Progressive groove quartet Dopapod is elated to announce they will once again ring in the New Year at the Worcester Palladium. Dubbed The Ball Drop, the event will also feature Turkuaz & Kung Fu and is presented by Live For Live Music & Disc Jam. With all three bands being long-time friends and no strangers to collaborating, the evening is set to be an exciting night of music.

The Ball Drop will come as Dopapod wraps up a massive fall and winter tour with the soul-funk quintet, The Nth Power. This four-month run kicks off this Friday, September 18 at the Catskill Chill, which will find Dopapod & Turkuaz joining forces to form DopaKuaz. The two bands will be playing a special Studio 54 set together celebrating the music of the legendary disco era. This is anticipated to be the dance party of the weekend in honor of the festival's final year being held at Camp Minglewood.

The upcoming tour follows an action packed summer, including illustrious appearances at Bonnaroo, Mountain Jam, Red Rocks, Peach Fest, Electric Forest, High Sierra and more. All of this time on stage with each other has given Dopapod the opportunity to explore the wide variety of influences that has impacted them to be the players they are today.  But, don't be quick to think that the no holds barred experimentation is unguided. While the brush in their hand uses every color, it's the stroke on the canvas that gives Dopapod a distinct voice in the way of crafty songwriting.

View/Share "Sonic" live at Gramercy NYC

http://youtu.be/W7b-HAyGlhY

Dopapod has come a long way from their college basement, DIY party roots. While maintaining to be as grassroots as their humble beginnings, the group has earned praise from Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, The Boston Herald and Relix, all the while tending to their ever expanding community of devoted listeners.

Dopapod Tour Dates:
Sept 18 - Hancock, NY - Catskill Chill
Sept 20 - Hancock, NY - Catskill Chill
Sept 23 - Morgantown, WV - Mainstage
Sept 24 - Thornville, OH - Resonance Festival
Sept 25 - Thornville, OH - Resonance Festival
Sept 26 - Thornville, OH - Resonance Festival
Sept 27 - Lexington, KY - Cosmic Charlies
Sept 29 - Knoxville, TN - The Concourse
Sept 30 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre
Oct 01 - Richmond, VA - The Broadberry
Oct 02 - Darlington, MD - Luna Light Festival
Oct 03 - Darlington, MD - Luna Light Festival
Oct 04 - State College, PA - The State Theatre
Oct 07 - Detroit, MI - Populux
Oct 08 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
Oct 09 - Kalamazoo, MI - Bell's Eccentric Cafe
Oct 10 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue Theatre*
Oct 11 - Adams, TN - Creatures Of the Night Festival
Oct 13 - Fayetteville, AR - George's Majestic Lounge
Oct 15 - Frisco, CO - Barkley Ballroom
Oct 16 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up
Oct 17 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre*#
Oct 18 - Fort Collins, CO - Hodi's Half Note
Oct 21 - Dallas, TX - Trees
Oct 22 - Rockdale, TX - Art Outside
Oct 23 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
Oct 24 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's
Oct 27 - Jackson, MS - Duling Hall
Oct 28 - Huntsville, AL - VBC Playhouse
Oct 29 - Birmingham, AL - Zydeco
Oct 30 - Live Oak, FL - Hulaween
Nov 12 - Providence, RI - The Spot Underground
Nov 13 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
Nov 14 - Woodstock, NY - Bearsville Theater
Nov 18 - Buffalo, NY - Tralf Music Hall
Nov 20 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
Nov 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
Dec 02 - Wilmington, NC - Ziggy's
Dec 03 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre
Dec 04 - Charleston, SC - The Pourhouse
Dec 05 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
Dec 08 - Chattanooga, TN - Revelry Room
Dec 09 - Nashville, TN - Exit In
Dec 10 - Asheville, NC - New Mountain
Dec 11 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
Dec 12 - Vienna, VA - Jammin' Java
Dec 13 - Vienna, VA - Jammin' Java*
Dec 31 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium w/ Turkuaz + Kung Fu (The Ball Drop)
* - No Nth Power
# - w/ Moon Hooch

Progressive quartet Dopapod closed out 2015 with their biggest NYE show yet at the The Palladium in Worcester, MA and kicked off 2016 with a packed out Gramercy Theatre in NYC. The improv-ridden outfit is now proud to announce a five week spring tour that will see the band performing multi-night stands every weekend. Kicking off March 31 in Denver, the run covers substantial ground and ends with three big nights in Boston on April 28, 29 & 30, the city that the group was born. A full list of tour dates can be found below.

An enthusiastic Rob Compa (Guitar/Vocals) goes on, "I get so excited every time I look down the list of dates on this Spring Tour. We're lucky to get to see so many different cities along our travels and each one leaves its mark on us. With the time off at the beginning of the year, we figure let's post up in some of those cities that we actually have personal ties to, really dig our heels in, and let loose. We'll be settled in these spots for entire weekends which, for those that are either in or making the trip out to these areas, will make for shows where we'll really get to be in our element and going for it onstage."

Dopapod will be taking January, February and March off to write new material and this will be the only tour before Summer festival season. Keyboardist/Vocalist Eli Winderman elaborates, "We've been such a road-dog kind of band for the past five years, and toured really hard throughout 2015 in support of the last album. It was an incredible year full of some of the best shows and experiences we've ever had as a group. The four of us are in a really good place to take that energy from the road and pour it into some focused writing time. We're so proud of that last record and have never felt better about the ideas that have been kicking around waiting to be developed."

The band has released mixed and mastered, multi-track recordings of both 12/31/15 in Worcester, MA and 1/2/16 in New York City that can be accessed HERE. Video of that NYC show can be viewed in its entirety HERE.

Dopapod has come a long way from their college basement-party, DIY roots. While maintaining to be as grassroots as their humble beginnings, the group has earned praise from Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, The Boston Herald and Relix, all the while tending to their ever expanding community of devoted listeners.

All of this time on stage with each other has given Dopapod the opportunity to explore the wide variety of influences that has impacted them to be the players they are today.  But, don't be quick to think that the no holds barred experimentation is unguided. While the brush in their hand uses every color, it's the stroke on the canvas that gives Dopapod a distinct voice in the way of crafty songwriting.

Dopapod Tour Dates:
Mar 31 - Denver, CO - The Bluebird Theater
April 01 - Denver, CO - The Bluebird Theater
April 02 - Denver, CO - The Bluebird Theater
April 05 - Milwaukee, WI - The Mirimar Theatre
April 06 - St. Louis, MO - The Old Rock House
April 07 - Bloomington, IN - The Bluebird
April 08 - Columbus, OH - Park Street Saloon
April 09 - Columbus, OH - Park Street Saloon
April 12 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern
April 13 - Charlotte, NC - The Rabbit Hole
April 14 - Charleston, SC - The Pour House
April 15 - Asheville, NC - New Mountain
April 16 - Asheville, NC - New Mountain
April 17 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
April 20 - Buffalo, NY - Buffalo Iron Works
April 21 - Pittsburgh, PA - The Rex Theater
April 22 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre Of Living Arts
April 23 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre Of Living Arts
April 26 - Syracuse, NY - The Westcott Theater
April 27 - Kingston, NY - BSP Kingston
April 28 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair
April 29 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair
April 30 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair

Dopapod is:

Eli Winderman - keyboards

Rob Compa - guitar

Chuck Jones - bass

Scotty Zwang – drums

Boston songwriter Mark Erelli is at the pinnacle of his career. Following nine albums, years as a top sideman, multiple collaborations and a recent tribute album, he's ready to impart his culminating work. Mark Erelli will release For A Song on April 8.

For A Song is a bouquet of songs that reflect where Erelli has arrived, personally and professionally. From introspective ballads to celebrations of love's allure, these twelve songs stand-alone as eloquent statements and together as a meditation on life in all its dimensions.

Mark will be touring through the spring behind For A Song. A full list of dates can be found below with more to be added.

Mark Erelli Tour Dates
Mar 19 -- Williamstown, MA -- Williams Inn
Mar 30 -- Minneapolis, MN -- Cedar Cultural Center *
Mar 31 -- Stoughton, WI -- Stoughton Opera House *
Apr 01 -- Evanston, IL -- SPACE *
Apr 02 -- Indianapolis, IN -- The Hi-Fi *
Apr 03 -- Cincinnati, OH --20th Century Theatre *
Apr 05 -- Charlottesville, VA -- The Southern *
Apr 06 -- Annapolis, MD -- Ram's Head *
Apr 07 -- Vienna, VA -- The Barns At Wolf Trap *
Apr 08 -- Norfolk VA -- Private event *
Apr 09 -- Plymouth, MA -- Spire Center for the Performing Arts
Apr 15 -- Colorado Springs, CO -- Stargazers Theater
Apr 20 -- New York NY -- Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3
Apr 21 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Burlap & Bean
Apr 22 -- Lakewood NJ -- The Strand
Apr 23 -- Washington, DC -- TBA
Apr 29 -- Boston, MA -- Club Passim
Apr 30 -- Northampton MA -- Parlor Room @ Signature Sounds
* w/ Aoife O'Donovan

Boston songwriter Mark Erelli is at the pinnacle of his career. Following nine albums, years as a top sideman, multiple collaborations and a recent tribute album, he's ready to impart his masterful work. Today, Folk Alley reviewed For A Song and welcomes you to HEAR IT FIRST ahead of its April 8 release.

"There are very few voices that can sing any type of song and contain as much emotion and power as his voice can so easily do," proclaims Folk Alley's Cindy Howes. "The songs on For A Song are worthy of this man's voice; they are the best of his career, so far. It's inspiring to hear the culmination of all his hard work in songwriting, raising a family and different musical collaborations of these past several years come to life on this album."

For A Song is a bouquet of songs that reflect where Erelli has arrived, personally and professionally. From introspective ballads to celebrations of love's allure, these twelve songs stand-alone as eloquent statements and together as a meditation on life in all its dimensions. The album has received notable attention from No Depression and The Bluegrass Situation, who premiered the humble janitor's conversation with God, "Look Up", at the end of last week.

As a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, that meant accepting offers to accompany other artists on tour. "I was touring arenas with Lori McKenna, opening for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw," he says. "We played at the Grand Ole Opry and on Good Morning America. I played at the Royal Albert Hall with Josh Ritter and began working with Paula Cole, a Grammy winner." (Cole's voice graces two tracks on FOS)

These experiences led Erelli to ponder several questions. "I kept asking myself, 'What am I doing here? What's the end goal? Why would I put myself and the people I love through all this? It always came back to one phrase: for a song. That's been the answer to almost every question I've asked myself for quite some time."

Mark is touring through the spring behind For A Song. A full list of dates can be found below with more to be added.

Mark Erelli Tour Dates
Apr 05 -- Charlottesville, VA -- The Southern *
Apr 06 -- Annapolis, MD -- Ram's Head On Stage *
Apr 07 -- Vienna, VA -- The Barns At Wolf Trap *
Apr 08 -- Norfolk VA -- North Shore Point House*
Apr 09 -- Plymouth, MA -- Spire Center for the Performing Arts
Apr 15 -- Colorado Springs, CO -- Stargazers Theater #
Apr 16 -- Denver, CO -- Soiled Dove Underground #
Apr 20 -- New York NY -- Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3
Apr 21 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Burlap & Bean
Apr 22 -- Lakewood NJ -- The Strand Center For The Arts
Apr 23 -- Charlottesville, VA -- Front Porch
Apr 24 -- Arlington, VA -- IOTA
Apr 28 -- West Dennis, MA -- O'Shea's Olde Inn
Apr 29 -- Boston, MA -- Club Passim
Apr 30 -- Northampton MA -- Parlor Room @ Signature Sounds
May 14 -- Dover, NH -- Red & Shorty's
May 19 -- Cincinnati, OH -- Live at the Ludlow Garage

* w/ Aoife O’Donovan
# w/ Paula Cole

After years of songwriting, producing and honing her musical DNA, singer-songwriter Jackie McLean shares the Roan Yellowthorn EP, available today. The piano pop powerhouse and daughter of famed "American Pie" song man Don McLean cements the launch of her solo career with a US tour announcement, starting with her first-ever New York City showcase at Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 1) on Saturday, April 9 @ 7pm.

Under the carefully crafted moniker Roan Yellowthorn, McLean is boldly sharing a poignant labor of love and confessions on romance, addiction, spirituality and more that she's kept close to the vest for years. Recorded at upstate NY's Nada Studios with husband and co-producer Shawn Strack, the EP reflects a diverse palette of influences, from folk and country to Americana and indie and offers narratives that could jump off the page.

Listen to the Roan Yellowthorn EP

http://spoti.fi/1RIOuoo

Roan is more than an emerging voice - she's also an established author, having penned a novel and book of poetry. Her extensive studies in literature and history, along with newfound motherhood, inspired her bright and honest debut effort that's reminiscent of Joni Mitchell and Regina Spektor and bears a recognizable -- and almost uncanny -- vocal resemblance to her musician father.

Roan will perform the entirety of her self-titled EP for the first time in New York City at Rockwood Music Hall (stage 1) on April 9 at 7pm. See below for a list of confirmed dates throughout spring and summer 2016.

Roan Yellowthorn Spring 2016 Tour Dates:
Apr 09 -- New York, NY -- Rockwood Music Hall Release Show (Stage 1, 7pm)
Apr 16 -- Montpelier, VT -- Bagitos
May 26 -- Winooski, VT -- Monkey House
Jun 11 -- Calais, VT -- Whammy Bar
Jul 02 -- New York, NY -- Leftfield on Ludlow
Aug 06 -- Rockland, ME -- Lobster Festival
Aug 09 -- North Haven, ME -- Waterman's Theater
Aug 20 -- Burlington, VT -- Nectar's Music Hall

In Motion marks the Jimkata's second successful go at an entirely crowd-sourced record and ushers in a new chapter as a trio. The record, which premiered via Billboard Magazine, is a triumph of swirling analog synths and breezy hooks in the vein of Yeasayer, St. Lucia, Peter Gabriel and Broken Bells.

Friends since middle school Evan Friedell (vocals/guitar), Aaron Gorsch (synths) and Packy Lunn (drums) infuse Jimkata -- which, yes, is named after the so-bad-it's-good 1985 gym-fu caper Gymkata--with both an adventurous musical streak and an emotional core. Jimkata is bringing its dynamic live show across the US for the next two months, including an opening slot for X Ambassadors in its hometown of Ithaca, NY. See below for a full run of dates.

Jimkata Upcoming Tour Dates
Apr 21 -- Fort Collins, CO -- Hodi's Half Note
Apr 22 -- Denver, CO -- Larimer Lounge
Apr 23 -- Boulder, CO -- The Lazy Dog
Apr 25 -- Lawrence, KS -- The Bottleneck
Apr 27 -- Iowa City, IA -- Yacht Club
Apr 28 -- Grand Rapids, MI -- Founders
Apr 29 -- Lansing, MI -- The Loft
Apr 30 -- Erie, PA -- Kings Rook Club

POP Montreal returns this fall. The legends are coming back, along with the weirdos, the influencers, the icons and the groundbreakers. Here is a taste:

French composer and synth funk genius Wally Badarou, who collaborated with everyone from Grace Jones to Jimmy Cliff and the Talking Heads; the enchanting singer-songwriter Angel Olsen; the truly iconic filmmaker and author John Waters; as well as Miami Bass gods 69 Boyz, who will be sharing a bill with next level Jersey club kween, Uniiqu3.

POP will also feature the enigmatic psychedelic pop-smith Michael Angelo; the groundbreaking experimental punk band Psychic TV, led by Genesis P-Orridge, who will also give a one-off talk during the POP Symposium; Domino Recording artists The Kills, and maybe our new favourite new pop band, Diet Cig.  

Other highlights include the Canadian Premiere of Colin Stetson's Sorrow, a reimagining of Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 with an 11-piece orchestra and the multi-talented Seth Bogart, who will grace us with new music and showcase his sharp artistic mind and recent ceramic sculptures in an exclusive, multimedia, site-specific installation as part of this year's Art POP.  It's the best party and the best time. It's the best festival.

But before seeing everyone in September, POP planned a special treat for its friends across the pond. The first ever POP Off Europewill head to England and Germany for a 7 date tour later this month, featuring Montreal’s own Foxtrott, Wake Island and L.A. FOSTER. POP will hit up Focus Wales, The Great Escape, Torstraßen Festival and will also stop by Liverpool Sound City for a second year in row, where Wake Island and Liverpool songstress Feral Lovewill premiere a special collaboration to be performed exclusively for the Liverpudlian audience! People everywhere will be invited to tune into POP Montreal’s periscope broadcasts to stay up to date and check all that out.

The Kickback's brand of brainy indie rock and raucous live shows have earned the band fans in Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, The Huffington Post, Nerdist, CMJ, The Wild Honey Pie and more. As nationwide momentum continues to build, the band will hit the road for another run of shows and festivals in support of its debut album, Sorry All Over The Place, produced by Spoon’s Jim Eno.

This year alone, the Chicago quartet has graced the stage of acclaimed rock station WXRT not once, but twice, hit both SXSW and CMW and enjoyed its first sold-out hometown set at Lincoln Hall in February. Not to mention, made a viral meteorology debut on CBS Cleveland 19, as well.

See below for a glimpse of the band's unapologetic, unpredictable and critically acclaimed live set.

The Kickback marks lead singer Billy Yost's odyssey from South Dakota to Chicago where he joined forces with guitarist Jonathan Ifergan, bassist Eamonn Donnelly and drummer Ryan Farnham via a Craiglist ad. The underdogs continue to win fans from every spectrum, including Jason Narducy, bassist for Bob Mould & Superchunk, who put Sorry... on his Best of 2015 list and even Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs), who sang the band's praises, as well.

Collectively, The Kickback cite Hunter S. Thompson, post-post-modernism, an inflated sense of self-importance, large families, David Foster Wallace, The Wire, big sounds and then quiet sounds, David Lynch, harmonies, Michael Keaton, and entitlement, as their conceptual inspirations. 

