Rare Union

Rare Union is a band born during the pandemic. Their second album "Times They Always Change" is a deeply personal album, featuring a daring mix of percussion-driven Blues and Rock with reveling, soul-baring and heartfelt vocals.

The start of Rare Union began in 2019. It started with LA Smith from New York, percussionist. LA Smith had been wanting to produce a CD, with a lot of percussion. To pass percussion on to kids all over the world. After completing a national tour with The Randy Oxford Band in 2014, LA decided to play at festivals with headliners, and do percussion workshops, passing on 12 sets of bongos at each workshop to low-income kids all over the western hemisphere. At the same time, Martin Cage lead guitarist from Nemesis, was looking to put some of his original compositions into a CD. LA Smith now out of Columbia MO, and Martin Cage out of Salt Lake UT, decided to get together, and see what would happen. They went into El Centro studio in Columbia, Missouri and start recording. They added Jerry Russo, a local rhythm drummer and the three of them put together first six songs. Then the pandemic hit, and it was a challenge to bring any artists in to the studio. The studio added UV lighting, and slowly they started to work on the CD. Martin Cage had played with vocalist, guitar player, Max Soler from FT Myers, in the group Nemesis. 

So, when they called Max he was ready to go. Over the next year and a half, they had several recording sessions. They had Will Reeves on bass and Danny Carrol on drums, both from Columbia, MO. They played together in several groups. Before too long they had 9 more songs. The songs started to get real heart felt lyrics, guitar breaks and solos that bring out the original sound that Rare Union turned out to be. They did not go into the studio trying to produce a particular sound, just wanted to make good music. What happened was chemistry, with five artists, with all different backgrounds, from 5 different states playing together. As the songs Martin had composed evolved and began to take shape, Max would add lyrics, guitar. Both Martin Cage and Max Soler would switch off on lead and rhythm. LA Smith and Danny Carroll would build the structure of the songs and decide how to incorporate the drums and percussion. Will Reeves did the bass lines and engineered the CD. 

They ended up with a new blues rock sound. The addition of Micael Kott on Cello, from Santa Fe NM, was added. His recording was done at Frogville Studios in Santa Fe, NM. Michael Kott plays cello all over the world with Peter Buffet. His cello is on “Won’t Be Lost” and “Brother of Mine”. With the CD getting produced, and final vocals getting finished the band needed a name. That’s where Dawn Smith suggested Rare Union. It described this band, born in a pandemic, from five states, with all new original music. Dawn set up all the production of the CD, web site, Domain, copywrite and trademarks. Naming the CD was easy, Max Soler and Martin Cage had a friend who passed, and he was considered a brother. So, the band named the CD, “Brother of Mine”. Rare union is now setting dates to do three videos and the start of the next CD in March. Wanting to have it out by the middle of October. They have been invited to several festivals, and are lining up festivals around the world to play. Hopping for 2023, but with the pandemic may be 2024.

Rareunionband.com

Natalie Clark

Scottish singer-songwriter Natalie Clark, who has reaped plaudits from Virgin’s Richard Branson and BBC Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw was selected as a Mercedes Benz KTLA "Artist to Watch” after moving to the US. Natalie was featured in the Mercedes Benz commercial campaign which also included performances at the famous Roxy on Sunset, and The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. She was handpicked to open for the Grammy award winning Indigo Girls tour and has been recording in L.A when not busy touring the US. Natalie received acclaim from multi-platinum artists such as Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton when she appeared on NBC’s The Voice, who praised her voice as ‘cool and powerful’ and ‘incredible’.

Since moving to the States, Natalie has opened festivals, toured the country, and was named a ‘Hot 100 Live Artist’ in Music Connection Magazine. She is also an official JH Audio featured artist. Natalie's music is featured in several Netflix shows and an international commercial campaign. 'Ready to Roll' the lead single from her latest E.P, recently won 'BEST ORIGINAL SONG' at the Austin Under the Stars Film Festival.

