“She showed me the air and taught me how to fill it,” Janis Joplin said of Bessie Smith. Reimagine Music is proud to present the fifth installment in its series of original recordings celebrating iconic figures. Available everywhere as digital download September 30th, The Empress of the Blues: A Tribute To Bessie Smith, takes on an indie rock and blues slant, featuring an all female-vocalist line up, including: Hailey Bonar, Jenny Owen Youngs, Doria Roberts, Dawn Lanes, Catherine Feeny & Daniel Dixon, Whitney Monge, Simone White, Holly Golightly, Tift Merrit, Barbara Kessler, Alessi’s Ark & Scott Verbeek, and Abigail Washburn.

Throughout the 1920s, singing in the vernacular and reflecting the suffering of her people through unadulterated country blues, Bessie Smith became hugely popular. But she was not a woman without controversy. By frequenting live sex shows and orgies, literally beating a rival unconscious, sleeping with a musical director, seducing her female backup dancers (driving one of them to attempt suicide), and having a coterie of drag queens following her on tour she made her own trouble and was proud of it. In spite of all that, or perhaps because it, after signing to Columbia Records in 1923, her first recording sold 800,000 copies -- an enormous number even by today's standards – and she would soon become one of the best-selling performers in the country. Yet Bessie is virtually unknown today. 

Producer Jim Sampas gets right at it: “Smith turned the world upside down with caustic, boldly truthful, lyrics often mirroring her own life. The rubbed-raw honesty of her work put an iron hook into audiences, who never forgot her. Bessie made herself a leading artistic voice of her time, despite the uproar over her lifestyle, and the invariable adversity she faced as a black woman in an era with overt racism and misogyny. Yet, astoundingly, her work is sadly underappreciated today. Of herself, Bessie once said, "The greatest blues singer in the world will never stop singing." On this album we have the very best young women singers on today’s scene, putting their own engagingly loving, modern day, touch on her music, helping to ensure just that – her music never stops.”

ABOUT JIM SAMPAS

The Los Angeles Times recently described Sampas as “the thinking person’s producer” known for critically acclaimed work that honors other icons such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles. He is the innovator and creative powerhouse behind three projects based on the last great novel by another legend, Jack Kerouac: the Billboard Heatseeker #1 album, Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard's One Fast Move, Kerouac’s Big Sur; the documentary film of the same name featuring Tom Waits, Sam Shepard, and Patti Smith; and the recent Official Sundance Film Festival Selection feature film Big Sur, starring Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, and Rhada Mitchell, with a score composed by Aaron and Bryse Dessner of The National.

ABOUT REIMAGINE MUSIC

Reimagine is a label created exclusively to give tribute to iconic albums, artists and music. Their growing catalog of releases has been acclaimed for their imagination with the selection of core artists to contribute their versions as well as their intent to reimagine the icons anew. The Blue Indian review of their last release, Esperanza: Songs From Jack Kerouac’s Tristessa, almost went to eleven: “Literature and music have long enjoyed a mutually beneficial communion...[Esperanza] is a near-perfect marriage of the two.” Reimagine Music is exclusively distributed by The Orchard.

The Empress of the Blues: A Tribute To Bessie Smith

1. Jenny Owen Youngs “After You’ve Gone” (2:24)

2. Tim & Adam “Nobody In Town Can Bake A Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine” (3:01)

3. Doria Roberts “Poor Man’s Blues” (3:44)

4. Whitney Monge “Thinking Blues” (3:31)

5. Catherine Feeny & Daniel Dixon “St. Louis Blues” (3:40)

6.  Haley Bonar “Send Me To The ‘Lectric Chair” (3:40)

7. Simone White “Backwater Blues” (4:27)

8. Tift Merritt “Sugar In My Bowl” (2:20)

9. Dawn Landes “Please Help Me Get Him Off My Mind” (3:06)

10. Barbara Kessler “Preachin’ The Blues” (3:50)

11. Hanne Hukkelberg “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” (3:28)

12. Holly Golightly “It Won’t Be You” (2:23)

13. Alessi’s Ark & Scott Verbeek “Hot Spring Blues” (2:43)

14. Jesca Hoop “Baby Doll” (3:01)

15. Abigail Washburn “Backwater Blues” (3:47)

Listen here

Five-piece, Colorado-based Americana roots troubadours, Von Stomper, will release their second full-length album, Américado, on September 19, 2015. The all-original 12-song LP brings the band’s latest musical revelations and “circus-freak panache” (Marquee Magazine) to a growing catalog of American roots revival music. Von Stomper will tour the nation this fall throughout September and October. Full list of tour dates below.

