Old Salt Union

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Old Salt Union is known for playing music by their own set of rules. While the men who make up this group are not complete rebels, they are certainly thinking about the future of music. They find influence in the bluegrass roots of The Del McCoury Band and Sam Bush, but also draw inspiration from Bill Evans, Danny Elfman, Punch Brothers, and many more talented musicians. What makes Old Salt Union so special is their ability to stretch the boundaries of traditional bluegrass music by incorporating in-depth musical arrangements, a catchy hook, and an uncanny pop sensibility. They truly are a new generation of bluegrass in the industry.

Established in May of 2012, Old Salt Union recorded their debut album “Western Skies” in October of the same year. While their album was independently released in March of 2013, it was clear by the overwhelmingly positive response that their fan base would grow rapidly in the following months. In January of 2014, Old Salt Union began exclusively touring the country, so that their reach would expand, exposing more fans to their type of complex, high energy, and well-executed sound.

With the release of their second studio album, “Bridge”, in August of 2014, Old Salt Union tells a tale of transition. The two years that they have been together has shown that they are a force to be reckoned with in the world of music. They have established solid roots, winning the STL Riverfront Times “Best Bluegrass Band” in 2013 and “Best Country Band” in 2014, all while traveling the country. They have made appearances at the John Hartford Memorial Festival, Wakarusa, LouFest, and Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Festival, sharing the stage with The Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, Greensky Bluegrass, Ricky Skaggs, and more – and no ma’am, they ain’t stopping yet.

OUR LINKS

• Old Salt Union Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Youtube
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On SoundCloud
• On Twitter

Dirty River Ramblers

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Described as a bluegrass fusion group, the Dirty River Ramblers push the standard boundaries of bluegrass and oldtime music to create a style that sits loosely between genres, allowing them to creatively explore while writing their own material. Riding the wave of their recently released debut album, Ramble On, the band has been traveling and performing across the Midwest, to the Rocky Mountains, and to Alaska, meeting new musical friends, and performing for new fans. The band is getting radio play across the country, and is building a foundation for another exciting year. If you like a basic high-energy, on pitch, hillbilly folk sound, combined with boundary-pushing songwriting and musicianship, you need to see the Dirty River Ramblers.

OUR LINKS

• Dirty River Ramblers Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)

Dr. Cotton

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Whiskey Dik in it's current form consists of members Martin Farrell (banjo), Shad Morton (fretless bass), and Nate Nickel (acoustic guitar). This band was started by Shad and Martin when they met in the dorms, and anyone on that floor would be able to tell you about the experimental nature of their endeavors. Trusting time and aged whiskey in oak casks would propel this duo to fame, their bitter demise was quite apparent when they were taken hostage in a foreign country. For some time, the band played in palaces for South African royalty, and occasionally in front of the Hawk, desperately grasping for some conscious remnant of their short but whimsical past. Flailing in a sea of beer whiskey, they headlined Wishy-palooza 1 & 2, literally asking fans to pour pitchers of beer into their mouth while simultaneously playing their instruments. After their first album, "Blacked Out", their musicianship and general direction had become apparent, and no later than four weeks after the release, they dropped a new record entitled "Get F*cked". Rave reviews and commercial success followed, only for the two naive youngsters to fall victim to the oppressive nature of the music industry. Playing over two hundred live shows on the road in 2007, the friends found it absolutely intolerable listening to each other bitch and moan. After a fight between Martin and Shad over a bar maid, Shad was hospitalized when he was stabbed in the neck with a pool cue, while Martin was checked into a mental institution for six days after having a bottle smashed over his head. When the two emerged from the hospital, they parted ways and toasted one last time to their band, which was now dead. It would take years of emotional healing and whiskey before a man by the name of Nathan Nickel met Martin on the back dock of the Community Mercantile. This is their conversation....
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Martin: "Hey, do you play guitar"
Nate: "Yeah."
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The rest is History. They've tried everything that Whiskey cures, but the pain endures. So heres the hurt, unscathed and unfettered. So you say you know what it's like to be too drunk to funk...

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Smackdown Trivia

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GROUNDHAWGZ DAY [night]

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Maria and Ben are turning 20-something with DJ Fat Butt + DJ Booty Sweat!

Taco bar at 7:30 p.m., KU vs. Iowa State at 8:00 p.m., then PARTY!

Come bring your game face, stuff it with some tacos then go melt it off on the dance floor.

OUR LINKS

• On Facebook

Waka Winter Classic

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The Wakarusa Music Festival will be traveling to 20 cities this winter in a quest to locate the best and brightest musicians the country has to offer. At every stop on the tour several bands will compete in a regional talent showcase. The winner of each talent showcase as decided by the fans in attendance will receive an invitation to play at Wakarusa 2014. But it doesn’t end there. The winners in each city will also have their music featured on our website and will compete in an online talent showcase. The three bands that receive the most votes in our online competition will get a chance to play the Revival stage at the festival along with a host of other surprises. Be sure to come out and support your favorite band!

Band Lineup:tba

OUR LINKS

• Waka Winter Classic Homepage
• On MySpace

Alien Jones

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Close your eyes... Now, imagine a simple, hard-working, self employed ice cream man named Mr. Jones. Jones was twice divorced, single, and had just emptied the last of his life-savings in an attempt to save his culinary career at the point of incineration. His life seemed to be spinning out of control in the worst way possible, similar to an Alanis Morissette vinyl projected from a warped record player, in a scented-candle-lit powder room. More than anything in the world, Jones wished to make ice cream for dogs that could also be enjoyed by small cats (in much smaller portions of course). But no one understood Jones' ideas like he did and thus his peers slowly liquidized his sweet, sweet dreams into an odorous muck... Then one day he was mushroom slapped in the face by the cock of an alien, turning him half-alien and making him quit the ice cream business for dogs because that's fucking stupid. He then took up music and divided himself into four music playing kids: Brian, Nathan, Jimmy and Josh. Voila. Come see us play.


Nathan Page: singer/guitarist
Brian Sisk: vocals/bass guitar
Josh Dorrell: singer/guitarist
Jimmy Girod: vocals/ drums

OUR LINKS

• Alien Jones Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Twitter

That 1 Guy

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With an extensive and amazing track record of unique and imaginative performances featuringhis curious instrument and copious amounts of originality, Mike Silverman aka That1Guy has set himself apart as a true one-of-a-kind talent that rivals any other artist currently in the entertainment industry. Averaging 150-200 shows a year all over North America and Canada, he has been a consistent favorite at such festivals as: Wakarusa, Electric Forest, Big Day out, All Good, Bella, High Sierra, Summer Meltdown, Montreal Jazz Festival, and many more. He was also the ʻTap Water Awardʼ winner at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for best musical act. His legendary collaboration and multiple tours with Buckethead as The Frankenstein Brothers has further cemented his virtuoso story as a creative visionary as well.

His innovation continues to soar with the announcement of another tour kicking off in January 2014, which will feature live video projections on a completely unique rig invented, created and operated by the guy himself. Along with his pioneering main instrument, The Magic Pipe, a monstrosity of metal, strings, and electronics, facilitates the dynamic live creation of music and magic in ways only That1Guy can conjure, expect to see magic as well now integrated into the already clever performance. With this addition of incorporating magic seamlessly into his live shows, he has legitimately achieved an all inclusive audio/visual performance unlike anything experienced before. “So much of my music has miraculous qualities to it because itʼs hard to tell whatʼs going on. There are lots of slights of hand and sonic misdirection. It feels like I was meant to do magic”.

