49 Winchester - Megan Knight - Kindsight - Men Without Hats

49 Winchester - Russell County Line.

49 Winchester will release Fortune Favors The Bold on May 13th, 2022 via New West Records. The 10-track set was co-produced by the band and Stewart Myers (O.A.R., The Infamous Stringdusters) with additional recording & production by Kenny Miles (Wayne Graham). Rolling Stone Country has praised 49 Winchester’s live performance while Whiskey Riff called the band “....one of the greatest up and coming country music acts out there right now.” 49 Winchester’s New West Records debut follows their acclaimed 2020 self-released III, which American Songwriter named “...a confident collection that gives voice to the band’s pure, unfettered intents” while Americana Highways called frontman Isaac Gibson’s songwriting “Unforgettable,” saying, “...together they are distinctly and proudly Appalachian — carrying on and reinventing the musical traditions of their region with a sound that is wholly and distinctively their own.”

Filmed in the band’s hometown of Castlewood, Virginia, the video features a visit to the Clinch River where their neighborhood and childhood homes were situated. It also features the once bustling downtown, with the old train station, post office, hotels still standing from the Appalachian coal boom, having become weathered by the time the band members were growing up in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. The video depicts, quite literally, 49 Winchester revisiting their roots. Frontman Isaac Gibson says, “The drone shots really show how gorgeous Southwest Virginia is. It was great to be able to capture the essence of home on video. I'm thrilled with how it turned out. I'm excited for the fans to see it and those who are from far and wide to get a little taste of central Appalachia.” SPIN also previously premiered "Annabel," the leadoff track from Fortune Favors The Bold as well.

Formed on Winchester Street in the small mountain town of Castlewood, Virginia (population: 2,045), 49 Winchester started as a group of neighborhood teenage friends set on a calculated DIY path. In 2014 they independently released their eponymous debut, followed by 2018’s The Wind, and 2020’s celebrated III. Reflecting on his early days as a jack-of-all-trades stone mason, where it was about trying to make ends meet in an effort to keep the band rolling along, frontman Gibson can’t help but be grateful for a well-earned notion at the core of the band’s ethos — anything worthwhile in life is built brick-by-brick. “Everything has to be built. And very few people are going to achieve success overnight,” says Gibson. “We didn’t start out as a bunch of hot shot pickers out of Nashville. We started out on the ground floor — very basic songwriting and instrumentation. But we kept working at it, always progressing in what we wanted to do and how we wanted to sound — each song better than the previous one, the show this evening better than last night.”

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Megan Knight - Take It To The Grave.

Nashville recording artist and pop-country superstar, Megan Knight releases her new haunting single and lyric video "Take It To The Grave".

"In this track, the woman was left feeling unloved and had acted out because of it, now as she sits in regret she wonders if she should confess her wrongs or simply keep them buried in the past forever." - Megan Knight

Megan's wide vocal range makes this song unique and personalized. The theme of this song is that some things "Are better left unsaid." These words that are left unsaid are taken to the grave with Megan. The powerful lyrics can relate to anyone with a deep dark secret.

Megan is an artist that is not afraid to be vulnerable. Music has always been a therapeutic outlet for Megan, so her songs are authentic, honest, and raw. "Take It To The Grave" relays real-time emotion, and her vocals are powerful and robust. This song is dynamic and is portrayed through a slower tempo with an acoustic guitar.

 

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Photo by Line Hvid

Kindsight - Queen Of Cowboys.

Danish four-piece Kindsight make music that draws from 80’s and 90’s alternative rock and combines it with the shimmering Scandinavian pop that the region has become so renowned for, resulting in a sound that is both fuzzy and melodic in equal measure. Releasing their first material in 2020, the up and coming Danish four-piece have been quick on the rise, picking up steam with a series of new singles over the last 18 months. On March 25th, their debut album Swedish Punk will be released, Queen of Cowboys, out now, the last single ahead of the release

Kindsight formed when front-woman Nina Hyldgaard Rasmussen and guitarist Søren Svensson bonded over a shared love of The Sugarcubes. They went on to recruit bass player Anders Prip and drummer Johannes Jacobsen and over the past few years have earned a reputation within Copenhagen’s thriving indie scene for their exciting live shows.