After giving up her teaching career in Scotland to pursue her dream of writing and playing music, the rising indie-pop artist made headlines in the U.K. when Richard Branson invited her to sing on-stage at a BBC Radio 1 Academy session in Glasgow. Natalie accepted his impromptu challenge, and sang 'Weakness', from her debut EP. It prompted Branson to proclaim: “That was absolutely and utterly stunning – no backing band, no musicians, no forewarning.” He later called her “inspiring”. Grimshaw, who was hosting the BBC Radio 1 Academy event, played ‘Weakness’ and further sang Natalie's praises on his BBC Radio 1 show the following day. Branson has since written several articles about Natalie, including a recent commentary on her record release on virgin.com

Natalieclarkmusic.com

Darkness Is My Canvas

Darkness Is My Canvas (DIMC) was founded in Helsinki in 2017. The band plays melodic rock combined with progressive elements, stylistically influenced by bands such as Muse, Queen, Pink Floyd, Leprous, and on occasion also Porcupine Tree and My Chemical Romance. Their catchy melodies have many musical hooks, and the band likes to throw curve balls at the audience by changing time and style mid-song - and they do this completely intentionally. The imaginative sound of DIMC wells up from the melody-rich guitar playing of Panu and the voice of Pete, who, some say, sounds like the young David Bowie.

 

All the songs of DIMC come from the mind and pen of Pete and Panu, who are also the “founding fathers” of the band. They also play all the other instruments in the studio beside the drums, which are trusted to some of the top drummers in Finland. The mastering is done by none other than Grammy Award winner Nicolas Fournier (LA) who’s had his hands on many recordings by many of the band’s idols (Muse, Linkin Park, Adam Lambert, etc.).

 

DIMC was founded on what was left from the previous band of multi-instrumentalist Panu and lead singer/guitarist Pete. It was called May:Day, and it represented some sort of an amalgamation of Finnish progressive rock of the 70s and more modern Finnish rock music. Should someone want to listen to their album “I”, they will find it by digging through the Internet, as it has not been officially released. DIMC needed to distinguish themselves from the previous band as they changed their language from Finnish to English and their style became more nuanced.

 

To date, DIMC has released one EP called “Monsters'' and one single called “The Game”. Also couple of singles 'Fade Into The White Noise' & Drown is released from the upcoming White Noise EP. Their songs have been listened quite nicely from streaming services such as Spotify, in which the counter reached 250 000 this September.

https://www.facebook.com/darknessismycanvas

Royce Martínez

Royce Martinez was born on the 11th day of April in the year 1995. He grew up in Denver, Colorado along with his two siblings, and his mother.

Royce had a tumultuous childhood, growing up with an abusive mother, he turned to music to feel less alone. This ignited an inextinguishable flame, this starting his passion for music. He began writing music in 2012 at the young age of fourteen and would go on to join bands such as;

Shadow Of The Damned and Scarlight.

Shadow of the Damned

Royce would join his first band, Shadow of the Damned in 2012. They would make their debut by playing their first show at The Roxy Theater, gaining recognition in the metal community. The band would later breakup due to artistic differences in 2013.

Roycemartinezofficial.com

The Lethargics

 

The Lethargics music stakes claim and establishes residence in the abandoned and undiscovered music landscapes of what Rock & Roll can be.

Born in the hard beauty of the hills and hollers of Appalachia…steeped in the histories and mysteries of Rock, Blues, Punk, Country, Folk, and Americana…

informed and inspired by the likes of Dylan, Springsteen, Knopfler, Ely, The Clash, The Replacements and The Stones…

The lethargics are simply not like any band you’ve ever heard before.