“We’ve grown as musicians, roadies, and greasy gear techs over the past year,” says guitarist Wolf van Elfmand. “We’ve learned from every broken string mid-set, all the well-worn backstage digs, all the dust we’ve kicked up on the road--not to mention our fans. It all gives the songs on Américado grit and twang.”

Wolf van Elfmand (guitar/vocals), Luke Callen (guitar/vocals), Mark Austin (banjo/harmonica/vocals), Taylor Shuck (upright bass), and Dane Mark (drums/percussion) came together via connections in the Fort Collins music scene, notably the monthly Black Mountain Ramble, hosted by Elfmand and Callen. “The Ramble’s like busking for an audience of musicians,” says Callen. “We all essentially met there, heard each other’s songs, got hungry to collaborate.” The rest is two years of history in the studio and on the road.

Von Stomper’s following has bloomed since the band’s first album arrived in April of 2014.The band has played alongside lodestone performers in the Americana/Country scene, including the Turnpike Troubadours, Whiskey Shivers, and Roadkill Ghost Choir.

Von Stomper’s influences stretch from Sonny Boy Williamson to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, from Woody Guthrie to John Hartford. Elements of each seep into the band’s music and stage presence, giving Von Stomper an old-timey feel and collaborative, contemporary drive comprised of harmonies, chants and anthems.

Tour Dates:

Date | City | Venue

9/9      Laramie, WY Griphon Theater featuring Black Lillies

9/12    Guffy, CO Black Mountain Family Reunion

9/17    Denver, CO               Cervantes

9/18    Laramie, WY                Street Festival

9/19    Fort Collins, CO      Hodi’s Half Note

9/22    Kearney, NE            Gillies

9/23    Iowa City, IA             Gabe’s

9/24    Minneapolis, MN     331 Club

9/25    Lacrosse, WI                The Rote Note

9/26    Eau Claire, WI         The Mouse Trap

9/27    Bangor, WI               Leo and Leona’s

9/29    Madison, WI             The Frequency

9/30    Chicago, IL              The Redline Tap

10/7    Bilings, MT               The Garage

10/8    Livingston, MT         The Murray

10/9    Bozeman, MT          Eagles

10/10 Missoula, MT                The Palace

10/11 Spokane, WA The Checkerboard

10/13 Seattle, WA The High Drive

10/14 Portland, OR The Secret Society

10/16 Boise, ID Pengilly’s

10/24 Fort Collins, CO Hollerween

10/29 Amarillo, TX Leftwoods

10/30 Lubbock, TX The Bluelight with Taddy Porter

10/31 Marfa, TX Padres

11/14 Emporia, KS Brickyard 20 Ale House

Nashville based Americana trio The Carmonas take their brand of roots based country and bluegrass and combine it with elements of folk to create a sound that is both unique and intriguing; all of which are on display during their live performances. Fronted by the sibling team of Aaron, Alison and Chad Carmona and backed by a group of acoustic instrumentation that include banjo, mandolin, stand-up bass, and acoustic guitar, they showcase their original music and mix it together with covers that display their wide range of influences. After this week’s showcase at the IBMA’s in Raleigh, The Carmonas are set to perform at the famed Bluebird Cafe in Nashville on November 1st.

Singer/songwriter, pianist, and philanthropist Pete Muller is bringing the music/philanthropy space to the next level with his third album, Two Truths and a Lie, which comes out October 23.  Muller has committed the sale of each album to charity: water, an organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to developing nations. Click here to pre-order Two Truths and a Lie on iTunes.

