Jess Kallen steps out today with "A Garden Bed of Thistle Weeds," the 26-year-old guitar wiz's first single from a debut album expected in Spring of 2023. Kallen – who has been spotted as a sideperson on tours with Alex Lahey, Rosie Tucker, even the occasional show with Olivia Rodrigo – offers up thoughtfully arranged folkish-rock that navigates grief, rage, and love with raucous urgency and whimsical charm, for fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Indigo De Souza and Haley Henderickx.

“A Garden Bed of Thistle Weeds” peers through the window of engrossed introspection. Hazy, ambient guitars set the scene, in what feels like an homage to Kallen's foggy San Francisco roots. As Kallen (they/them) comes to “grip on the shovel” of their own fury, “Watch me dig, watch my cold blood boil while I figure it out,” they insist. The song squirms in the turmoil conflict brings: asserting power with clever defiance (“Some food for thought now, I should never be/ A reaper sowing your way to grief”), before returning to the aching confession, “I don’t want to leave”. The chorus rises in a slow and washy crescendo, as guitar and voice blend in unison.

This partnership between guitars and vocals feels like a realization for an instrumentalist stepping center stage. Kallen gravitated towards the guitar hungrily at age five. “My dad was always strumming a guitar around the house,” they recall. “He’s a metalhead, a total San Francisco misfit. I wanted to be exactly like him.” In 2014, Kallen moved to Los Angeles to attend music school for guitar, and they continue to call L.A. home between tours.

"A Garden Bed of Thistle Weeds" is out today, Nov. 29, on New Professor.

In celebration of his fourth GRAMMY nomination for his song “Oh Betty” in the “Best American Roots Performance” category, soulful singer, songwriter, musician, and activist Fantastic Negrito (neé Xavier Dphrepaulezz) has released a brand new reimagined acoustic version today. Part love story, part history lesson and with acclaim spanning Pitchfork to NPR, the multimedia project tells the defiant tale of his seventh generation white Scottish indentured servant grandmother Betty Gallimore who was living in a common law marriage with his seventh generation African-American enslaved grandfather, Grandfather Courage, in the face of the racist, separatist, laws of 1750s colonial Virginia. Fantastic Negrito shares, “The incredible story of my seventh generation grandparents was so profound. I reimagined it through the lenses of my touring band. Please check it out unplugged unapologetic reimagined.”

Listen / Share: "Oh Betty" (Reimagined Acoustic Version)

A larger than life character, Fantastic Negrito’s own story is stranger than fiction. He first released an album in 1996, but a near fatal car crash in 1999 effectively ended the first chapter of his career. It resulted in him spending three weeks in a coma and initially losing almost all movement in his right hand, drastically limiting his ability to play guitar. Effectively reborn under his new artist identity of Fantastic Negrito, his career got underway when his phenomenal, charismatic performance won NPR Music’s prestigious Tiny Desk Concert Contest.

All three of his previous studio albums have won the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Blues album: The Last Days of Oakland, Please Don’t Be Dead and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?. He has toured with artists as varied as Sturgill Simpson and Chris Cornell, collaborated with Sting and E-40, launched his own Storefront Records label, and founded the Revolution Plantation, an urban farm aimed at youth education and empowerment. He is also confirmed for several film screenings w/ performances and to play a show in Italy in March 2023 as guest to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Full list of live appearances here.

Soulful singer, songwriter, musician, and activist Fantastic Negrito (neé Xavier Dphrepaulezz) has announced his brand new album Grandfather Courage, a reimagined acoustic version of his acclaimed 2022 album White Jesus Black Problems. He previously offered fans a preview of the collection’s new version of “Oh Betty”, in celebration of its GRAMMY nomination in the “Best American Roots Performance” category. Today, he has released another taste of the special release with “Highest Bidder” (Reimagined Acoustic Version), debuted with American Songwriter and shares, “If you want to take your mind, body and soul on a trip check out the reimagined recording of Highest Bidder through the lenses of my touring band. At the time, I was listening to a lot of African drum patterns, and that definitely influenced this song. I’m trying to convey what I see when I walk down the street here in Oakland.”

Part love story, part history lesson and with acclaim spanning Pitchfork to NPR, the multimedia project tells the defiant tale of his seventh generation white Scottish indentured servant grandmother Betty Gallimore who was living in a common law marriage with his seventh generation African-American enslaved grandfather, Grandfather Courage, in the face of the racist, separatist, laws of 1750s colonial Virginia. Fantastic Negrito shares, “The incredible story of my seventh generation grandparents was so profound. I reimagined it through the lenses of my touring band. Please check it out unplugged unapologetic reimagined.”

A larger than life character, Fantastic Negrito’s own story is stranger than fiction. He first released an album in 1996, but a near fatal car crash in 1999 effectively ended the first chapter of his career. It resulted in him spending three weeks in a coma and initially losing almost all movement in his right hand, drastically limiting his ability to play guitar. Effectively reborn under his new artist identity of Fantastic Negrito, his career got underway when his phenomenal, charismatic performance won NPR Music’s prestigious Tiny Desk Concert Contest.