TheLethargics.com

Destiny Band Oz

Destiny Band Oz is a multi-award winning duo comprising husband and wife singer-songwriters, Thomas and Tessa Libreri. Their versatile music and vocal styles range from soulful ballads to pumpy, country rock; ('Country, Rock and Soul!) They have already released 3 albums and 2 EPs and are excited to have just released their new album of original songs with new producer, Damian Cafarella of EOR Studios called 'Who I Might Be'. As children, Thomas and Tessa grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Thomas in Reservoir and Tessa in Kilsyth. They were both musically inclined and tutored in music and singing. Thomas formed his first band at 12 playing bass guitar and had singing lessons from Normie Rowe.  He played in many bands over the years. Tessa performed in musicals, went to the Johnny Young Talent School and was classically trained by Suzanne Steele then with Audrey Duggan. Thomas and Tessa met in a line-dancing country band based in Kinglake in 1996 which seemed like 'destiny' and they soon branched out on their own as a duo and later with various full band line-ups performing at clubs and functions. They married, had children and settled in Kinglake. They didn't perform much whilst their children were very young and then the horrific Black Saturday bushfires struck. 

Thomas and Tessa fought and saved their home and family and some of their neighbours but not all - and in the aftermath they decided to move their family away to Gippsland for a new start. (Thomas received a 'BM' - Bravery Medal from the Governor-General of Australia for his actions in saving a neighbour after the fire who sadly died a few weeks later in hospital) both Thomas and Tessa were heavily involved in the relief and rebuilding effort personally and through their building business at the time. After moving to Gippsland, they devoted themselves to the activities of their primary school aged daughters, joined community groups and clubs in the area and soon found themselves performing full-on again. They decided to record an album of their original songs written over the years because of their life-changing experience and knowing how fragile life is, so it was more for posterity than anything but they were encouraged by local radio hosts who'd heard them perform their songs to release a song to radio, which they did in 2017. Since then, they've had amazing #1 and Top 10 chart successes for their music and have amassed over a dozen major Australian and International awards.

http://www.destinybandoz.com/

Marc Miner

When you think of alternative-outlaw-country-rock and Americana music, you probably think of the USA, maybe Canada. So, Marc Miner is the European representative. While Nashville is considered the “city of music” in the USA, Marc settled down in the European version of it: Vienna, Austria! As if that weren’t enough, Marc is also an international breed: His father from the USA met Marc’s mother from Germany in Poland. That’s also where Marc was born, before the family had to leave the country. 

They moved to Vienna, where Marc grew up and where he started his first bands ranging from rock n roll, rock to even punk and grunge – which at that time was the “teenage sound of revolution.” By the age of 16, the rebellious Marc Miner decided to leave home. He traveled through Europe, got a job on board of a container ship, and arrived in the USA in 2000. Impressed by the lifestyle of the South, the prairie, the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, and the melodies he heard there, he decided to stay. Unfortunately, life ain’t a free ride, so beside his music jobs, he also started to gamble, which finally got him to jail. Marc was accused of illegal gambling, forging, and other “trivial offenses,” as he calls it. With some help from his father’s influential friends, the US authorities finally granted amnesty to Marc, but he had to leave this wonderful country. Back in Europe, he finally settled in Vienna. Here he does what he does best: Music in the good old tradition of Americana Music, Country Rock, and Outlaw Country, but with more modern influences like Hellbound Glory, Sturgill Simpson, Cody Jinks, Blackberry Smoke, or Whiskey Myers. 

He released several singles and his first studio album “Smile When You’re Wasted” in October 2020, which was praised by the press and the public and earned him several awards. In 2022, Miner released his first original short film soundtrack “The Path Of His Spirits (OST),” which also won awards in the US and Slovakia. His second official studio album “Last Heroes” will be released on September 15, 2023. And from time to time, Marc Miner appears in front of larger and smaller audiences to perform his original songs and covers for the outcasts, misfits, losers, and those with broken hearts.

http://marcminer.com/

Space Electric

Formed in 2014 in Norway, Space Electric releases their second album "Laniakea" on September 15, 2023. The album was recorded in the legendary Rancho De La Luna studio in Joshua Tree, California, USA. Desert Sessions, Kyuss, QOTSA, EODM, Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop, Arctic Monkeys and many more bands have recorded their music there.