Muller will kick off his Two Truths and A Lie tour on October 22, partnering with a different philanthropic organization in each city.  Charities include The Robin Hood Foundation in New York City, A Leg To Stand On in Chicago, Berklee College of Music’s City Music & AMP UP programs in Boston, Room to Read in Oakland, California, and MOXI, the new Museum of Exploration and Innovation in Santa Barbara. The shows are quickly selling out; for a full list of dates and tickets, see below.

In addition, Muller is leading an innovative Facebook campaign challenging friends with a goal to raise up to $50,000 with 5,000 Facebook shares. #2TruthsAndALie is a social media game designed for friends to challenge their knowledge of one another while raising money for charity: water. For every person who shares Muller’s original post and challenges at least one other friend to guess a lie out of #2TruthsAndALie, Pete Muller will donate $10 to the organization.  Muller notes, “It’s unfathomable for most of us to live without clean water, but that is a reality for many across the globe. Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. If I can bring more awareness to this cause with my music, it’s a win all around.”

Produced by Rick DePofi (whose credits include Rosanne Cash’s Grammy-winning The River & The Thread), Two Truths and a Lie is filled with intimate songs that capture audiences on first listen. Muller is joined on the recording by his long-standing trio members Skip Ward on bass and Kyle Rowland on drums. A number of other well-known players, including trombonist Walter Hawkes, make cameo appearances.  Forbes.com recently premiered the video for “The Muse,” a swinging jazz waltz that reflects upon the ever-elusive artistic presence. Watch the clip here. Muller previously released the video for “Kindred Soul,” which has already been viewed more than 25,000 times.  

While he was achieving the highest level of Wall Street success as a pioneer in “quant” investing, Muller was also singing his songs to tough-hearted New York City subway audiences.  Muller says. “The best thing about working on Wall Street was that it challenged me to be the best I could be. When I perform I am looking for a similar challenge.” That philosophy translates to the album and benefit tour.  Muller notes, “I love the passion and joy I feel when I am playing and I want to touch as many people with that joy as I can. If I can also help promote and raise money for these fantastic organizations, that makes it even better.” 

For more information visit: http://petemuller.com

http://facebook.com/petemullermusic

Benefit Show Dates:

Oct 22 - Chicago, IL at City Winery

Benefit for A Leg To Stand On // Tickets

Oct 23 - Boston, MA at David Friend Recital Hall (Berklee College of Music)

Benefit for Berklee College of Music’s City Music & AMP UP Programs // Tickets

Oct 28 - New York, NY at City Winery

Benefit for the Robin Hood Foundation  // Tickets

Nov 2 - Oakland, CA at Duende

Benefit for Room to Read // Tickets

Nov 4 - Santa Barbara, CA at Soho Restaurant & Music Club

Benefit for MOXI, the new Museum of Exploration and Innovation // Tickets

Alex Woodard is a singer-songwriter who writes songs about letters and weaves their backstories into a book and album package called FOR THE SENDER. Most of these letters that had inspired the songs were about the extraordinary beauty and growth that people were creating post-trauma. 

His latest project, FOR THE SENDER: Love Letters From Vietnam, is an album of songs created from letters left behind by a Vietnam veteran and the daughter that finds them. The book FOR THE SENDER: Love Letters From Vietnam, was released to raves and now the album comes out Feb 12. This is a compelling story of service and sacrifice, love and redemption, and the power of forgiveness and healing through music, written and performed by Woodard. 

Paste Magazine posted the music video to the song ‘East Texas Sky,’ watch here.

Upcoming tour dates:

American Songwriter is the perfect place to release new music from Colorado’s celebrated band Paper Bird. The site premiered “I Don’t Mind” from the band’s new release PAPER BIRD, which hits September 9 on Thirty Tigers. The band is touring throughout their home state this summer, and will headline in September, leading up to Nashville’s prestigious Americana Music Festival on September 24. They will head out on tour with The Ballroom Thieves beginning in November.  To pre-order PAPER BIRD, go here. For tickets, go here.
 