On the album’s title, Rasmussen says “Swedish Punk’ was an off the cuff term our producer, Adam, came up with when we needed a working title for a new song we wrote during the recording sessions. Our bass player, Anders, then wrote some lyrics based on the working title and we ended up liking the whole ‘Swedish Punk’-thing so much it became the name of the album”.

There’s a real coming of age charm to Swedish Punk. ‘Don’t You Grow Up’ was the first song the band ever wrote together. Written in “a time when we thought to be a sunny teenage rock band, you had to write songs about teenagers in the sun,” they say. Atop jangling guitars, Rasmussen’s distinctive voice dances somewhere between that of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval and Alvvays’ Molly Rankin, leaving the listener drenched in the nostalgic optimism of summers gone by. Lead single ‘Sun Is Always In My Eyes’, an unrelenting indie-pop earworm, continues in that same vein. Recalling a time when life was carefree, the band say the track is about ‘stealing money from your mother and feigning to run away from home. Being blessed and unable to see because you've got too much sun in your eyes’.

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Men Without Hats - If the World Should End Today.

Hot on the heels of “love in the age of war,” new wave electro-pop pioneers, Men Without Hats, return with a collection of 14 new original compositions – Again (Part 2). Led by original founding members Ivan and Colin Doroschuk, Men Without Hats have been rounded out since 2016 by industry veteran Sho Murray, and augmented on this record by Colin’s daughter, soprano Sahara Sloan.

The album was recorded on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on top of the Malahat Mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean, from July 2020 to January 2021. The themes explored on Again (Part 2) reflect the band’s unique take on current affairs (“If the World Should End Today,” “The Human Race”), love (“All Into Stars,” “The Love Inside your Heart,” “When Does The Love Begin”), the meaning of life (“Just Another Day,” “Nancy’s Room,” “Where The Wild Go”), and the state of the art (“My Love,” “Heaven,” “My Own Advice”).

With a mixture of the latest digital technology and the best of the analog world (including an actual prophet 5 synthesizer that was used during “The Safety Dance” recording session), Men Without Hats continue their voyage into the world of synth-pop, with a sound forged in the past and hardened by their life experience and commitment to the future.

For the past 10 years, Men Without Hats have toured the world with the cream of 80’s royalty, playing for crowds in North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, Jamaica, Australia, Mexico, and South Africa, in fact reaching even more people and places than the first time around. Their crossover sound and message is resonating with a new generation of fans eager to understand and appreciate the 80’s influences in their own current brand of pop.

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P.E. - Jenny Berkel - Pillow Queens - Greenness

Photo - Vince McClelland

P.E. - Contradiction of Wants.

P.E.'s sophomore album, The Leather Lemon (Wharf Cat Records, out March 25, 2022), ushers in a new era for the New York band. A wild ride through chewy bubblegum pop, sweeping synthetic orchestrations, and mutant club beats, the album slides ever closer to the fully-realized pop sensibility only winked at with their debut album Person (2020) and subsequent releases.

Digging into mystery, romance, and sex appeal with The Leather Lemon, the group — composed of members of Pill (Mexican Summer/Dull Tools) and Eaters (Dull Tools/Driftless) — centers its sound within a Bermuda Triangle of dance music, electronic composition, and experimental rock. Members Jonathan Schenke, Bob Jones, and Jonny Campolo play within pop parameters, building upon free-form collaboration to create a fluorescent groove machine that harnesses the energy of their frenetic live shows. 

Singer Veronica Torres explores her softer side, expanding her vocal repertoire from spoken word and jagged growls to cherubic and sensuous psalms. Sax virtuoso Benjamin Jaffe’s chiseled experimental tone is heard in an extended solo of true romance in “Tears in the Rain,” a somber surrealist duet penned by Torres and Andrew Savage, singer/guitarist of Parquet Courts.

Recorded primarily at Schenke’s Studio Windows in Brooklyn, NY, The Leather Lemon was cultivated from a fertile creative period between spring 2020 and summer 2021, which also yielded 2021’s acclaimed The Reason For My Love E.P.

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Jenny Berkel - Kaleidoscope.

The internet with its rabbit holes, slipperiness, and propensity for mis- and disinformation inspired me to write "Kaleidoscope." 

