Everture

 

Sometimes great hardships evoke beautiful things. Concerning this album it applies to both creating the music and actually producing the songs.
 
While our previous single releases ’Rightly Accused’ and ’Long Way Down’ were being recorded in early 2019, the idea of creating something bigger came up. The time was right. By the summer we had gathered the best and most co-fitting songs and in September we were already in the pre production phase. Soon after that the drums were already on tape. Things looked very good... 
 
Emerge starts off big time as all good albums do! The songs ’In Between’ and ’For Tomorrow’ get your mood up immediately with their cool intensity and melodic phrasings. They view life as something to be respected and feared. ’Undersky’ is a big one, a perfect song to be played at stadiums. It tells a story of clinging onto hope under oppressive powers.

Then we turn it to eleven with ’The River Flows’, the unheard side of Everture until now. It is a furiously raging, dark metalcore beast that still has quite a beautiful melodic side to it. As a good continuation, we get ’Promises’, the compassionate ”ballad” of depression, a combobreaker and the ending of the ”A side” of the album.

...Recording the bass came and went easily enough but when the turn for the guitars came, trouble began. Our schedules started to strecth more and more because of various factors. The time of long winter and despair had come. We had to rely on our nonexistent patience and make the ends meet. We got lead vocals done quite succesfully considering the circumstances but some guitars had to be rescheduled to February and the very last of them had to wait until the summer 2020. We recorded all of the vocal harmonies in our singers Jere Kuokkanens home, mostly in February. We also had some trouble regarding the mixing; we had to test at least four different options during spring/summer 2020 before finding the service provider that fitted to our needs...

The darker ”B side” of Emerge starts a bit more politically in a metal way. ’Ivory Tower’ addresses peoples way of having blinkers on their eyes and chasing things they don’t really need or even want whilst losing all they have. ’The Unfortunate End’ is the wild one with highest tempo on the album. This song includes aggressive drumming and Göteborg styled riffs. Oh, and the catchiest chorus ever. Then we get to the nighty mood parts of the album. Fittingly enough ’White Lies, Black Skies’ was written during a long nightshift which gives this song its dark doomy feel. The song has some of the most well written vocals in Evertures catalog dealing with moral self reflection.

Before dawn we dwell deep in ’My 52 Shades’, the gloomy and a bit Twin Peaksy, yet incredibly beautiful song. It’s about all the worries that haunt you. In addition to the touching vocals and guitar solos the song really takes off with furious cathartic riff sections.

The closing track ’Closure’ is the perfect wrapping for the journey soon ending. The song is definetly brings light of dawn along and the mood for a party. It’s the understanding things in the end of events and internal struggles. It’s all about the beauty born among hardships. About the fact that one must do their best to keep good things alive and accept that nothing will ever be perfect. Having understood that, we have grown and emerged.

...so now having spent countless hours of time and quite a bit of money on this thing. We must ask ourselves: ”Was it worth it?”. I would say it totally was!

The struggles and despair gives personality and feel to this album also from the point of the listener. This is what in given time have been able to do and we are proud of it. 

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/evertureband
https://www.instagram.com/evertureband
https://spoti.fi/3iZbu38
https://everture.bandcamp.com

The Metal Byrds

 

The Metal Byrds launch a new single, VICIOUS CIRCLE. The band from Texas is promoting its new song. 

The Metal Byrds band are born musicians. London born Suzanne Birdie, has a power-pop rock voice, that compliments Sly Rye's ripping rock riffs and lead guitar solos in every song!

These catchy songs are throwback to a time where female front-women dominated the radio waves with rocking sounds. A time where Hair Bands and Classic Rock & Roll ruled the world.

More info on their website  https://www.themetalbyrds.com

Olya. New release.

 

N

New song by Olya. 