The Kickback Summer 2016 Tour Dates:

Jun 10 -- Chicago, IL -- Santah's Prom at 1st Ward - Tickets

Jun 12 -- Chicago, IL -- Ribfest Bud Light Stage w/ Jukebox The Ghost - Tickets

Jun 26 -- Minneapolis, MN -- 7th St. Entry - Tickets

Jul 04 -- Maquoketa, IA -- Codfish Hollow Barnstormer w/ KT Tunstall - Tickets

Jul 08 -- Chicago, IL -- Taste of Chicago

Jul 09 -- Champaign, IL -- The Accord - Tickets

Jul 21 -- Madison, WI -- The Frequency - Tickets

Jul 22 -- Chicago, IL -- Lincoln Hall w/ Miracle Legion - Tickets

Jul 23 -- Columbus, OH -- Brother's Drake - Tickets

Jul 24 -- Lakewood, OH -- Mahall's Main Room

Jul 26 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Johnny Brenda's* - Tickets

Jul 27 -- Cambridge, MA -- Middle East*

Jul 28 -- Asbury Park, NJ - The Saint*

Jul 29 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Rough Trade*

Jul 30 -- Rehoboth Beach, DE -- Dogfish Head Brewing

Aug 01 -- Washington, DC -- DC9*

Aug -2 -- Chapel Hill, NC -- Local 506^- Tickets

Aug 04 -- Greenville, SC -- Radio Room^

Aug 05 -- Charlotte, NC -- Snug Harbor^

Sept 16 -- Del Mar, CA -- KAABOO - Tickets

Sept 17 -- Del Mar, CA -- KAABOO

Sept18 -- Del Mar, CA -- KAABOO

* w/ Cold Fronts

^ w/ Heyrocco

After two years away from the studio playing festivals and shows around the world, The Dustbowl Revival is sharing its first two tracks from their forthcoming new record. “Busted” b/w “Only One” will be available as a limited edition 7-inch and via all digital retailers on October 14 via Signature Sounds.

The Dustbowl Revival will come to Agave in Avon on Tues, Nov 15 and Larimer Lounge in Denver on Wed, Nov 16

Tuesday, November 15 — 9:30pm
The Dustbowl Revival @ Agave
1060 W Beaver Creek Blvd
Avon, CO
$5
21+
http://www.agaveavon.com/night-club

Wednesday, November 16 — 7:00pm
The Dustbowl Revival @ Larimer Lounge
2721 Larimer St
Denver, CO
$12
16+
http://www.larimerlounge.com/

Produced by Grammy award-winner and Flogging Molly co-founder Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Gaslight Anthem, Dropkick Murphys), the new sounds signal a striking departure from their fun-loving, raucous old-time past and has the band mixing their unique eight-piece instrumentation into realms of hard soul, funk and the emotional, introspective folk reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon and Aretha Franklin’s harmony-drenched 70s output.

Cris Jacobs recently released Dust to Gold and has been touring behind his sophomore effort that features his inspired songwriting and soulfully transcendent voice. The album wasn't the only new arrival for Jacobs this year, as the The Washington Post covers, his wife also gave birth to their first daughter, just a few weeks before the album dropped.

Jacobs can now chalk up another arrival as Dust To Gold hits #1 on the RMR Roots Rock & Rock Album charts, seeing strong airplay from WNCW, WTMD, WUTC, WSUM and WDHA, to name a few.

Hear / Purchase Dust To Gold at Spotify | iTunes | Amazon 

Cris has harnessed over a decade of trans-genre exploration on his sophomore solo album and Wide Open Country applauds, "On Dust to Gold, Jacobs draws from the past and present and comes into full maturity as an artist.” Jacobs has recently toured with Steve Winwood and Sturgill Simpson and his headlining run continues this week with the richly funky rhythm section of Todd Herrington on bass and Dusty Ray Simmons on drums. Dates with Anders Osborne and JamCruise kick off the new year and expect an extensive 2017 tour announcement behind Dust To Gold in the coming weeks.

Cris Jacobs Tour Dates:
Nov 10 – Morgantown, WV – Schmitt’s Saloon
Nov 11 – Frostburg, MD – Dante’s
Nov 12 – Roanoke, VA – Martins
Nov 16 – Macon, GA – Cox Capitol Theatre #
Nov 17 – Atlanta, GA – Eddie’s Attic #
Nov 18 – Nashville, TN – The Basement #
Nov 19 – Whitesburg, KY – Appalshop Theatre #
Nov 23 – Baltimore, MD – 8x10 (The Bridge)
Nov 30 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
Dec 02 – Philadelphia, PA – Ardmore Music Hall
Dec 03 – Richmond, VA – The Camel
Jan 06 – Baltimore, MD – 8X10 *
Jan 07 – Baltimore, MD – 8X10 *
Jan 20-25 – Miami, FL – JamCruise

# w/ Marc Ford
* w/ Anders Osborne

Mini roots orchestra The Dustbowl Revival offered fans a pair of dichotomous love songs with its limited edition "Busted" b/w "Only One" 7-inch released via Signature Sounds in October. On the tailend of its latest U.S. tour, the Venice Beach eight-piece has shared an empowering visual for its biting break-up anthem "Busted" exclusively with Relix Magazine and announces a small run of additional shows into the new year.

Hell hath no fury for a scorned woman, and vocalist Liz Beebe is front and center for the revolution, belting her woes of betrayal in the middle of an all-male line-up of multi-instrumentalists. Backed by a fiery army of mistreated mistresses, Beebe leads the charge in standing up against infidelity as she's engulfed by modern instrumental evolution, traditional folk instruments and the ever-present, passionate promise to never forgive -- nor forget.

Director Devin Schiro admits that capturing the bombasity of the band in any single frame was a creative challenge. Schiro shares, "With around 75 separate layers of video in the timeline, trying to figure out how to squeeze in enough screen time with each member without rushing them through or cutting anyone short was a meticulous process, but luckily, each of them provided such amazing performances that it was always a matter of having ‘too much’ to chose from, never ‘not enough.'" That's a sentinment that can be echoed about the band's live show, as well.

These bolder, unfettered tracks follow two years of non-stop globe-trotting and festival hopping for the West Coast octet. Produced by Grammy award-winner and Flogging Molly co-founder Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Gaslight Anthem, Dropkick Murphys), the 45 reflects a plunge into hard soul, funk and blues for an act that's already notoriously known for mastering every base of traditional American music on record and on stage.

See below for remaining tour dates, and stay tuned for a Dustbowl Revival full-length and more in 2017.

The Dustbowl Revival Tour Dates
Nov 17 — Aspen, CO — Wheeler Opera House
Nov 18 — Socorro, NM — New Mexico Tech Performing Arts Series
Nov 19 -- Los Angeles, CA -- AirBnB OpenLA Festival
Dec 01 — Chico, CA — Sierra Nevada Big Room
Dec 03 -- Buellton, CA -- Standing Sun Wines
Dec 15 -- Los Angeles, CA -- The Hi Hat
Jan 26 -- Mill Valley, CA -- Sweetwater Music Hall
Feb 10 -- Washington, DC -- The Hamilton
Mar 11 -- New Cumberland, WV -- Oak Glen Festival

Oklahoma’s Travis Linville will release the gorgeously melodic roots album, Up Ahead, this week via CEN/RED Distribution, a division of Sony Music. An inexplicably authentic instrumentalist known for his work as a sideman with Hayes Carll, Linville moves to the front of the stage to start his release tour this week. Perfect timing as Up Ahead is also climbing up the Americana and Non-Com/Triple A charts with over 20 adds this week from key stations such as KRSH, WFIV, WMNF and Main Public Broadcasting.

NPR Music featured "Wishes" in World Cafe's 'Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing'. Ryan La Croix of KOSU's The Spy says, "‘Wishes’ is a highlight of Travis Linville’s forthcoming full-length. The relatable tune, paced by steady percussion and accented by a crying pedal steel, focuses on those ever-escaping moments as folks weave in and out of our lives.”  He goes on to praise, “Up Ahead represents a fully focused effort.”

Travis Linville produced Up Ahead in a small studio in Norman, OK, essentially in reverse. "I had a bunch of half-written songs, and in some cases just musical road maps, so I brought some musicians into the studio for a marathon live tracking to songs they didn’t know—and I didn’t either at that point. The idea was to create a musical track for me to write over to finish out the songs." The result is a gorgeously melodic roots album that gives priority to the song. 

Pre-Order Up Ahead

Travis Linville Tour Dates:
Feb 01 - Tulsa, OK - Mercury Lounge
Feb 03 - Oklahoma City, OK - Blue Door
Feb 04 - Little Rock, AR - Whitewater Tavern 
Feb 06 - Nashville, TN - The Basement
Feb 08 - New Orleans, LA - Chickie Wah Wah
Feb 09 - Houston, TX - Mucky Duck 
Feb 10 - Austin, TX - Saxon Pub
Feb 11 - Fort Worth, TX - Live Oak 
Feb 15 - Tulsa, OK - Mercury Lounge
Feb 16 - Kansas City, MO - Folk Alliance International
Feb 17 - Kansas City, MO - Folk Alliance International
Feb 18 - Kansas City, MO - Folk Alliance International
Feb 22 - Tulsa, OK - Mercury Lounge
Feb 28 - Oklahoma City, OK - JJ's Alley

Anna Coogan has been preparing for this moment her whole life, ever since she was a girl growing up in Boston, influenced by her classical opera training and her father’s protest albums by Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan. After several efforts with her Pacific Northwest-based alt-country band north 19, a pair of well-received indie solo releases and a collaboration with producer JD Foster (2014’s Birth of the Stars), Coogan’s latest is a stylistic breakthrough. Anna Coogan will release The Lonely Cry of Space & Time on April 28.

The album, a virtual two-person effort which features Willie B (Brian Wilson) on drums and Moog bass, combines Coogan’s three-octave soprano vocals, electric guitar soundscapes and pointed social commentary into a fierce cohesive piece which combines the personal and the political, in a musical hybrid of rock, country, pop and classical opera into a unique whole.

Just as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Going On were steeped in the tumultuous ‘60s, Anna Coogan’s The Lonely Cry of Space & Time is inextricably linked to the flammable present. The more accessible songs, like the '60s Brill Building pop of “Sylvia,” a nod to poet Sylvia Plath, the new wave dance-pop of “Meteor” and the blues-country ballad “Follow Me” (co-written with JD Foster and Willie B) are intensely personal. Still, other tracks, such as “Collateral” (with its plea not to be typed or controlled by inflammatory words), “Burn for You” (an “apocalyptic lullaby” in which she describes “the brushfires of empire burn”) and “Wishing Well” (a pro-immigration plea which insists, “If they throw wide the gates, if they slam the doors/Keep on swimming until you find the shore”), all deal with how political issues affect the individual.

After close to 47 years of music, Lee Fields, backed by The Expressions and their incomparable soul-sound musicianship, recently released Special Night on Big Crown Records. Throughout his career, Lee's mission has always been about LOVE, and so is his recent album. With tracks like “Lover Man”, “Never Be Another You”, Precious Love” and I’m Coming Home”, the message is singular, but none more so than the title track and ode to his lady, “Special Night”. Just in time for Valentine’s Day next week, Lee Fields & The Expressions present the video for “Special Night”.

Lee and the band are returning from a sold out European tour today and head back out for a two month stint next week,  ending at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. A full list of tour dates can be found below.

Possessing a voice that’s equally raucous and tender, Fields crafts a truly honest, soulful work in Special Night and it hasn’t gone unnoticed, with praise from NPR Music, The New Yorker, Newsweek, Paste and countless others. Billboard says, “Lee Fields & The Expressions continue to evolve while still remaining true to their 60s roots” and Noisey commends, "While others of his era burned out or faded away, Fields is still here, his voice now more passionate and ecstatic than ever."

It’s hard to find another active singer today that has the background Lee Fields does: a first release in 1969, records on thirteen different labels, and close to 47 years of music making, touring, and recording. With such a seasoned past, it’s amazing that the musician and artist, Lee Fields, a North Carolina native, is as busy and focused as ever. Backed by The Expressions and their incomparable soul-sound musicianship, Lee Fields’ Special Night holds court with any soul music that came before it while evolving and pushing the limits of the genre into the current musical landscape.

Special Night is available via all formats HERE

Tour Dates:
Feb 16 - Boston, MA - Royale *
Feb 17 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer *
Feb 18 - Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel *
Feb 23 - Burlington, VT - ArtsRiot
Feb 24 - Montreal, QC - L'Astral
Feb 25 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
Feb 26 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Café
Feb 28 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Mar 01 - Bloomington, IN - Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Mar 03 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
Mar 04 - St. Louis, MO - 2720 Cherokee Performing Arts Center
Mar 05 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
Mar 09 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre
Mar 10 - Savannah, GA - Savannah Stopover Music Festival
Mar 11 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
Mar 12 - Durham, NC - Motorco Music Hall
Apr 16 - Indio, CA - Coachella
Apr 23 - Indio, CA - Coachella

* w/ The Shacks

The String Cheese Incident & SCI Fidelity Records are pleased to announce the release of Believe, the 7th studio album from SCI, due out April 14, 2017. The album is the first to come out of their just-opened Sound Lab Studio and the follow-up to 2014’s A Song in My Head, their first new album in close to a decade. Like that release, Believe was produced by Talking Heads’ keyboardist Jerry Harrison, and includes nine, brand-new, original tunes, most of which were the product of a fruitful week-long songwriting retreat in Sedona, AZ back in 2015.

In anticipation of Believe, SCI has teamed up with PledgeMusic to offer fans access to exclusive bonus content and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the record, as well as limited edition items and VIP experiences available only to “pledgers” who pre-order the record. Visit PLEDGEMUSIC.COM/SCI for more info. 

Reversing their usual process, SCI created and recorded the songs before introducing them in concert. The band’s eclectic palette of styles has never been more apparent – from the funky wah-wah guitar laced with tribal percussion of the title track and the “catchy little number” that is the sing-along single, “Sweet Spot,” to the country/hip-hop hybrid of “Get Tight,” the Eagles homage of “Down a River,” with its Appalachian a cappella chanting, the Beatles/Pink Floyd psychedelia of “Flying” and the Afro-Caribbean reggae riddims of “Beautiful.”  

Each of the individual members’ musical influences come shining through – Bill Nershi’s love of roots Americana, southern rock and British music; Michael Kang’s affinity for primal soul; Keith Moseley’s country, classic rock and bluegrass; Kyle Hollingsworth’s funk and singer/songwriter folk, and Jason Hann and Michael Travis’ African beats and electronic collaborations (as in their band EOTO).

“My One And Only”, penned by keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth, features Bonnie Paine of Elephant Revival on vocals and was intended to be a road song. “It seemed similar to her style and we fell into the concept of it being a long distance letter to a loved one,” explains Kyle. “With images from staring out the window of a bus to thoughts of coming home, the song found its place.”

Hear / Share “My One And Only” at Soundcloud | Spotify | AppleMusic

The past few years have found SCI moving the focus from their always-hectic touring schedule – which includes curated annual festivals like Electric Forest in the summer and Hulaween in the fall, interspersed by assorted Incident collaborations with the likes of Lauryn Hill, the Doobie Brothers, Big Gigantic and Zac Brown Band – to a more regular schedule of releasing studio albums. Independent from the very start, SCI now boasts not only their own record label (SCI Fidelity Records), but a recording studio as well, which has unleashed their creative juices.

“The idea of just turning the key, walking in and recording has given us a new perspective,” says bassist Keith Mosley. “We can now lay down a new song and put it out without waiting to complete the full album. It also shortens the time between conception and realization to release and ultimately, playing it live.”

“What’s liberating for us is having the freedom to be creative without worrying about wasting time and watching the clock,” adds Kang. “Being a democracy can be exhausting sometimes because of the amount of negotiation.  Having our own place to record and rehearse enabled us to relax a bit and do things on our own terms. Even if the pressure to create great music is still there.  After 25 years, it’s about time we put as much energy into the recording as we do live performances.”

SCI has been on the cutting-edge of the DIY philosophy since their very start, and Believe offers the fruits of the band’s spirit of self-sufficiency.  You could even say they’ve hit that “Sweet Spot,” though don’t expect String Cheese to remain in any one place for too long.

The band begins the Winter Carnival 2017 – Roots Revival Tour in March (which is already sold out) before the April Spring Cheese 2017 shows and festivals through the summer.  A full list of tour dates can be found below.

SCI Tour Dates
Mar 03 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre **Sold Out**
Mar 04 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre **Sold Out**
Mar 07 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up **Sold Out**
Mar 08 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up **Sold Out**
Mar 10 – Crested Butte, CO – The Eldo **Sold Out**
Mar 11 – Telluride, CO – Club Red @ Telluride Conference Center **Sold Out**
Mar 12 – Telluride, CO – Club Red @ Telluride Conference Center **Sold Out**
Mar 14 – Park City, UT – Park City Live **Sold Out**
Mar 15 – Park City, UT – Park City Live **Sold Out**
Mar 17 – Crystal Bay, NV – Crystal Bay Club Casino **Sold Out**
Mar 18 – Crystal Bay, NV – Crystal Bay Club Casino **Sold Out**
Mar 19 – Crystal Bay, NV – Crystal Bay Club Casino **Sold Out**
Apr 05 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre
Apr 06 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre
Apr 07 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre **Sold Out**
Apr 08 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre **Sold Out**
Apr 13 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s
Apr 14 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s 
Apr 15 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s
Jun 16 – Hunter, NY – Mountain Jam
Jun 17 – Hunter, NY – Mountain Jam
Jun 18 – Hunter, NY – Mountain Jam
Jun 22 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jun 23 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jun 24 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jun 25 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jun 29 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jun 30 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jun 31 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jul 01 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jul 02 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Aug 24 – Arrington, VA – Lockn’ Festival
Aug 25 – Arrington, VA – Lockn’ Festival
Aug 26 – Arrington, VA – Lockn’ Festival
Aug 27 – Arrington, VA – Lockn’ Festival

The Harmaleighs honestly craft poetic, passionate, and powerful songs cut from a pastiche of indie, folk, pop and Americana. In January 2015, The Harmaleighs—Haley Grant [lead vocals, guitar] and Kaylee Jasperson [bass, harmonies]—embarked on something of a modern odyssey in support of their independent full-length debut, Pretty Picture, Dirty Brush. The band-mates and partners got rid of their Nashville apartment, put everything they owned in a storage unit, bought a van, equipped it with a bed, and hit the road with their 8-month-old pug Gus sleeping on the dash for the next nine months. The trials, tribulations, and triumphs of this trek would ultimately inspire their upcoming EP, Hiraeth, to be released on May 5.

