MelodyVR announces the launch of Live from LA, a free live music series delivered directly into fans’ homes around the world, broadcast from a specially designed studio location in Los Angeles. 

Here in LA; it’s hot! The usual May, grey days have disappeared, with summer clearly wooing us, even though we have nowhere to go. Some of my fondest memories are sticky, Sunday nights heading to Club 70’s to dance the night away in white, go-go boots with a vintage, brightly patterned miniskirt and complimenting mid-drift tee. I was only seventeen. We would pack into my VW convertible or borrow one of our dad’s fancy, mid-life crisis’ vehicles to shuttle ourselves to Hollywood. The windows were down and popular 90’s music was blaring.

The OC Music Festival, in partnership with DJE Sound and Lighting, has announced their inaugural “So Over COVID” streaming music festival.  The livestream, taking place on Memorial Day weekend, will feature some of Southern California’s biggest “jam band” acts in footage captured live from the 2019 festival, as well as new footage taped especially for this special event.

Celia Woodsmith has been creating music as a solo artist, a duo and with her bluegrass band, Della Mae. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter has a knack for adventure and bringing a song to life for audiences to enjoy across the globe. Grateful Web had the opportunity to catch up with Celia and hear some of her experiences over the years. 

Celia Woodsmith:  It’s great to talk to some in the music business and who loves music. I miss it a lot. It’s comfort.

Blending Bluegrass, electro beats and Hip-Hop seems like an unlikely recipe for success, but that mix has taken Gangstagrass to the top of the Bluegrass charts. Their recent live album spent almost 20 weeks in the Top Ten. The band packs concert halls, Rock and Country music clubs and festivals with impressive live shows, featuring their hybrid of Jam Band improvisation, prodigious Bluegrass chops, and socially conscious rapping.

Upstate have shared a new video for their forthcoming single "Everything Changes." Available tomorrow (Fri. May 15) on all streaming platforms, both the song and video were recorded and filmed simultaneously in one take in vocalist Mary Kenney's living room a few weeks prior to the nationwide shutdown due to COVID-19. While the Hudson Valley-based band didn't write the song with the pandemic in mind, it retroactively speaks to the current times.

Ghost Gnotes (pronounced Ghost neeyotes), the nom-de-plume of Denver, CO musician Luke Mossman (Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats) releases “Takes Some Time,” the first single from his debut self-titled album, out May 29th, 2020. Premiering with American Songwriter earlier this week, they describe the emotive single, “[‘Takes Some Time’] sways in delicate instrumentation and echoes, mirroring all its emotional waves.”
 

One Earth Live has announced an international lineup of high-end musicians, artists, and speakers unifying to promote a positive outlook in a world currently facing so many challenges. One Earth Live will take place online via streaming partner PORTL on May 23rd and 24th, 2020.

Kansas-City born and bred, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist Fritz Hutchison shares a new video for “Fortunate Flaws”, that Earmilk described as “a folk-rock anthem about the tricks of time and coping with nostalgia.” The release of this visual comes off the heels of his successful debut album Wide Wild Acres (3/27), through Center Cut Records. The record has caught attention from American Songwriter, Earmilk, Shazam, and more.

The Arizona based progressive rock band Spafford is set to perform LIVE in Mesa, AZ on May 24. The show will take place at the famed drive-in movie theater "Digital Drive-In.” This is the band’s first live performance since the Covid-19 epidemic forced bands worldwide to cancel tours and scheduled performances. There will be a limited number of tickets available for this performance. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 15th at 10AM PST.