Crystal Shawanda

 

JUNO Award-winning powerhouse singer-songwriter Crystal Shawanda is back with a new studio album, Midnight Blues, set for release this September 30th on True North Records. The latest fiery bluesy Americana collection features the first single  “How Bad Do You Want It” — showcasing her full-throttle raspy voice, unmatched in today’s musical landscape, and an authenticity for the genre dating back to her youth.

 “Growing up, all of my favorite music had these breadcrumbs that led me to the blues,” Crystal says. “I often quote Willie Dixon: ‘Blues is the roots and everything else is the fruits.’ Even today's pop music, there's all this influence that derives from the blues. I was just always really attracted to the rawness and the realness of the blues.”

Produced and engineered in Nashville by her husband and long-time collaborator Dewayne Strobel, Midnight Blues — her eighth studio album, and fifth since switching from a chart-topping career as a country artist —  is a collection of original songs, such as the seductive-sounding rocker “Midnight Blues,” swampy dance-floor groove “Rumpshaker,” and gentler “Take A Little Walk With The Moon,” as well as covers of the Howlin’ Wolf classic “Evil” and her take on Celine Dion’s hit “That’s Just The Woman In Me.”

“This is absolutely my favorite album I've ever recorded because I feel like my husband put me in a picture frame,” says Crystal. “He really captured who I am as an artist. He let my vocal shine. He brought out the best in me and all the songs that we wrote really capture my live show and who I am.”

Crystal was introduced to the blues by her eldest brother and to old-time country by her parents. “I was also into other styles of music that led me to the blues,” she says, citing everything from Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog,” written by Big Mama Thornton, to R&B-pop star Monica’s “Misty Blue,” by Dorothy Moore.

“I was one of those kids who read the liner notes,” Crystal says.  “I wanted to know everything, who are the songwriters, the musicians, the producers, the engineers. I'm always wanting to know who are the originators, who are the mothers of invention, who inspired all of us?  I’m a purist at heart, so I was always diving back to learn from the masters, like Etta James, as far as vocalists; Muddy Waters, as far as feeling; and Buddy Guy, as far as stylists who have a lot of swagger.”

And yet Crystal’s first foray as a professional singer was in country music, not blues.  She was in her early 20s and had immediate success after signing a U.S. record deal with RCA Nashville. 2008’s Dawn of a New Day, featuring the single “You Can Let Go,” reached No. 1 on the Canadian Country Album chart and No. 16 on the Billboard Top Country Albums, the highest charting album by a full-blooded Canadian First Nations country artist (in the SoundScan-era). Her first single, You Can Let Go,”

The following year she left the label and created her own, New Sun Records. Her first release was the holiday album I’ll Be Home For Christmas. Her next country album was 2010’s Just Like You, which won a 2013 Juno Award for Best Aboriginal Album, before she made the change to the blues with 2014’s The Whole World’s Got The Blues.

“I love all styles of music, but there was just always something drawing me to the blues,” she explains.  “I had a country hit on the radio, and I would show up at country music festivals and I'd do a BB King cover or Buddy Guy or Etta James. Within country music, as much as I loved it, I had to restrain my voice a lot. It's very hard to hold back, and sometimes it was exhausting, whereas with the blues, I could just let it fly.”

While other artists have been embraced when they’ve made the switch to a different genre — Taylor Swift from country to pop; Dallas Smith from hard rock to country; and Darius Rucker from pop/rock to country — Crystal doesn’t mind talking about the difficulties she’s encountered.

“Country music is so excited when anybody from any genre comes to their world, hoping it'll make their world more popular. It'll up the cool factor but switching from country to blues is a lot more difficult because the blues scene is very protective because it's such an original genre. They want it to be respected and preserved.”

She would’ve had an easier time if she had created a blues-influenced sound, like the Black Crowes, Sass Jordan, or Alannah Myles, but Crystal can hold her own in any conversation about the blues pioneers. Still, she still likes to cover an iconic Canadian artist in her inimitable way. Last album, it was The Tragically Hip’s “New Orleans Is Sinking” and this time, Celine Dion.