Silvermanʼs backstory is very similar to many musicians that have come before him. He grew up a self proclaimed music geek, soaked in the influence of his jazz musician father, and enrolled in San Francisco Conservatory of Music before joining the local jazz scene himself as a sought-after percussive bassist. This is where the similarities end, though, and where That1Guy truly began. “In my case, being a bass player, I just felt very restricted by the instrument itself,” he says. “Iʼve always wanted to sound different and have my own sound. I was headed that way on the bass, but for me to fully realize what I was hearing in my head sonically I was going to have to do it my way”. His influential and innovative double bass style eventually evolved into what we see today as That1Guy and ʻThe Magic Pipeʼ.

As his story continues to develop, Billboard has famously noted, “In the case of Mike Silvermanʼs slamming, futuristic funk act… the normal rules of biology just donʼt apply.”

OUR LINKS

• That 1 Guy Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On Twitter
• On MySpace

DJ Feels Goodman

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Making Movies

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Thank you to everyone who is listening, there will be much more to come soon. Gracias a todos que están escuchando, habrá mucho más en el futuro próximo. website: www.makingmoviesband.com myspace: myspace.com/makingmovies
Current Location
Midwest

OUR LINKS

• Making Movies Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On Twitter

Head For The Hills

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Head for the Hills has a simple but continuing dilemma they can’t seem to resolve. Specialists have been hired to no avail and the predicament persists: how does one describe the multifarious music of Head for the Hills? Among the top contenders are catchy turns of phrase like post-bluegrass, progressive string music, modern acoustic noir, and bluegrass bricolage. “On top of modern string music,” (Bluegrass Today), “Cutting edge,” (Drew Emmitt) or “Best in Colorado Bluegrass” (Westword Showcase Readers Poll)—those are up there too. Strip away the artful descriptors and you have a forward thinking group of {mostly} acoustic musicians drawing on eclectic influences, tastes and styles. They didn’t grow up immersed in bluegrass music but came to it later in life, with each other. The result is a sound based in bluegrass that reaches into indie rock, jazz, hip hop, world and folk to stitch together fresh songs that bridge the divide between past and future acoustic music. Head for the Hills—Adam Kinghorn on Guitar and vocals, Joe Lessard on violin and vocals, Matt Loewen on upright bass and vocals and Mike Chappell on acoustic and electric mandolins—has been bringing their music, whatever you’d like to call it, to audiences from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival to South by Southwest and a multitude of stages in between since 2004. The band has independently issued two studio records and one live, been featured on NPR Ideastream and eTown, co-released a beer with Odell Brewing Company in May 2013 and charted on the CMJ Top 200 (Blue Ruin, 2013 and Head for the Hills, 2010). Blue Ruin, an all-new album of original material is available now.

Meta-fictional sea shanties. Pop-infused newgrass murder ballads and urbane lyricism. Twang and punch. Head for the Hills’ fourth record, Blue Ruin, fuses bluegrass, jazz, hip-hop and indie rock into songs inspired by love and misery and comic books. Featuring twelve new original songs marked by moving narratives and stellar musicianship, Blue Ruin showcases the quartet’s contemporary take on acoustic music; embracing the bluegrass pedigree while looking forward. Recorded and mixed in Fort Collins, Colorado at Swingfingers Studios with ace engineer and banjoist Aaron Youngberg (Martha Scanlan, Cahalen Morrison and Eli West), Blue Ruin features contributions from Andy Hall (The Infamous Stringdusters), James Thomas, Gabe Mervine (The Motet), and more. Renowned screen print artist Timothy Doyle (Muse, The Black Keys, Lucas Films, NASA) created the stunning cover art and Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer David Glasser rounds out the production team. This is Head for the Hills at their most artistically fulfilled: self-produced and in top form. Blue Ruin is more than just a “bluegrass” record—it’s a Head for the Hills record.

A quintessential Colorado band, Head for the Hills has been fortunate to work with many of the area greats, starting with Grammy Award winning Dobroist Sally Van Meter, producer of 2007’s Robber’s Roost. Legacy Colorado musician and Leftover Salmon mandolin player Drew Emmitt came in to produce 2010’s Head for the Hills. The list goes on, with a bevy of talent from Colorado and beyond surrounding 2010’s Head for the Hills; including Grammy Award winning mixing engineer Vance Powell (Jack White, The Raconteurs), technical wizard and Pink Floyd re-master engineer Gus Skinas, Anders Beck (Greensky Bluegrass), Kyle James Hauser (Sonablast! Recording Artist) and keyboardist James Thomas, with String Cheese Incident guitarist and Colorado mainstay Billy Nershi rounding out the lineup as studio host and collaborator. In 2012 Head for the Hills released their first live record (Live). Captured in high fidelity sound & culled from 5 great nights in Colorado, Live is just that; the band live and unadorned, performing favorite original material and select covers.

Here are a few of the things people all over the country have been saying about Head for the Hills: “Cutting edge. Listeners will fully enjoy this unique sound,” Drew Emmitt (Leftover Salmon); “Head for the Hills possesses that secret ingredient,” Ryan Dembinsky (Glide Magazine, Hidden Track); “Critics Picks-What we think you should hear at SxSW,” (Austin Statesman/360.com); “Summer Stars” (Relix Magazine); “Fiery and precise – what modern bluegrass should be,” City Weekly (Salt Lake City, UT); “A very modern indie rock approach to bluegrass,” Daily Herald (Provo, UT); “Colorado Neo-bluegrassers Head for the Hills combine old and new and carry the torch for a new generation,” Ryan Heinsius (Flagstaff Live); “Rising stars of the acoustic string scene,” (BluegrassLA); “The band is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with many of their predecessors, and in the process creating their chapter in the ever-continuing story of bluegrass,” (Marquee Magazine); “Reshaping the genre as a whole,” Sam Sanborn (Oregon Music News); “The name Head for the Hills connotes hightailing it, running away. Yeah right. From the growing crowd of fans in hot pursuit,” Susan Viebrock (Telluride Inside & Out); “Supremely satisfying,” Eric Podolsky (Jambase.com).

OUR LINKS

• Head For The Hills Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Youtube
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On Twitter

Blue Orleans

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MORE INFO COMING SOON!

The Wood Brothers

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Chris Wood had a scrap of a song — seemed like a chorus — scribbled in a notebook. He played it for his older brother, Oliver, who’d had a verse lying around he didn’t know what to do with. The two pieces, composed months apart, one in urban Atlanta and the other deep in the Catskills, dovetailed musically and lyrically: the verse about a man regretting chasing unattainable women, the high-lonesome, harmony-driven refrain of “When I die, I wanna be sent back to try, try again.”

“Neon Tombstone” wasn’t the first song that Chris, a founding member of jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood, and Oliver, formerly Tinsley Ellis’s guitarist, had written — since 2006, they’d released three studio albums of Americana as The Wood Brothers. But it was the first one they’d written like this. “This is how a song is supposed to come together,” Oliver remembers thinking. “There was some chance, some randomness, to it.”

The experience marked a deeper level of collaboration for The Wood Brothers, a newfound fraternal synchronicity that’s captured on their latest album, ‘The Muse.’ Within the first few bars of opener “Wastin’ My Mind,” which could pass for a lost cut from “The Last Waltz,” it’s clear the brothers are operating on a different plane than when we last heard them, on 2011’s ‘Smoke Ring Halo.’ The components are similar: the dialed-in vocal harmonies, Oliver’s gritty acoustic guitar, Chris’s virtuosic upright bass, the warrior poet lyrics. But here there’s a glue — a yellowy carpenter’s glue, one imagines — holding it all together. The cohesion comes from the brothers having spent the last two years on the road with new full-time member Jano Rix, a drummer and ace-in-the-hole multi-instrumentalist, whereas they relied on session musician-friends to fill out previous albums. Jano’s additional harmonies give credence to the old trope that while two family members often harmonize preternaturally, it takes a third, non-related singer for the sound to really shine. And then there’s Jano’s work on his literally patented percussion instrument, the “shuitar,” a shitty acoustic guitar rigged up with tuna cans and other noisemakers, which, in his hands, becomes a veritable drum kit.