“Hiraeth is a Welsh word that we stumbled upon while we were on tour,” says Kaylee. “It basically means, ‘Longing for a home.’ It’s a feeling of rootlessness and homesickness that we started to collectively feel around month six. By the end, we had burned out.”

“Even when we visited Nashville, we would be staying in a Walmart parking lot,” sighs Haley. “That’s where the whole concept came from. It’s the basis for this body of work.”

The lead track from the EP is the ethereal “Birds Of A Feather”, which is out now via all digital outlets. “I wrote the song about a friend who was going through a tough time with a relationship ending,” says Haley. “She was explaining to me what exactly was happening and said 'I'm just convenient for her.' That specific sentence stuck in my head for a couple weeks and sparked the idea for the entire song.”

Hear / Share “Birds Of A Feather” at:
Soundcloud | Spotify | iTunes | AppleMusic

Wicked Cool is proud to announce the release of a two-track digital-only single from Brian Ray today. The A-side is “Here For You” and the B-Side is a cover of Neil Young’s classic “Cinnamon Girl”, with a touch of “Mr. Soul” thrown in. Guitar World premiered the Young cover this week and both tracks are available now.

The B-side to the digital single has an interesting relation to Ray as Young actually wrote "Cinnamon Girl" about Brian’s sister Jean, who was dating Neil at the time.

“I was going to a boarding school in the 7th grade in Ojai, California and I remember hearing 'Cinnamon Girl 'for the very first time and I was just knocked out by it," declares Ray. "It was gritty and tough but it had grace and beauty in the melody and the lyric along with an almost haunting relentless energy to it. Imagine my surprise when later on I learned that the song was written by Neil Young for my sister, Jean Ray. Apparently, unbeknownst to me at the time, they were seeing each other, even though each of them were involved with other people.

"That song and the story behind its inspiration have always made me curious about playing it and while I was recording the basic track for ‘Cinnamon Girl’ with just me and a great drummer named Matt Laug, I came to the end of the song where Neil goes into his sort of solo ad lib guitar tantrum on his single version, I just started playing a revved up, crazy version of his great Buffalo Springfield song, ‘Mr. Soul’ in that moment as sort of a laugh. Matt joined in immediately and I decided it sounded cool and I left it in.”

A-side “Here For You” is a hopeful message written for Ray’s young nephews. Ray confides, “This world has gotten a little bit crazy, dark and unpredictable lately and in the midst of all of that I wanted to send a message of hope and positivity to two young boys starting out on this magnificent voyage we call life.”

The String Cheese Incident has revealed their full summer tour, highlighted by a three night stand at Red Rocks Amphitheater on July 21-23. In addition to previously announced festival appearances at Mountain Jam, Electric Forest, and LOCKN', SCI will return to the Chastain Park in Atlanta, GA on July 7 & 8. In August, the band will visit the Pacific Northwest for three unique festivals over consecutive weekends at Element Music Festival, Summer Meltdown and Oregon Eclipse.

Tickets for Red Rocks, Atlanta, and Element Music Festival will go on sale on Wednesday, March 1st at 11am MST through SCI Ticketing, followed by public on sales on Friday, March 3rd through venue outlets. A limited amount of Oregon Eclipse tickets will go on sale Tuesday 2/28 at 11:11 AM PST.

The band has headlined Red Rocks 32 times over their career and in honor of the 33rd through 35th Incidents, pre-sale tickets are being priced accordingly! Limited quantity of these discounted tickets will be available on Wednesday, March 1st through SCI Ticketing. 

The String Cheese Incident will release Believe, their seventh studio album, on April 14 via SCI Fidelity Recordings. The album is the first to come out of the band's recently-opened Sound Lab Studio and was produced by Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison.

SCI has teamed up with PledgeMusic to offer fans access to exclusive bonus content, limited edition items and VIP experiences available only to “pledgers” who pre-order the record. A single $10 pre-order gets you an instant download of six tracks off the album, an unreleased, non-circulated soundboard from 10/30/99 in Hamilton, NY, the Sedona Sessions demo tapes, an acoustic VIP set from NYE 2016 and an opportunity to win two tickets and a chance to meet the band!  That's over five hours of music with the Pledge pre-order as well as a slew of video updates from the band. Pre-order Believe at PledgeMusic HERE.

“My One And Only”, penned by keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth, is slated to hit radio on April 3rd. The lead track from the album is a long-distance letter to a loved one and features Bonnie Paine of Elephant Revival on vocals. Both "My One And Only" and sing-along single, "Sweet Spot" are available for sharing below.

Hear / Share 
“My One And Only” @ Soundcloud
"Sweet Spot" @ Soundcloud

In addition to the enthusiasm that the members of SCI share surrounding the recording process and hitting the road, there is also a strong collective desire to explore other forms of artistic, intellectual and creative expression, which finds the guys constantly engaged in a variety of outside but closely tied projects.

In addition to releasing studio albums via their own label, SCI Fidelity, SCI also curates and produces annual festivals like Electric Forest (featuring My Morning Jacket, Thievery Corporation, Odesza, Bassnectar and more) in the Summer and Hulaween in the Fall, interspersed by assorted Incident  collaborations with the likes of Lauryn Hill, the Doobie Brothers, Big Gigantic and the Zac Brown Band.

Hollingsworth is a longtime homebrewer and loves to blend his passions of brewing and music. Over the past decade, Kyle has brewed with more than 25 breweries across the country, releasing three nationally distributed collaborative beers and hosting 15 of his own beer festivals. Last year, he hosted the first-ever major craft beer cruise from Miami to the Caribbean and every year Kyle looks forward to joining an all-star panel of brewers and musicians at Great American Beer Festival in Denver, one of the most prominent beer events in the U.S.

We are excited to announce that the 8th annual Kyle’s Brew Fest will live as the pre-compression party for the band’s Red Rocks dates this Summer, benefiting SCI's longtime charitable partner Conscious Alliance, and taking place on July 20th in Denver, CO. 

The April Spring Cheese 2017 shows start next week with festivals running through the summer along with a three night stand at Red Rocks.  A full list of tour dates can be found below.

SCI Tour Dates
Apr 05 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre
Apr 06 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre
Apr 07 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre **Sold Out**
Apr 08 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre **Sold Out**
Apr 13 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s
Apr 14 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s **GA Tix Sold Out**
Apr 15 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s **GA Tix Sold Out**
Jun 16 - 18 – Hunter, NY – Mountain Jam
Jun 22 - 25 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jun 29 - Jul 02 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival
Jul 07 – Atlanta, GA – Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Jul 08 – Atlanta, GA – Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Jul 21 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks
Jul 22 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks
Jul 23 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks
Aug 04 - 06 – Princeton, BC – Element Music Fest
Aug 10 - 13 – Darrington, WA – Summer Meltdown
Aug 17 - 23 – Crook County, OR – Oregon Eclipse
Aug 24 - 27 – Arrington, VA – Lockn’ Festival

The String Cheese Incident recently released their seventh-studio album, Believe on SCI Fidelity Recordings and we're elated to announce the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart, #3 at Americana and #4 in Vinyl sales -- #35 overall. Produced by Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison, Believe is also receiving accolades from AllMusic, Relix, PopMatters and more. You can stream and purchase Believe in the links below.

Hear / Purchase Believe @ Spotify | Apple Music | PledgeMusic | iTunes | Amazon

As a very cool added bonus, everyone who buys the album through PledgeMusic.com will have the unique ability to help design part of a setlist for one of the band’s upcoming shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in late July. This feature was rolled out exclusively on PledgeMusic today with a list of 63 hand-picked songs, both new and “aged," of which Cheese fans can pick their favorite 10 - plus one write-in vote. Both the voting feature and the PledgeMusic campaign close this Friday so act quickly if you want to get involved!

SCI Tour Dates

The String Cheese Incident recently released their seventh-studio album, Believe on SCI Fidelity Recordings and now are proud to present the first video from the release with "My One & Only". The digital mixed-media clip blends the texture of watercolors with the delicate timbre of the recording and was premiered this week at VICE's Creators.

"We incorporated video, animation and hand drawn elements to take the viewer on a journey whilst longing for a loved one," says Jason Denton from Solar Cabin, who created the video. "Feeling their presence no matter how far apart."

Produced by Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison, Believe debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and has been praised by AllMusic, Relix, PopMatters, Glide and more. You can stream and purchase Believe in the links below and catch the band on tour this summer.

Indiana-born, everywhere-based singer-songwriter Peter Oren has announced his sophomore album, Anthropocene, will arrive November 10 on Western Vinyl, premiering the title-track, first singe today via CLASH – share via Soundcloud.  Oren will be on the road this month previewing material from the record, running through August 30 in New York (dates below).

Oren possesses a remarkable singing voice, low and deep and richly textured: as solid as a glacier, as big as a mountain.  It rumbles in your conscience, a righteous sound that marks him as an artist for our tumultuous times, when sanity seems absent from popular discussions. His voice is ideally suited to confront a topic as large and as ominous as the Anthropocene Age.

That term is relatively new, reportedly coined in the 1960s but popularized only in the new century to designate a new epoch in the earth’s history, when man has exerted a permanent—and, many would argue, an incredibly deleterious—change in the environment. Sea levels are rising, plants and animals facing mass extinctions; it may be humanity’s final epoch, which makes it a massive and daunting subject for a lone singer-songwriter to address, let alone a young musician making his second full-length record. But Oren has both the singing voice and the songwriting voice to put it all into perspective. The songs on Anthropocene are direct and poetic, outraged and measured, taking in the entire fucked-up world from his fixed point of view. 

Art and activism are inseparable on these ten songs, each bolstering the other. “There’s no separating art from reality,” says Oren. “The reality is that our politics are guided by our emotions, and music has the capacity to demonstrate those emotions, at least on an individual level. And if you can talk to someone on an individual level, you might be able to have a more useful conversation than if you’re talking to a roomful of people.”

After releasing his full-length debut in 2016, the eloquently spare Living By the Light, full of road songs and wanderers’ laments, he began playing more live shows, just him and his guitar on an empty stage. The set-up was not simply financially expedient but musically effective, allowing him to address listeners more directly, whether he’s singing to a scattering of curious onlookers or a full house of fans. Early encouragement came by way of Joe Pug, another singer-songwriter unafraid to confront big issues in his rootsy songs.

He would not be the last. Soon Oren attracted the attention of Ken Coomer, the drummer for Wilco and a producer in Nashville. Together, the duo assembled a backing band featuring some of the city’s finest session musicians, including keyboard player Michael Webb (John Fogerty), singer Maureen Murphy (Zac Brown Band), and guitarists Sam Wilson (Sons of Bill) and Laur Jaomets (Sturgill Simpson). On Anthropocene they provide stately backing for Oren’s songs, with drips of pedal steel and quivers of strings subtly reinforcing his observations about the state of the world. “Throw Down” bristles with energy and resolve, penned for “the people on the far, far left,” Oren says, “the anarchists and the rioters. There’s not often a voice that’s trying to understand those people or defend those positions.”

Anthropocene might be merely didactic and oppressive—a giant bummer of an album—if those rallying cries weren’t tempered with something like hope, particularly on the sunny “New Gardens.” He penned the tune as a teenager, but as an adult felt the message still resonated. The song celebrates labor, individual and collective, as the most effective tool for last change, and that vision of communal responsibility that makes the album such a rousing call to arms.

“Music is a sympathetic process, where people who feel the same can experience it together. I don’t know if my songs would change somebody’s mind, but they might help people feel a little bit less alone in their opinions and might encourage them to get involved in some way. Nobody’s going to riot when the album hits the street, but maybe it can in some small way help turn the tables.”

Tour Dates:
08/11 – Chicago, IL @ The Hideout
08/16 – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt #
08/17 – Bloomington, IN @ The Blockhouse
08/18 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi ^
08/25 – Detroit, MI @ PJ’s Lager House
08/26 – Toronto, ON @ Free Times Café
08/28 – Montreal, PQ @ Barfly
08/29 – Burlington, VT @ Radio Bean
08/30 – New York, NY @ Pianos
10/06-07 – Indianapolis, IN @ Fountain Square Music Festival
# Durand Jones and The Indication
^ Rayland Baxter

Acclaimed psych-soul outfit Chicano Batman released Freedom Is Free via ATO Records earlier this year. The album not only foregrounds the soul and R&B elements of the band's sound, but also speaks volumes during the political climate of this time. Today, the band shares the powerful new video for the title-track that is a compelling statement of the band's frustrations in a world of oppression; passionately fighting back against their captors to free themselves both figuratively and literally. Though it was filmed in July it's earily applicable to our most recent situations and debuted this morning at NPR Music.

"Freedom is a word that describes one of our best states of being," says the band. "It's a birthright, subject only to the infinite flow of the elements. When we fight abusive governing bodies or oppressive forces that try to control our freedom, we are actually fighting them to accept something which is universal in nature."

The video was filmed by Latin GRAMMY-winning director Carl Zitelmann who said, “Oppressors usually design situations so people succumb to racism, hate, resentment, etc, in order to benefit their agendas. The purpose of showing the band both peacefully and defiantly in a circumstance as extreme as being tortured by drowning was exactly that: you can take away the air from me, but you can’t change ME. 'you can’t control how I feel, no way.’ Remaining who you are, even under the most excruciating situations, is the ultimate success.”

Turkuaz blends soulful sounds with potent funk grooves and has become one of Brooklyn’s freshest exports - nine charismatic men and women brightly outfitted to have their colorful nature match their expressive voice. Today they release “On The Run”, a scalding dance track produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads, ahead of the next leg of the band’s national tour.

"On The Run" debuted yesterday on SiriusXM and along with the track comes a late-night-club-escapade video that stars Chris Roberti of Broad City and was shot at House of Yes in the band's hometown of Brooklyn.

“Working with Turkuaz was a a total blast,” says producer Jerry Harrison. “We had first met when my daughter and I performed 'Take Me to the River' with them at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Playing that night, I was impressed with the nuances they had picked up from Talking Heads and knew that they would be fun to work with.

“Their level of musicianship was inspiring and we moved quickly through the recording process. I wanted to spend some time drawing out the power of their singing which can become submerged with such a powerful band between them.  I think the results speak for themselves.”

Director Jay Sansone elaborates, “My filmmaking career started by filming parties and making show recaps, so this video was a call back to the basic formula of party capture; Tell a story, capture the insanity.”

Since hitting the road in 2012, Turkuaz has released a handful of albums, canvassed the US many times over, and continue to gather devoted fans along the way. A quickly addictive pulse coupled with a reputation for their trademark “Powerfunk” sound has earned them steadily growing attention across the nation. Over the past two years, the band has made impactful appearances at Bonnaroo, Red Rocks, Lock'n and Mountain Jam, and have been filling rooms coast to coast from Terminal 5 in New York to The Fillmore in San Francisco. Drawing from the conventions that have ignited their existence and using that spark to forge its own sword, Turkuaz is a band that will make anyone move to their familiar beat, yet stay intrigued by an ability to explore its own complex character comprised of nine striking personalities.

Turkuaz Tour Dates:
Oct 18 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern Music Hall
Oct 19 - Richmond, VA - The Broadberry
Oct 20 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
Oct 21 - Black Mountain, NC - LEAF Festival
Oct 27 - Placerville, CA - Hangtown Music Festival
Oct 28 - Placerville, CA - Hangtown Music Festival
Nov 01 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
Nov 02 - Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theater
Nov 03 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts # 
Nov 04 - Providence, RI - Fete Music Hall #
Nov 05 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall #
Nov 07 - Buffalo, NY - Buffalo Iron Works
Nov 08 - Syracuse, NY - Westcott Theater #
Nov 09 - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Nightclub #
Nov 10 - Woodstock, NY - Bearsville Theater #
Nov 11 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel # 
Nov 29 - Minneapolis, MN - The Cabooze #
Nov 30 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon #
Dec 01 - Chicago, IL - Concord Music Hall #
Dec 02 - Covington, KY - Madison Theater #
Dec 03 - Morgantown, WV - 123 Pleasant Street #
Dec 06 - Charleston, SC - Charleston Pour House #
Dec 07 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West #
Dec 08 - Nashville, TN - Exit / In #
Dec 09 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue #
Dec 29 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club $
Dec 30 - New Haven, CT - College Street Music Hall $
Dec 31 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live $

Brooklyn's Turkuaz has been bringing their nine-piece party music across the country all year and are on a break for two weeks before continuing a national run that ends on New Years Eve in Baltimore. Today, they announce a Winter 2018 headlining tour that starts in Detroit on January 9, crossing the country to end in with two shows with Galactic in Los Angeles on March 30 and San Francisco on March 31. A full list of tour dates can be found below and save for the previously announced shows with Galactic, all 2018 tickets go on sale Friday, November 17 at 10am local time.

Turkuaz recently released the scalding dance single “On The Run”, produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and along with the track comes a late-night-club-escapade video that stars Chris Roberti of Broad City and was shot at House of Yes in the band's hometown of Brooklyn.

The current tour has seen Turkuaz again gaining fans in every city they hit. Cleveland Scene says, “This band is relentless in the best way imaginable… To attend a Turkuaz show is to be surprised often and hard.” The Poughkeepsie Journal agrees, "Like a summer carnival on a Friday night, Turkuaz spins, climbs, rotates and revolves. The aesthetics are alluring and this engine fires on all pistons. Underscoring it all is an air of triumph kept aloft by raw, unpretentious creative expression." 411Mania sums it up perfectly in saying, "If you go and see this band you’ll enjoy watching them just as much as listening, if you’re able to stop dancing long enough to watch the stage."

Over the past two years, Turkuaz has impressed at Bonnaroo, Red Rocks, Lock'n and Mountain Jam, and been filling rooms coast to coast from Terminal 5 in New York to The Fillmore in San Francisco. Drawing from the conventions that have ignited their existence and using that spark to forge its own sword, Turkuaz is a band that will make anyone move to their familiar beat, yet stay intrigued by an ability to explore its own complex character comprised of nine striking personalities.

