Thursday, November 24, 2022

Wild Wisteria

 


Sending waves in the Folk and Rock world, traversing the diverse genres of Classic Rock, Indie Pop Rock, Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Country Blues, and Jazz to Pop-Electrical Dance, Wild Wisteria is set to soar, inspiring listeners with their stunning compositions. The musical collective reflects the artistic genius of lead vocalist and founding singer-songwriter, Malcolm Raedel, and Matt Williams, co-writer and backing vocalist, who also plays guitar, electric bass and banjo for the band. The two seasoned artists are complemented by drummers Steve Staben, David Hopgood, Kelvin Sugars, and Jamie Jones, along with Craig Kelly on Bass, Saxophone by Peter Raidel, keyboards by Ron Ennis and Paul White, and Dave Blight on Harmonica.

Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Malcolm has striven from an early age, to write songs that are lyrically and musically distinctive. Matt has complemented his command of guitar styles of greats such as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt and Frank Gambale, with technical expertise and production skills.

The critical turning point for Wild Wisteria was a meeting at Fat Trax Recording Studios, where Matt was the sound engineer and producer. A veteran songwriter, Matt was an accomplished performer, guitarist and all-round musician. Malcolm had formed his own independent recording label, Emagin8ion Music.

Wild Wisteria’s debut album, “Enigma Road”, was released in 2008, and moved between folk and rock, with a touch of country. It captured a folk-inspired view of the Australian landscape, past and present, the influence of immigrant settlers, and the humour-infused reality of "By the Dunny in the Pale Moon Light". At the same time, it reflected personal experience in an international context, in the days when when Hong Kong was still a British colony.

This was followed by “Crystal Tangerine” in 2013, a more exploratory collection, but still grounded in the folk-rock-pop influences of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. Again there is an international dimension, with inspiration drawn from travel in Europe and North America. Critical review of the last track on the album has been described as ”a surprising yet stunning departure from the heavily folk-inspired sound of previous Wild Wisteria songs. “Smokin’ Annie’s Place” sees the group dip their toes into the unquestionably smooth and suave world of Jazz and the results are nothing short of breathtaking.”

Wild Wisteria, the album, was released late in 2020, reflecting a seamless collaboration between the two principal artists. For Malcolm, "Wild Wisteria", the song, sums up his perspective on life. Yet again, there is the recounting of experiences drawn from living for a time in the US. Every song on the album is a single, including the previously released and widely applauded pop-electronica , “Year of the Snake”.

Thematically, Wild Wisteria offers a wide range of narratives, imbued with rich and mesmerizing song writing and production. Whether inspired by love, loss, political events or life’s great enigmas, Wild Wisteria presents an authentic portrayal of experiences that transcend the boundaries of time, culture and geography, through magnetic vocals, lyricism and musical brilliance. If one word could be selected to represent professional reviews of the first three albums, it would be "creativity."

Moving forward, the band hopes to craft even more authentic musical compositions, while also rallying listeners towards their past musical releases.

 https://wildwisteria.hearnow.com/

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Claudia Campagnol

 


Claudia Campagnol's voice is extremely powerful, yet warm and soulful. She takes inspiration from jazz, pop, soul, and R&B, showcasing a stunning flair for improvisation and vocal arrangements.

Claudia Campagnol has a deep-rooted affection for jazz fusion, and she has achieved great success on the jazz scene in Denmark as well as abroad. Her debut album "I'm Strong" (2019) was nominated for Danish Music Awards Jazz in two categories: 'Best Vocal Album' and 'Best New Act', and received excellent reviews worldwide.

But for a while, Claudia has considered trying her hand at other genres.

With her single "Dance With Me" (2020) – inspired by names like Chaka Khan and Sade – Claudia stepped into a funky pop/R&B world that suits her amazingly.

In February 2021, Claudia released the beautiful love ballad Abracadabra, with which she participated in 'Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2021' (the Danish pre-selection for ‘Eurovision Song Contest’).

In March 2021, the super catchy "Do You Love Me (Dance Edit)" was released – and with an ongoing desire to challenge herself, she continued down the Pop/R&B/Soul path with her single "Everything's OK" (June 2021). – This time adding a flirty touch of Reggaeton.

Her new single "Confused" is a laid-back, confident and funky affair that makes you dream of the California sun and cruising up and down legendary PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) - or the French Riviera. Think West Coast music, Earth Wind & Fire, Bill Champlin and Michael Ruff, and the mood is set.

https://www.claudiacampagnol.com/

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Hickory Hank


 

Has it been a long time? Nah, that's actually great. So not so long ago a number of musicians, relatively unknown to each other, got together to share their love for Country and Americana, in particular. Joint heroes soon found the men in Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Gram Parsons. There is also a common preference for the more traditional instruments. They mean guitar, mandolin, banjo, bassukulele and whatever else comes to the table.