Starting with debut ‘Ways Not To Lose,’ which NPR described as a collection of “gracious little songs [that] sound like they were born on a front porch during a beautiful sunset,” The Wood Brothers have made albums like you’re not supposed to anymore — recording mostly live, warts and all. But on ‘The Muse,’ they double down on the production values of a purer time. Whereas ‘Smoke Ring Halo’ was tracked with the musicians playing in separate rooms, here Chris, Oliver and Jano often circled around a tree of microphones, a couple feet apart from one another, and simply played the songs, with even the lead vocals being recorded on the spot. The arrangement is a producer’s nightmare — the different sounds bleed into the various mics, limiting mixing options and ruling out the possibility of fixing mistakes — but the band had two willing accomplices: legendary country musician Buddy Miller, who produced the album, and Nashville studio vet Mike Poole, who engineered.

“I just love how Mike and Buddy really embraced that idea,” Oliver says. Miller, an award-winning producer, guitarist and solo artist, has performed and recorded with icons such as Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Oliver continues, “I hear little things that are out of tune or imperfect, and I love it. That’s what I like about old recordings – they just did it, and that’s what happened.”

From early in their childhood in Boulder, CO., Chris and Oliver were steeped in American roots music. Their father, a molecular biologist, would perform classic songs at campfires and family gatherings, while their mother, a poet, instilled a passion for storytelling and turn of phrase. The brothers bonded over bluesmen like Jimmy Reed and Lightnin’ Hopkins, but their paths, musical and otherwise, would diverge. Oliver moved to Atlanta, where he played guitar in cover bands before earning a spot in Tinsley Ellis’s touring act. At Ellis’s behest, Oliver began to sing and then founded King Johnson, a hard-touring group that would release six albums of blues-inflected R&B, funk and country over the next 12 years. Chris, meanwhile, studied jazz bass at the New England Conservatory of Music, moved to New York City and, in the early ‘90s, formed Medeski Martin & Wood, which over the next two decades would become a cornerstone of contemporary jazz and abstract music.

After pursuing separate musical careers for some 15 years, the brothers performed together at a show in North Carolina: Oliver sat in with MM&W following King Johnson’s opening set. “I realized we should be playing music together,” Chris recalls. Soon after, the pair recorded a batch of Oliver’s songs, channeling the shared musical heroes of their youth while seizing on their own individual strengths — Oliver’s classic songwriting, Chris’s forward-thinking musicianship. A demo landed them a record deal with Blue Note, who released ‘Ways Not To Lose’ in 2006. Follow-up ‘Loaded’ came in 2008; after covers EP ‘Up Above My Head’ the next year, the band moved to Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Artists for ‘Smoke Ring Halo’ and then 2012’s ‘Live, Volume One: Sky High’ and ‘Live, Volume Two: Nail and Tooth.’

On ‘The Muse,’ following the opening one-two of “Wastin’ My Mind” and “Neon Tombstone,” the album shuffles between bluesy, classic country and swampy funk, mining the brothers’ timeless influences (Robert Johnson, Willie Nelson, Charles Mingus) while sounding fresh enough to win over fans of today’s mainstream roots-music acts (The Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons). The title track shows Oliver’s songwriting at its most tender and autobiographical to date, as he sings of his “finest work yet” — his newborn child — in his endearingly offbeat voice, which The New York Times calls “gripping.” Chris takes the vocal lead on “Sweet Maria” and “Losin’,” and capably so, while on his standup bass, he’s often playful, even rascally, imbuing the songs with humor with his warm, unpredictable notes. Jano, when not banging on his shuitar, adds refreshing flourishes of piano and melodica.

‘The Muse’ marks another milestone for The Wood Brothers: it’s the first full-length they’ve recorded at Southern Ground Studios in Nashville. In the way that Manhattan becomes its own character in an old Woody Allen movie, the live room at Southern Ground plays a key role on the album, making its warm presence felt throughout. (There’s even a little hiss from the analog tape machine.) The choice of location was practical, given Nashville’s rich history and network of musicians, but also symbolic: The Wood Brothers are now officially a Nashville-based band, with Oliver having relocated in 2012, and Chris recently following. It’s the first time the brothers have lived in the same city since they left their parents’ nest; both are eager, along with Nashville local Jano, to plumb the sense of collaboration they tapped into during the fateful “Neon Tombstone” writing session. As Oliver says of ‘The Muse,’ “This is the first record that really feels like a band record. It’s taken years for us to really feel like we can collaborate, and I think this is the pinnacle of it so far.”

OUR LINKS

• The Wood Brothers Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On Twitter

Kristina Train

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Savannah, Georgia native Kristina Train released her debut solo album “Spilt Milk” on Blue Note Records in 2009. Noting her distinctive, soulful voice, Herbie Hancock invited her to join his band as lead singer and violinist for his 2010 world tour. After literally circling the globe with Hancock, Train moved to London to record the much-vaunted “Dark Black” for Mercury Records which was deemed "fantastic" by Bruce Springsteen. The most-recent chapter of her journey finds Train back Stateside, living in Nashville, collaborating with old friends and exploring her life-long love of Americana and roots music.

OUR LINKS

• Kristina Train Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Youtube
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On SoundCloud
• On Twitter

Sphynx

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Sphynx is made up of childhood friends Cory Dennis, Aaron Miller and Todd Harris. The Austin natives honed their skills together as high-schoolers in Austin’s legendary Red River District with an indie rock outfit called The El Guapos.

Their first release as Sphynx was 2011’s ‘Human Beast,’ a shimmering 7-song effort that melded retro pop influence with synths and electronic music and charted on college radio across the US. ‘Human Beast’ received attention in Japan as well, where it was released by Thistime Records in late 2011. Sphynx’s regional acclaim and growing reputation as a must-see live act in Austin earned an invite to SXSW 2012, where they were named one of the top 10 ‘Best New Bands’ in Austin at the Austin Music Awards.

The group expanded their sound with ‘Pre Wild,’ a 2012 EP that blended soul, funk, and psychedelic elements with their signature pop. The self-released EP received attention from high profile outlets like The Deli, KEXP, and AOL Spinner and helped propel Sphynx into the national touring circuit. They’ve since toured coast to coast, bringing their glam rock aesthetic and one of a kind live show to a growing national audience and performing at popular festivals like CMJ, Bunbury, Midpoint, 35 Denton, and Chaos in Tejas.

In February 2014, Sphynx premiered a new single called ‘Hunger’ on The Burning Ear, who described it as a “soulful groover for dancefloor love making.” The band performed more new material at SXSW 2014, where they were named number three ‘Best Indie Band’ in Austin at the Austin Music Awards. They were also honored by their hometown on February 13, 2014 when Mayor Lee Leffingwell proclaimed the date ‘Sphynx Day’ in Austin.

The trio performed 107 shows across the US in 2014, appearing at top tier festivals like Austin City Limits Festival, SXSW, CMJ and joining like minded electro pop band Stepdad for a month long tour. Sphynx spent the Winter of 2014 in Austin working with Grammy winning producer Richard Corsello and will release new music in 2015.



Cory "Can't Stop" Dennis: Vocals/Synths
Aaron "Won't Stop" Miller: Vocals/Guitars
Todd "Might Stop" Harris: Drums/Percussion/Bass

OUR LINKS

• Sphynx Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On Twitter

White Girl

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White Girl is the brain-child of Martin Bush, a dance infused pop romp through eternal fields of post punk grasses and rolling new wave hills.

OUR LINKS

• White Girl Homepage
• On Facebook

Jon Wayne & the Pain

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If Lee Scratch Perry and Deadmau5 died, went to heaven, and recorded an album with Bradley Nowell and Jerry Garcia, they’d end up with something like Jon Wayne and The Pain’s new full length album “Surrender”. In addition to the Minneapolis trio’s signature sound of roots infused Reggae Rock, their latest release adds a bold fusion of Jam and EDM into the fold.