Turkuaz Tour Dates:
Nov 29 - Minneapolis, MN - The Cabooze #
Nov 30 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon #
Dec 01 - Chicago, IL - Concord Music Hall #
Dec 02 - Covington, KY - Madison Theater #
Dec 03 - Morgantown, WV - 123 Pleasant Street #
Dec 06 - Charleston, SC - Charleston Pour House #
Dec 07 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West #
Dec 08 - Nashville, TN - Exit / In #
Dec 09 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue #
Dec 29 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club $
Dec 30 - New Haven, CT - College Street Music Hall $
Dec 31 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live $
Jan 09 - Detroit, MI - El Club
Jan 10 - Columbus, OH - Skully's
Jan 11 - Lexington, KY - Cosmic Charlies
Jan 12 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
Jan 13 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre
Jan 16 - Miami, FL - Wynwood Yards (Jam Cruise Pre-Party)
Jan 17 - Miami, FL - Jam Cruise
Jan 25 - Ithaca, NY - The Haunt
Jan 26 - Stroudsburg, PA - Sherman Theater
Jan 27 - Rochester, NY - Anthology
Jan 28 - Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground
Jan 31 - Cohoes, NY - Cohoes Music Hall
Feb 01 - Killington, VT - Pickle Barrel
Feb 02 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
Feb 03 - Stratton, VT - Grizzly's
Mar 14 - Telluride, CO - Club Red
Mar 15 - Frisco, CO - Barkley Ballroom
Mar 16 - Fort Collins, CO - Aggie Theatre
Mar 17 - Steamboat Springs, CO - Gondola Plaza
Mar 20 - Park City, UT - O.P. Rockwell
Mar 21 - Jackson Hole, WY - Pink Garter Theatre
Mar 22 - Bozeman, MT - Rialto
Mar 23 - Whitefish, MT - Remington Bar
Mar 24 - Sandpoint, ID - The Hive
Mar 27 - Eugene, OR - HiFi Music Hall *
Mar 28 - Chico, CA - Lost On Main
Mar 29 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow's
Mar 30 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre %
Mar 31 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre %

# - w/ The Suffers
$ - w/ Pimps of Joytime
* - w/ Moon Hooch
% - w/ Galactic 

Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas release their self-titled debut today. Stubbs has served as the guitarist for Charlie Musselwhite for over a decade and the instrumental album combines psych rock with acid blues and Afrobeat. Stubbs thinks of the Antiguas as a timeless musical statement that nods to the past but lives in the here and now.

“It’s meshing vintage sounds with modern tweaks,” says Stubbs. “It's lo-fi inspiration with hi-fi sonics and production.”

Enjoy Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas
Vinyl & CD | iTunes | Spotify | Amazon

Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas hold a Monday night residency at The Sinclair in Boston but hit the road tonight in support of the release. A full list of tour dates can be found below with more to be added.

Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas Tour Dates
Jan 26 - Fall River, MA - The Narrows 
Jan 29 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Feb 12 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Feb 15 - New York, NY - Berlin
Feb 16 - Portsmouth, NH - 3S Artspace
Feb 19 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Feb 24 - Worcester, MA - Electric Haze
Feb 26 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Mar 02 - Manchester, NH - Jewel

Buckle up as Primus announces a summer tour with titans Mastodon as they continue on the road in support of their ninth studio album, The Desaturating Seven, out now on ATO Records. Pre-sale tickets start Tuesday, Jan 30 local time HERE (password: Goblins) and general onsale is Friday, Feb 2.

Kicking off May 6 at Red Rocks the tour will cross the country and back with stops at Austin 360 Amphitheater, The Fox in Atlanta, Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn, Northerly Island in Chicago, Greek Theaters in San Francisco and LA and many more before ending July 7 in Phoenix. A full list of tour dates can be found below.

The Desaturating Seven led Primus back to some of the sounds and styles of their earlier days and has received praise from Consequence of Sound, Rolling Stone, AV Club and more. The album marks the return of the definitive Primus line-up—singer/bassist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde, and drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander—for its first album of original music since 1995.

Inspiration for the album came from a 1978 children’s book called The Rainbow Goblins by the Italian author and artist Ui de Rico. In the story seven goblins come to the valley where rainbows are born, intending to steal the rainbows and eat them. The valley, though, knows that the goblins are coming, and makes a plan to thwart the wicked creatures by hiding the rainbow. After the goblins are caught in their own nets, the flowers release the colors of the rainbow and drown the goblins, and in gratitude, the rainbow turns the flowers into beautiful birds who fly across the valley in freedom.  

"It’s a story about gluttonous individuals sucking the colors out of the world,” says Les Claypool. “The overuse of resources by the greedy elite, and how the meek masses can overcome them in the end by unifying. It seemed pretty relevant these days.”

Watch "The Seven" Video

Primus Dates:
May 06 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater         
May 08 - Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion                       
May 10 - Dallas, TX - Southside Ballroom
May 11 - Austin, TX – Austin 360 Amphitheater
May 12 - Rogers, AR – Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion
May 14 - Birmingham, AL - BJCC Concert Hall
May 15 - Nashville, TN – Nashville Municipal Auditorium
May 16 - Atlanta, GA – Fox Theater                                    
May 18 - Portsmouth, VA - Portsmouth Pavilion
May 19 - Charlotte, NC – Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
May 20 - Raleigh, NC - Red Hat Amphitheater            
May 22 - Reading, PA - Diamond Credit Union Theater @ Santander
May 23 - Lewiston, NY - Artpark Amphitheater         
May 25 - Glen Falls, NY - Cool Insuring Arena
May 26 - Providence, RI - Bold Point Park
May 27 - Portland, ME - TBA                  
May 29 - Boston, MA - Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
May 30 - Philadelphia, PA – Penn’s Landing – Festival Pier                
Jun 01 - Asbury Park, NJ - Stone Pony Summerstage
Jun 02 - Baltimore, MD - Pier 6 Pavilion
Jun 03 - Brooklyn, NY – Ford Amphitheater @ Coney Island Boardwalk       
Jun 05 - Columbus, OH – Express Live! Outdoor Amphitheatre 
Jun 06 - Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island                          
Jun 08 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
Jun 09 - Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheater at Freedom Hill 
Jun 10 - Indianapolis, IN – Farmer’s Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park                            
Jun 12 - Cincinnati, OH - PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center                          
Jun 14 - Minneapolis, MN – MYTH LIVE
Jun 15 - Bonner Springs, KS - Providence Medical Center Amphitheater
Jun 16 - Camdenton, MO - Ozarks Amphitheater          
Jun 18 - Lincoln, NE - Pinewood Bowl Theater                          
Jun 21 - Bonner, MT - Kettlehouse Amphitheater
Jun 22 - Seattle, WA - Marymoor Park
Jun 23 - Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater             
Jun 25 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield
Jun 28 - Avila Beach, CA - Avila Beach Resort Amphitheater
Jun 29 - Berkeley, CA -  The Greek Theatre
Jun 30 - Lincoln, CA - Thunder Valley Resort Casino               
Jul 02 - Salt Lake City, UT – The Great Salt Air - Outdoors
Jul 03 - Las Vegas, NV - Downtown Event Center       
Jul 05 - Los Angeles, CA  The Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley
Jul 06 - San Diego, CA – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater
Jul 07 - Phoenix, AZ - Comerica Theatre

The Oyster Bay, New York-bred rock-fusion four-piece, TAUK, debuted a new track "Premises" on Mar. 14 via SiriusXM's Jam On, and have announced a 2018 spring tour in support of their new EP Shapeshifter I: Construct out April 6. On the EP, TAUK tap into their singular chemistry to elevate and expand their all-instrumental blend of funk, hip-hop, progressive rock, and jazz and offer a hint of what is to come from a full length album this fall.

Shapeshifter I: Construct is the first chapter in a follow-up to TAUK's 2016 album Sir Nebula. The new EP employs a guided approach, steering their music into bold new directions. Revealing both their refined musicality and unbridled creativity, guitarist Matt Jalbert, bassist Charlie Dolan, keyboardist Alric “A.C.” Carter, and drummer Isaac Teel push into new sonic terrain and build entire worlds within each richly textured soundscape. The first single and a preorder for the EP will be available this Friday on all digital services and the band’s website, but can be previewed today here https://youtu.be/bU1yHV6V7QA.

While compositions are meticulously focused, TAUK also deliver the dynamic tension-and-release jams that have helped earn them a devoted following while drawing critical acclaim and developing a reputation as a masterful live act. Since the longtime friends formed TAUK, the band has shared stages with an impressive list of acts (including Umphrey’s McGee, Widespread Panic, Lettuce, and Robert Randolph) in addition to appearing at festivals like Electric Forest, Bonnaroo, and The Allman Brothers’ Peach Music Festival.

As with their past releases, TAUK created Shapeshifter I in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer/mixer/engineer Robert Carranza (The Mars Volta, Ozomatli, Jack Johnson, Taj Mahal). But in a departure from their previous work, the band has made the new EP and an upcoming full length album in one concentrated period inside an old house rather than moving between studios. The unique recording situation created a special atmosphere, which TAUK ultimately found hugely beneficial.

“Everything just happened so naturally this time around,” says Jalbert. “I can’t think of one moment where it felt like anything was forced. We were all just completely focused and in the same mindset, which made this an incredibly fun and smooth experience.”

Now, TAUK are preparing to hit the road again for a spring tour (see upcoming dates below, including a two-night stint at the Brooklyn Bowl and spots on the Boston Calling Music Festival and Sweetwater 420 Fest and EP Release shows in Ft Collins and Denver on 4/6 and 7).

TAUK recently released the Shapeshifter I: Construct EP and have been on tour all month in support of the release. Today the expansive instrumental quartet releases a live video of "Malware", recorded by Tim McG Photo at The Fineline in Minneapolis at the top of the run.

"The Naughty Horns laid down some amazing parts on Shapeshifter I: Construct, so we knew we had to try them out live," says the band. "Check out this killer version of ‘Malware' from Minneapolis featuring PHO band members Lukas Skrove on trumpet and Aaron Levin on sax! If you wanna see us with horns and other special guests again, we're excited that we'll be joined by some incredible players before tour is over. Enjoy this video for now and we'll see you all out there."

On the Shapeshifter I: Construct EP, TAUK tap into their singular chemistry to elevate and expand their all-instrumental blend of funk, hip-hop, progressive rock, and jazz and offer a hint of what is to come from a full length album this fall. 

Guitarist Matt Jalbert, bassist Charlie Dolan, keyboardist Alric “A.C.” Carter and drummer Isaac Teel continue their tour tomorrow in Greensboro, NC and will run up the East Coast, stopping in NYC for two nights at Brooklyn Bowl. Mike “Maz” Maher and Chris Bullock (Snarky Horns) and Nate Werth (Snarky Puppy/Ghost-Note) will join the band as special guests for night two on May 19. The tour then continues with stops at Boston Calling, Summer Camp, Mad Tea Party Jam, Camp Bisco and Resonance with more to be added. A complete list of tour dates can be found below.

Enjoy Shapeshifter I: Construct 
Bandcamp | iTunes | Spotify | Amazon

Silver Wrapper, Live Nation and JAM Productions are proud to present THE BIG WEEKEND, three nights of music across five venues in Chicago from Oct 4 – 6. Following the model of a city takeover, the inaugural festival will feature performances from Umphrey's McGee, Lettuce, Emancipator Ensemble, Leftover Salmon, Papadosio and more. Early and late performances allow for multiple venue visits an evening and afternoon surprises with artists are also in the works. Watch the announce video HERE.

Tickets are on sale this Friday, June 8 @ 10am Central and CID Entertainment is offering a Big Weekend VIP Experience that bundles a ticket to a Friday & Saturday night concert with premium access at each show. For fans seeking a weekend getaway, travel packages are also available that include hotel reservations at Cambria Chicago and concert tickets on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Big Weekend Experience & Travel Package details are available HERE.

The Big Weekend is also proud to have Headcount involved in the event and will be donating $1 from each ticket to the organization. Headcount will be present at all performances signing fans up to vote.

Chicago has a long history with the jam scene, from hosting the final Grateful Dead show in '95 to the monumental Fare The Well performances in 2015. It's only fitting that hometown favorites Umphree's McGee are anchoring the first of what will be an annual event.

Michael Berg of Silver Wrapper Presents notes, “When the idea of bringing The Big Weekend concept to Chicago came to us, we loved it. Previously, we had used a similar concert series model on events such as the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues series, so we knew it could work. The music of the extended jam scene is at the heart of the Silver Wrapper concert community, so we're especially excited to see this one come to life and start a new fall music tradition in Chicago.”

For more information visit https://www.thebigweekend.net/.

The Big Weekend 
Oct 4 – Lettuce @ Concord Music Hall
Oct 5 – Emancipator Ensemble + Papadosio @ Riviera Theatre (Early)
Oct 5 – The Revolution @ Park West (Early)
Oct 5 – Spafford @ House of Blues (Early)
Oct 5 – The Motet + Special Guests @ Concord Music Hall (Late) – Presented by Relix
Oct 6 – Umphrey’s McGee @ Aragon Ballroom (Early)
Oct 6 – Leftover Salmon + Amy Helm @ Park West (Early)
Oct 6 – Spafford @ House of Blues (Late) – Presented by Relix
Oct 6 – Sunsquabi +The Russ Liquid Test @ Concord Music Hall (Late) – Presented by Relix

Zak Trojano carries a warm baritone supported by an old Martin guitar and low tuned Weissenborn lap steel. His third album, Wolf Trees is a move towards high definition from a songwriter whose pictorial lyrics are lauded for their cinematic imagery. From the driving notes of album opener “Kid’s Got Heart”, Trojano draws the curtain, with scene setting lines (the poets take it on the chin for the bells that ring right through you), on a production that provides shape and motion to the screenshot temperament of life in the modern world. Zak Trojano will release Wolf Trees on August 10. The album is available for pre-order at PledgeMusic along with a number of exclusive items and you can stream/share “Kid’s Got Heart” at Bandcamp + Soundcloud – out this Friday, June 15.

Trojano’s complex fingerstyle technique was born out of the country blues tradition through years of immersion in the work of players as diverse as John Fahey, Chet Atkins, and Merle Travis. It was the exploration of solo performance that led to the guiding aesthetic of Wolf Trees. The songs were written as movements in a larger piece, with textures and themes resurfacing in longer arcs to bind the whole together. A wolf tree is a stoic figure - a passed over remnant of a distant, wilder world, where there was more space between things. Trojano has woven nine songs into an album that’s very form calls attention to the thin rapidity of modern life. Like admiring the forest view from atop a white pine cell tower, or losing yourself in the colors of a flat-screen sunset, Wolf Trees dares us to hold tight to current beauty while we remember a different time.

Trojano opted to leave behind the lush string and horn arrangements of his last record (Yesterday’s Sun) in favor of a true solo album on which he plays and sings every note. All guitars were tuned to a low C modal tuning, and sent through various amplifiers to combine their acoustic and electric properties into a large, dark, and open sound. With the help of longtime friend and producer David Goodrich (Chris Smither, Jeffrey Foucault), and engineer Justin Pizzoferratto (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth) they captured a record delicately balanced between the acoustic intimacy of a coffeehouse and the wild volume of a midnight rock club.

“Nowhere Shuffle” is a dark, minor, ballad with a halftime groove reminiscent of a lost 70’s acoustic Pink Floyd album. It’s an oblique commentary on the modern addiction to electronic devices (Bowed heads and praying hands/nowhere with everyone at once) through the eyes of someone witnessing a Zombie apocalypse. The playful introspection of “My Room” deals with the ups and downs of solitude; the vacillation of the hermitic spirit between feeling safe and feeling alone (I’ll be fine here in my room while the roses bloom outside/how come they never come to me unless they’re cut down in their prime? I’ll bide my time). “Everyone Knows You” is epic by nature - a telescopic view of a world where everybody is famous and the worst among us have risen to the top - a rock anthem with an unusual form propelled by a rising vibrato and half-smiling social commentary (It’s the march of the egg man/boiled and white/pale as a junkie at noon watch him roll).

The title track is a reconciliation of dreams with reality with an adventurous melody that holds the listener through the trials of finding an anchor in the world (How could I begin to tell you how/easy it would be to find a place for now/in the soft light of the almost dark/where the wolf trees howl through the park for you).

In recent years, Trojano’s solo work has found the spotlight with discerning listeners everywhere. Stage by stage, in clubs, music halls, bars, and coffeehouses across the country, he has honed a live show that keeps audiences glued to the stage - like a rare conversation with an old friend who doesn’t usually say much, but plays a mean guitar.

He’s spent over a decade writing, recording and performing music professionally with Rusty Belle, the band he co-founded, and supporting touring acts like Chris Smither, Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault and Peter Mulvey. The guitar shares the spotlight on Wolf Trees, shining through simple arrangements that coalesce around Trojano’s lyrics for music that, “is made from a whole cloth, it’s from a long time ago that feels like yesterday” (Peter Mulvey). From the old records, and the trading stories over many miles and sequestered greenrooms with greats like Smither and Foucault, Trojano has found that illusive voice that can produce a record that looks forward as much as it looks back.

Wolf Trees Track Listing
1 – Kid’s Got Heart
2 – Nowhere Shuffle
3 – My Room
4 – Everyone Knows You
5 – 99 Ways
6 – Wolf Trees
7 – Young Surrender
8 – Paper Wings
9 – Lights Are Low

Keyboardist Erik Deutsch makes American music, pure and simple. Over the last two decades plus, he’s earned a stellar reputation as a bandleader and collaborator, working with artists like Steven Bernstein, Theo Bleckmann, Rosanne Cash, Nels Cline, Charlie Hunter, Shooter Jennings, Norah Jones, Leftover Salmon, Shelby Lynne, and many, many more. At the same time, he’s made five albums under his own name full of willfully uncategorizable compositions that combine jazz, funk, country and rock into a swirling, raucous blend that jumps, struts, croons and shouts. His sixth album as a leader, Falling Flowers, will be released September 14 on LoHi Records. 

The title track was co-written with and features vocals by his wife, singer Victoria Reed. Built on a foundation of piano, organ, banjo and slide guitar, the track has the feel of a lost ’70s country-rock classic. The beautiful animated video features a couple escaping a shootout in a gritty piano bar in Mexico, helping to keep each other grounded under duress.  Director Josh Clark wanted the video to be feel like a dream and was hoping to tell a love story by showing how delicate it can be and that you sometimes have to fight to protect it from forces around us and within us, much like a flower.

