Larry Rivera, a legendary fixture of Kauai, Hawaii whose career spanned over seven decades and who worked alongside Elvis Presley in ‘Blue Hawaii’ has passed away at the age of 92. Also known as “Mr. Coco Palms,” Rivera was a key fixture of Kauai’s entertainment culture where he started his career in the 50s and performed at the famed Coco Palms Resort until it closed.

Formed upon a chance encounter while busking in the subways of New York City, Bandits on the Run have become modern troubadours, the flower children of the digital age. Their new single, “You Have Changed,” releasing on February 2, 2023, marks a new phase of Banditry; this is the first release that they have self-produced, and offers a taste of what’s to come on the follow-up record to 2021’s acclaimed EP, Now Is The Time.

This February, Flushing Town Hall celebrates Black History Month (or African American History Month, as it’s also known) with the return of its Black History Trilogy, a three-part series featuring outstanding performers paying tribute to influential African American musicians, dancers, and entertainers.

The Pinkerton Raid—project of Durham, N.C., singer & guitarist Jesse James DeConto—has released the new music video for "Blood in My Eyes" via Flagpole Magazine. Starring two young ballet dancers, the video, DeConto told Flagpole, is an attempt to capture the physicality of the feeling of betrayal. "I had the idea that we should cast children," he says, "as a reminder that we’re all vulnerable and that none of us deserve to be treated badly."
 

Originally released in 2016, Champions has become a fan favorite and developed an enduring legacy as one of Whiskerman’s finest works. And 7 years later the band is back with 2 upcoming singles and a special Deluxe Edition of Champions due for release in 2023, just in time to coincide with the original lineup that recorded the album performing together again and label Royal Oakie celebrating its 10th Anniversary.

A blank canvas is full of possibility—much like the partnership of Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, whose new album, Canvas, comes out March 17on Linus Entertainment. They are two of the world’s top Celtic fiddlers: she a renowned, award-winning solo artist from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; he from the legendary Leahy family of Ontario, an intergenerational musical act that toured the world.

Indie songwriter Jeremy Facknitz has been entertaining audiences with his lovingly crafted music and high-energy performances for over a quarter century. Since the 2002 break-up of his Detroit-based band “The Ottomans” (they earned a 2001 Detroit Music Award for Best New Alternative Band, beating out “The White Stripes”), Jeremy has performed primarily as a solo act, marrying folk-rock and jazz stylings to showcase his intimate stories of life, love, and self-discovery.  

Hailed as “a young musician and composer with a mature touch and rare combination of talent, creativity, humility and honesty” by NPR, pianist Isaiah J. Thompson is an emerging generational talent. This March 17th, his first live album—The Power of the Spirit—will be released digitally and as a CD on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s in-house record label, Blue Engine.

One act came from Houston, Texas, the other from Sydney, Australia, but they both proved to be outstanding at this year’s International Blues Challenge finals, which took place January 28th at Memphis’ historic Orpheum Theatre.