The trio’s previous album “Follow Through” for the most part only teases with a few subtle, dark electronic elements but stays true to the roots infused Reggae Rock sound that could be described as an ideal poolside soundtrack. Until the release of “Surrender”, their sometimes sinister combination of organic drums and guitar with electronic bass and synths could only be heard if fans could catch the band’s live act in clubs and festivals around the U.S. or sift through bootleg uploads on Youtube. Their third full length album is full of electronic instrumentals that build from entrasic dub loops (wait for the drop) then explode into high energy party anthems with intense vocals and powerful acoustic drums.

Pushing boundaries further, Jon Wayne and The Pain inject Roots, Jam, and Ska into the mix with sounds that band members Jon, Chuckie, and Teeto have grown to love while playing alongside some of the most influential musicians in the festival scene. Complete with a sanctioned Grateful Dead cover and a festie-fan shout out track “Festival Friends”, JWP pays tribute to the Jam scene in a big way. Keeping in tune with the sound that made fans rush to see Jon Wayne and The Pain since the band’s early days, heartfelt Reggae-Rock tunes are still a staple in the diverse collection of songs that make up “Surrender”

OUR LINKS

• Jon Wayne & the Pain Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Youtube

Heatbox

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The One Man Entertainment System, otherwise known as Heatbox, has been emerging in the Minneapolis music scene (“the 612”) for the better part of a decade. From rocking crowds in his humble beginnings with the Root City Band to selling out shows across the country, Heatbox's unparalleled crossover between Motown, A cappalla, R&B, Hip Hop, Soul and Funk has gained National attention from both fans and the media alike.
Creating beats and building songs from the ground up, Heatbox uses a Boss LoopStation RC-50 and a DigiTech Vocal 300 to create his songs. Recording each part as he goes, Heatbox's music is live and in the moment. Using no tracks, samples, or pre-recorded music, each song and performance is distinctly unique.
Heatbox's discography includes two full-length studio albums, Entertainment (2006) and System (2009). Included on System is a video game, Ninja Strike, designed and programmed entirely by Heatbox. Following the System release in 2009, he co-produced two original music videos, "Pizza Funk" and "Jack & Coke” alongside acclaimed Boston video producer Spookie Daly.
Promoting his latest Album, Heatbox is currently touring the US and Canada. In recent months, he toured with fellow solo act That 1 Guy and supported artists such as Buckethead, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bassnectar, Umphrey's McGee and Chali 2na. Additionally, he played notable music festivals including South by Southwest, 10,000 Lakes, Bella Music Fest, Summer Camp, Harvest Fest, Big Wu Family Reunion and Camp Euphoria.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Heatbox plans on spreading his music and positive message to the rest of the world. Ultimately, his passion is to entertain people, and that's exactly what he does. He truly is a one-man entertainment system!

OUR LINKS

• Heatbox Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Youtube
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On SoundCloud
• On Twitter
• On MySpace

Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys

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He‟s been known as the co-founder of the three-time Grammy nominated BR549, the honky-tonk
heroes that almost single-handedly lit and carried the blowtorch for the mid-„90s alternative country
explosion. He‟s been hailed as „The Hillbilly Renaissance Man‟ for his subsequent successes as a
songwriter, performer, producer and musical theater director. Now after more than a decade as one of
the most uncompromising and consistent talents in the American roots music movement, Chuck
Mead at last emerges with the most anticipated role of his entire career: Solo Artist.
With Journeyman’s Wager, Chuck Mead throws down the gauntlet with an album that defies all
sonic expectations while re-defining his position as one of the hardest-working artists in the business.
“I respect the term „journeyman‟,” Mead says, “because that‟s I what consider myself. I‟ve been living
by my wits musically for more than 20 years now, going from job to job and doing them all pretty well.
Certainly there‟s a hustle to what I do, but there‟s always been a gambling aspect to it, too. With this
album, it‟s finally all me going all-in. It‟s a record that challenges listeners in a good way. Best of all,
I‟ve challenged myself.”
Produced by Grammy-winner Ray Kennedy, the eleven tracks on Journeyman’s Wager embody not
only the core of country music, but also the pulse of pop, R&B, hillbilly rock, Gospel and beyond. “Why
be confined by barriers or genres?” Chuck asks. “As far as I‟m concerned, it‟s all American Music.
These are the sounds that made up my musical vocabulary. I still believe that American Music is
about real things, good stories and unique songs. And I‟m willing to bet that most everyone else does,
too.”
“It‟s hard to believe that it‟s taken him this long to make a solo record,” says producer/engineer Ray
Kennedy, best known for his work on classic albums by Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle. “What sets
Chuck apart from so many artists is that he‟s a genuine hard-working, blue-collar performer. I hate the
word „old-school‟ but we didn‟t want this album to sound like a lot of modern records where everything
is over-tweaked and perfect. We knew we had to make it intimate and real.” Kennedy recorded the
entire album analog on two-inch tape, in a studio full of both state-of-the art and vintage equipment
that included „60s tube microphones, a Vox Continental organ, and a badass band that featured
Kenny Vaughn (Marty Stuart), Audley Freed (The Black Crowes), Mark Miller (BR549), Mark Horn
(The Derailers), Dave Roe (Johnny Cash), Mike Henderson (The SteelDrivers), Pat Sivers (The
Everly Brothers) and Jen Gunderman (The Jayhawks). “Chuck is the same in the studio as he is on
stage,” Kennedy explains. “He loves working without a net. There are a lot of multiple voices singing
into one microphone and the band playing together in one room. Most of all, it‟s an album that really
represents his worldview song-wise. It has humor, intelligence, sarcasm, a bit of politics and a lot of
spontaneity. Plus he‟s singing his ass off. Chuck doesn‟t have a model; he really is a journeyman in
that songwriting and entertaining is his life.”
For Mead, life and music have always been irrevocably intertwined. “I joined my first band at 12 years
old,” he explains with a laugh. “Ruint me forever.” Throughout his 20s, he led several groups in and
around his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, including the popular Mid-western cult band The
Homestead Grays. By the early „90s, Chuck found himself as an itinerant musician on Nashville‟s
then-seedy Lower Broadway. It was a place in time where a performer armed with only the vision of a
sonically relentless hillbilly band with nothing to lose could try anything. Within months, Mead cofounded
a quintet that began playing must-see marathon sets in the front window of bar/bootery
Robert‟s Western World. Seven albums, three Grammy nominations and millions of worldwide fans
later, BR549 would become one of the most improbable success stories of the past decade.
“BR549 is on extended hiatus,” Chuck now says. “We were – and remain – a family, and taking a
break from each other will make us miss each other more. We survived the highs, the lows and all the
hype, and we still had fun making music we love. But it was also time for me to do my own thing.”
With the exception of occasional reunions on Prairie Home Companion (at the behest of longtime fan
Garrison Keillor) and benefits for favorite charities, Mead‟s post-BR career soon became known as
much for its continued integrity as for its eclecticism. He founded the touring collective The Hillbilly All-
Stars featuring members of The Mavericks, co-produced acclaimed tribute albums to Johnny Cash
and Waylon Jennings, guest-lectured on „The Sociology of Modern American Culture‟ at Vanderbilt
University, and became a staff writer at one of Nashville‟s top song publishers. In 2007, he was
named Musical Director of Million Dollar Quartet, the new hit stage musical based on the night in 1956
that Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley came together for an impromptu
jam session. “It‟s been incredibly liberating to do all these things I‟ve never done before,” Chuck says.
“But most of all, I wanted to call my own shots and make a record that mattered.”
Ten of the eleven tracks on Journeyman’s Wager are co-written by Mead, who‟d spent the past year
working with such idiosyncratic and award-winning songwriters as Tia Sillers, Bobby Huff, Greg
Crowe, Patrick Davis, Angeleena Presley, Mark Collie and Jon & Sally Tiven. The album roars out of
the gate with the twanging highway stomp of “Out On The Natchez Trail”, and runs head-on into the
sinister mystery of “Gun Metal Grey”. The horn-powered “She Got The Ring (I Got The Finger)” is a
sly nod to Jerry Reed‟s “She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft)”. There‟s classic country-pop
wisdom in “Albuquerque”, gentle insight in “Up On Edge Hill”, and hard-driving good times in “I Wish It
Was Friday”. “A Long Time Ago” is a paean of pedal-steel regret, while “After The Last Witness Is
Gone” is a bold testimonial that‟s equal parts honky-tonk and roadhouse rocker. “In A Song” may be
the album‟s genuine showstopper, a gloriously sanctified testament to the Everlasting Church Of
Music. The disc‟s sole cover is a fiery version – complete with yodeling – of George Harrison‟s “Old
Brown Shoe”, the obscure Beatles b-side from “The Ballad Of John & Yoko”. The album closes with
the assured shuffle-funk of “No Requests”, a song whose chorus is a potent statement of purpose
from an artist who is now truly his own man.
“Even when BR549 were being called a throwback act, we never allowed ourselves to be classified,”
says Chuck. “The key was to always bring something new to everything we did. Today my slate is
cleaner than ever before. This album is all me, doing what comes naturally.” For Chuck Mead, the
time has come for one of Americana‟s most uncommon artists to finally step out, step up and be
heard on his own unique terms. And in a game where sure bets are rarely the real deal, one
singer/songwriter/performer is again unafraid to lay it all on the line. “I mean everything I say on this
album,” Chuck Mead says. “You can tell it with a wink and a smile, but it‟s still the truth. And the truth
is that Journeyman’s Wager is the culmination of everything I‟ve learned. These are my decisions.
This is my music.”