The album release includes 4 new video releases ("I Wanna Know", "Dead Eyes", "Exit Light" and "Laniakea) to the 4 singles released from the album. These 9 songs tell stories of absent friends, rabbit holes and gravity on your bones. The founder of Rancho De La Luna, David Catching, is playing lap steel solo in the end of the song "Rabbit Holes".

http://www.spaceelectric.no/

Paul Bibbins

Paul Bibbins is a guitarist/songwriter and independent musician from Dallas, Texas. Paul is a solo artist, and he has been playing guitar and writing songs for decades. He plays high-energy, Jimi Hendrix-styled, original guitar rock ‘n roll.

Paul’s new single “Bold, Beautiful…and Long Gone!” was recently reviewed by Luke Wolk of Radio Guitar One, which prides itself as being ‘the ultimate online radio guitar network’. Luke Wolk wrote that, “Bold, Beautiful and Long Gone picks up right where Jimi Hendrix left off. This cut has some unexpected turns from the jump that keep the listener engaged. The intro comes in loud and proud and then takes a sharp turn into the verse that somehow manages to flow, despite its hard change in direction. It is a masterclass in how 100% commitment to the sound can allow the song to go almost anywhere.”

Paulbibbins.com

Sanjay Michael

Rock ‘n’ roll never left the party – it was just getting a drink at the bar!

Based in Singapore, Sanjay Michael’s new album Rocking Into Midnight returns to the heyday of classic rock and hard-driving blues... With punchy riffs and large catchy choruses, the feeling you felt from great electric guitar music is sure to return!

Although growing up in exotic Malaysia and the vast expanses of Australia was an incredible experience, rock ‘n’ roll opened the door to another world. Through the years Sanjay has jammed down and dirty in greasy bars and professional studios. While he loved covering the classics and being part of the local music community, he felt that in recent years there were no fresh and fun new rock songs coming out. So when the world shut down in 2020 he decided that in these dead calm waters was the time to write his own songs with lots of heart.

Each song has its own vibe and place in the collection, but they’re all grounded in old-school rhythm and Sanjay’s musical instinct is to always take the groove back to basics.

His journey is clear: bring the holy trinity of the rhythm guitar wall of riffs, the classic searing blues lead and singer- songwriter narrative back to foot-tapping, fist-pumping domination.

Sanjaymichael.com

Sam Huber

From his secret sonic lab in downtown Helsinki, Finland, Sam Huber has built a career cross-pollinating musical touchstones from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s with modern elements like hip-hop rhythms, trap beats, loops and more to create what he calls ‘Future Funk.’

With over a dozen releases in the past five years, featuring collaborations with everyone from dancehall legend Hawkman to hiphop icon Bazerk and P-Funk alums Michael “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton and Amp Fiddler, remixes by the likes of Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Keith Shocklee (The Bomb Squad/Public Enemy) and Grammy winning producer Bill Laswell, Huber is nothing if not prolific.

A powerhouse songwriter with eyes and ears always open, and guided by the steady hand of longtime producer Tomás Doncker, the one common thread that runs through his entire catalog is a relentless, undeniably funky groove. “It’s all about the groove,” he relates.

“That subconscious funk that hits you on a primal level and gets into your soul. I’ve always tried to have that, in some aspect, embedded in the DNA of every record I’ve ever made.” Huber distills essences of everything from Berlin-era Bowie and vintage Philly soul to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Prince and even Tom Jones into his own genre-defying style, and the results are stellar every time.

https://ifyouwriteittheywillcome.wordpress.com/sam-huber/

Rare Union

 

 

The start of Rare Union began in 2019. It started with LA Smith from New York, percussionist. LA Smith had been wanting to produce a CD, with a lot of percussion. To pass percussion on to kids all over the world. After completing a national tour with The Randy Oxford Band in 2014, LA decided to play at festivals with headliners, and do percussion workshops, passing on 12 sets of bongos at each workshop to low-income kids all over the western hemisphere.At the same time, Martin Cage lead guitarist from Nemesis, was looking to put some of his original compositions into a CD. 