I wanted parts of this song to evoke the same tense, frantic feeling that the internet can sometimes give, paired with a chorus that lifts its way out of that mood. The accompanying "Kaleidoscope" music video was filmed at Halifax's indoor theatre for Shakespeare 

By The Sea. Director Meg Hubley (they/she) of Phyllis Rising Productions came up with the idea of setting it in a steadily shrinking room. The strange and surreal figure in the video is played by Mads Higgins (they/them), a circus performer, who moves around the room in a series of graceful and eerie poses.

The lyrics of "Kaleidoscope" evolved extensively as time went on. Given that this song considers the importance of care and precision in language, I felt even more attentive to the lyrics than usual.

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Pillow Queens - No Good Woman.

Dublin's Pillow Queens are getting set to release their sophomore album Leave The Light On, their first release on Royal Mountain Records (Wild Pink, Alvvays, US Girls), which is due out on April 1st, and today the band are sharing the album's final pre-release single, a track called "No Good Woman."

Preceded by the singles "Hearts & Minds" and "Be By Your Side", which have seen praise from outlets like The Guardian, NPR, Stereogum, Consequence, BrooklynVegan, Uproxx, DIY and Clash who described "Hearts & Minds" as "Pillow Queens at their most out-going," the single arrives at an exciting moment for the band who are about to make their debut on American shores. Their first shows will take place at SXSW (full details can be found below), before they trace their way across the continent, with their New York debut at Mercury Lounge recently selling out over a month in advance.

This song is one which is very narrative based, though not in a linear way. It’s written more from the perspective of someone looking upon the scenarios of those around them," explains singer Pam Connolly. "It tries to convey a perpetual hopelessness of debt and striving for an ideal that can never be achieved. It’s pretty much a song about Sisyphus."

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Photo: Justyna Neryng & Tobias Slater-Hunt

Greenness - Destroy/Enjoy.

Brighton-based Anglo-French duo Greenness, (Cécile Frangi and Graham Pratt), announce the release of their debut album Sunrooms on 20th May 2022 via Frangi’s label One Fern Records, and share first single ‘Destroy/Enjoy’.

‘Destroy/Enjoy’ is a playful indie-pop song celebrating Earth’s re-birth, inspired by a dream Frangi had about the apocalypse. As Frangi expands:  “Earth was rebooting itself on a giant computer screen. It was a strange, but joyous occasion, as if humanity was being given a second chance. There was something very ominous about it, this electricity in the air, but it was also exhilarating.”

‘Destroy/Enjoy’ accompanying video explores themes of escaping the 9-5 and enjoying life and nature whilst you can which is a theme that peppers their debut album. It’s an apt first taster for the album Sunrooms, a record in part a product of the environment in which it was created (in lockdown) and one inspired heavily by the duo’s lifelong love of nature. Greenness describes the title, Sunrooms, as:

 “A place that provides shelter from the elements while offering a clear view of surrounding landscapes, a space to reflect, breathe and feel, so that we can go back out with more strength to embrace the weather.”

Inspired by looking out at the world from their home studio in lockdown and the paradox of humanity in chaos whilst nature bloomed, the album also explores wanderlust versus the need to anchor oneself to a home, as French-born Cess Frangi explains: “Sunrooms (in part) follows our personal story travelling across France and the UK on a quest for a place to call home, trying to find the spark of everyday magic and hoping for human progress.”

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Mears - Al' Tarba feat Bianca Casady - Mild Orange - Souza - Thallo - The Legendary Ten Seconds

Photo - Jen Squires

Mears - Second Sight.

Some memories help propel us forward while others cling to us so tightly that they bind us in place.

"Second Sight" is about someone who is grappling with a memory that holds them back – it's about a confrontation and making it out on the other side.

It seems that nothing good will keep you from me, and so I live with ghosts and second sight

This latest single is from our upcoming full-length album, which will be released on April 22nd.

Both the song and the video explore ideas around memory. We also knew this song would pair well with a dancer. Having worked with multiple choreographers and performers in the past, we had our sights on Katherine Semchuk. We gave Katherine a loose structure to work with and let her choreograph her own movement.

Another artist we are big fans of is animator/dancer Kristen-Innes Stambolic. Her work primarily involves the integration of animation with contemporary dance, so it was a perfect fit for us.

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Al' Tarba - Hush Little Bay Feat. Bianca Casady.