OUR LINKS

• Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys Homepage

The Howlin Brothers

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Ebony Tusks

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Kansas City, Hip Hop

OUR LINKS

• Ebony Tusks Homepage
• On Youtube
• On SoundCloud
• On Twitter

Weaver

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BOTH

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ContraCulture

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Contraculture is an exciting new contra dance band from the North Carolina Piedmont made of two established classical music teacher/contra dancers. Contraculture play a mix of contemporary fiddle tunes along with traditional Southern Appalachian, New England, Cape Breton, Irish and Scottish tunes. They create a beautiful balance in their sets by playing highly energetic tunes along with transcendent lyrical melodies. Guitarist Austin Murry began studies on the classical guitar at the age of seven and holds an undergraduate and master’s degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in classical guitar. Austin enjoys playing a variety of styles of music including traditional music. He was introduced to contra dance in 1997 and has been immersed in the contra dance scene ever since. Fiddler Jennifer Lane began playing violin at the age of 8 and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville University in violin. She has been playing Irish, Scottish, and Bluegrass fiddle for 12 years and has a diverse background in dance including contra dance, English country dance, and ballroom.

OUR LINKS

• ContraCulture Homepage

Earphunk

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Hailing from New Orleans, Prog-Funk band Earphunk has emerged as one of the Southeast's premier jam acts. The quintet has been steadily building a rabid fan base across the United States with their unique brand of high-energy funk, inspired improvisation, and dynamic stage production. In an innovative move to get their music in the hands of live music fans, Earphunk have partnered with direct-to-fan publisher platform BitTorrent Bundle to release content-rich collections of live shows and studio albums. Visit the band's website (www.earphunk.com) to stream and download songs from Earphunk's current discography for free.

OUR LINKS

• Earphunk Homepage
• On Facebook

Zoogma

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Zoogma combines the sonic diversity and precision of a DJ with the excitement and immediacy of a five piece rock group. Known for their energetic performances and retina pleasing light show, the band consistently dishes out heavy-weight beat-driven dance parties across the nation. Sets are kinetic, combining live improvisation with carefully crafted beats and melodic textures.

With the release of their debut album, Recreational Vehicles, along with a relentless tour schedule, the five members have already added their unique voice to the live electronic-rock scene. Evolving in Oxford, MS, Zoogma’s sound can be described as an eclectic fusion of Electronica, Rock, Jazz, World, and Hip-Hop. This blend of genres results in a musical experience that appeals to a range of audiences, with a sound that is refreshingly original yet steeped in the dance music tradition.

Sharing the stage with acts such as Perpetual Groove, Pnuma Trio, Big Gigantic, Eliot Lipp, Keller Williams, The New Mastersounds, and Ozric Tentacles, Zoogma is poised to captivate you!

OUR LINKS

• Zoogma Homepage
• On Facebook

Chicago Afrobeat Project

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Afrobeat cannot stand still. As the genre’s tempting sounds continue a resurgence across the globe, Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP) remains true to its original vision of breathing the intensity of Chicago’s rich music scene into the infectious sounds of afrobeat. Rather than become caricatures of the genre, CAbP slips a reverent nod to the tradition while delivering an energized originality different from any other band on the afrobeat scene today. At each of its 100+ live performances a year, the group’s frenzied songs hit audiences with a big enough one-two punch to tirelessly knock them onto the dance floor time and time again. Afrobeat’s range of influences — funk, rock, jazz, afro-cuban, high life and juju music – settle into a hypnotic, dance-compelling pulse at the core of CAbP. The group layers a fiery originality around this core through high-energy rock and experimental jazz. The trance-like grooves that hold the floor in the tradition are pushed to new borders in CAbP’s second and self-produced album, (A) Move to Silent Unrest. In it, the group keeps true to the mix of respect to the tradition and forward-thinking experimentation that shine through in their live performances. The individual players, coming from diverse backgrounds, each hold their own as soloists that ultimately characterize the live shows. Melodic and hard-hitting horn lines create a lyrical flow to the music, delivered by a cutting, driven rhythm section dynamic. Complex call-and-response percussion songs are dispersed throughout the performances. At select shows, African dancers from Chicago’s Muntu Dance Theatre accompany the band. Added up, the music is packaged with original songwriting that explores the stylistic reaches of afrobeat and a few classic covers delivered true to form. The group currently performs across the country from coast to coast with notable festival dates including Bele Chere Music Festvial (2005, 2006) Wakarusa Music Festival (2006), Chicago World Music Festival (2003, 2006), Vassar College Jazz Festival (2005, 2006), Summer Camp (2005, 2007), Chicago’s Summer Dance Series (2005, 2007), and High Sierra Music Festival (2007). CAbP was nominated as Best African Artist in the Chicago Music Awards (CMA) in 2004 and 2005, and was nominated for the CMA’s “Award of Honor for Contribution to World Beat Music” in 2006. As a natural extension of the group’s ability to connect diverse musical styles through afrobeat, CAbP has featured many notable Chicago guest musicians such as Howard Levy of Bela Fleck fame, Fareed Haque of Garaj Mahal, seven-time Grammy-winner Paul Wertico, Bobby Broom, Jeff Parker of Tortoise, Kalyan Pathak, Diverse, Ugochi, Morikeba Kouyate and many other Chicago greats.

OUR LINKS

• Chicago Afrobeat Project Homepage
• On MySpace

Houndmouth

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That first November 2011 night, when it all fell together at the Green House, was nothing more complicated than four friends playing music, armed with something to drink and a curiosity about what might happen. They were the generation who has come of age in the new economy, already adept at shuffling jobs and get-bys, firmly acclimated to the diminished expectations that come with growing up somewhere the rest of the world assumes is nowhere. Which, in this case, is New Albany, Indiana.