LA Smith now out of Columbia MO, and Martin Cage out of Salt Lake UT, decided to get together, and see what would happen.They went into El Centro studio in Columbia, Missouri and start recording. They added Jerry Russo, a local rhythm drummer and the three of them put together first six songs.Then the pandemic hit, and it was a challenge to bring any artists in to the studio. The studio added UV lighting, and slowly they started to work on the CD. Martin Cage had played with vocalist, guitar player, Max Soler from FT Myers, in the group Nemesis. So, when they called Max he was ready to go. Over the next year and a half, they had several recording sessions. They had Will Reeves on bass and Danny Carrol on drums, both from Columbia, MO. They played together in several groups. Before too long they had 9 more songs.The songs started to get real heart felt lyrics, guitar breaks and solos that bring out the original sound that Rare Union turned out to be. They did not go into the studio trying to produce a particular sound, just wanted to make good music. What happened was chemistry, with five artists, with all different backgrounds, from 5 different states playing together. As the songs Martin had composed evolved and began to take shape, Max would add lyrics, guitar. Both Martin Cage and Max Soler would switch off on lead and rhythm. LA Smith and Danny Carroll would build the structure of the songs and decide how to incorporate the drums and percussion. Will Reeves did the bass lines and engineered the CD. They ended up with a new blues rock sound.The addition of Micael Kott on Cello, from Santa Fe NM, was added. His recording was done at Frogville Studios in Santa Fe, NM. Michael Kott plays cello all over the world with Peter Buffet. His cello is on “Won’t Be Lost” and “Brother of Mine”.With the CD getting produced, and final vocals getting finished the band needed a name. That’s where Dawn Smith suggested Rare Union. It described this band, born in a pandemic, from five states, with all new original music. Dawn set up all the production of the CD, web site, Domain, copywrite and trademarks. 

Naming the CD was easy, Max Soler and Martin Cage had a friend who passed, and he was considered a brother. So, the band named the CD, “Brother of Mine”.Rare union is now setting dates to do three videos and the start of the next CD in March. Wanting to have it out by the middle of October.They have been invited to several festivals, and are lining up festivals around the world to play. Hopping for 2023, but with the pandemic may be 2024.

 https://rareunionband.com/

Fans JAM 66 Radio

 

Check the Fans JAM 66 Radio blog where you can read daily posts, Latest blues, rock  and bluesrock News, know the coming blues and rock concerts and Listen to the station. 

Daily content at http://fansjam66radio.blogspot.com

HiSQ & Terri and Norman Bergen

 

 

HiSQ is known for catchy tunes in many genres. Now they try rockin’ country! 

They teamed up with Norman Bergen, a legend who wrote for instance ”Only A Fool Breaks His Own Heart”. Norman asked his wife Terri to sing this duet with him. It’s like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton reunited. The HiSQ band wanted their original song to sound both modern and traditional with slap-bass and everything. Luckily they also got Norman to play the piano solo.

”I’ll Never Let You Go” with Terri and Norman Bergen tells a story that HiSQ hopes nobody can relate to. But hey, it’s still a compelling country tune!

 https://www.hisq.fi/

Kelsie Kimberlin

American-Ukrainian artist Kelsie Kimberlin, working with Grammy winners, recorded "Armageddon" about the unjust war against Ukraine.

In the song she says that Ukraine will stop the Armageddon facing the world and that Ukraine is protecting the world from the terror being experienced in Ukraine. The song is very powerful and is being submitted to the Grammys in the Social Change category.

Kelsie visited Ukraine for two weeks to film the video on sites of some of the worst atrocities in Bucha, Irpin and Kyiv. The video will be released in the second week of September 2023. She is the only artist to be given permission to film in these areas.