A little girl wakes up at the bottom of a tree. Confused, with no idea of where she is. Despite of all of this, she feels soothed by the soft light, the bright colors and the buzzing of the creatures that swirl around her. A strange, radiant, watery sphere forms and unfolds delicately before her eyes. Intrigued, she stands up and touches it with her finger...

"Hush Little Bay" is a hybrid adventure, both abyssal and stratospheric. Dark and melancholic trip-hop story, this track is also almost a lo-fi lullaby with reggae solar accents.

This story, told by the singular voice of Bianca Casady, mythical singer of the group CocoRosie, is inspired by the dreamlike universe of Lewis Carroll. A sort of "Alice in Wonderland" who would dive inside a 70's psychedelic rock vinyl cover.

Al'Tarba · Hush Little Bay feat. Bianca Casady (from CocoRosie)

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Mild Orange - F.E.A.R.

Looking For Space is the band’s most ambitious project yet, recorded in six beautiful locations across Aotearoa New Zealand over a year, and it’s also Mild Orange’s first time entering a proper studio which was a necessary part in making this record sound as intended. It’s a sonic journey about navigating life, always finding room to grow, considering outlooks and maintaining belief in oneself as we choose our paths. True to MO, it doesn’t sit on one sound and will take you up and down, while feeling like a natural progression – shown on their latest two singles.

Looking For Space will feature video collaborations from NZ to Japan, Indonesia to LA, France and beyond. Despite many hurdles, Mild Orange persisted to connect with the world on this project during this period of global lockdowns and border closures. That’s what Mild Orange have always tried to do – from NZ, for the world.

The just released album cover (see below) by frontman Josh Mehrtens was taken in Switzerland after a Mild Orange headline show at Baden in 2019, and has been tinkered with in tandem with the album so that both feel as each other look and sound. There’s a calmness yet passionate energy felt coming from the electric glow that flows.

After spending two albums carefully organising the framed photos and applying an even layer of paint, Mild Orange felt the urge to tear apart the four walls that defined their bedroom pop sound, capturing the wilderness that lay beyond. And rather than be deterred from that goal by a pandemic and lockdown that left the New Zealanders stuck on their island, Mild Orange used that time to envision a new world. “Colourise”, the first track off the quartet’s fittingly titled third album, Looking For Space (due February 11th 2022 via AWAL), feels like the gate to the land of Oz, a portal behind which hypercolour and fantasy unfolds. “Trust the waves and where you’ll go/ ‘Cause you never know what it may hold,” Josh Mehrtens sings, a snare march, lithe electric guitar, and washes of echo trailing behind. Together, frontman/producer Mehrtens, lead guitarist Josh Reid, bassist Tom Kelk, and drummer Jack Ferguson aren’t just looking for space, they’re carving out grand landscapes all their own.

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Souza - Under My Feet.

Souza are a Stoke based alternative rock band, marching to the sound of well matured electric riffs and a fresh lyrical take on the genre.

Established in 2018, the four piece bring a definitive presence to the stage. Lead vocalist Adam Rogers provides a powerful performance, whilst maintaining an interactive experience for the audience. Supported by his brother Ben and Jack Brassington on guitar, the two combine each other’s unique styles of guitar sound to generate a contemporary Britpop tone. The group are completed by drummer Harry Ball, who provides a strong foundation complimenting and driving each melody. The four together exude the chemistry they share and quickly envelop the audience in their sound.

Under My Feet combines shoegaze verses with full throttle choruses and demonstrates both the subtlety and power that Souza can so easily intertwine between. The lyrics provide a fresh view on the excitement and emotions of what relationships can bring from the beginning to the end. Written over lockdown in a unique way to us, pieced together bit by bit through sharing segments from our own homes the track came together in a way we've not written before.

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Thallo - The Water.

Welsh artist Thallo shares the visual for her emotionally charged, haunting single The Water. The visual, created by Max Toblin (Director) and Dillon Steele (Director of Photography), mirrors Thallo’s music which is at once startingly beautiful but with a melancholic undercurrent running through its gently layered jazz infused tones. It depicts two children dressed in boiler suits, playing in the long grass of empty fields to a backdrop of towering power stations which loom ominously. As Thallo expands “Their childlike, care-free pleasure is contrasted with the power station in the background, a sinister warning that their freedom is temporary. They frantically run and play whilst the daylight is running out, cherishing the time that they have until they finally come to a halt in the dark.”