Info, bio and track on https://www.reverbnation.com/olyasongs/song/32274373-waking-up-in-nashville-eggs-and

Murray McLauchlan

 

He’s been hailed as one of Canada’s most culturally conscious songwriters of the 70s’ but Murray McLauchlan’s sympathetic song portraits of ordinary folk have appealed to our social conscience for more than five decades. The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) is pleased to announce the Induction of singer-songwriter Murray McLauchlan, composer of more than 35 hit singles including the SOCAN Classics Farmer’s Song, Down by the Henry Moore, and Try Walkin’ Away.

Marking its first in-person songwriter induction ceremony since the pandemic, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame is partnering with Mariposa Folk Festival to recognize McLauchlan on Saturday, July 9 on the Festival’s main stage. Since 2018, the CSHF began partnering with music events and festivals across the country to connect with fans and celebrate the songs and songwriters to their musical roots. McLauchlan will be officially inducted at Mariposa by long-time friend and CSHF Inductee Gordon Lightfoot and honoured with a special tribute performance by Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.

“I am honoured to join my respected friends Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and so many others in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame,” says McLauchlan.

Murray McLauchlan was born in Scotland, and raised in Toronto ON, where he studied art and began singing in coffeehouses at age 17. He frequented Yorkville’s The Riverboat, a hub for the folk-rock music scene in the 70s where fellow singer-songwriters Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, and other Canadian icons would play – that was also a favourite tour stop for American artists including Simon and Garfunkel, and folksinger Tom Rush. McLauchlan would play his bittersweet compositions Old Man’s Song and Child’s Song on the backsteps of The Riverboat for Tom Rush, who became the first artist to record one of McLauchlan’s insightful songs. Child’s Song was recorded by Tom Rush in 1970; and would later garner McLauchlan three JUNO Awards for Folk Single, Country Single, and Songwriter of the Year.

In 1971, McLauchlan signed with True North Records and recorded his debut album, “Song from the Street,” that reached Top 40 in Canada. His first Top 10 single came from The Farmer’s Song which drew attention to the industrial forces decimating family farms, while earning him his first JUNO Awards for Best Songwriter, Folk Single, and Country Single. His follow up album “Sweeping the Spotlight Away” earned him a JUNO for Best Country Vocalist; and his homage to Toronto, Down by the Henry Moore, became his first No. 1 hit to cross over on both pop and country charts.

McLauchlan’s first gold record came with the 1976 album “Boulevard,” which included the hit single On the Boulevard. Through the 1980s, McLauchlan enjoyed further success with hit singles like Do You Dream of Being Somebody?, Somebody’s Long Lonely Night, Little Dreamer, and Never Did Like That Train. He rounded out the decade with the anthem If the Wind Could Blow My Troubles Away,participation in Tears Are Not Enough, and his JUNO-nominated album “Swingin’ on a Star.”

His most recent endeavors include his 2012 hit albums “Human Writes” and “Love Can’t Tell Time.” and 2021’s Hourglass that has made numerous Top 10 lists in Canada, the U.S. and throughout the world. He was won 11 JUNO Awards throughout his esteemed career and is among the Top 20 most-winning JUNO artists of all time.

McLauchlan’s songwriting, whether in his earlier narrative style or his later impressionistic one, has definite grassroots appeal. And the visual sense he developed while studying art as a youth still inspires his songwriting: “I always try to write visually, to put someone into their context,” he explains.

His love for songwriting and art came together in 2021’s “A Thomson Day”, a tribute to the work of Group of Seven painter Tom Thomson that resulted in a collaboration with the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Recently, Child’s Song was featured in the hit NBC TV show “This Is Us;” and Widespread Panic recorded a hit rock cover of McLauchlan’s dark ode Honky Red. Others to cover McLauchlan’s work over the decades include Bonnie Dobson, John McDermott, Renée Claude, David Wiffen, George Hamilton IV, Waylon Jennings, Kathy Mattea, David Bromberg, The Ennis Sisters, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, R. Harlan Smith, Walter Ostanek, Bob Neuwirth, 3’s a Crowd, Melanie Safka, and Junkhouse.

 https://www.murraymclauchlan.com

The Vulcan Straight

 

David Findley and Marc Reynolds formed The Vulcan Straight just prior to lockdown, recording all the demos for their spectacular debut album in their respective homes, sharing online until each song was completed. 