President Zelensky, speaking at the Grammys, asked all artists to use their music to keep the attention on Ukraine. Kelsie has done this with "Armageddon".

https://kelsiekimberlin.com/

Tinsley Ellis

A hard-rocking, high-voltage blues guitarist most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tinsley Ellis is hardly one of the legions of imitators that comparison might imply. Schooled in a variety of Southern musical styles as evidenced by his 1988 Alligator debut Georgia Blue (a label he has been signed to three different times), Ellis draws not only from fiery Vaughan-style blues-rock, but also Texas bluesmen like Freddie King and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the soulful blues of B.B. King, the funky grit of Memphis soul, and numerous other electric bluesmen. Later offerings such as 1997's Fire It Up showcased fine hopped-up originals alongside striking covers penned by everyone from Mickey Newbury and Danny Kirwan, to Magic Sam and Los Lobos. Ellis has been praised in many quarters for the relentless, storming intensity of his sound. His early 21st century sides such as The Hard Way in 2004 (Telarc), 2013's Midnight Blue, and 2016's Red Clay Soul (on his own Heartfixer Music label) earned him the general acknowledgement that he has been a consistent and formidable instrumentalist and solid songwriting talent. The guitarist returned to Alligator for 2018's Winning Hand, and followed with Ice Cream in Hell in 2020 and his 20th album, The Devil May Care in 2022.

Ellis was born in Atlanta in 1957, and spent most of his childhood in southern Florida. He began playing guitar in elementary school, first discovering the blues through the flagship bands of the British blues boom: John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, and so on. He soon moved on to a wide variety of original sources, becoming especially fond of B.B. King and Freddie King. After high school, Ellis moved back to Atlanta in 1975 to attend Emory University, and soon found work on the local music scene, joining a bar band called the Alley Cats (which also featured future Fabulous Thunderbird Preston Hubbard). In 1981, Ellis co-founded the Heartfixers with singer/harmonica player Chicago Bob Nelson, and they recorded an eponymous debut album for the tiny Southland imprint. They soon signed with the slightly larger Landslide and issued Live at the Moon Shadow in 1983, by which point they were one of the most popular live blues acts in the South. However, Nelson left the group shortly after the album's release, and Ellis took over lead vocal chores.

The Heartfixers' first project in their new incarnation was backing up blues shouter Nappy Brown on his well-received 1984 comeback album, Tore Up. Ellis debuted his vocals on record on the Heartfixers' 1986 LP Cool on It, which brought him to the attention of Alligator Records. Ellis left the Heartfixers to sign with Alligator as a solo artist in 1988, and they picked up his solo debut, Georgia Blue, for distribution. The album helped make Ellis a fixture on the blues circuit, and he toured heavily behind it, establishing a hard-working pattern he would follow for most of his career. The follow-up, Fanning the Flames, appeared in 1989 and explored similar territory. Released in 1992, Trouble Time helped land Ellis on album rock radio thanks to the track "Highwayman," but it was 1994's Storm Warning that really broke Ellis to a wider blues-rock audience, earning more media attention than any of his previous recordings; additionally, guitar prodigy Jonny Lang later covered Ellis' "A Quitter Never Wins" on Lie to Me.

For 1997's Fire It Up, Ellis worked with legendary blues-rock producer Tom Dowd (the Allman Brothers, Derek & the Dominos), as well as Booker T. & the MG's bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. Ellis subsequently left Alligator and signed with Capricorn; unfortunately, shortly after the release of 2000's Kingpin, Capricorn went bankrupt, leaving the album high and dry. Still, Ellis soon caught on with Telarc, releasing his initial disc Hell or High Water on the label in 2002, followed by The Hard Way in 2004. One year later, Ellis was back with Alligator, putting out the live set Live! Highwayman and 2007's Moment of Truth, the first studio album to contain original material since Hell or High Water. Ellis toured relentlessly behind the album, and reentered the studio in early 2009. Speak No Evil was released that October, but it would be another three and a half years before he issued another studio album, with Ellis choosing to focus on live performance for the intervening period.