After a songwriting session, world-renowned musician, singer and songwriter John Oates signed on to produce PAPER BIRD, alongside David Kalmusky. The album was recorded and mixed at Addiction Sound Studios in Nashville. About the band, Oates claims: “Paper Bird is a band that possesses a sound that’s more than the sum of its parts,” Oates effuses. “It’s the coming together of two perfect trinities. It has three distinctly unique female lead singers whose harmonies blend together as one...united with an inventive, cohesive rhythm section trio. I loved their sound from the first time I heard them and they just keep getting better. They are a true musical family united by a unique and pure artistic vision...a rare quality in this day and age of so much disposable and less than original music.”

The album PAPER BIRD has a sound that blends the engaging vocal harmonies of Fleet Foxes and The Lone Bellow with the classic ‘70s stylings of bands like Heart and Fleetwood Mac without imitating or emulating any one of them in particular. Indeed, the new music is rugged, resilient and flush with enthusiasm. It conveys the essence of inspired Americana, while still staying true to its riveting rock regimen.

The album starts with the soulful strut of “To The Light,” and heads into desire and yearning with the single “Don’t Want Half.” With its playful harmonies and rhythms, “I Don’t Mind” captures the ephemeral feelings of love, proclaiming “it’s not easy to be a dreamer, when you’re sleeping with the wind.” Paper Bird merge the musical past with the present on “Sunday,” conjuring up doo-wop, rock and groove sounds.
 
Paper Bird has three lead vocalists ­ singer Sarah Anderson, singer and keyboard player Genevieve Patterson, and newest member Carleigh Aikins - all of whom blend their voices in seamless three part harmonies. The instrumental duties are shared by bassist Caleb Summeril, guitarist Paul DeHaven (guitar), and drummer Mark Anderson.

Hailing from Denver, Colorado, Paper Bird first emerged from the same environs that launched such outfits as Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and the Lumineers. The group has toured extensively throughout the U.S., sharing bills with the aforementioned bands, as well as Daryl Hall & John Oates, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Shakey Graves.

After being named one of Relix's "On The Verge” artists, the premiere music outlet has gotten on board again with Asheville NC favorites The Get Right Band. They ran the exclusive of the band’s "Motivation" video, the first video from WHO’S IN CHARGE?, which came out August 5.  The band celebrates the release with a show in their hometown at Isis Music Hall.

In addition to Relix, the band has been lauded by the prestigious NPR show World Café and named “Best New Band” of 2015 by Home Grown Music Network. WHO’S IN CHARGE? will reach even more fans as the band has expanded their sound, which combines clever and catchy lyrics with fearless improvisation, seamlessly blending elements of rock n’ roll, funk, reggae and psychedelia.  The album just hit radio last week and is already getting airplay around the country on tastemaker stations like North Carolina’s WNCW, New York's WBAI, Colorado's KVNF, and Ontario's CIUT.

The Get Right Band is built on the musical brotherhood between Silas Durocher, a classically trained composer, and bassist, Jesse Gentry. With the addition of Jian-Claude Mears, a powerhouse drummer, GRB rounded out their sound. Who’s in Charge? is produced by frontman Durocher (vocals, guitar), Julian Dreyer and The Get Right Band. Recorded in their hometown of Asheville at Echo Mountain Studio (The Smashing Pumpkins, T-Bone Burnett), the LP was engineered and mixed by Dreyer who has worked with The Avett Brothers and Zac Brown Band. It was mastered by six-time Grammy winner Brian Lucey known for his work with The Black Keys and Beck.

The Get Right Band is currently on a nationwide tour in support of their album. The act has played around the United States and the Caribbean with an energetic and unparalleled live show, and have played festivals and venues including Nashville’s Music City Roots TV Show, Asheville’s The Orange Peel, Savannah’s Live Wire, FloydFest and more. They’ve also had the honor of sharing the stage with well-known acts including Galactic, Rusted Root, Victor Wooten Band, Martin Barre (of Jethro Tull), Turkuaz, Mike Dillon Band, Jeff Sipe Trio, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, Jeff Coffin’s Mutet, Larry Keel, and Bobby Lee Rodgers.

Be sure to catch The Get Right Band on the road.