Houndmouth, then, knew each other from…around. Matt Myers and Zak Appleby had played in cover bands together for years, schooled in blues and classic rock and Motown, toughened by indifferent audiences and the clatter of empty bottles. Matt and Katie Toupin had worked as an acoustic duo for three years, when she wasn’t on the road tending to a straight job. Katie and Shane Cody had gone to high school together, before Shane disappeared off to Chicago and New York to study audio engineering. In the beginning it was Shane and Matt who’d started knocking around at first, just drums and guitar, once Shane got home and free of a brief bluegrass flirtation.

The rest happened in a tumble, Zak and Katie switching from guitars to bass and keyboards, respectively. Four months later, their homemade EP in hand, Houndmouth made the pilgrimage to South By Southwest. Their booking agent convinced Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis to come have a listen. Of such things are dreams made. Months of conversation and a proper studio later, their debut album, From the Hills Below the City, will be released by Rough Trade.

“We lucked out,” Matt says. “We knew we were making good music. We knew we had something. But we didn’t know it would escalate so quickly. Always the element of luck.”

Before and after that bit of luck, Houndmouth have been on the road, building their audience. Working. Opening for the Drive-By Truckers, the Lumineers, the Alabama Shakes, Lucero, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Headlining on their own. Turning heads.

“You know good art when you see it,” says Newport Folk Festival booker Jay Sweet, an early adopter, “and you know good food when you taste it. Well, you also know good music when you hear it, and when I first heard Houndmouth it was like freshest tasting art I had heard in many moons. A true musical omnivore’s delight.”
“I’m going down where nobody knows me,” they sing during the jaunty chorus of “On the Road.” The opening track to From the Hills Below the City, which is more or less the relationship New Albany has to Louisville, across the river: “I had a job had to leave behind me…I had to move to another city.” A two and a half minute slightly bent pop confection, conscious of all kinds of music which went before. Self-conscious about nothing, not even the neo-rap cutting contest that snaps across one break. A blues for now, then.

The older heads are noticing, the ones who are hardest to convince. “Houndmouth is a great young band,” testifies Patterson Hood of the Truckers. “They toured with us last month and brought it each and every night. They were extremely popular with our fanbase and our band. I look forward to hearing what they do next.”
Rolling Stone’s David Fricke joined the chorus of praise after seeing Houndmouth during SXSW ’13: “They are all singers, leading with individual character and harmonizing in saloon-choir empathy. The music is earthy melancholy with a rude garage-rock streak.”

Houndmouth’s songs emerge with a loose-limbed swing, anchored by a sturdy rhythm and a cagey melodic sensibility. “Penitentiary,” revived from Matt and Katie’s acoustic days, is all dressed up as a rock anthem. It’s dark, yet fun, with all those voices singing, “come on down to the Penitentiary/oh mama, the law came crashing down on me.”

Matt sketches the origins of his song, which became their song. “I met a guy in Reno on a road trip before we started the band, and he was super down on his luck,” he says. “We met him at a gas station, bumming money. He told me a few details that are probably in the song, but I made most of it up. I changed the setting to Texas, because it sounded authentic.” And then he mentions that he was listening to Jimmie Rodgers at the time.
Hard-luck songs, to be sure, betraying a certain criminal bent. Not their stories, Katie is careful to note, but the world they’ve watched walk on by. “We grew up in Southern Indiana,” she says. “It’s not always the classiest place. So all that is not unfamiliar even if we haven’t personally been through the darkest parts of it.”

And yet, as she also says, “No matter how much anyone wants to write a completely fictional or narrative song, there’s ALWAYS part of you in it. I think that it is important, even when writing narrative songs, that there is something real about them. That there is part of yourself in them.” Houndmouth’s truths, then, are emotional. For the most part.

“The dealers and the bootleggers/Got me hooked on freebasing/And I can’t trust my government/So I looked into the other dimension,” Katie sings, tough and innocent. “And now they got me doing bad things.” “The song is a story,” Katie says. “I didn’t get hooked on freebasing. Yet there is part of me in it…It’s also maybe about me wanting to escape, loosen my morals, not opening my heart to people.”

So are the songs. Deeply emotional, that weird, powerful, essential thing the blues does that makes you feel better through the tears. Especially the songs which are deeply personal, like “Halfway to Hardinsburg” or “Palmyra.” Or the sad, slurring loss of “Long as You’re Home,” on which they sing, “Who am I supposed to be?”

Themselves, of course.

Four musicians from New Albany, Indiana, across the river from Louisville. Where Will Oldham, Jim James, and Freakwater’s Catherine Irwin live. A fecund place, and place
matters. Not a sound, not a scene, but a place. A real place. “There is a familiar element about My Morning Jacket that I can’t really pinpoint,” Katie says. “It’s kinda like what I can’t pinpoint about what Houndmouth is that we all sort of get. It just makes us feel at home.”

OUR LINKS

• Houndmouth Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Youtube
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On SoundCloud
• On Twitter

Twin Limb

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"I'll be real: I have no idea what Twin Limb sounds like. I can tell you based on the above picture that they will feature ladies, probably of the singing variety, and an accordion, but I can't tell you anything beyond that. So I'll make it up. Hailing from an alternate reality where accordions are the universal language, Twin Limb are the heroes of their dimension. Originally high school do-nothings, the two were met by a lovable, time traveling so-and-so who via a series of misadventures involving the duo themselves time traveling, taught the pair to "be excellent to each other." This wisdom was imparted on the world after the great Battle of the Bands that Twin Limb won, at which time hover boards and jet packs were widely distributed to the citizens of Earth that everyone may be equally radical. Twin Limb were stranded on our plane of existence shortly after they defeated the quantum bear invasion of 2028, and hope that through their gift of excellence to the planet that they can find a way home." -Never Nervous, 11/5/13


Lacey Guthrie - Accordion, keys, vocals.
Maryliz Guillemi - Drums, guitar, vocals.
Kevin 'Twinderella' Ratterman - Miscellaneous sonic sorcery, magical buttons and pedals, guitar.
Sara Pitt - Everything you see.
Maizy the Dog - Encouragement and unconditional love.

OUR LINKS

• Twin Limb Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Youtube
• On Twitter

Electric Six

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2014 was another stellar year for Electric Six. Electric Six began the year by delivering the "Absolute Treasure" live DVD to the Crazies who so generously supported that project, thus making good on the promise to provide the Crazies with a devastating document of the band LIVE IN THE FLESH. Electric Six played shows all over the world, from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Holyhead, Wales to St. Petersburg, Russia and many points in between. Electric Six recorded and released a new record, "Human Zoo." Electric Six went sailing on a sailboat. Electric Six said goodbye to Van. Electric Six welcomed New Van and after a rocky start to the relationship, seems to be settling in just fine. Electric Six initiated a new project involving a 2 disc set of covers and rarities, entitled "Mimicry And Memories," and has worked to record those songs throughtout the latter half of 2014. As is normally the case, Electric Six got a lot done in its 12 months. Electric Six expects that 2015 will be similarly active. Electric Six will finish up the "Mimicry And Memories" project and deliver it unto the Crazies (still holding to March, 2015 at the moment for delivery). Electric Six will embark on its typically active touring schedule once again. Electric Six will commence work on a new record shortly. Electric Six has other plans, dreams and schemes which it hopes to reveal shortly to all the Crazies. It'll be another wild ride, Crazy...get on board.

OUR LINKS

• Electric Six Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On Twitter
• On MySpace

Avan Lava

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Being engaged, always being present – it’s about maintaining a certain kind of energy. It’s all inclusive – there’s room for everybody,” describes multi-instrumentalist Ian Pai of the intraband state AVAN LAVA constantly aspires to. In many ways, AVAN LAVA is bigger than their parts and their sum – central to the band is the communing with their fans. “Our whole thing is the audience. It doesn’t happen without them.”