Falling Flowers was recorded at Trout Recording in Brooklyn, with engineers Bryce Goggin and Adam Sachs and mixed by Jeff Hill (Rufus Wainwright, Elle King) at Bass Station.  “I wanted a studio with an analog board and I wanted great drum tones,” Deutsch says. “Bryce is a recording genius, he’s made a lot of cool records there in a lot of different genres. He’s fast, his gear works, his drum sounds are amazing, there’s a lot of bleed so it’s got that vibe—I wanted to make the record feel like when we play live, and have that energy, and I think we accomplished that.” 

The album kicks off with “Jump Change”, a shuffling New Orleans groove jam with a churning bass intro and a fierce, growling trombone solo. In the middle of the album, things get weird. “Little Bell” is ten minutes long, a quiet, atmospheric piece that gets almost psychedelically abstract in the middle. There’s one cover on the Falling Flowers—a version of saxophonist Mel Martin’s “Mel’s Drive In”, a little-known tune that saxophonist Mike McGinnis also recorded on his 2017 album Recurring Dream. (The connection is pianist Art Lande, a friend of Martin’s with whom Deutsch studied, and who backed McGinnis on Recurring Dream.) “I heard it as this slow, greasy clavinet thing,” Deutsch says. “On the record, it’s a wah-wah Wurlitzer [organ]. It’s essential in our live show, and I just felt like, we’ve gotta put that one on the record.”

The band on Falling Flowers is a mixture of longtime acquaintances and kindred spirits, and Deutsch has nothing but praise for every one of them. He calls Mike McGinnis (saxophone and clarinet) “a great positive energy—he’s always excited to play my music.” Of trombonist Brian Drye, he says, “This is the first record I’ve had a trombone on, and when I felt like this was what I wanted…[I got a] supremely talented, supremely positive, supremely energetic and professional musician. Another guy I love having around.” Avi Bortnick is simply “the best rhythm guitar player on the planet, like Nile Rodgers and Prince level, and obviously a great soloist and sonic contributor as well.” Bassist Jesse Murphy is “insanely talented, next level, one of those musicians who’s every bassist’s favorite bassist, and equally good on electric and acoustic on bass.” Of drummer Tony Mason, he says, “There’s no drummer with a better beat. Something about Tony feels as good as it can possibly feel. He’s just my guy, and we’ve been making music together for nearly 10 years.” 

In addition to these core players, two special guests appear. Scott Metzger plays lead guitar on “Falling Flowers” and “Big Bongos”; Deutsch calls him “a great, great soloist, just a crack studio cat.” Andy Thorn, Deutsch’s band-mate in Leftover Salmon, contributes banjo to “Ghostfeather” and “Falling Flowers.” Deutsch says, “He happened to be in town the night I was doing the session with Scott, so I just had him play on the record—it’s fortunate that he was there—he’s the best.”

Deutsch is on the road all summer with JRAD, Leftover Salmon and others but will be performing a small run of Falling Flowers release shows in the fall. A full list of dates can be found below.

Erik Deutsch Tour Dates
Sept 19-20 – New York, NY @ Bar Lunatico
Oct 17-18 – Guadalajara, MX @ Primer Piso
Oct 19-20 – Mexico City, MX @ Zinco Jazz
Nov 1 – Denver, CO @ Nocturne
Nov 2 – Boulder, CO @ Caffe Sole

Genre-bending instrumental quartet TAUK will release Shapeshifter II: Outbreak on September 28, an exhilarating look at artificial intelligence and its potential to upend our world. Today, PopMatters debuted the futuristic soundscape "CMF 9000" saying, "Fans of earlier New York City bands such as Screaming Headless Torsos, Gutbucket, and John Zorn's Naked City will not be disappointed." The track is out via all digital platforms tomorrow but you can stream and share the track below.

TAUK has also announced a fall tour running across the US through the end of the year. A festival run continues this weekend at Shadefest, including North Coast and Waterloo as well as a performance at legendary Red Rocks on Sept 8 supporting STS9 and Cut Chemist. A full list of dates can be found below.

Equally inspired by classic sci-fi like Blade Runner and more recent films like Ex Machina, Shapeshifter II: Outbreak embeds that narrative into TAUK’s most sonically adventurous, emotionally expansive work to date. A continuation of their early-2018 EP, Shapeshifter I: Construct, the new album picks up its predecessor’s narrative thread with “Prelude”: a fantastically unsettling intro track whose frenetic keyboard work and chilling vocal samples set the tone for what’s to come. “The idea is that in the EP you’re seeing the construction of this being, and in the album you’re seeing it break out and become something that you can’t ignore anymore,” explains keyboardist Alric “A.C.” Carter.

True to its thematic terrain, Shapeshifter II: Outbreak endlessly blurs the boundaries between organic and electronic with TAUK broadening their sonic palette to include a vast spectrum of synth sounds and programmed effects. In sculpting the album’s intricate arrangements, TAUK called on such esteemed musicians as The Naughty Horns, Ghost-Note’s Nate Werth (a percussionist who’s also played with David Crosby, Q-Tip, and Snarky Puppy), and Juan Alderete (longtime bassist for Racer X and The Mars Volta).

TAUK Tour Dates
Aug 11 – Elkins, WV – Shadefest
Aug 18 – Pittsboro, NC – The Big What?
Sep 01 – Chicago, IL – North Coast Music Festival 
Sep 02 – Alexander, AR – Natural Land Festival
Sep 07 – Austin, TX – Waterloo Festival
Sep 08 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre (supporting STS9)
Sep 15 – Greenfield, MA – Wormtown Music Festival
Sep 21-Sep 22 – Thornville, OH – Resonance Music & Arts Festival
Sep 29 – Schuylkill Haven, PA – Meetings of the Minds
Oct 04 – Rochester, NY – The Music Hall @ Funk ‘n Waffles @
Oct 05 – Burlington, VT – ArtsRiot
Oct 06 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
Oct 07 – Harrisburg, PA – Club XL
Oct 10 – Lexington, KY – Cosmic Charlie’s #
Oct 11 – Knoxville, TN – Concourse @ The International # 
Oct 12 – Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre #
Oct 13 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Pour House *
Oct 14 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Pour House ^
Oct 17 – Huntsville, AL – Sidetracks Music Hall #
Oct 18 – New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s #
Oct 19 – Houston, TX – The Secret Group #
Oct 20 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada #
Oct 21 – Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge #
Oct 24 – Phoenix, AZ – Last Exit Live &
Oct 25 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room &
Oct 26 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst (Atrium) &
Oct 27 – Berkeley, CA – Cornerstone Berkeley &
Oct 31 – Bend, OR – Volcanic Theatre Pub &
Nov 01 – Eugene, OR – Wildcraft Cider Works &
Nov 02 – Seattle, WA – Nectar Lounge &
Nov 03 – Portland, OR – Star Theater &
Nov 06 – Missoula, MT – Top Hat Lounge &
Nov 07 – Bozeman, MT – The Filling Station &
Nov 08 – Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room &
Nov 09 – TBA
Nov 10 – Winter Park, CO – Ullrs Tavern &
Nov 13 – St. Louis, MO – Old Rock House &
Nov 14 – Indianapolis, IN – The Hi-Fi &
Nov 15 – Louisville, KY – Headliners Music Hall &
Nov 16 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom &
Nov 17 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Iron Works &
Jan 15-Jan 21 – Jam Cruise 17 – Port of Miami, FL

@ w/ Flux Capacitor
# w/ Funk You
* w/ Dynamo
^ w Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
& w/ Exmag

THE BIG WEEKEND will take place over three nights across five music venues in Chicago from Oct 4 – 6. Following the model of a city takeover, the inaugural festival will feature performances from Umphrey's McGee, Lettuce, Emancipator Ensemble, Leftover Salmon, Papadosio and more. Read more about The Big Weekend in Pollstar, who spoke to Paradigm's Lee Anderson about the festival.

Today, HeadCount and Propeller announce they are sending one lucky winner and a friend to experience The Big Weekend in VIP style — enjoying exclusive viewing areas and expedited entry into each venue. Not to mention they'll be meeting Umphrey's McGee! Roundtrip travel and hotel accommodations are included as well. Simply complete one action in support of HeadCount to enter, then continue completing actions to get more points and redeem them for entries to increase your chances of winning. Contest runs until midnight on Sept 19 and winner will be chosen on September 20. More details and enter to win HERE.

Tickets for TBW are on sale now in various packages and VIP levels HERE.

For more information visit https://www.thebigweekend.net.

The Big Weekend 
Oct 4 – Lettuce @ Concord Music Hall
Oct 5 – Emancipator Ensemble + Papadosio @ Riviera Theatre (Early)
Oct 5 – The Revolution @ Park West (Early)
Oct 5 – Spafford @ House of Blues (Early)
Oct 5 – The Motet + Special Guests @ Concord Music Hall (Late) – Presented by Relix
Oct 6 – Umphrey’s McGee @ Aragon Ballroom (Early)
Oct 6 – Leftover Salmon + Amy Helm @ Park West (Early)
Oct 6 – Spafford @ House of Blues (Late) – Presented by Relix
Oct 6 – Sunsquabi +The Russ Liquid Test @ Concord Music Hall (Late) – Presented by Relix

The Big Weekend will take over the city of Chicago for three nights this weekend, October 4 – 6, featuring performances from hometown heroes Umphrey’s McGee celebrating their 20th year, Lettuce, Emancipator Ensemble, Leftover Salmon, Papadosio, The Revolution, and more, at the Riviera Theatre, Aragon Ballroom, Park West, House of Blues, and Concord Music Hall. 

Early and late performances allow for multiple venue visits an evening and afternoon surprises with artists, including a special boozy brunch event on Saturday, October 6, 11am-1pm CT at The Frontier (1072 N. Milwaukee Ave.), featuring an acoustic performance by Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon. Headcount will also be at all performances signing fans up to vote, and The Big Weekend will be donating $1 from each ticket to the organization. 

Recent video announcement HERE and tickets for The Big Weekend are on sale in various packages and VIP levels HERE.

Philadelphia's MINKA announces the final two EPs in their 2019 trilogy - two works that are complete opposites. The first is a potent blend of intrigue and sexuality – an R&B exploration of all things forbidden. The latter collection, by contrast, experiments with modern pop interpretations of 19th century classical repertoire. Mysteries of the Heart arrived on March 29 and Reincarnation, April 12.

In conjunction with the announce, MINKA shares new video for party tune "Rollerblades" off Mysteries of the Heart  – watch + share via YouTube.

MINKA recently debuted the first EP, the intensely felt, post-breakup End of the Affair on Valentine’s Day. To celebrate the release, MINKA will host a 'MINKA Masquerade' event at Warehouse on Watts in Philadelphia on March 15 - alongside bands, DJ's, and freaks all night.

Mysteries of the Heart is, on the surface, an upbeat collection of party tunes. Yet, feel-good grooves underpin a deeper search for self-understanding. Two years ago, vocalist/songwriter/keyboardist Ari “Dick” Rubin took a vow of silence and retreated into the woods. In his meditation, he rediscovered the inner self... a wild soul that the prison of modernity had stifled for too long, and could no longer be denied. When he emerged from that forest, he was a changed man – for he had conquered fear. At last, he was free, and took it upon himself to spread mirth and mischief wherever his travels took him. This EP recollects his adventures.

Reincarnation is an avant-garde EP in which Rubin, a classically trained pianist, interprets his favorite vocal pieces by Schubert, Schumann, and Strauss - updating them in his own words, and with electronic production. The original 19th century German “lieder” pieces, written for voice and solo piano accompaniment, are part of a musical tradition that remains under-appreciated, even amongst classical music’s fans. The seven songs are transmissions from another time, relocated into a context their composers could scarcely have imagined. Set amidst hiphop beats and Brian Eno-esque soundscapes, ancient melodies serve as a vehicle for an entirely new emotional expression.

Sometimes it takes youth to lead us to the next place, to revive rock ‘n’ roll by taking the old and putting a new spin on it. Today, fourteen-year-old Jack West announces his debut, eight-song album, For the Record, for an August 2 release – sharing debut single, "What I Can Get" – stream + share via YouTube.

“What I Can Get” perfectly captures the pangs of a roller-coaster adolescence... What I can get, Is bigger than I am right now, If I could let it pass.

For The Record is a collaboration between West and renowned Seattle producer Barrett Jones (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Jawbox) at his famed Laundry Room Studio. West compiled 18 tracks, laid down the piano, guitar, bass and drum tracks on Logic, from which he and Barrett Jones chose to make For the Record, a nod to both old-school vinyl records and Jack’s first official recordings made public.

The songs on For the Record are about preparing to take flight, but at the same time, wary of plummeting to the ground. The opening track, “Won’t Look Back,” sounds like a lost outtake from Dark Side of the Moon crossed with After the Gold Rush, while the plaintive David Gilmour-ish guitar riffs in “Look Out Below (How Long)” offer a paean to surfing and the thrill of catching the perfect wave.

An homage to his hometown of Rochester, NY, “The Flower City” is a slice of ‘60s psychedelia that refers to the city’s annual Lilac Festival and the flour shipped through the Erie Canal from the shores of Lake Ontario, while “Unsinkable” has that unmistakable Springsteen fervor in its vow to rise above the world’s chaos. The glam-rollicking “Revival” manages to channel the spirit of Ziggy Stardust and Mott the Hoople – as well as Foo Fighters and Jack White – with whimsical flower power sentiments.  West touches on the threats of global warming in the chilling apocalyptic, end-of-days Crazy Horse refrain of “Into This Lifetime,” then shows support for war veterans and gun control in the acoustic blues of “Leave Us Behind.” 

West has previously performed with grunge-rock icon Eddie Vedder before 30,000 at a concert in Nashville. Now, he and his five-piece band - which includes a number of local, veteran Rochester musicians - will perform at the big Napa Valley, Memorial Day weekend festival, BottleRock on Friday, May 24, before select East Coast dates, with many more to be announced.

Pre-save For The Record here.

Tour Dates:
May 24 - Napa Valley, CA @ BottleRock
Jun 28 - Rochester, NY @ Inn on Broadway, Rochester JazzFest
Jun 11 - Rochester, NY @ Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Park
Aug 01 - Fairport, NY @ B-Side
Sep 13 - Boston, MA @ The Who Cares Teen Cancer America Boston Benefit
Sep 22 - Naples, NY @ Naples Grape Festival

Fourteen-year-old Jack West just premiered his debut full-length album, For the Record, via The Big Takeover – listen here – set to release across all DSPs this Friday, August 2. For the Record is a collaboration between West and renowned Seattle producer Barrett Jones (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Jawbox) at his famed Laundry Room Studio. 

For the Record proves that sometimes it takes youth to lead us to the next place, to revive rock ‘n’ roll by taking the old and putting a new spin on it. West compiled 18 tracks, laid down the piano, guitar, bass and drum tracks on Logic, from which he and Barrett Jones chose to make For the Record, a nod to both old-school vinyl records and Jack’s first official recordings made public. The songs on the album are about preparing to take flight, but at the same time, wary of plummeting to the ground. Lyrically, West approaches an array of topics that demonstrate a maturity well beyond his years, such as the threats of global warming, rising above the world’s chaos, support for war veterans and gun control, and more.

West recently debuted a video for LP track "Revival" – watch via YouTube – that examines the 're-writing' process and the obsession of trying to improve a song and make it the best it can be. Filmed in NYC, where people from all over the world come to reinvent themselves, the video begins in black and white and ends in color, illustrating the evolution to a finished song. 

West has previously performed with Eddie Vedder before 30,000 at a concert in Nashville, and he and his five-piece band just performed at BottleRock and A2IM's Indie Week in NYC before select East Coast dates, including an upcoming performance in Boston for The Who Cares Teen Cancer America Benefit.

Pre-save For The Record here.

Tour Dates:
Aug 02 - Fairport, NY @ B-Side (solo acoustic)
Sep 13 - Boston, MA @ The Who Cares Teen Cancer America Boston Benefit
Sep 22 - Naples, NY @ Naples Grape Festival

For The Record Track Listing:
01. Won't Look Back
02. Leave Us Behind
03. The Flower City
04. Revival
05. Look Out Below (How Long)
06. Into This Lifetime
07. What I Can Get
08. Unsinkable

New York-based non-profit leaders, Women In Music, announces their Diversity & Inclusion Council today, which includes top executives such as Chissy Nkemere (Concord), Nikisha Bailey (Atlantic Records), Mayna Nevarez (Nevarez PR), and Sonja Kim (Pandora). The council will also include male members in an effort to create an inclusive and more equitable music community overall. Executives include Jeff Hammer (Northwestern Mutual), Michael Adams Jr., (Asylum Records) and Nick Maiale (Music Business Association).

The Diversity & Inclusion Council initiatives will be spearheaded by Chairman, Chissy Nkemere who is currently the Senior Director of Streaming Marketing at Concord. The Ohio native has been passionately contributing her time and words to achieve collective social justice and equality in the music industry through panels, feminist organizations and published work. Chissy excitedly shares, “When Nicole approached me to serve as Chair for Women In Music's Diversity & Inclusion Council, it was an immediate yes. Being able to use my experience to help amplify the work of a diverse community of women, while connecting to and learning from young talent on the rise is an incredible opportunity. I'm proud to be part of this growing team and excited for this new direction for Women In Music!” 

Nicole Barsalona, President of Women In Music adds, "Our goal in creating the Diversity & Inclusion Council at Women In Music is to make sure we are being intentional in all of our work and to meet the needs of underrepresented groups that too often go unaddressed under the larger gender equity umbrella. We want to open up the conversation in a real and impactful way - for women of color, for the LGBTQ community, for our male allies, and more - to create a safer, more inclusive and more equitable music industry for all. I can’t think of anyone better than Chissy to lead the way - I know she'll be a powerful and inspiring voice for our members and partners, and I can't wait to see what we can all accomplish together!”

WIM and its Diversity & Inclusion Council plan to create a series of events globally within their chapters and at WIM’s industry conference events in 2020 to learn, educate, open conversations and offer resources. The events will take place in 8 countries worldwide, that includes the U.S., Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Canada, India, Japan, UK, and 10 cities across the U.S. that include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Portland and Washington DC.