When the all-instrumental Get It! did arrive in March 2013, it contained tributes to a number of his blues guitar heroes such as Freddie King, Bo Diddley, and Albert Collins. Before the end of the year he had also prepared another album with the same lineup as the Get It! sessions: Kevin McKendree on keyboards, Lynn Williams on drums, and Ted Pecchio on bass. Midnight Blue was released in January of 2014, followed quickly by Tough Love in 2015 and Red Clay Soul in 2016. In 2018, Ellis returned with Winning Hand, co-produced in Nashville with rhythm guitarist and keyboardist McKendree. The very same team of players reconvened in the fall to cut Ice Cream in Hell, released in January of 2020. During the worst of the pandemic, Ellis hunkered down in quarantine and wrote more than 200 songs. He chose ten for his 20th album, the Kevin McKendree-produced The Devil May Care, issued by Alligator in January 2022.

Truck Pierce

Truck's song "Angels in Disguise" serves as a heartfelt tribute to his parents and their selfless acts of love. Through poignant lyrics and soul-stirring melodies, he weaves a narrative that resonates with listeners from all walks of life. His lyrics capture the essence of the human experience, reminding us of the extraordinary impact our parents have on our lives.

"Angels in Disguise" is a song that deserves to be heard on the radio. Its universal message of love and gratitude resonates with listeners of all ages and backgrounds. This heartfelt composition serves as a reminder that the bonds forged within the family unit can shape and inspire us to become our best selves.

Truckpierce.com

JAM 66 Radio. New fan site

• ENJOY the NEW blog of JAM 66 Radio. You can hear the radio on the site, check the listen links on the right column, weekly blues, bluesrock and rock posts, also information about blues, rock and blues rock updated in real time. http://fansjam66radio.blogspot.com

YME

YME, also known as Ymkje de Bijl, is an artist based in Venlo, The Netherlands. Her music straddles the line between a wide range of styles. Her music combines the edge of electro with the melody of alternative pop, finding the perfect balance between these different styles and making for a truly unique formula. Although she was diagnosed with autism from a very early age, she has always been passionate about music, as she grew up in a musical family with parents who were artists! Her mom was actually in a successful group named Ottawan, which recorded various hits in the 1980s. To this day, the band has over one million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, and it also features production work from Daniel Banghalter, whose son is Thomas Banghalter from Daft Punk!

Long story short, YME’s musical background is undeniably awesome, and becoming an artist was a natural step forward for her. Her music is immersive and endearing from the moment you hit the play button. The sound of her songs offers a very engaging listening experience, which immediately makes for a unique mood setter. Her music is brimming with fun, catchy, yet personal melodies that instantly create a deeper connection with the audience. All of her tracks are very hooky, due to their strong melodies and incredibly catchy vocal lines.The artist’s distinctive style of melodic, upbeat, and cleverly written electro-pop has quickly contributed to growing her fanbase, placing her as one of the hottest new artists on the European scene today.

The audience will be transported right away, showcasing the artist’s ability to create ambiance, a true world in sound. While the songs have a very organic, cinematic power to it, it also feels like a stunning opportunity for the audience to really get to discover more about what drives YME’s creativity. Her current discography is a perfect way in: an entry point into the imaginative and vibrant vision of an artist that’s far from the average player in the electro-pop music scene today. In addition to the performance and sound design, her music is also excellent in terms of production. The sound of YME’s productions is pristine and world-class, exactly what people might expect from a world-class act that wants to find an audience on a truly global stage.

YME is definitely recommended to fans of Billie Eilish, Dead Rituals, DeathByRomy and GAYLE, only to mention but a few. Much like the above mentioned artists, YME is all about making music that feels incredibly personal and direct. She is all about increasing her vision and sharing her personality with the audience. Some artists are natural-born entertainer, but YME is so much more than that: she wants to create a true community with her music, reaching out to people of all walks of life with a sound that is always engaging, inspiring, and easy to relate to. YME writes all the lyrics by herself, and produces music with Marco Roosink. She doesn’t just use music for entertainment, but also as a powerful way to express herself. In particular, she writes music that deals with her experiences through life, such as living with autism and even experiences such as being bullied when she was in school. She hopes that by sharing these experiences and feelings through music, she can actually connect with people and reach out with others who might be experiencing similar situations: they’re not alone!