It was this realization that first drew the core members of AVAN LAVA – Pai, producer-musician Le Chev and lead singer TC Hennes – into each other’s paths. The three had spent years orbiting each other in the New York music scene, with Le Chev even auditioning for Pai, who was with performative electroclashers Fischerspooner at the time. (“It’s still the only audition I’ve ever done,” says Le Chev.) When he eventually joined that outfit, Pai and he discovered their shared adoration of Daft Punk was only the beginning, and the two began collaborating on an undetermined project. While Pai and Le Chev found the music came easily, Pai was haunted by the voice he imagined singing over their tracks. “It’s a certain kind of tone that cuts through everything, because of where it sits in the frequency range,” Pai says of what he kept envisioning. Around that time, Pai saw Hennes perform in The Last Goodbye, a musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set to the music of Jeff Buckley. “As soon as I heard him sing, I knew that was it,” recalls Pai.

Within days, Hennes came in to sing on a few tracks, and the final piece of AVAN LAVA snapped into cosmic alignment. With Pai amidst the tidal pace of touring, departing and returning for stretches of time, Le Chev and Hennes put together Vapors, AVAN LAVA’s first EP. On the strength of that offering, the group began lighting up audiences and garnering critical attention (prompting The Village Voice to call the band “lush, sparkling”). With 2012’s Flex Fantasy EP, the band built on their unique alchemy of soulful vocals laced through dime-stop beats, launching them on a trajectory that hasn’t stopped. The band embarked on a year-long string of sold-out shows in New York and a US-wide tour with Little Boots, all while managing to spread the AVAN LAVA gospel globally, as when the Seoul Institute of the Arts commissioned the band to put up a full-scale staging of their live show with 100 students. Their reputation as a transportive, over-the-top live act grew, with Noisey raving in a show review "You need these guys in your life!"

OUR LINKS

• Avan Lava Homepage
• On Facebook

Sidewalk Chalk

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With the release of its sophomore album, Leaves, Sidewalk Chalk continues to lead the contemporary evolution of hip-hop, soul, and jazz. The band’s roots are firmly planted in Chicago where all eight members bring their respective talents together to update a sound first heralded in the Native Tongues era but never so musically diverse. The group’s unique arrangement allows them to incorporate numerous styles seamlessly: an MC and female vocalist; a trio of keys, bass, and drums; a horn section with trombone and trumpet; and a tap-dancer.

In contrast to the 2012 debut release, Corner Store, this new album finds the group venturing into a grittier space and capitalizing on a subtle approach that is at times hauntingly beautiful. Leaves represents change, both the loss of something dear and the excitement of exploring something new. “The album is about growth, growing pains, and letting go of the past if need be,” states MC Rico Sisney. Vocalist Maggie Vagle adds, “It’s also about unfolding into a new color. Shedding to shine brighter."
Sidewalk Chalk has created a live show that captivates a variety of audiences. The group has already shared stages with ?uestlove, De La Soul, Action Bronson, Jean Grae, Hiatus Kaiyote and other notables. Individually, band members have acted as musical director(s) for Brother Ali, toured with Jazzanova and played behind Buddy Guy and Talib Kweli. Sidewalk Chalk was named "Most Outstanding Group" at the 2012 Chicago Music Awards, and its MC represented Chicago at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China.


Sidewalk Chalk is: Rico Sisney (MC), Maggie Vagle (Vocals), Charlie Coffeen (Keys), Garrett McGinn (Bass), Tyler Berg (Drums), Jumaane Taylor (Taps), Sam Trump (Trumpet), and David Ben-Porat (Trombone).

OUR LINKS

• Sidewalk Chalk Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On SoundCloud
• On Twitter

Title Fight

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Jamie Rhoden
Ned Russin
Shane Moran
Ben Russin

OUR LINKS

• Title Fight Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On Twitter

Mechandise

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Power Trip

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Psychic Heat

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Steve/Evan Herd - Guitar/Vox
Tanner Spreer - Guitar
Sam Boatright - Bass
Joel Coon - Drums/Keyboards/Guitar/BackingVox/Production

OUR LINKS

• Psychic Heat Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Twitter

The Sluts

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The Sluts are a two-piece garage rock/punk/grunge act from Lawrence Fucking Kansas.

OUR LINKS

• The Sluts Homepage
• On Facebook

Gnarly Davidson

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LFK's premier Beer-Rock band

OUR LINKS

• On Facebook

Sylvan Esso

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Sylvan Esso was not meant to be a band. Rather, Amelia Meath had written a song called “Play It Right” and sung it with her trio Mountain Man. She’d met Nick Sanborn, an electronic producer working under the name Made of Oak, in passing on a shared bill in a small club somewhere. She asked him to scramble it, to render her work his way. He did the obligatory remix, but he sensed that there was something more important here than a one-time handoff: Of all the songs Sanborn had ever recast, this was the first time he felt he’d added to the raw material without subtracting from it, as though, across the unseen wires of online file exchange, he’d found his new collaborator without even looking.

Meath felt it, too. Schedules aligned. Moves were made. And as 2012 slipped into 2013, Sanborn and Meath reconvened in the unlikely artistic hub of Durham, N.C., a former manufacturing town with cheap rent and good food. Sylvan Esso became a band. A year later, their self-titled debut—a collection of vivid addictions concerning suffering and love, darkness and deliverance—arrives as a necessary pop balm, an album stuffed with songs that don’t suffer the longstanding complications of that term.

OUR LINKS

• Sylvan Esso Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Spotify (Will launch Spotify Application)
• On SoundCloud
• On Twitter

Flock of Dimes

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Flock of Dimes is the solo project of Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner.

OUR LINKS

• Flock of Dimes Homepage
• On Facebook
• On SoundCloud
• On Twitter

Born Cages

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Dreamers

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The Kickback

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Shovels and Rope

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Necessity is the mother of invention. Less is more. Make it work with what you've got. 2 Guitars, a junkyard drum kit (harvested from an actual garbage heap- adorned with tamborines, flowers and kitchen rags), a handful of harmonicas, voices, and above all.. songs. Cary Ann Hearst & Michael Trent prefer to keep it simple. They have cleverly managed to take 3 separate recording projects and combine them into 1 cohesive, folk rock, sloppy tonk, harmonized, loose but tight, streamlined audience killing machine.

Michael Trent (Texas/Colorado) has just released his second solo album entitled "The Winner", and Cary Ann Hearst (Mississippi/Tennessee) is about to release her second record "Lions & Lambs". Together hey have one duo release "Shovels & Rope" which was came out in 2008 and are currently working on the follow up "Shovels & Rope V.2" in their house, van, and backyard. At the shows, expect to hear a little something from any or all of these releases - while the duo switch instruments and share lead vocal duties. Also prepare to rethink your definition of a live rock band.

OUR LINKS

• Shovels and Rope Homepage
• On MySpace

Reptar

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There are four boys who make up Reptar. They have offered twice as many (if not more) explanations for why they chose to name their band after a Rugrats character. Â But these days, the Athens, GA based group is sticking to this one: “I first tried to name the band Invisible Boyfriend,” giggles singer-guitarist Graham Ulicny. “And everybody goes, ‘that is the stupidest name I have ever heard in my life.” So why Reptar? “It is the second stupidest band name we have ever heard.”

Indeed, there is no pretense behind Reptar, which also includes Andrew McFarland (drums), Ryan Engelberger (Bass), and William Kennedy (analog keyboards). Â Still, the ability to amuse and arouse their fans is just as important to them as indulging their musical curiosities. Â This sonic wanderlust extends from African Music to post-punk to psych-pop and converges joyously in songs such as “Blastoff” and “Rainbounce,” and it’s won them high fives from NPR and NME alike.