The video plays on The Water’s bittersweet meaning of cherishing a moment before it is lost, inspired by a relationship destined to fail, and the heartbreak of knowing of a partner’s eventual migration.  Both the song’s title and Thallo’s vulnerable yet alluring vocal evoke the feeling of drowning, of laying down on a riverbed and giving into the sensation of the immersion. As Thallo expands “The river is not only the love that drowns me, but it is also the relationship I can’t keep hold of.”

Thallo is the work of Elin Edwards, based between her homelands of Gwynedd, North Wales and London.  In 2021 she released three singles Mêl, Pressed and Preserved and The Water to much early acclaim, to date the singles have accumulated support from Sian Eleri (Radio 1 The Chillest Show) and Huw Stephens (BBC 6 Music, Radio Cymru), with Thallo recording a session for BBC Maida Vale. At press, the singles were covered by the likes of Wonderland, Noctis, God Is In The TV Zine, When The Horn Blows and many other blogs both UK and Stateside. Thallo has performed at The Great Escape and is set to play SXSW in 2023.

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The Legendary Ten Seconds - The Musical Almanac (Album).

The Legendary Ten Seconds started off as the solo music project of Ian Churchward during the time when he was the lead guitar player of The Morrisons who were featured on John Peel's radio one show back in 1987. In 2013 Lord Zarquon joined Ian's music project and since then various guest musicians and vocalists have helped out in the recording studio. The most recent musicians to join the project are Phil Swann and Martyn Hillstead.

The Legendary Ten Seconds have recorded many critically acclaimed English folk rock albums which chronicle the Wars of the Roses and the life and times of Richard III in England during the late 15th century. The albums are available on Amazon and itunes and the band have donated money to a scoliosis charity from some of the income generated from the sale of their music. The CD versions of the albums are available via the Richard III Society in the UK.

In 2018 the band recorded the Mer de Mort album which was commissioned by the Mortimer History Society to commemorate the Society's tenth anniversary. It is a historically accurate album of songs which tells the story of the significantly important Mortimer medieval family from their roots in Normandy prior to the battle of Hastings and into the 15th century. The album includes historical narratives read by the actor John Challis ( Boycie in Only Fools and Horses ) who was the patron of the Mortimer History Society.

2019 saw the release of four albums, Devon Roses, History Book Part One. Instrumental Legends and Thrilling Blunder Stories. In February 2020 the History Book Part Two album was completed and this was followed by The Acoustic Almanac, Amazing Songs and the Pageant of Torbay Part One albums. Additionally a new version of the first Richard III album was released in digital format via Circle of Spears Productions. The new version of the album features fictional narratives written by Sandra Heath Wilson. Three albums were released in 2021, the Pageant of Torbay Part Two, the Semi Acoustic Almanac and Songs About Devon albums. The atest album is called The Musical Almanac with a release date of 2022.

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Jill Lorean - Shaela Miller - Ellevator - Old Crow Medicine Show

Jill Lorean - Black Dog.

Black Dog’ is final single from Glasgow trio Jill Lorean’s upcoming debut album This Rock, and sees the band carrying a danceable freak folk energy, which adds to the timeless diversity of their singles to date. An odyssey of sorts, ‘Black Dog’ lures you in with a trance-like violin loop that remains a constant throughout, before crusading through pulsing drumbeats, haunted, gothic guitar lines and playful disco-esque basslines, alongside Jill O’Sullivan’s ethereal vocal delivery, which claws your attention in on the hood laden repetitive chorus line “how can I laugh and how can I cry”.

Jill Lorean as a living breathing thing, featuring Jill O’Sullivan (Sparrow And The Workshop, Three Queens in Mourning, Bdy_Prts) in collaboration with Andy Monaghan (Frightened Rabbit) and drummer Peter Kelly (The Kills, Ladytron), the band is a unique beast inhabiting its own world, incorporating elements of many genres from folk and lo-fi to post-punk and underground rock.

“Black Dog’ is like being on a consciousness-bending, self-seeking quest. It’s a lucid dream-like adventure where a godlike figure attempts to grant all of a persons wishes by carving them all kinds of exciting things out of the clouds. But a sad dog keeps appearing so the deity swallows the sky not understanding that the person wanted to confront the whole spectrum of their emotions, including the sad dog chasing them around.”