In addition to the various global events, WIM will prioritize its Diversity and Inclusion Council as part of their WIM 50/50 program by inviting speakers and performers with diverse perspectives at conferences. The 50/50 initiative was created to drive equal representation in the music industry where women are outnumbered. The goal of 50/50 is to partner with industry conferences to help program keynote and panel engagements for women executives. 

Last night, Women In Music hosted its annual holiday bast at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City, sponsored by ASCAP, Downtown, Amazon Music, BMI, Cosynd, Distrokid, MPress, Northwestern Mutual, Reservoir, SESAC, Songtrust and Viacom, where WIM’s President Nicole Barsalona surprised guests by announcing the Diversity & Inclusion Council and sharing plans for 2020. The celebrations included performances by Latin GRAMMY Producer of the Year, Ella Bric and SAYGRACE.

Last month, Women In Music launched its Mentorship Program, which facilitates one-on-one relationships by matching women with music industry professionals to provide education and career development opportunities. The Diversity and Inclusion Council will also be involved to implement change. The mentors include Gabrielle Peluso (Warner Music Group), Bridget Perdomo (Universal Music Group), Cindy Charles (Twitch), Mayna Nevarez (Nevarez PR), Sonja Kim (Pandora), Chissy Nkemere (Concord) and Nikisha Bailey (Atlantic Records). For more info, please visit here.

To become a member of Women In Music and learn more, please visit womeninmusic.org here. WIM membership offers access to 40+ educational and networking events around the world, a membership directory and group discussion forum, job postings, industry resources and discounts, and more!

HeadCount and Fort William Artist Management have announced VOTE READY, A Concert for Voter Registration, happening Friday, August 14th at 7pm Eastern, to motivate fans to verify and update their voter registration. The concert, part of the “Live From Out There” livestream series, will feature original self-recorded performances by The War On Drugs, Robin Pecknold, Daniel Rossen (of Grizzly Bear), Christopher Bear (of Grizzly Bear/Fools), Kyp Malone (of TV On The Radio), Jaleel Bunton (of TV On The Radio), Kevin Morby, Waxahatchee, Tarriona Tank Ball, Hand Habits, Ciggy, Kam Franklin (of The Suffers), The Building and Allison Russell & Leyla McCalla (of Our Native Daughters). 

Leading up to the event, fans who check their voter registration status via HeadCount.org/VoteReady will receive a free eTicket to the stream. Anyone not currently registered will then easily be able to register to vote through an online form. International and underage viewers will be able to receive the same access by pledging to vote in the next election in which they are eligible.

Verify Voter Registration Here For VOTE READY eTicket

“Voter registration could not be more critical at this time. With deadlines coming up, we wanted to get the word out to everyone we can reach through music and HeadCount to check your status and make sure you are ready for the next election,” says Ami Spishock, owner Fort William Artist Management

“This is a first of its kind event,” says Andy Bernstein, executive director of HeadCount. “We love the idea of serving up original performances to anyone who checks their voter registration status. We applaud the artists and Fort William Management for their leadership, and we hope it inspires many more similar events in the future.

Checking voter registration status is an important way for every American to protect their right to vote. Voter registration rules change regularly and, sometimes would-be voters show up at the polls only to learn they are no longer registered. The VOTE READY concert is part of a national push by HeadCount to get every American to check their voter registration well in advance of the November election, and update their registrations should they need to.

International advocacy organization Global Citizen and voter registration organization HeadCount today announced a nonpartisan multi-year partnership to engage young Americans to check their status, register, and vote. Through their joint initiatives, Global Citizen and HeadCount will mobilize support from artists, entertainers, media, corporations, and nonprofit organizations, to give young Americans the tools to use their voice in the November 3, 2020 election and beyond. Through the work of this groundbreaking collaboration, Global Citizen and HeadCount will activate young people to get involved and spark change in their communities by expressing opinions at the ballot box.

“America’s influence in the world — to tackle pandemics, address climate change, and pursue opportunity for all — is fundamental to achieving Global Citizen’s vision of a world free from extreme poverty,” said HUGH EVANS, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF GLOBAL CITIZEN. “Right now, voter registration is at historic lows given that COVID-19 has prevented young people from registering in their local communities, at live events or the DMV. Global Citizen is proud to be joining forces with HeadCount. Our work together will help ensure the voices of America’s youth are heard on election day.”

"“It has never been more important to find ways of meeting people where they are to register them to vote,” said ANDY BERNSTEIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HEADCOUNT. “So many of us are turning to entertainment and pop culture as a way to deal with these uncertain times, and because of this historic partnership, HeadCount and Global Citizen will be able to leverage the power of artists and music to reach new voters. We’re proud to marshal our teams together in the critical work of engaging young people in our democratic process.”

Both Global Citizen and HeadCount have the experience and tools to mobilize young people, making this partnership unprecedented. HeadCount has deep experience driving voter registration, and since 2012 Global Citizen has activated millions of global citizens in support of eradicating extreme poverty. Together, the organizations have the power to reach young voters by creating a movement fueled by leading artists and the music industry. Global Citizen and HeadCount will inspire inclusion through culture, with the goal of bolstering and activating the will of the next generation to vote.

Voter registration numbers are down across the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent study, in 11 states the number of new voters in April of 2020 decreased by 70% as compared to April 2016. Other states are down as much as 50% over the same period. 

International advocacy organization Global Citizen and voter registration organization HeadCount today announced the launch of the Just Vote campaign to engage young Americans to check their status, register, and vote in November and elections beyond. The non-partisan campaign aims to engage one million young voters and get 50,000 young people registered ahead of the 2020 elections.

The Just Vote campaign will engage and reward young people by offering exclusive experiences, performances, and memorabilia donated by artists and entertainers that can only be unlocked through checking your voter registration status. Artists supporting the campaign include Billie Eilish, Billy Porter, DJ Khaled, FINNEAS, Julianne Hough, Loren Gray, Nicky Jam, Quavo, Taylor Swift, Usher, and more. Once they check their voter registration status, participants will have the opportunity to receive access to exciting opportunities like a virtual dance lesson with Usher and his choreographer, a never-before-seen performance from Nicky Jam, a happy hour meet and greet with Quavo, or a virtual get together with DJ Khaled. The Just Vote campaign will employ precise tracking of voter registrations to track the campaign’s success.

“We are proud to launch the ‘Just Vote’ campaign to encourage more young people to check their status and register to vote,” said HUGH EVANS, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF GLOBAL CITIZEN. “For years, we have been activating global citizens to be part of the solution to key issues like extreme poverty, climate change, and now pandemic relief. Voting is a vital way to exercise that power. We are excited about ‘Just Vote’s’ potential to drive young voter turnout in November and beyond.”

This year, young people have more sway than ever. Research shows that more than a third of eligible voters are Gen Z or Millennials, and 83% of people 18-29 believe they have the power to change the country and the world. But only 60% are planning to vote. In fact across the board, voter registration numbers are down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent study, in 11 states the number of new voters in April of 2020 decreased by 70% as compared to April 2016. Other states are down as much as 50% over the same period. 

“With only a few months until the election, this is a pivotal moment to be launching ‘Just Vote’,” said ANDY BERNSTEIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HEADCOUNT. “The challenges of COVID-19 demand that we innovate the ways in which we engage potential voters. That’s why we are thrilled to partner with Global Citizen, these brilliant artists and companies to excite voters, and encourage participation in our democracy.”

Just Vote is also teaming up with corporate and foundation partners to expand the campaign’s reach and impact. Corporate partners include Cisco and Procter & Gamble and foundation partners include Wallace Global Fund. As part of the campaign, these partners are giving their employees time off to vote and participate in November’s election.

"‘MAJOR KEY ALERT!’ Checking your voting status and registering to vote is easy and important," said DJ KHALED. "I’m partnering with Global Citizen and HeadCount, to make sure everyone has a chance to use their voice. I'm looking forward to hosting a virtual meet and greet with the Just Vote campaign to talk with young people who have taken the time to check their voter registration status."

This unique coalition of organizations has an unprecedented power to mobilize the youth vote. Both Global Citizen and HeadCount have the ability to connect people through music and entertainment and are uniquely positioned to reach potential new voters. Global Citizen and HeadCount will inspire inclusion through culture, with the goal of bolstering and activating the will of the next generation to vote.

For more information about Just Vote, please visit https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/justvote.

LiveXLive Media (NASDAQ: LIVX) ("LiveXLive") will launch a one night only special, The Vote Ready Festival in partnership with Atlantic Records’ ATL Votes Initiative, Elektra Music Group, and voter outreach organization Headcount as part of LiveXLive’s highly successful Friday night franchise livestream festival, Music Lives On. 

The festival will take place Friday, October 2, 2020 at 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT for three hours, with at-home performances from All Time Low, Ava Max, Electric Guest, Fitz & the Tantrums, flor, grandson, Grouplove, Jax Andreson, JoJo, jxdn, Larkin Poe, MICHELLE, MILCK, Misterwives, Pink Sweat$,  Portugal. The Man, Raiche, Rival Sons, Rob Thomas, Royal & the Serpent, Tayla Parx, Wafia, and White Reaper. Special appearances will include Jack Harlow, Jojo and Why Don’t We, all to support HeadCount’s mission to getting fans registered and out to vote. Check your voter registration status to RSVP. 

The festival, which is free to watch on LiveXLive’s site and apps, will be hosted by social media sensation and host, Los Angeles based, Ayydé.  She will be joined by MTV, ENews, Hollywire and The Jam Show’s Carly Henderson.

“Music is a uniting force that we’ve watched bring the global village together during this pandemic and every other major movement in history. Joining forces with Atlantic Records on the ATL Votes initiative in association with HeadCount to encourage Americans to vote is an important partnership as we head toward Election Day,” said LiveXLive’s President Dermot McCormack.

“At the beginning of 2020, with the most important election of our lifetime coming into closer view, Atlantic Records made it a company-wide priority to use our platform, resources and the powerful reach of our diverse roster of artists to get as many people educated, registered and ultimately, out to the polls in November to vote, as possible,” said Nick Harvey, Atlantic Records’ Director of Digital Marketing, “Democracy–and in turn, our country–doesn't function properly without full participation from its citizens. We are very fortunate to have incredible artists, managers, and partners like Elektra Music Group, Warner Records, HeadCount, and LiveXLive to work alongside us in executing a truly special event we are all proud to be a part of."

"We're really excited about the lineup," said Andy Bernstein, HeadCount's founder and executive director. "It includes some acts we've worked with for a long time, and some who are new partners. But what they all have in common is that they're very committed to the cause of voter participation. Some of these artists are real leaders on that front."

“Elektra Music Group has spent this election year - working in tandem with ATL Votes, Warner Records and HeadCount - focused on helping our diverse roster of artists use their platforms to encourage fans to make their voices heard,” said Annie Flook, Elektra Music Group’s Senior Director of Artist Development and Touring. “We’re so excited to also partner with LiveXLive on this very special event and extremely proud that so many of our artists were eager to take part to help to make an impact on both voter registration and turnout this year. Voting is absolutely vital to our democracy and we all need to stand together in order to make change.”

Since launching in May 2020, LiveXLive’s “Music Lives ON” franchise festival series has live-streamed over 90 artists reaching over 165 million fans on social media and generating over 7.8 million views. Weekly viewership continues to climb showing a growth in brand awareness and interest in the growing franchise. Brand integrations have included artist partnerships, product placement, sponsor billboards, verbal brand mentions, and thematic integrations in the festival's content. Chipotle, Corona Electric Beach and WhiteClaw are among the brand partners activating “Music Lives ON”. LiveXLive has also integrated interviews with its flagship music news and commentary series, LiveZone, into the weekly program. 

Today, HeadCount announced they have registered over 1 million voters since the nonpartisan organization was founded in 2004, with nearly half coming during the 2020 election cycle.

While the organization has spent most of the past decade and a half registering voters at concerts and music festivals, the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to pivot to a mostly digital approach, which led to some of the most viral pop culture moments of this election cycle. 

For instance, HeadCount was the voter organization behind YouTube star David Dobrik giving away five Teslas, Board member Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead texting Deadheads, Cardi B and other Atlantic Records artists filling their Instagram Stories with messages about voting, Tina Fey reuniting the cast of Mean Girls, Indie rockers The Postal Service holding Zoom band auditions with Anne Hathaway, Weird Al, Slash and many others, and Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish giving away memorabilia to fans who check their voter registration status through partner Global Citizen.

“The pandemic created challenges, but the election wasn’t going to wait for concerts to come back so we just had to get more creative,” said live music entrepreneur Peter Shapiro, HeadCount’s board chair. “Our internal goal, which was set when we were still organizing around concerts, was to register 200,000 new voters. We ended up with over 425,000 for this election and it got us to 1 million all time.”

“I’ve watched the organization grow from an idea to a force,” said Bob Weir, who has been on HeadCount’s board since the beginning. “And now we’ve found new ways to connect and increase voter turnout when it’s more important than ever.”

HeadCount’s campaigns this year go beyond voter registration. Last month, the organization launched its “Make Your Vote Count” campaign, which seeks to educate voters about common mistakes that can put their ballot at risk of being invalidated. They’ve also launched the “How to Talk to Your Friends about Voting” campaign, which serves as a resource guide to help young people start the conversation with friends about voting without feeling awkward or frustrated.

Bones Owens will release his garage-swamp, self-titled, debut full-length on February 26 via Black Ranch Records/Thirty Tigers. Today, he released the video for "Good Day," a fiery ode of self-assurance that premiered this morning at BreakThru Radio.

"Hitting all the cornerstones of rock ‘n’ roll with blues, garage, and even a little Americana, 'Good Day' is what we’re all striving for in 2021,” says BTR.

"I wrote 'Good Day' as this sort of straightforward 60’s garage rock thing in the vein of The Kinks or The Troggs," adds Owens. "It’s just meant to be a feel-good moment - a snapshot of someone who’s having their day in the sun."

It's an optimistic anthem to start the new year and the video was shot in one long take, making for an interesting scramble behind the scenes as Bones sprinted behind the camera from one shot to the next. The track’s exultant mood is magnified by the sublime background vocals of Regina McCrary (a legendary gospel singer known for her work with Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy).

ENJOY / SHARE "GOOD DAY" VIDEO

“Good Day” follows the slow-burning, soul-crusher “Keep It Close” & "Blind Eyes,” a dark meditation on emotional limits regarding Bones' more decadent periods of life.

The Missouri-bred musician’s LP is a potent showcase for his formidable guitar work — a talent he’s displayed in performing with artists as eclectic as Yelawolf and Mikky Ekko — Bones Owens is a full-tilt expression of Owens’ wildest impulses, all swinging rhythms, and swaggering riffs.

Bones Owens came to life at The Smoakstack in Owens’ adopted hometown of Nashville. With production from studio owner Paul Moak—a five-time Grammy Award nominee who’s also worked with Joy Williams, Marc Broussard, and The Blind Boys of Alabama—most of the album finds Owens joining forces with drummer Julian Dorio (Eagles of Death Metal, The Whigs) and bassist Jonathan Draper (All Them Witches), recording live to tape and infusing each track with a frenetic vitality.

With touring halted over for the past year or so, Owens has been showcasing his music from the album via the NFL and NASCAR. Enjoy a compilation of these syncs HERE.

Nashville-based rock n' roller Bones Owens has shared a video for his latest single, “When I Think About Love.” The compilation of home-footage was shot during a family trip to Marfa, Texas. “When I Think About Love” is featured on Owens’ upcoming self-titled, debut album due February 26 via Black Ranch Records/Thirty Tigers. 

Discussing the track, Owens said, “‘When I Think About Love’ is a rare love song from me. There’s not much beneath the surface of the lyrics really. It’s just about being happy with the person you’re with. That person who can still make you feel like a kid in love. Whoever you love, that’s who this song is about.” 

“When I Think About Love” is the final single from Owens' highly anticipated debut, following the painfully self-aware, “Blind Eyes” and optimistic new year anthem, “Good Day.” With each single Owens has released from the album, he has explored a different theme and displayed a different side to his musical creativity, showcasing a young songwriter with a strong grip on what he wants to convey.

To celebrate the album’s release, Bones Owens will be performing a full-length pre-release album show on SPIN Magazine’s Twitch channel on February 25 at 5:30 PM PST / 8:30 PM EST. Tune in to the free livestream HERE.

The Missouri-bred musician’s debut is a potent showcase for his formidable guitar work — a talent he’s displayed in performing with artists as eclectic as Yelawolf and Mikky Ekko. Bones Owens is a full-tilt expression of Owens’ wildest impulses, all swinging rhythms, and swaggering riffs.

Bones Owens came to life at The Smoakstack studio with production from Paul Moak—a five-time GRAMMY Award nominee who’s also worked with Joy Williams, Marc Broussard, and The Blind Boys of Alabama. Most of the album finds Owens joining forces with drummer Julian Dorio (Eagles of Death Metal, The Whigs) and bassist Jonathan Draper (All Them Witches), recording live to tape and infusing each track with a frenetic vitality.

Gothic blues guitarist Ledfoot will release Black Valley on March 12 via TBC Records and has shared the video for "Take Away The Hurt." Pre-save Black Valley HERE.

Ledfoot aka Tim Scott McConnell is a 12-string guitarist who plays with fitted heavy strings, a brass slide, steel fingerpicks, and a stompbox. He has been touring and releasing music since the late 1970’s and written for artists as varied as Highasakite and TnT to Sheena Easton. In 2014, Tim wrote the title track to Bruce Springsteen's album, High Hopes. It debuted as #1 in over 10 countries including the U.S. and the U.K.

Black Valley is Ledfoot's fifth studio album, and follow up to White Crow which was awarded the Spellemann (Norwegian Grammy) for 'Best Blues Album' in 2019.

The signature sound of Ledfoot is present on Black Valley the work but with a stronger attitude and with lyrics and a sound closer to the murder ballad tradition.

The brilliant lyrics explore the darker side of the mind.

From "Broken eyes":
Let's not talk about the future
I don’t need it fucking with my mind
I´m not chasing after rainbows
I’m colorblind

LEDFOOT came into existence in 2006, when Tim put together the different techniques from over 30 years of playing and combined a 12-string guitar with steel fingerpicks, a brass slide, open-tunings, very heavy strings, and a stompbox. Mixing this with a darkly lyrical and melodic sense, he dubbed it ‘Gothic Blues’. Since then, Ledfoot has released four albums and has toured England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Holland, and the U.S.