 

Since releasing their debut album they have been broadcasted by BBC Introducing Hereford and Worcester, played worldwide and have gained the recognition they deserve.

 

Mastered by world-renowned multiple gold record engineer Adam Fuest at his Twin Peaks Studio, ‘You and me’ is a track suited to ears loving classic rock from all eras, but especially the heights of the Seventies.

 

 https://m.facebook.com/thevulcanstraight/

 

 https://twitter.com/vulcanstraight

The ZINVANDELS

 

The ZINVANDELS have had a busy year of recording during the course of 2022 as well as headlining The Newton festival to 4,000 on their last tour.

 

The ZINVANDELS released debut single ‘Heartbreaker’ to great acclaim with radio support from John Kennedy, Bethan Elfyn and Tom Robinson, gaining over 30,000 youtube views. They were featured as BBC introducing artist of the week on two occasions. Following this, the band self-released the next 4 singles in anticipation of completing this debut album, which has recently been finished.

 

With new member Matt on board in '22, the ZINVANDELS have evolved their sound with their latest tunes. The band see next single 'Blackholes' as a statement of intent ahead of their debut LP release.

"Blackholes is a thunderous return to the scene for Welsh rockers The Zinvandels.

 

A powerful release that rocks with an urgency and leaves you excited to seek out their upcoming album. It's great to have you back." Pete Devine Pete's Rock News and Views.

 

 https://www.facebook.com/Thezinvandels/

 

 

The mythical original 'skin' of the WinAmp player was auctioned as NFT in Open Sea for solidarity purposes

 

Winamp sold a non-fungible token (NFT) linked to its media player’s original 1997 graphical skin, becoming the latest company to blend nostalgia and crypto. Winamp did put the NFT up for auction through OpenSea between May 16th and May 22nd, followed by a separate sale of 1997 total NFTs based on 20 artworks derived from the original skin. The proceeds will go to the Winamp Foundation, which promises to donate them to charity projects, starting with the Belgian nonprofit Music Fund.

The NFT sale appears to be a combination of a publicity move and a fundraising effort. Winamp is sourcing the derivative art NFTs by asking artists to submit Winamp-based works between now and April 15th, then giving selected artists 20 percent of the proceeds from each sale of their image as an NFT. Nineteen of the pieces will sell in editions of 100 copies, and the remaining one will have 97; they’ll all sell for 0.08 Ethereum — around $210 at current exchange rates. The artists will get 10 percent of any royalties on later sales, where the seller will set their own price.

 Winamp’s head of business development Thierry Ascarez tells The Verge that buyers will get a blockchain token linked to an image of either the original skin seen above or one of its derivatives, which is a common setup for NFTs. Buyers will have the right to “copy, reproduce, and display” the image, but they won’t own the copyright. Likewise, selected artists will agree to transfer all intellectual property for their work to Winamp, according to a page of terms and conditions.

Winamp isn’t precisely the service you might remember from the ’90s. The MP3-playing software was acquired by AOL in 1999, then sold to online radio company Radionomy in 2014 after a long decline and shutdown. Radionomy (and later its majority stakeholder AudioValley) revamped it as a mobile audio app, then announced a broader relaunch for this year. There’s also a long-running community update project for the original app.

 However, there’s a stronger connection between Winamp’s current form and its original one than some crypto projects. Venerable peer-to-peer file-sharing service LimeWire recently “relaunched” as an NFT marketplace, but it shares effectively no connection to its previous iteration; a new company apparently just bought the domain name and revived an expired trademark. It’s a little closer to a resurrected RadioShack’s plans to launch a cryptocurrency marketplace, except that this NFT sale is a small part of its relaunch as a music service, not a broader move into crypto — at least so far.