From their town on the Rhine, the men are slowly but steadily building a solid live reputation. And they are welcome guests on and off stage. Given their set of instruments, they have freedom of movement to play in any cozy corner. In fact, that's probably what they like the most. Blessed with voices like nightingales, the polyphonic vocals really add value.

https://www.facebook.com/HickoryHankTank

https://hickoryhank.jouwweb.nl/

Monday, November 21, 2022

Gulf Stream Riders, new album

 

 
 
Gulf Stream Riders, aka Chris and Nalle , are former members of a hard rock band that had a record deal with Warner Music in Scandinavia and toured the clubs in LA. After a breakup that lasted many years, with Chris studying back home in NY and Nalle writing and producing for artists around the world, they reunited to pursue the long time dream of making the kind of music closest to their hearts; Country/Folk.

Barn Music is the first full-length album from Gulf Stream Riders since they began releasing music in 2018. The album is a snap-shot of GSR’s consistently excellent work, with increasing focus on the folk and roots side of their sound. 
 
12 tracks, 5 never before released songs/versions.  
 
Heart Trying Mind Lying is a plain-spoken song about sad endings and new beginnings; and also a toungue-in-cheek reference to vocalist Christopher John’s surprise heart attack and surgery in ‘21. Heart Trying Mind Lying somehow manages to be mournful and optimistic at the same time.
 

Saturday, November 19, 2022

Sano Hill

 


Sano Hill is a singer-songwriter based in Galway (Ireland) currently recording his debut album. His songs are inspired by life, love and loss and he has played to audiences in the US and Ireland with his work released already to critical acclaim on compilation albums, including 'Origin: See the Light', 'New Horizons', and 'Inundations' (which also featured music from leading international acts, including Josh Ritter, Ron Sexsmith, Lloyd Cole, Damien Rice, Mundy and The Frames). 

“Circlewalk” – released on July 29 – is the third single from his forthcoming album (music review responses to "Circlewalk" as well as his acclaimed previous singles “The Climb” and “Starting Over” are available here: https://sanohillsongs.wixsite.com/sano-hill/reviews). The forthcoming album as a whole (titled “If Not Now, When?”) charts the course of a relationship from hopeful beginnings, to emotional crises, breakup and recovery. “CircleWalk” is a darker song than the previous releases, dealing with the challenging subject of communication breakdown in a relationship, when two people can't find the words to say how they feel and instead walk in circles around what they need to say. This song is about expression, about breaking the silence. It features a full band sound, driving chorus and memorable final refrain. It was recorded at Dublin's legendary Windmill Lane Studios with award-winning producer Larry Hogan. 

Sano Hill “is blessed with a strong and distinctive voice” (Galway Advertiser) and his work has been described as defining “a timeless recipe for original guitar music: inventive, humanist lyrics sung from the gut, then embedded in rhythms to barrage or soothe the soul" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). For leading Irish music magazine, Hot Press, Sano Hill daringly “tries to capture the sound, sense and smell of Galway in a similar vein to Van Morrison's finest compositions about his native Belfast." (Hot Press).

 https://linktr.ee/SanoHill

Friday, November 18, 2022

Changing Tymz

 


In 2016, after hitting some roadblocks with original music and deciding that playing in the cover/club scene was not in his heart, Tony Rossi wanted something new. Driven by the desire to form a band that brought together a unique mix of musicians, he began the long road to what would lead him to Changing Tymz . A journey that required time and patience as the right band would be born in the collaboration of musicians, willing to prove their passion, musical talent, faith, direction and ability to work together as an integral and equal piece of the process . The original line-up itself would take over 3 years .

During this same time period, guitarist Timmy Wysong was looking to find an accomplished drummer to join his former band. Connecting through a music search, Tony submitted an audition piece for the band at Timmy’s request. Although things didn’t work out for the initial project, Tony and Timmy discovered a respect for each other’s talents and decided to begin collaboration .

Adding vocalist Matt Martin to the group, the band was now beginning to take shape and the direction of the band’s sound became clear . Originally striving for a heavier and darker sound, the addition of Matt’s voice and unique style allowed them to dig deeper in the roots of true metal, and melodic fashion to create a mix of modern and classical metal .

All the while, bass player Bryan McQuade was also looking for a solid commitment in an original project. When Changing Tymz and Bryan crossed paths the band asked him to submit an original bassline for the song "Stand Up" . Taking his chances, Bryan sat down to write, submitted a piece … and a bass player was found .

Now at four members strong, all that was needed was another guitarist to add to the line-up . Knowing whoever it was needed to be the right fit, after several auditions and more than a year later, the band finally welcomed Eric Fenton in November of 2019 .

Five talented musicians, having never met before, all from different backgrounds, cemented by desire and passion for the music is what made this line-up work so well, they officially released their 5 track EP in February of 2020.

In January of 2021, Changing Tymz and Matt Martin parted ways and the search for a new vocalist was launched. Again finding the perfect committed fit would take time. After an extensive search and tryout, Joann E Wolfe and Changing Tymz began working on new material, and the melodies and songs just came together like magic. The line-up was again complete. Now in mid-summer of 2022, they are prepped for a relaunch with a story-line video/song, in addition to an 11track full length release, and will follow that up with an updated, re-recorded-mixed/mastered, version of the original 5 track EP. Keep your eyes and ears open for future information and releases, as with the explosive re-launch of an already up-n-coming band, the world truly has only begun to see the music of Changing Tymz !

 https://www.changingtymz.com/