Their aesthetic percolates even more vibrantly through their debut LP, Body Faucet, out May 1, 2012 on Vagrant Records. Â A set of shimmering sing-along anthems produced by Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, Washed Out), Body Faucet is propelled by jerky guitars and persistent beats. Â “The record feels like a big dream with different chapters,” says Ryan. “Ghost Bike” captures the space between witnessing a friend’s death and surviving it. In “Sebastian” (named after a saint who became a gay icon), it’s experiencing, then remembering, a sexual awakening with a close friend. Â Lyrics and music flow in a liquid form from real places, each song oozing with a different color and substance. Â “We wanted to capture the thoughts we project on our surroundings and the ideas that flow in and out of us each day,” says Graham. Â Indeed, much of the record deals with exploring and interacting with one’s surroundings in new, occasionally frustrating, ways. Â The album builds with songs such as “New House,” expressing a future of possibilities. Â A centerpiece of sorts, notes Andrew, “it’s the most driving song on the record, and it’s really empowering live.”

If Reptar had a superpower, it’d be the knack for warming up every space they inhabit. Â “Our music is very physical,” says Ryan. Â “We always try to get people moving.” This is wired into the DNA of the band, which honed its chops on house shows and continues to keep them a central part of its life. Â These shows began three years ago when they moved into a teetering, buttercup yellow abode together. Â “It was slanted at a 20-degree angle,” Ryan explains, “and we’d have shows in the front room.” Â Word spread, and soon they were popping up around at other houses, then clubs.

Reptar even rounded out their stint at last year’s SXSW by playing in a friend’s backyard. Â Impressed by this commitment to connect, NME later rhapsodized about that bouncy set performed on a flatbed truck, anointing Reptar one of the “biggest buzzes” at the festival. Â “Little kids were running around selling cupcakes to drunk people for exorbitant amounts of money,” marvels Graham. Â Reptar, of course, played for free.

OUR LINKS

• Reptar Homepage
• On Facebook

Infamous Stringdusters

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Dismiss labels. Forget trying to fit into a scene. Be true and play your songs.

That encompasses the prevailing spirit of Let It Go, the fifth studio album from Grammy-nominated bluegrass expansionists The Infamous Stringdusters. The new effort, released April 1 on the band’s own High Country Recordings, finds the band on firm footing, at ease with an evolving sound that defies categorization. It’s acoustic music, sure, but not the kind you’ll hear from any other band. Roots can be traced but boundaries don’t exist.

The Infamous Stringdusters have proven they can both mine the past and look forward to the unknown, and their new album is a touchstone for a group of tightly bonded musicians completely comfortable with each other and their collective identity.

Perhaps the sentiment is best summarized through five joined voices in the mountaintop gospel-hued title track: “If it’s worry you’ve been feeling over things you can’t control, it’s time to let it go.”

The Evolution

When The Infamous Stringdusters first emerged eight years ago, the band was immediately branded fast-picking Nashville wunderkinds, a new-generation super group built to revive the high lonesome sound. Then came immediate accolades—IBMA awards, a chart-topping self-titled album for Sugar Hill Records and a Grammy nomination for “Best Country Instrumental” (for “Magic No. 9″ from the 2010 album Things That Fly). Incendiary chops, complete with undeniable instrumental virtuosity and heartfelt harmonies, immediately positioned the band to be longstanding bluegrass torchbearers.

But for the five members of The Stringdusters—Andy Hall (Dobro), Andy Falco (guitar), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle) and Travis Book (upright bass)—reverence for traditionalism has always been only part of the equation. The group has always remained intent on fostering something bigger, more original. It’s this desire—and the combined efforts of uniquely creative minds—that has brought the quintet to its current place as multi-dimensional string explorers, mixing tight song craft from a variety of musical styles with a flare for improvisation. Armed with an exhilarating, often-unpredictable live show, the open-minded approach has certainly resonated and allowed the band to easily fit on a diverse set of stages—from Telluride and Grey Fox to Bonnaroo and High Sierra—building crowds along the way that fill some of the country’s best rock clubs.

The Lifestyle Experience

The past year was particularly transformative, as the band members realized there was no need to go through the formulaic motions in a shaky music industry. Bolstered by the support of a loyal and dedicated grassroots fan base, The Infamous Stringdusters are constantly looking for opportunities to create new experiences. Oftentimes it happens on stage, like the recent sit-ins from Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh or jazz guitar legend John Scofield. Other times it’s through accompanying adventures, like the band’s August 2013 trip on the Middle Fork of Idaho’s Salmon River.

Following the group’s 2013 summer American Rivers Tour, which doubled as an awareness campaign for water sustainability issues in partnership with prominent outdoor industry companies including Patagonia, Klean Kanteen and Osprey Packs, the band members and select fans and friends embarked on a six-day float trip through an unspoiled wilderness area. With instruments in tow, the band played music daily, standing on the banks of the river or sitting together in campsite circles. The inspiration of natural surroundings yielded fresh songs that landed on the new album. “Middlefork” is a newgrass instrumental that conveys the mood of being free in pristine open spaces. “Where The Rivers Run Cold” features a fast progression and introspective lyrics that peak with a bold chorus about enjoying the beauty that surrounds.

In The Studio

When it was time to record Let It Go, the band came together in the fall at White Star Sound, a secluded studio with rustic, close-knit accommodations and state-of-the-art equipment, located on a vast, historic farm outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. It’s a quiet place, accessed by a dirt road, where chickens wander freely and long pastoral views can be enjoyed in every direction. With no distractions, it was the perfect place to distill an overflowing well of ideas that had been filling since the band’s last release, 2012’s Silver Sky.

The result is easily the band’s most cohesive musical statement to date. It’s a record that respects the studio process. Dynamic picking is delivered with restrained grace, in service to song. There’s stylistic range within the context of a unified vision, as melodic reflective tunes wander between nuanced expansive folk (“I’ll Get Away”), anthemic country jams (“Colorado”), freewheelin’ acoustic rock (“Peace of Mind” and “Light & Love”) and dusty balladry (“Rainbows”).

The members of The Infamous Stringdusters now all reside in different locations. Hall and Pandolfi recently felt the calling of the mountains and both moved to Colorado. Guitar ace Falco returned to his roots in Long Island to be near family, while Garrett remains in Nashville, where he’s known as a prolific songwriter. Book dwells quietly in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, near the site of the band’s annual October festival The Festy Experience.

Occasional separation has proven to be a good thing. It’s important to remember these are five musicians with unique individual talents, but they all realize they have an undeniably special chemistry when they come together. That was apparent from day one. But now after years of growth—both personal and professional—the band has cast off labels and found an existence where music is about a greater connection. Through friendship, democracy, skill, passion and open minds, it’s a broader lifestyle filled with community and plenty of celebration.

OUR LINKS

• Infamous Stringdusters Homepage
• On Facebook
• On Youtube
• On Twitter

Bad Manners

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Bad Manners, composed of vocalist Buster Bloodvessel (born Douglas Trendle), Louis Cook (guitar), David Farren (bass), Martin Stewart (keyboards), Brian Tuitti (drums), Gus Herman (trumpet), Chris Kane (saxophone), and Andrew Marson (saxophone), were one of the many bands to take their inspiration from the Specials and the ska revival movement in England in the late '70s. They quickly became the novelty favorites of the fad through their bald, enormous-bodied frontman's silly on-stage antics, earning early exposure through 2-Tone Records package tours and an appearance in the live documentary Dance Craze. In the early '80s, they managed several U.K. hits including "Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu," "Lip Up Fatty," "Special Brew," and "Can Can." By the mid-'80s, the ska craze was over and the band retired temporarily after the release of 1985's Mental Notes, only to return in 1989 with Return of the Ugly, remaining a live attraction despite a lack of concurrent hits. By the mid-'90s, a third wave ska revival renewed interest in the band. Eat the Beat was released in 1996 and Uneasy Listening followed in 1997, as well as several collections from the band's peak years.

OUR LINKS

• Bad Manners Homepage