“I worked with Pete (Kelly) on this dance project and he would do these fills and I just wanted to dance suddenly. And I like that he did that over the ‘Black Dog’, there is this slight freak folky vibe going on. And it could go down a Fairport Convention, sort of route, but it doesn't. He brings it into this transient style. And I love it. It was not what I was expecting. I like the unexpected. I like to feel surprised, I want people listening to it to feel alive and awake.”

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Shaela Miller - Tidal Wave.

With her 2020 album Big Hair Small City, Shaela Miller proved yet again to have her hand on the pulse of “honky tonk noir.” With central themes rooted in the deep intricacies of heartache, loss, healing, and inner growth, Miller took the listener on a journey with her witty turns of phrase, strong finger pickin' and no-nonsense lyrics. 

The native of Lethbridge, Alberta is now giving her fans an added bonus with the new, standalone single “Tidal Wave,” which was recorded during the sessions for Big Hair Small City with producer Scott Franchuk at Riverdale Recorders in Edmonton. Given the meaning behind the song, Miller has chosen to release "Tidal Wave" now to mark International Women's Day 2022.

As Shaela explains, "'Tidal Wave' is an in-depth confession of realizations and struggles of the heart and how a woman can feel, inside and outside of love, like they are drowning in the staggering, multi-dimensional duties of life. It's about how the expected and demanding responsibilities women face in life through the roles of motherhood and romantic partnerships, can leave us feeling completely void of fire, passion and inspiration, yet the expectations remain and we just have to power through it all."

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Ellevator - Sacred Heart.

The Hamilton, Ontario-based trio, Ellevator have shared their new single, "Sacred Heart" – it's another thrilling installment lifted from their forthcoming debut album, The Words You Spoke Still Move Me which comes produced by ex-Death Cab for Cutie guitarist, Chris Walla (production for Pinegrove, Foxing, Tegan & Sara, etc) and is out via Arts & Crafts on May 6. The new single arrives following earlier tips from NPR, The Needle Drop, Exclaim, FLOOD, The Line of Best Fit, Under the Radar, CBC and more. The band will support the release of the new record with North American dates, including a stop at SXSW later this month.

Ellevator poses a fantastic ability to sculpt these mammoth, melodramatic post-rock and indie-rock soundscapes, somewhat inspired by the late-aughts sounds of Spoon, Metric, Interpol and Arcade Fire, as well as the stadium-ready sounds of U2, Kate Bush and Bruce Springsteen. The new single, "Sacred Heart" explores ideas surrounding young love, commitment and intimacy while blending racing guitar lines – somewhat reminiscent of Springsteen – with driving percussion and piano.

Speaking about the new single, which comes with a live visual directed by Cam Veitch, singer Nabi Sue Bersche says: "This one’s a love song about how intimacy and deep knowing can make it feel like there’s nothing left to discover, and choosing to push on anyway in search of new depths. Ty (guitar) and I got married on a cold spring morning when I was 22 and he was 19. There wasn’t much chance to sell each other on our own myths, to be the mysterious stranger from outta town: we wrote our origin story together. Learning to love each other better has been a strange journey and the great gift of my life."

When discussing the video, Nabi continues: "We shot, edited, and delivered the whole thing in less than 24 hrs. We’ve made a bunch of videos that I’m proud of but this one touches something special: we wanted to show what it feels like to play live as Ellevator, in all its sublime chaos, and I think we captured the lightning."

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Photo - Kit Wood

Old Crow Medicine Show - Honey Chile.

GRAMMY award-winning band Old Crow Medicine Show releases “Honey Chile,” the latest single from their new album Paint This Town out April 22 via ATO Records. Showcasing soaring harmonies and swooning fiddle melodies, the melancholy love song is accompanied by a live performance video featured this morning at Garden & Gun, who said “Musically, the song is something of a salvo for the whole of Paint This Town, rising out of the gates with a bold swell before settling into a traditional Americana-tinged groove.” Along with the new single, the band has announced a coast to coast spring/summer tour kicking off in April that will make stops in Philadelphia, New York, Portland, Seattle and many more. 

Bandleader Ketch Secor explains the new single: “When you mine the musical traditions of the South as we have you’re always going to run head on into the region’s most successful export: Southern Rock, and my favorite performers of this style are the Charlie Daniels Band, who Old Crow was lucky enough to open for back in the early 2000’s. We’ll miss Charlie around these parts, but he lives on in songs like ‘Honey Chile,’ a backwoods slow burn about good lovin' and other hard habits to break.”