See upcoming tour dates below:

8/10/2016 Roanoke,VA-Martin’s Downtown

8/12/2016 New Hope, PA -Triumph Brewing Company

8/13/2016 Philadelphia, PA -The Grape Room

8/14/2016 Harlem, NY –Shrine

8/15/2019 New York, NY -The Manderley Bar

8/17/2016 Boston, MA (technically Norwood) Extended Play Sessions

8/19/2019 Frederick, MD- The Blue Slide

9/1/2016 Boone, NC -The Boone Saloon w/ Roots of a Rebellion

9/2/2016 Stuart, VA -Front Porch Festival

9/8/2016 Charlotte, NC- The Double Door Inn

9/9/2016 Boone, NC -Musicfest at Blue Bear Mountain

9/15/2016 Frederick, MD -Alive @ Five

9/17/2016 Floyd, VA -Dogtown Roadhouse

9/29/2016 Knoxville, TN-Preservation Pub

9/30/2016 Nashville, TN- The End w/ Aquaducks

10/1/2016 Chattanooga, TN- Clyde's on Main

10/14/2016 Bryson City, NC -Nantahala Brewing Company

Greg Loiacono will release his first full-length solo album, Songs From a Golden Dream, on September 23rd, 2016 on vinyl, CD and digital formats. With 11 new songs by The Mother Hips co-founder, Songs From a Golden Dream finds Loiacono delivering his boldest and most accomplished release to date. Songs From a Golden Dream is a baroque, electric work that hums and spits with energy even in its quietest moments. Expert song-craft developed over an eclectic career springs up innovatively throughout the album. Seated far from the bleary detachment common in his generation of songwriters, Loiacono's songs are bright-eyed, present, sincere – and a bit psychedelic at times.

The album’s first track, “The Red Thread Part I (The Gloaming)," a tough-groove, four-part-harmony stomp, invites the listener into his world: 
 
Meet us on the hill
Lovely and terrible
All are invited
Sensations are ignited
 
Loiacono takes us on a sonic journey filled with rich imagery, sultry textures and straight-up rock n roll.  He threads together his last decade of experiences into a single, intricate, beautiful tapestry. The album closes with the gorgeous, Vivaldi-by-way-of-Simon-and-Garfunkel track “The Day's Long Wind.” The “day” Loiacono is reflecting upon is his whole life up until now – the “Golden Dream.”

Along with Loiacono on vocals and guitars, the Songs From a Golden Dream personnel includes frequent Loiacono collaborators Todd Roper (Cake, Chuck Prophet) and Scott Thunes (Frank Zappa, The Mother Hips, Fear) on drums and bass respectively, as well as Jackie Greene on the Hammond organ and Lefty Knight on pedal steel and sitar. Loiacono co-produced the record with long-time collaborator David Simon-Baker (Los Lobos, Jack Johnson, ALO, Mac Dre). "It wasn't easy finding time to finish Golden Dream" says Loiacono. His busy schedule with The Hips, solo performances and his family keep the man constantly on the move. "But making this album with such a fine group of people and with songs that mean so much to me has been one of the great pleasures of my musical life."

Loiacono is best known as a co-founding member of the band The Mother Hips. The band is currently based out of San Francisco, California and still tour the country on a regular basis. When he is not on the road, Loiacono can often be found making music with Phil Lesh and his crew down at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA, just minutes away from Loiacono's home.
 
Songs From a Golden Dream will be available for pre-order on 9/9 and in stores 9/23. Go to www.gregloiacono.com for details.

Greg will be performing with his band at the following venues:

10/14 Winston's, San Diego, CA
10/15 Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, CA
10/21 Terrapin Crossroads, San Rafael, CA
10/28 The White Horse, Portland, OR
 
With The Mother Hips:

8/27- Volcanic Theatre Pub, Bend OR  
8/28- Cheney Stadium, Tacoma WA (w/ Dawes) 
9/3- Foam Fest- Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, CA
9/5- The Cliff's Resort, Pismo Beach, CA
9/7- The Big Room @ Sierra Nevada Brewery, Chico, CA
9/9&10- Bear Music Fest, Pinecrest, CA
9/16&17- Joe's Pub, New York, NY
9/23-  Don Quixote's Music Hall, Felton, CA
10/1- Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, SF, CA

Colorado Americana/Rock band Paper Bird releases their self-titled album today on Thirty Tigers, produced by John Oates (of Hall & Oates) and David Kalmusky. The band will perform at the prestigious Americana Music Fest in Nashville on September 24th.