Ymemusic.com

Lipstereo

'Little Spaceships’ is the second single from Australian indie rockers, LIPSTEREO’s new EP, 'Modern Mythology'. Renowned Australian, Mark Opitz AM (INXS, AC/DC, The Angels), produced this melodic antidote to their garage rock debut, ’Stop.’

‘Little Spaceships’ is uplifting indie rock with guitars, bass and drums channelling The Beatles, Nirvana and The Ramones. Interesting arrangements and studio sounds such as bells and a 1960s electro-mechanical musical instrument, the Mellotron (used in 'Strawberry Fields Forever’ by The Beatles), fuse Opitz's "sophisto-punk" musical vision to the band's post punk revival sound.

This song hints at the future musical direction of LIPSTEREO as it leads the listener into areas of some great song writing. ‘Little Spaceships’ sees the band proudly wearing on their sleeve the influences of their contemporaries and heroes such as Arctic Monkeys, Weezer and The Strokes.

The song is about “friends moving on and feeling left behind" says lead singer/guitarist, Sam Stranges. The song travels through some great pop rock terrain with a vocal treatment akin to Marc Bolan and T-Rex thanks to the skills of producer Mark Opitz and Thirty Mill Studios sound engineer, Colin Wynne. It is truly thrilling to hear this kind of rock ’n’ roll being made today… in Melbourne; a city with a rich musical history that gave us Nick Cave, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Crowded House, The Teskey Brothers and Jet.

The music video was recently filmed during a live sold-out show in Melbourne at The Catfish. The footage shows the band in fine form and as an exciting, bona fide live act. The audience reactions to their mesmerising live performances have been electric. Do not miss...

 

THE RISE AND RISE OF LIPSTEREO ...

LIPSTEREO’s success can be attributed to its strong two-year creative period where they wrote and demoed some fifty songs in one of the most locked-down cities around the world, Melbourne. Since then, the band has gone from strength to strength with their ground-breaking debut music video for ‘Stop’ being played on national ABC television network in Australia for weeks on end as well as MTV in Canada and the US. In addition to MTV in North America, their second music video, ‘Little Spaceships’ has increased their reach into MTV Latin America, MTV SUR and MTV Mexico. Their total reach through MTV alone being over 150 million homes across North and South America.

Their songs have been serviced to over 14,000 radio stations internationally and have received significant airplay in the US, Canada, The Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, Ireland, the UK and their home country of Australia. They even had a slot on AXS TV reaching over 44 million homes in the US. They have had Top 10 commercial radio (Modern Rock Specialty) and Top 20 college radio success in the US and Canada for ‘Modern Mythology’ and are currently mastering in their second studio EP, also produced by Mark Opitz.

 

LIPSTEREO has gained international attention with their EP, ‘Modern Mythology’ which was named as “Record Of The Week” in Rolling Stone. Their follow up, “Live At Bakehouse” EP was also named “Record Of The Week” in Rolling Stone…AGAIN! 

They have received massive coverage in NME, EarMilk, Classic Rock Magazine,  and Atwood Magazine. LIPSTEREO pioneered a new TikTok genre where they do a "Blind Cover," of a trending song without actually listening to it – including ‘Anti-Hero’ by Taylor Swift, ‘Made You Look’ by Meghan Trainor and ‘Life Goes On’ by Oliver Tree. The latter video went viral on TikTok, garnering 5 million views, 800k likes and over 6k comments alone.

 

Their music videos have also ben added MTVU (covering over 750 college and university campuses across the U.S.), Loop TV, DEC TV, LA-TV, Video Jam, Video Hits and content providers including Promo Only, Clear TV, Gloss Media, Multiplicity and Woven Media. And LIPSTEREO has sold out every single headline performance in their hometown of Melbourne Australia since 2022. 

https://lipstereo.com/