it contains the early adopters of new innovation. The second slice of the pie is a larger slice, the early majority phase. The growth of this segment is fueled by additional innovators that typically harbor a wait and see business mentality and then move forward. The early majority participant typically watches the early adopter’s moves and when they feel somewhat secure they enter into the opportunity as well.

The next slice is the majority phase, the home of the tsunami of visibility and income. Later on the market moves from the majority phase into the late majority phase as it shrinks back in volume. Right now it appears that the live streaming opportunity for aspiring independents is in its early adopter phase but given the income climate for artists the move into the early majority phase may happen faster than normal. If audience reach through database access and scheduling companies do not become cost prohibitive and the acceptance level of one show format over another reveals itself soon enough this income strategy could work and take off fast.

February 2021 • Rock and Blues International

87

UB40 Celebrates Over 40 Years Of Signing Off Announce Colored 2LP Vinyl Reissue

By T.J. It’s been 40 years since UB40 released their debut album, Signing Off. The record by the UK Pop / Reggae band will be reissued on March 14th through EMI / UME. Originally released on the Dudley-based independent label Graduate Records, the album became an instant success upon release. It debuted at #2 on the UK album charts and later it was certified Platinum.

Two singles off the album, “Food For Thought” and “I Think It’s Going To Rain” made it into the top ten of the UK singles

88

charts. The album is still being hailed as the best album that this group ever produced.

The album will be released as a 2LP(108g) red vinyl release and will feature the 10 original songs along with three bonus cuts.

Those are (“Madam Medusa”, “Strange Fruit,” and “Reefer Madness”. The cover artwork for this release will faithfully duplicate the original release which was the UK’s unemployment benefit card with the name of the album stamped at the bottom right of the album in red. The album can be

Rock and Blues International • February 2021

pre-ordered at https:// shop.udiscovermusic.com/products/ub40signing-off-limited-edition-2lp.

The release of the album made UB40 one of the most popular reggae bands in the UK and really helped to kick off the British New Wave sound. NME called the album “A courageous debut... Their radical sentiments and trenchant lyrics are given all the more force by the soft-fist of UB40’s measured musical delivery... The music might be mellow, but the hard-backed sentiments are

hardly those of the nice reggae band you may have pigeonholed the UBs as.” NME wound up listing this release at #13 on their list of Albums Of The Year. AllMusic said that “Their rhythms may have been reggae-based, their music Jamaican-inspired, but UB40 had such an original take on the genre that all comparisons were moot... Their music was... revolutionary, their sound unlike anything else.” BBC Music stated that “Signing Off is still believed by many to be the group’s greatest album, and it remains the clearest window into what the band were all about... [it] has energy and intelligence that made it stand out from so much post-punk pop.”

Looking back, it was a slight miracle that this album was made considering everything that was involved with the band.

When they first formed, they couldn’t even play their instruments. Saxophonist Brian Travers said, “We commandeered a cellar and started rehearsing every day, nine till five.

Our first experiences of playing an instrument started together, and we’d humiliate each other over mistakes. But we were very serious about our music. It was a year before we played our first gig. It was in an upper room at the ‘Hare and Hounds’ [a pub] in Kings Heath, Birmingham. We played the whole of Signing Off because they were the only songs we knew.”

From there, the band needed to record their new songs and the only person they knew that had experience with recording was local musician Bob Lamb that had been the drummer for the Steve Gibbons Band. He had constructed a studio in his bedroom underneath his bed and was recording bands there on an 8-track recorder. Gibbons recalls that when the band approached him about recording, “‘King’ was the very first song they ever played to me, and it just blew my

mind basically, to realize a bunch of kids could make a sound like that... it blew me away. And that was it for me, I was hooked, it was a bit like Elvis walks in or something, you know, it was one of those moments.”

Saxophonist Brian Travers tells us that “Because we couldn’t afford a studio and he was the only guy we knew who knew how to record music, we did the album in his bedsit.

I remember he had his bed on stilts. So underneath the bed was a sofa and mixing desk. And so we recorded the album there on an eight-track machine, with the same 50p coin going through the electric meter continually because we’d booted the lock off it. And, with it being a bedsit and us being eight in the band, we’d record the saxophone in the kitchen—because there was a bit of resonance off the walls, a bit of reverb— before putting the machine effects on it.

While the percussion—the tambourines, the congas, the drums—we’d do in the back yard.

Which is why you can hear birds singing on some of the tracks! You know, because it was in the daytime we’d be shouting across the fences ‘Keep it DOWN! We’re RECORDING!’”

of airplay.

As can be expected of this time, the band had a lot to say within their lyrics.

Though some of the songs are really fun songs, there were some politically charged songs as well. When you listen to this release, please make note of some of these songs as they are very well written and some are rather tongue in cheek. The song “Tyler” was written about a 17-year-old black American named Gary Tyler, who was convicted of murdering a 13-year old white youth. Gary was convicted by an all-white jury, despite what were described as discrepancies in the case and the lack of a murder weapon. “King” was about the late Martin Luther King, questioning the direction of his followers after his death and the impact it had on the American people. “Burden Of Shame” touched on British Imperialism. “Food For Thought” dealt with the famine in North Africa at the time and compared it with the over-indulgence of Christmas time. “Little

By Little” dealt with their perception of the inequality of the rich and the poor, and “Madam Medusa” was their take on Margaret Thatcher and her rise to power. Yes, there was a lot going on inside the minds of the fledgling new band.

And the end result of that entire recording turned out to be one of the most Now EMI / UME is reissuing this critically acclaimed albums of 1980. The historic album in all its resplendent glory as a release of the album was preceded by the 2LP red vinyl release. We’re told that the release of two double-A sided singles. The remastering of this project is magnificent and debut single was “King” with “Food For we can’t wait to hear it for ourselves soon.

Thought.” It topped the UK Charts for three As we mentioned before, the artwork on the months and wound up reaching #4 on The cover has also been masterfully restored as UK Singles Chart. It went on to sell almost a well. This is definitely worth adding to your half a million copies. Not bad for an record collection, order your copy now at independent release… The second single off the album was “My Way Of Thinking” with https://shop.udiscovermusic.com/products/ “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today.” “My ub40-signing-off-limited-edition-2lp.

Way Of Thinking” and never made it to the album, but received an unbelievable amount February 2021 • Rock and Blues International 89