Women In Music Organization announces their Women’s History Month event on March 31 at 6pm ET live on WIM’s YouTube channel - subscribe here.

Women in Music Presents: Celebrating Unity & Collective Power Beyond Women’s History Month by bringing together partners and friends to celebrate what it means to be a Woman in Music. The event will highlight the collective power from inspiring individuals and organizations working to create a more equitable industry for all.

Launching WIM's channel on YouTube, the virtual event will feature artists and executives in a showcase of diverse global talent, highlighting women-led moments in music history and the organizations working to advance women in all sectors of the industry today. The channel will continue highlighting artists, industry executives, events and more year-round.

“We are so excited to see so many companies celebrating women in our industry this year during Women’s History Month, but the work has to extend beyond token months assigned to underrepresented groups,” says Nicole Barsalona, President of Women In Music. “We’re here year-round doing the work day in and day out, alongside some incredible organizations and individuals who are creating transformational change in our industry. Today, and everyday, we highlight them and celebrate the unity, diversity, and collective power of women in music. And we’re asking everyone to join us in taking measurable action to create a culture of belonging for all.”

Artist performances by Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Maisie Peters, Meet Me @ The Altar, Chloe Moriondo and Sofía Valdés.

Speakers are Noelle Scaggs (Fitz & the Tantrums / Founder, Diversify the Stage), Dr. Portia Sabin (Music Business Association), Ebonie Smith (Atlantic / Founder, Gender Amplified), Emily Lazar (Founder, Chief Recording Engineer, The Lodge / Founder, We Are Moving the Needle), Grace Lee (Head of YouTube Artist Relations, East Coast / Co-Founder, Asian American Collective, Maria Egan (Chief Music Officer, Splice & Co-Founder, Reboot), Ty Stiklorius (Friends at Work), Tracy Gershon (Change the Conversation) and Ali Harnell (Live Nation Women). Additional clips from Binta Brown (omalilly projects / Black Music Action Coalition), Andreea Magdelena (She.Said.So), Adina Friedman (Friends at Work) and, supporters include Beatz by Girlz, She Knows Tech, Amplify Her Voice and more.

A virtual private guitar lesson with Bobby Weir and a virtual piano lesson with Amy Lee of Evanescence are among the prizes in a series of online sweepstakes supporting HeadCount, the nonpartisan voter registration organization that works with musicians to promote participation in democracy.

Additional prizes include roundtrip travel accommodations and meet and greet with Incubus, show tickets plus a signed merch package from Billy Strings, and a virtual hang with Jason Mraz (for a winner and 9 friends).

Each experience is staged through the digital fundraising platform Fandiem. Prizes also include a limited edition D’Angelico HeadCount SS guitar signed by the associated artist.

Fans can donate to prize drawings here with proceeds supporting HeadCount’s upcoming “Save The Vote!” campaign to protect voting rights. The series will run for 90 days.

This marks the first time Weir or Lee have ever offered a lesson to fans. Weir, of Grateful Dead and now Dead & Company, is a founding member of HeadCount’s board of directors. Lee is a classically trained pianist whose band Evanescence will also welcome a winner and guest to a soundcheck on their upcoming Fall tour. Both lessons and the hang with Mraz will take place virtually on Lively, an online experience platform.

“Hosting these incredible musicians on our platform, to support such an important initiative, brings together two of my great passions,” said Marc Brownstein, co-founder of both HeadCount and Lively and also the bass player for The Disco Biscuits. 
 
Tying all the individual contests together are prizes of signed D'Angelico guitars, made especially for HeadCount. Each Premier SS features a custom two-tone American Flag top design, as well as custom inlays reminding fans to "VOTE” – view images here.  D’Angelico and HeadCount have been aligned since the 2015 Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead reunion concerts when Weir played a D’Angelico guitar on stage that was auctioned by HeadCount to support various Grateful Dead-affiliated charities. Later, D’Angelico produced a series of signature guitars for Weir.

"Our partnership with HeadCount is one of our most cherished,” said Ryan Kershaw, D’Angelico Executive Vice President, Product. “Their commitment to their mission is unrivaled, and it's a true honor to aid in it. We're proud to offer the Limited Edition HeadCount SS as both a custom, unique art piece that helps spread their democratic message and a highly playable, versatile instrument for the gigging musician or passionate collector.”

DONATE TO WIN + SUPPORT NOW

Renowned contemporary artist Mister E has designed five customized Dead & Company tour branded D'Angelico guitars for auction to support HeadCount, REVERB and the “Dead Family: charities."

These auctions have raised over $1.3 million for the band’s favorite charities since the first Dead & Company tour back in 2015. The tradition continues this year with five custom guitars,  all signed by each member of Dead & Co that includes a 2021 tour design plus guitars commemorating tour stops in Boston, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.

Mister E has also been commissioned by celebrities such as Floyd Mayweather, Adam Sandler, Miley Cyrus, Lionel Richie, Dana White and more. This year's guitars are hand painted and collaged to include sheet music from original Grateful Dead song books. The songbooks wrap around the body of each city guitar, along with several hand made iconic Dancing Bear stamps and lyrics from Truckin’ in the traditional style of Mister E's work. Each guitar has a custom engraved back plate with the lyric “What a long strange trip it’s been” and both the front and back have details to commemorate this summer tour. All five are Deluxe Bob Weir Bedfords, a signature D’Angelico model co-designed with Bob Weir.

In discussing the partnership, Mister E said, "as an artist It's an honor to paint these guitars to raise money for a great cause, but as a guitar player and fan of the dead for years, it is truly humbling to be working with Bob Weir and Dead & Co.”

Bids will be accepted on the guitars throughout the tour, in both the Participation Row activism village and the Loose Lucy’s VIP lounge. Remote bids can also be accepted. Anyone seeking more information can contact HeadCount’s  Major Gifts Director, Kristina Raines at [email protected].

“These custom guitars have fast become a tradition on Dead & Company tour, but Mister E's designs have taken it to a whole new level," said Andy Bernstein, HeadCount's executive director. "This is one of the most creative and rewarding ways to raise funds, both for ourselves and the other 'Dead Family' charities."

Fans visiting Participation Row will also have the chance to enter a free drawing for a D’Angelico signed guitar signed by Dead & Co. To enter, each fan just has to visit three of the Dead Family charities who have booths on Participation Row, and take an action with each. Fans then also receive a free limited edition  “VOTE” pin, courtesy of Casely.

Participation Row is organized by HeadCount, which promotes civic engagement through music and culture, and REVERB, which partners with musicians, festivals and venues to green their events while engaging fans face-to-face to take environmental and social action.

Yesterday the House narrowly passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (HR4) along party lines. We applaud the leadership to bring this bill forward, and those who have worked tirelessly to present and catalog hours of testimony and data presented to define the parameters of the bill so that it accurately meets our current needs to protect our democracy.

Since the Voting Rights Act (VRA) was first established in 1965 it has been supported across party lines and renewed five times with broad bipartisan support, most recently 15 years ago by a 396 - 33 vote in the House. The narrow passage of HR4 is a direct result of the stark division across our country, and the great challenge facing our democracy. Are we a nation that will protect the right to vote at all costs, even if it challenges the power and security of lawmakers?

It is imperative that our nation come together again as a democracy, one that sees value in every person’s vote and will not stand for laws that disproportionately create barriers to access to the ballot box for people based on their race, class, or disability. The Senate has an opportunity to lead, and heal divisions across our country by honoring the legacy and effectiveness of the VRA by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

This year alone, over 400 bills have been introduced across the states to make it harder for people to vote. 30 of those bills have been signed into law - and we are already seeing the effects, like in DeKalb County, GA, where nearly 30,000 people no longer have qualifying ID to vote in the wake of Georgia’s SB202. HR4 creates an enforcement mechanism for the VRA and provides oversight to determine if and when laws like Georgia’s SB202 discriminate against citizens based on their race.

Since the loss of pre-clearance in 2013 we have systematically seen the marginalization of voters based on race without an enforcement mechanism for the VRA. In states originally covered by the VRA, the racial turnout gap grew by 9.2 to 20.9% without pre-clearance to enforce the law.  The data is clear, we need HR4 and the VRA to protect the right to vote.

State lawmakers must also be held accountable for their work to make it harder to vote, however, in the short term HR4 is needed to protect fair, accessible, and trustworthy elections for all Americans so that democracy can work.

We call on the Senate to act, and on all Americans to raise their voices in support of democracy by letting lawmakers know you will not stand for a democracy that is standing on laws that are designed to limit the power of voters based on their race.

- Tappan Vickery, Director of Voter Engagement at HeadCount

About HeadCount

HeadCount is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes participation in democracy through music, culture, and digital media. Since 2004 the organization has registered over one million voters and worked with a long list of musicians and partners including Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Dave Matthews Band, JAY-Z, Beyoncé, March for Our Lives, RuPaul’s DragCon, MTV, and Dead & Company. With 40,000 volunteers, street teams in most major U.S. cities, and a presence at more than 1,000 events each year, HeadCount ranks as one of the most active grassroots civic participation organizations in the United States. HeadCount Founder/Executive Director Andy Bernstein and Chairman Peter Shapiro were recently featured in Billboard’s inaugural ‘Change Agents’ issue for the organization’s pro-democracy mission during 2020’s unprecedented election season. For more information visit, HeadCount.org.

The Capitol Theatre’s halcyon days played host to rock ‘n’ roll royalty — Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Jefferson Airplane, The Chambers Brothers, Mountain, the Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, Traffic, Eric Clapton, and more. Friday, December 17, Dayglo Presents and RWE Partners unite and give proper respect to these melodic masters in the iconic venue where they impacted the world forever. The Capitol Sessions: Songs from a Rock Palace That Impacted the World is headlined by two of the defining artists of the era: singer, songwriter, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Browne and Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna guitarist and frontman Jorma Kaukonen. Joining them is a heavenly arrangement of musical ability, including Marco Benevento, James Casey (Trey Anastasio Band), Lisa Fischer (Luther Vandross, the Rolling Stones), Amy Helm (Levon Helm), Connor Kennedy (Steely Dan, Amy Helm), Eric Krasno (Soulive, Lettuce), Tony Leone (Levon Helm, Chris Robinson Brotherhood), Grahame Lesh (Phil Lesh & Friends), Adam Minkoff (Zappa Plays Zappa, The Machine), Karina Rykman, Teresa Williams, and The War & Treaty.

Curating the evening is legendary producer, arranger, songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell, alongside his musical partner and wife Teresa Williams. Universally respected by his peers and fans as a master of music, the three-time Grammy-winning producer/musical director for Levon Helm was a member of Bob Dylan’s Never Ending Tour band, as well as a session and touring musician for artists including Keith Richards, Jackson Browne, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, and Emmylou Harris, and a recipient of the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award as Instrumentalist.

The show benefits HeadCount, a non-partisan voter registration advocacy organization that stages voter registration drives at more than 1,000 live events each year and collaborates with cultural leaders to promote civic engagement on a national scale. Since 2004, HeadCount has signed up over 1,000,000 voters through its work with Ariana Grande, Dead & Company, and Beyoncé and events like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Pride Festivals, and RuPaul’s DragCon.

“The Capitol Theatre is one of rock ‘n’ roll’s last remaining rock palaces,” said Dayglo Presents founder Peter Shapiro, who is also on the board for HeadCount. “A place where many of rock’s most beloved legends performed — the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, David Bowie, Janis Joplin, to name a few. We can’t wait to celebrate the iconic songs that have been played over the years at The Cap. It will be very cool for The Capitol Sessions to happen on the same stage where these songs were originally performed. It’s going to be an epic night!”

The Capitol Sessions is the latest in a lineup of standout events by RWE, the company founded by Greg Williamson and Nicole Rechter to bring people together around music, culture, and philanthropy. RWE has realized its vision through charity concerts such as Love Rocks NYC, the Play On CBS primetime TV special, and the annual Tipping Point concert for Tulane University and the city of New Orleans.

“In addition to honoring some of the most influential artists who played the Capitol during its heyday, we’re proud to highlight the importance of voting rights and democracy,” said Williamson. “We’d like to extend our thanks to Peter Shapiro, Larry Campbell, and all of the talented artists who agreed to be a part of this benefit concert.”

Launched with the mission of creating unique and meaningful cultural experiences, Dayglo Presents owns and operates a number of significant venues, events, and media outlets. These include the Brooklyn Bowl (Brooklyn, Las Vegas, Nashville, Philadelphia), The Capitol Theatre, Garcia’s, LOCKN’ music festival, Relix magazine, as well as Relix.com and Jambands.com, and cultural events including Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead and the immersive and vivid Jazz & Colors concerts.

Tickets go on sale Friday, November 19 at 12 p.m. EST at thecapitoltheatre.com. Fans are encouraged to make a donation to benefit voter registration and HeadCount.

Today, HeadCount and Up to Us have announced a strategic partnership to educate, register and turn out young voters in 2022. The organizations are collaborating through a shared belief that democracy should represent all Americans. Young voters’ diverse and passionate voices make us a better union and must be heard on Election Day.

Since 2004, HeadCount has registered over one million voters working with musicians and partners including Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, RuPaul’s DragCon, and MTV. Up to Us, founded in 2020 by Gen Z innovator Conor Sanchez-O’Shea, successfully partnered with social media creators across TikTok and Instagram such as The Cheeky Boyos, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Dillon Francis, Grimes, Madelaine Petsch, and Gigi Hadid, to urge and incentivize their audiences to check their voter registration status and request mail-in ballot applications. Their 2020 voter engagement initiatives mobilized over 40,000 young people to get ready to vote in the last election cycle.

“HeadCount is thrilled to work with Up to Us, a truly Gen–Z–led social impact non-profit, to grow our combined digital programs and provide innovative and dynamic voter engagement strategies to reach America’s young voters,” said Andy Berstein, Executive Director of HeadCount. “Together, we are poised to make a cultural movement out of turning out to vote in the midterm cycle.”

The midterm election will not only determine control of the U.S. Congress but also demonstrate the power of young voters in elections. In 2018 and 2020, young voters broke records for electoral participation - with a 79% increase between 2014 and 2018, and a 39% increase between 2016 and 2020. Young voters have been credited with being the deciding factor in both elections. If this trend continues in 2022, we will have achieved a paradigm shift, where high youth voter turnout forces elected officials to prioritize and engage with the unique generational challenges young people face.

“HeadCount was one of the first organizations to successfully channel the frustration young people across this country have into voting and civic engagement. With their scale, experience, and support, we’re going to make sure the next generation of voters' voices are heard,” said Conor Sanchez-O’Shea, the 25-year old founder and CEO of Up to Us.

Before 2018, less than a quarter of young eligible voters participated in the midterm elections. If participation rates drop back down, only about half of the 25 million voters under age 30 who voted in the 2020 election will return to the polls this November. This dropoff is tied to a lack of education and understanding about the U.S. Congress and the role of representatives. Barriers to voting are also a reason for low youth voter turnout – and voters face even more barriers this year in light of restrictive voting laws passed in 2021. Most of all, today’s young voters are overwhelmingly unaffiliated with a political party and turned off by the polarized messaging that comes from legislative candidates and campaigns.

The partnership between HeadCount and Up to Us is designed to leverage the organizations’ shared knowledge and track record of success to engage and mobilize young voters to turn out in 2022. By integrating culture, technology, gamification, non-partisan voter education and responsive Get Out the Vote tactics, HeadCount and Up to Us will register and turn out a record number of young voters. The collaboration will be evident in the forthcoming continuation of HeadCount’s “Good to Vote” campaign, employing proprietary technology designed by Up to Us in the previous election cycle. This technology will also support HeadCount’s ongoing partnership with Global Citizen.

Resources

HeadCount 2022 Young Voter Fact Sheet

Andy Bernstein Bio

Connor Sanchez O'Shea Bio

Today, San Diego, CA-based Slightly Stoopid announce the first round of dates for their Summer Traditions 2022  tour — a nod to the summer outdoor amphitheater circuit the band has performed annually since 2007 but hasn’t taken place for the last two years due to the pandemic.

Fans gain first access to the artist presale beginning Wednesday, February 23rd at 10 AM local time, where a very limited amount of "early bird" tickets will be available in each market for $24.99 + fees. Tickets will be available at SlightlyStoopid.com/tour. Slightly Stoopid's top fans will be notified via email for Spotify presale. Local presales will run on Wednesday, February 23, and Thursday, February 24, and the general public on-sale will then take place on Friday, February 25 at 10 AM local time (except Santa Barbara on sale is 12pm PT).

Joining Slightly Stoopid for their Summer Traditions 2022 tour are special guests Pepper, Common Kings, and Fortunate Youth. Summer Traditions was originally intended as the 2020 tour package, later canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After a consistent two decades on the road came to a halt in 2020, Slightly Stoopid has committed to deliver the same line-up and same experience, amongst many of the same venues in 2022! In an abbreviated 2021, Slightly Stoopid performed a handful of shows including Petco Park in their hometown San Diego, and a landmark two-night sold-out Red Rocks "Double On The Rocks” weekend, which also streamed worldwide on FANS/Relix/Twitch channel to over three million viewers. Summer Traditions 2022 is sure to remain an annual rite of passage for the group’s diehard fanbase known as “Stoopidheads”, as they travel the states, sharing good times with one another through music and community, as they have done since the band’s inception 25 years ago.

The 2022 edition of Summer Traditions kicks off in Bonner, MT on July 7, and routes the beloved So-Cal band throughout North America, including stops at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, Santa Barbara Bowl, Mann Center in Philadelphia, the Stone Pony Summerstage in Asbury Park, NJ ending with a massive hometown show at Petco Park in San Diego. All currently announced dates are listed below, with additional dates to be announced soon.

Miles Doughty exclaimed, “We're super pumped to hit the road this summer and finally bring the Summer Traditions Tour around the country!! Always a blessing to share the stage with our good friends Pepper, Common Kings, and Fortunate Youth. We’re looking forward to some epic collaborations on stage and are stoked to keep our summertime tradition going! See you soon Party People!”