All three of his previous studio albums have won the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Blues album: The Last Days of Oakland, Please Don’t Be Dead and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?. He has toured with artists as varied as Sturgill Simpson and Chris Cornell, collaborated with Sting and E-40, launched his own Storefront Records label, and founded the Revolution Plantation, an urban farm aimed at youth education and empowerment. He is also confirmed for several film screenings w/ performances and to play a show in Italy in March 2023 as guest to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Full list of live appearances here.

Today, soulful singer, songwriter, musician, and activist Fantastic Negrito (neé Xavier Dphrepaulezz) has released his brand new album Grandfather Courage, a reimagined acoustic version of his acclaimed 2022 album White Jesus Black Problems. He shares, “The incredible story of my seventh generation grandparents was so profound. I reimagined it through the lenses of my touring band. Please check it out unplugged unapologetic reimagined.” The collection has had support spanning Hypebeast, BET, American Songwriter, XLR8R, Consequence, KCRW "Press Play", WBUR, KUT "Song of the Day" and more. The three-time GRAMMY winner is nominated again this year in the "Best American Roots Performance" category for the original version of "Oh Betty".

Part love story, part history lesson and with acclaim spanning Pitchfork to NPR, the multimedia project tells the defiant tale of his seventh generation white Scottish indentured servant grandmother Betty Gallimore who was living in a common law marriage with his seventh generation African-American enslaved grandfather, Grandfather Courage, in the face of the racist, separatist, laws of 1750s colonial Virginia. Fantastic Negrito gives insight into the new collection’s title, “My Grandfather was listed as a man with no name so I felt like I needed to give him his credit and a name, Grandfather Courage. The two formed a forbidden union during the time of slavery in 1750s Virginia. If they can make it, what’s our excuse?”

A larger than life character, Fantastic Negrito’s own story is stranger than fiction. He first released an album in 1996, but a near fatal car crash in 1999 effectively ended the first chapter of his career. It resulted in him spending three weeks in a coma and initially losing almost all movement in his right hand, drastically limiting his ability to play guitar. Effectively reborn under his new artist identity of Fantastic Negrito, his career got underway when his phenomenal, charismatic performance won NPR Music’s prestigious Tiny Desk Concert Contest.

All three of Fantastic Negrito’s previous studio albums have won the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Blues album: The Last Days of Oakland, Please Don’t Be Dead and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?. He has toured with artists as varied as Sturgill Simpson and Chris Cornell, collaborated with Sting and E-40, launched his own Storefront Records label, and founded the Revolution Plantation, an urban farm aimed at youth education and empowerment. He is also confirmed for several film screenings w/ performances and to play a show in Italy in March 2023 as guest to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Full list of live appearances here.

Today, Bridget Kearney - the bassist and founding member of Lake Street Dive - released the single “Don’t Think About The Polar Bear” across all platforms. Accompanying the single is an animated music video which is premiering today via FLOOD Magazine, and can be seen HERE.

The video was created by Mertcan Merbilek and Yasemin Yasu, and its deep winter aesthetic is perfectly timed for the holiday season.

“Don’t Think About The Polar Bear” is available across all platforms now.

A founding member of Lake Street Dive and writer of some of their most enduring songs, like"Good Kisser" and "Hypotheticals," Bridget Kearney is known for writing smart, unexpected lyrics and melodies that instantly glue themselves to the inside of one's brain. "I'm really fascinated by the layering of emotions in song," says Kearney, "it's a special art of complexity in miniature, where it's possible within three and a half minutes you can make someone feel loneliness and gratitude and humor at the same time, and also make them want to dance." Her work outside of Lake Street Dive has been extensive and exploratory. She has released two solo albums as well as an album and an EP with producer Benjamin Lazar Davis, both recorded in Accra, Ghana in collaboration with Ghanaian musicians. In the last year she's played bass for pop icon Ed Sheeran, folk darling Aoife O'Donovan, indie rocker Margaret Glaspy, country artist Bella White and Brazilian singer Tiago Iorc. This stylistic diversity is evident in her solo recordings as well. "I'm not really thinking about genres at all when making music," she says. "It's all about the fundamental building blocks of music and the way it all makes you feel." Her latest collaboration is with Los Angeles producer Dan Molad (Lucius, Buck Meek). "I heard Dan's production of Buck's song 'Halo Light' and immediately became obsessed with it and listened to it like 400 times. It was so dynamic and layered and tugged so deeply at my heartstrings. I thought, 'I want to make music like that.'"

“Don’t Think About The Polar Bear” is a sad, funky song about being bad at meditating, trying not to think about your ex-partner and a metaphorical polar bear, and is a reflection on the psychological phenomenon known as "Ironic Process Theory." The phenomenon is otherwise known as the "white bear problem" because of this Dostoevsky quote:

"Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute."

The accompanying music video shows two polar bear lovers that have broken up just before the holidays and are trying to distract themselves, but they are constantly reminded of the love that got away. Perfect for the holiday season!

The idea being that when you are actively trying not to think about something, you are actually much more likely to think about it.

“Don’t Think About The Polar Bear” is streaming across all platforms HERE, and the music video can be seen HERE.