Paint This Town showcases Old Crow Medicine Show’s long-standing ability to merge profound introspection with a rapturous string band revival sound. The album shines a light on the darker aspects of the American experience, with character-driven songs underpinned by the band’s vision for a more harmonious future. The debut single “Paint This Town” has maintained the #1 slot on the Americana Singles Radio Chart for three weeks in a row, garnering praise from press including Billboard, Rolling Stone, SPIN and more. The band’s latest single “Bombs Away” (feat. Molly Tuttle on banjo) was recently hailed by Consequence, who said it’s “brimming with the euphoria of new beginnings, a tongue-in-cheek tale of throwing caution to the wind and starting over.”

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Casii Stephan - Jo Schornikow

Casii Stephan - Already Gone.

This is the new single from singer/songwriter Casii Stephan. Entitled "Already Gone", the rock single details a woman's courage and journey into leaving her abuser. Casii confides, "I don't think mocking your abuser is ever advised and this song definitely mocks. This is more the hype song that someone can play to give them the courage to finally just leave. May it give someone the extra push they need to run. Trust your soul. Go."

Casii Stephan is a soul pop/rock artist hailing from Minnesota. Now based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the impassioned songstress evokes subtle vibrato notes and roller-coaster-like melodies, which immediately grab the listener, while her emotional lyrics share intimate stories. She has been compared to the likes of Florence Welch, Fiona Apple and Carole King, as her vocal timbre possesses a full and warm quality.

Stephan’s voice is fierce and fearless, but this was not always the case. She grew up shy and afraid of her voice until she started writing songs on the family piano in South St. Paul when she was 16. In music, she discovered something extraordinary that allowed her to transcend everyday life and find a deeper sense of self. Stephan moved to Tulsa in 2014 with the intent to give up her pursuit of a music career, however with a little encouragement from a friend, she continued her journey and started releasing music. Her songs were promptly applauded by critics and have since been racking up a number of awards, as well as garnering acclaim from media and fans across the globe.

An underlying theme throughout Stephan’s music is hope, she explains, “Its such a cliched word and yet there are so many layers to it. Hope keeps us alive. It keeps us moving. But it also feels flighty some days like a pixie that does what it wants. But it's not a pixie. It's more like the air we breathe. Some days it's presence is stronger than we realize and some days we forget in our day-to-day lives that it's there... keeping us moving forward”. Her music combines her love for the storytelling elements of Disney ballads and the bold, brilliance of The White Stripes, as well as the soul-wrenching R&B melodies of H.E.R.

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Jo Schornikow - Lose Yr Love.

Australian songwriter Jo Schornikow (now based in Nashville) has shared the second offering from her forthcoming album ALTAR, out May 20 via Keeled Scales. “Lose Yr Love” gives another glimpse into her thoughtful songcraft, recalling Warren Zevon in the way she marries an honest, almost folk-indebted approach with a more abstracted lyrical style. A subtly shifting wash of synthesizers sparkle at the edges of a layered vocal arrangement as Schornikow uses ocean imagery to reflect on her own experience of loss. The song, which follows recently released “warm, wry” (Brooklyn Vegan) “Visions,” is accompanied by a video directed by Ives Salbert that was shot in an East Nashville junkyard and in partner Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent’s studio, and features a brief cameo from Schornikow’s two children.

“'Lose Yr Love' grew from a real-life nightmare of losing someone,” Schornikow explains. “The song explores the fear before the fall-out, before finality. It's a quick and awful spiral, but also a natural counterside of love. I think we found the beauty that exists in this incredibly bleak space.

ALTAR was written between Nashville and Melbourne over a year. It was recorded in Melbourne, Australia during a blisteringly hot Australian summer week at Hard Rubbish Recorders by Selwyn Cozens, who also plays drums on the album. It was recorded on an old Harrison TV3 console that was being thrown out by a local tv station. The album was co-produced by Jo and Selwyn. The nine track album centers Jo’s songwriting, which Gorilla Vs Bear proclaimed “smouldering” and her piano playing, which Pitchfork has praised as “sensitive [and] impressionistic.” It follows 2019’s Secret Weapon, which Rolling Stone hailed as “excellent.”

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