Since 1995, Slightly Stoopid continues to be a musical brotherhood. Founded by Doughty and Kyle McDonald, two musicians determined to succeed on their own terms, the pair of long-time childhood friends, has created a multi-genre fusion of rock, reggae, and blues with hip-hop, funk, American folk, metal, and punk. They remain unwavering in their principles of independence, honoring their diversity of influences and mentors, and furthering their inherited legacy of the Southern California sound. Slightly Stoopid has built a sweeping legacy for itself, continuously expanding in diversity and repertoire. Warriors of the road, their touring has grown exponentially both domestically and internationally with sold-out headlining dates across the world, and festival appearances at famed events such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, New Orleans Jazz Fest, ACL, Outside Lands, and Cali Vibes amongst countless others.

Twenty-five years into the journey, the prolific collective has much to celebrate; the band founded their own record label, Stoopid Records (over one mil catalog sales and two RIAA certified Gold singles), created and curate their annual sold-out Closer to the Sun destination music festival in Mexico, launched a line of unique, high-quality cannabis products under the guise of Stoopid Organics, and continue to explore (and master) the art of musical collaboration, most recently with such artists such as Bob Weir, Cypress Hill, Barrington Levy, Don Carlos, Chali2na, G. Love, the Marley family, Snoop Dogg, and more.

Slightly Stoopid is currently riding high on their latest single “Everyday People (Headhunter remix)” featuring hip-hop legend B-Real of Cypress Hill, and long-time collaborator and friend G. Love (G. Love & Special Sauce). The track was produced by Miguel Happoldt (Sublime/Skunk Records) and George Spits (Llama Beats). The foundation of the remix is built upon a drum sample from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters’ 1975 anthem, "God Make Me Funky,'' lending a brilliant jazz fusion and funk vibe elevated by B-Real’s (of Cypress Hill) fresh bars and coupled with G. Love’s original lyrics.

Slightly Stoopid Summer Traditions 2022 Tour Dates:

Jul 07 - Bonner, MT - KettleHouse Amphitheater

Jul 08 - Nampa, ID - Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater

Jul 09 - Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater

Jul 10 - Tacoma, WA - Haub Family Field

Jul 14 - Avila Beach, CA - Avila Beach Golf Resort

Jul 15 - Irvine, CA - FivePoint Amphitheatre

Jul 17 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl

Jul 22 - Murphys, CA - Ironstone Amphitheatre

Jul 23 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre

Jul 28 - Boston, MA - Leader Bank Pavilion

Jul 29 - Philadelphia, PA - Skyline Stage at The Mann

Jul 30 - Asbury Park, NJ - Stone Pony Summer Stage

Aug 04 - St. Augustine, FL - Saint Augustine Amphitheatre

Aug 07 - Key West, FL - Coffee Butler Amphitheater

Aug 11 - Albuquerque, NM - Villa Hispana Pavilion

Aug 12 - Sandy, UT - Rio Tinto Stadium

Aug 18 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Zoo Amphitheatre

Aug 19 - Houston, TX - The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall

Aug 20 - New Braunfels, TX - Whitewater Amphitheater

Aug 21 - Irving, TX - Toyota Music Factory

Sep 03 - San Diego, CA - Petco Park

All shows with special guests Pepper, Common Kings, Fortunate Youth with more shows to be announced soon

Bobby Weir gave his first-ever guitar lesson this week, to the winner of an online promotion in support of HeadCount.

Check out the video highlights here.

Jason E. of Palmetto, FL won not only a virtual lesson on the Lively platform but also a D'Angelico guitar signed by Weir. The promotion was staged through Fandiem and raised over $30,000 for HeadCount to support voter registration and education.

Weir, who is on tour right now with his band The Wolf Bros., is an original member of HeadCount's board of directors and continues to support the organization in creative and generous ways.  He is also a spokesperson for D'Angelico guitars, a relationship that was sparked in 2015 when Weir played a custom D'Angelico on stage at the Fare Thee Well reunion concerts. That guitar was later auctioned by HeadCount for over half a million dollars, supporting 17 different Grateful Dead-affiliated charities.

Today, Sting, 17-time GRAMMY Award-winning musician, releases a new version of “Por Su Amor” - the Spanish language adaptation of his song “For Her Love,” which appears on his most recent album, The Bridge - with a spin: a duet with one of Latin pop’s rising stars: Mexican singer-songwriter KURT.

Sting comments, “KURT is a wonderful singer who performs with great authority, sensitivity, and passion. I thoroughly enjoyed working together with him on this song.”

Given the original version of “Por Su Amor” was inspired by the vibrant landscapes and beaches of Baja, California, it was only natural for Sting to join forces with a Mexican artist to collaborate on this evocative love song.

KURT adds that he is really touched and moved by the collaboration. He has always admired Sting and his work, thanks to his mom who is a long-time Sting fan. He even used to perform Sting’s songs in bars when starting his career as a musician. KURT says: “For me, collaborating with Sting has been like getting to know one of my music superheroes…it’s a dream come true, and a true honor.”

The Spanish lyrics for “Por Su Amor” were written by GRAMMY-nominated musician/ songwriter/producer Martin Kierszenbaum, co-writer of “For Her Love” and co-producer of The Bridge album with Sting. “Por Su Amor” also features backing vocals by up-and-coming bilingual artist, Hannah Brier with Dominic Miller on guitar and Martin Kierszenbaum on keyboards. The track was mixed by four-time GRAMMY Award-winning, Robert “Hitmixer” Orton.

Slightly Stoopid have announced a free rebroadcast live stream of their two sold-out 2021 'Double On The Rocks' performances at Red Rocks via our friends at Fans/Relix. The shows feature appearances by special guests Chali 2na, Don Carlos, Marlon Asher, Kaleo from Pepper, and Kailash and will stream on April 20 & 21. Donations will be accepted to the Community Foundation Boulder County, benefitting their Boulder County Wildfire Fund and you can enjoy the live stream at Fans.live/slightlystoopid.

The San Diego-based band has also added more dates to their Summer Traditions 2022  tour — a nod to the summer outdoor amphitheater circuit the band has performed annually since 2007 but hasn’t taken place for the last two years due to the pandemic.

New shows have been added in Arizona, California, Florida, New York City, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Tickets will be available at SlightlyStoopid.com/tour. Local presales are on sale now, and the general public on-sale will take place on Friday, April 15 at 10 AM local time.

Joining Slightly Stoopid for their Summer Traditions 2022 tour are special guests Pepper, Common Kings, and Fortunate Youth. The run is sure to remain an annual rite of passage for the group’s diehard fanbase known as “Stoopidheads”, as they travel the states, sharing good times with one another through music and community, as they have done since the band’s inception 25 years ago.

Since 1995, Slightly Stoopid continues to be a musical brotherhood. Founded by Doughty and Kyle McDonald, two musicians determined to succeed on their own terms, the pair of long-time childhood friends, has created a multi-genre fusion of rock, reggae, and blues with hip-hop, funk, American folk, metal, and punk. They remain unwavering in their principles of independence, honoring their diversity of influences and mentors, and furthering their inherited legacy of the Southern California sound. Slightly Stoopid has built a sweeping legacy for itself, continuously expanding in diversity and repertoire. Warriors of the road, their touring has grown exponentially both domestically and internationally with sold-out headlining dates across the world, and festival appearances at famed events such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, New Orleans Jazz Fest, ACL, Outside Lands, and Cali Vibes amongst countless others.

Slightly Stoopid is currently riding high on their latest single “Everyday People (Headhunter remix)” featuring hip-hop legend B-Real of Cypress Hill, and long-time collaborator and friend G. Love (G. Love & Special Sauce). The track was produced by Miguel Happoldt (Sublime/Skunk Records) and George Spits (Llama Beats). The foundation of the remix is built upon a drum sample from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters’ 1975 anthem, "God Make Me Funky,'' lending a brilliant jazz fusion and funk vibe elevated by B-Real’s (of Cypress Hill) fresh bars and coupled with G. Love’s original lyrics.

Slightly Stoopid Summer Traditions 2022 Tour Dates:

Jul 07 - Bonner, MT - KettleHouse Amphitheater

Jul 08 - Nampa, ID - Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater

Jul 09 - Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater

Jul 10 - Tacoma, WA - Haub Family Field

Jul 14 - Avila Beach, CA - Avila Beach Golf Resort

Jul 15 - Irvine, CA - FivePoint Amphitheatre

Jul 16 - Mesa, AZ - Mesa Amphitheatre

Jul 17 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl

Jul 21 - Bakersfield, CA - Dignity Health Amphitheatre

Jul 22 - Murphys, CA - Ironstone Amphitheatre

Jul 23 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre

Jul 24 - Lake Tahoe, CA - Hard Rock Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival

Jul 28 - Boston, MA - Leader Bank Pavilion

Jul 29 - Philadelphia, PA - Skyline Stage at The Mann

Jul 30 - Asbury Park, NJ - Stone Pony Summer Stage

Jul 31 - Baltimore, MD - Reggae Rise Up Maryland

Aug 04 - St. Augustine, FL - Saint Augustine Amphitheatre

Aug 05 - Cocoa, FL - Riverfront Park

Aug 07 - Key West, FL - Coffee Butler Amphitheater

Aug 11 - Albuquerque, NM - Villa Hispana Pavilion

Aug 12 - Sandy, UT - Rio Tinto Stadium

Aug 18 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Zoo Amphitheatre

Aug 19 - Houston, TX - The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall

Aug 20 - New Braunfels, TX - Whitewater Amphitheater

Aug 21 - Irving, TX - Toyota Music Factory

Aug 24 - New York, NY - The Rooftop at Pier 17 *

Aug 25 - Portsmouth, VA – Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion *

Aug 26 - Outer Banks, NC – Roanoke Island Festival Park *

Aug 27 - Charleston, SC – The Woodlands *

Sep 03 - San Diego, CA - Petco Park

All shows with special guests Pepper, Common Kings, Fortunate Youth

NEW Dates In Bold

* w/ The Elovaters, No Fortunate Youth

Slightly Stoopid and Cloud 9 Adventures announce details for the return of Closer to the Sun, their fan-favorite winter concert vacation. The annual event takes over Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, an all-inclusive resort on the coast of Mexico, for four days and nights from December 8-12, 2022.

The schedule features three shows by Slightly Stoopid with a stacked lineup of additional performances by Stick Figure, 311, SOJA, Method Man & Redman, Don Carlos, Fortunate Youth, Iya Terra, The Elovaters, and Artikal Sound System – with many bands playing multiple shows - over the course of four nights. Closer to the Sun creates various venues throughout the resort so guests can watch their favorite artists in unique, tropical settings with top-notch production.

Main Stage performances take place on the esteemed Concert Courtyard stage featuring exceptional acoustics, convenient bar service, complimentary craft cocktails, and specialty curated food stations. Daytime and sunset shows at the Beach Stage create unforgettable experiences watching shows from the Caribbean coastline.  Artists perform under the stars on the intimate Late Night Stage with music programmed from mid-afternoon well into the night.

Now on its eighth edition, this trail-blazing event continues to deliver one-of-a-kind experiences. The addition of artist interactions including morning yoga and music workshops, annual basketball invitational, and creative theme nights create the ultimate concert vacation. This intimate event has cultivated a close-knit community of loyal returning guests, first-time attendees, artists, and hotel and event staff alike – making it no surprise that past editions have quickly sold out.

Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya is a luxurious resort located between Playa del Carmen and Tulum with guest suites, meals, beverages, concerts, waterpark, and fitness center access all included in the event package price. Closer to the Sun offers a wide scope of room options surrounded by tropical grounds and sparkling pools, including swim-outs and stage front suites. Guests can enjoy unlimited dining at a variety of restaurants, event-curated food stations, and complimentary 24-hour room service. Unlimited drinks are available at the coffee bar plus multiple bars in direct proximity to guest accommodations, lobbies, and all concert areas.

Fans looking to give back can link up with Positive Legacy on humanitarian and environmental efforts. Positive Legacy continues to make an impact in the Riviera Maya region by providing emergency hunger relief, medical and school supplies, building playgrounds and community gardens, extensive beach cleanups, and improving infrastructure at the largest turtle sanctuary in the Yucatan.

On Sale Details:

All-inclusive packages for returning Closer to the Sun guests can be reserved during the Pre-sale on April 26, 2022. If rooms remain, the Public On-Sale will begin on April 27, 2022 at 1:00pm ET on the Closer to the Sun website - www.closertothesun.com. Pricing starts at $1749 per person for four-night Deluxe Gold room packages with various upgraded options available.

Closer to the Sun is brought to you by Cloud 9 Adventures, the pioneer in providing international concert vacations since 2003. Cloud 9 Adventures brings bands and fans together to create unforgettable memories & life-changing experiences at all-inclusive resorts and on luxurious cruise ships. Cloud 9 Adventures’ portfolio also includes Brandi Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend, Holy Ship!, Strings & Sol, Panic en la Playa (feat. Widespread Panic), The Avett Brothers At The Beach, Holidaze, Jam Cruise, and Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky.

Nashville-based folk-pop singer-songwriter Lauren Balthrop announced this morning the August 12 release of her sophomore album, Things Will Be Different via Olivia Records - [album presave]. With the news, she shares the first single, “Piece of Shit” with an accompanying animated lyric video - watch/share via YouTube.

“Piece of Shit” was written at the beginning of the pandemic when Balthrop felt detached and uninspired. “It’s a very vulnerable song about low self-esteem,” she shared. “It’s about feeling like you have to prove your worth to everyone and at the same time knowing that that’s bullshit and it’s all in your head. The snarky first line, ‘why do I feel like a piece of shit all the time,’ encompasses the duel between self-rejection and self-acceptance.

A folk-pop singer-songwriter in the lineage of Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King, Lauren Balthrop makes captivating, candid music propelled by her crystalline voice and has been acclaimed by Stereogum, Paste, Under The Radar, No Depression, and more. A continuation of the title of her debut solo album, THIS TIME AROUND, Things Will Be Different is a dynamic folk-pop collection of 11 songs that examines nostalgia in all its brutal and benignly beautiful forms. Featuring open tuning, haunting string arrangements, and delicate vocal melodies, the songs reflect the depths of love lost, revealing Balthrop’s growth as an artist along the way: “This is the first record that feels entirely, fully my own. It’s about anxiety and heartbreak, and the millions of little moments that make up both. It’s about being stuck in the present but fixated on the past… and moving through to the other side.”

Prior to moving to Nashville, Lauren lived in Brooklyn for over a decade and was a member of numerous bands (Balthrop, Alabama / The Bandana Splits / Elizabeth

Produced by Nick Kinsey (Waxahatchee, Kevin Morby), Things Will Be Different features musicians Ellen Kempner (Palehound), David Lizmi (Innov Gnawa), James Paul Mitchell, Matt Combs, Jared Samuel (Invisible Familiars), Matthew Douglas (Mountain Goats), Kevin Copeland (Lightning Bug), Steven Bernstein and Maya DeVitry.

"The album cover photo was taken in France last summer at a songwriting retreat," adds Baltrhop. "Yes, you're seeing double. These ladies represent my past and current self. So many songs on the album began as one thing and started to take on a different meaning. These songs feel like a conversation you could have with yourself at any point in your life. Everyone struggles with self-doubt, anxiety, or impostor syndrome at one stage (or many) of their life, right? We talk ourselves up and down as we try to get through. These songs follow that conversation."

Things Will Be Different track listing

1 - What Of The Days

2 - Get Lost

3 - Daggers

4 - Faded Love

5 - Hold Me

6 - You Linger

7 - Bringing Me Down

8 - Honeysuckle Wine

9 - Piece of Shit

10 - Thank You (feat. Maya De Vitry)

11 - Over In A Moment

Particle Kid, aka Micah Nelson, and his legendary father Willie Nelson duet on a new single, “Die When I’m High (Halfway To Heaven)”. The duo shared a video today via Rolling Stone, prior to the track dropping via all DSPs tomorrow - pre-save here.

Particle Kid and Willie Nelson will hit the road starting next week as part of the Outlaw Music Festival, across the U.S. thru September [all dates below]. A limited-edition, wood carved single of “Die When I’m High (Halfway To Heaven)” will be available exclusively at the dates.

Discussing the creative spark behind the track, Micah offered, “Sometime back in December 2020, in between endless rounds of chess and dominos, my dad looked up at me and said, ‘If I die when I’m high I’ll be halfway to heaven’. It took me a second to process, but I said , ‘Dad, that's the best song title I ever heard. You better write the rest of it quick.’ He said. ‘Why don’t you write it?’ So I did. That night I wrote it for him, about him. It’s really just a love letter to him. A tribute.

At the same time I realized it’s also a sort of ‘fuck you’ to anyone who ever thought of me as some lost prodigal son who doesn’t understand him or respect his legacy just because I’ve never imitated his style or pandered to his audience. HE is the one who gave me my Particle Kid moniker after all.

We are both freaks, in our time. I’m no prodigal son. I am HIS Particle Kid. I would never try to be him, or even pretend, because nobody will ever be him. But believe it or not I do relate to the Willie fans because I am one of them. They know  how incredible and one of a kind he is. So this song is for the real Willie fans too. They get it.

I cut the video together using a combination of time-lapse footage I shot at Luck, concert footage of me and my dad performing the song live, and some animated portraits I created digitally of him at different times in his life.”

Micah Nelson released his experimental, psychedelic, future-folk magnum opus, TIME CAPSULE, under his Particle Kid moniker in April. A 26-song musical journey through time, space and consciousness. Available digitally, on compact disc and inside a limited edition hempcrete time capsule, forged by Micah himself. TIME CAPSULE takes listeners on a trip through various genres, ideas and sounds - an eclectic palette of sonic colors, both familiar and exploratory. Feelings painted together like a collage, as if 90s alt, 60s psych, 70s electric jazz, and some abstract future were all magazines — chopped up and somehow cohesively glued together by Micah’s voice and lyrics. Stream + Purchase TIME CAPSULE here.

Outlaw Music Festival Dates:

06/24 - St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

06/25 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena

07/01 - Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP

07/02 - Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion

07/04 - Austin, TX @ Q2 Stadium

07/29 - Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center

07/30 - Cincinnati, OH @ River Bend Center

08/12 - Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion

08/13 - Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center

08/14 - Darien, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater

09/09 - Atlanta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

09/10 - Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion

09/11 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater

09/13 - Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater

09/16 - Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center

09/17 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion

09/18 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ SPAC

09/23 - Camden, NJ @ Waterfront Music Pavilion