"11 tracks that blend a ’70s rock sensibility and harmonies throughout." - Wall Street Journal, Speakeasy

Hailing from Denver, Colorado, Paper Bird first emerged from the same environs that launched such outfits as Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and the Lumineers. The group has toured extensively throughout the U.S., sharing bills with the aforementioned bands, as well as Daryl Hall & John Oates, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Shakey Graves.

For more info and to find a show date near you, visit:

Greg Loiacono releases his solo album SONGS FROM A GOLDEN DREAM today. With 11 new songs by The Mother Hips co-founder, SONGS FROM A GOLDEN DREAM finds Loiacono delivering his boldest and most accomplished release to date. SONGS FROM A GOLDEN DREAM is a baroque, electric work that hums and spits with energy even in its quietest moments. Expert song-craft developed over an eclectic career springs up innovatively throughout the album. Seated far from the bleary detachment common in his generation of songwriters, Loiacono's songs are bright-eyed, present, sincere and a bit psychedelic at times.

Loiacono is best known as a co-founding member of the band The Mother Hips. The band is currently based out of San Francisco, California and still tours the country on a regular basis. When he is not on the road, Loiacono can often be found making music with Phil Lesh and his crew down at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA, just minutes away from Loiacono's home.

For more info and to find a show date near you, visit:

Official:  www.gregloiacono.com
Twitter:  @greghips
Instagram:  @gregloiacono 
Facebook:  facebook.com/gregloiacono

Ween drummer Claude Coleman Jr. is taking his band amandla on the road, starting February 1 with the Mike Dillon Band. amandla’s latest release is LAUGHING HEARTS, and features the soul/funk/rock fusion amandla has become know for on past recordings and during live shows. Listen to LAUGHING HEARTS here.  The vinyl version of LAUGHING HEARTS will be available on March 9. 

amandla is the brainchild of Coleman, who expands his drummer role with Ween to that of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, playing all the instruments on amandla’s recordings. Coleman notes, “I’ve been playing guitar and writing songs as long as I have been a drummer. It has always been a companion instrument for me. Songs are hyper-expressive and mulit-dimensional, and I express that with joy playing these instruments.”

LAUGHING HEARTS was created during a period of nomadic living, with Coleman jumping from friend’s couches to his car and back again. After a series of personal and professional heartaches, Coleman found himself barely existing, and his only agenda was to record the songs “in whatever way I could, by any means necessary. The rest I assumed would be sorted by the Universe, my dividend for my Love to life and the world around me despite the wretchedness of failure and heartbreak.”

LAUGHING HEARTS is the third amandla release on Coleman’s imprint Marshall Hotel Records and follows The Full Catastrophe, a record bridging the pop sounds of Squeeze, jazz rock and folk psychedelia, and reviewed as a “minor masterpiece.” Written in and around NY and NJ, as well as during incessant touring with Ween, Catastrophe took over the span of four years, prolonged by the event of a near-fatal car accident that Coleman took over one year to rehabilitate and relearn skills in order to continue. His miraculous story of dedicated work and recovery has been featured in The New York Times and on NPR.

2.1 // Lafayette, LA // Wurst Beergarten

2.2 // Houston, TX // Last Concert Café

2.3 // Austin, TX // The Mohawk

2. 5  // Norman, OK  // The Deli

2.6 // Tulsa, OK // Frasier Hall

2.7 // St. Joseph, MO // Café Acoustic

2.8  // Kansas City, MO // The Brick

2.9 // Denver, CO // Quixotes

2.10 // Telluride, CO // The Liberty

2.12 // Victor, ID // The Knotty Pine

2.15 // Portland, OR // Good Foot

2.16 // Eugene, OR // Whirled Peas

2.17 // Seattle, WA // The Royal Room