“Because I had so much friction coming to the blues where people were like, ‘You don't know nothing about the blues,’ I'm trying to show them not to be so close-minded because a lot of people are more inspired by the blues than they may realize. Again, I'm trying to reiterate that quote by Willie Dixon that the blues is roots and everything else is the fruit.” 

 http://crystalshawanda.co/

The Livesays

 

The Livesays are an accomplished five-piece Heartland/Americana band fronted by the band’s namesake critically acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitarist Billy Livesay, who spent 12 years performing, recording and touring with E-Streeter Clarence Clemons' band "Temple of Soul." During his 12-year tenure with the beloved “Big Man,” Billy recorded and released "Live in Asbury Park" Volumes I & II at The Stone Pony, the second album which features Bruce Springsteen. Billy has shared the stage with so many industry giants, his resume reads like a "Who's Who of Rock n' Roll Hall of Famers."

Drummer Steve Rheingold, was formerly the beat keeper with the legendary Wayne Cochran.

The Livesays' lineup is rounded out with Jorge Laplume on bass, Victor "Cuqui" Berrios on Hammond B-3 organ, and Tim Murphy on piano, all of whom have impressive resumes of their own. Cuqui, who grew up in New York City, offers a touch of the Big Apple to the band with his Hammond B3 and impassioned vocals. Tim brings his ear for harmony and his unique Elton John style piano. Jorge hails from Havana, Cuba; with his Latin roots coupled with a steady diet of the rock groups The Who and Free, he delivers a bass sound that is both funky and thunderous.

The combination of these five seasoned pros, with their versatile backgrounds, incomparable harmonies, energy level, and undeniable chemistry, create real magic on stage together and put on one heck of a dynamic live performance.

The Livesays have created five full length albums that are both memorable and moving with stories ranging from adolescence to adulthood, from battling addiction to conquering depression, from finding love to losing love ... with lyrics that will surely touch your heart and quench your soul. 

 https://www.thelivesaysmusic.com/

Womack III - Songs Of Downfall & Deliverance

 

Womack III - Songs Of Downfall & Deliverance is the latest offering from local heroes of small town called Forssa, in Finland.

Lovingly calling their hometown the deep south of gloomy north, this foursome embrace their smalltown boy roots and let their love of southern rock shine through their heavy metal influences.
 

As the album title suggests, this is the third full-lenght album from Womack, who, as a band have gone through a lot considering they were formed in 2010, and are quite young as an orchestra. After their first album "Prehab" they went through a line-up change as their original drummer chose to leave and Womack was left to reinvent themselves completely.
 

They did just that, and the result was a fully acoustic rock album "Strays" which was a whole new kind of challenge for the band, as they wandered far away from their comfort zone in search of new ways to express theirselves.
 

Out of that period they got behind the wheel of their distortion-driven side, backed with their new member, Jani Blomerus who has been instrumental in the development from an acoustic rock band to a heavier, groovier harder hitting riff machine.
 

The new album has been in the making for several years now: The groundwork was laid in the later days of 2016, and the album has been slowly cooking ever since. The band has truly given the process their all, and found a new level production-wise too, as the album was mixed and mastered by the legendary Hiili Hiilesmaa, who should need no introduction to anyone who has read their homework on finnish metal.

 

The band has released two singles, Back On The Hooch off the forthcoming record, and another track, Spittin´ Teeth a couple of weeks before the whole album will finally hit the virtual shelves of the streaming world.
 

The band is proud and satisfied with their magnum opus thus far, but are also keeping their collective sights aimed to the future: They kept themselves busy during the pandemic, writing new songs and rehearsing, so they would be among the first ones out the door when the world opens up again.
 

Womack is ready now. Let´s hope the world is ready for them.

 https://aivoimuri.wixsite.com/womack

Gulf Stream Riders

 

"The Mystic Burns Within" is an intimate conversation between two different sides of the same person. The vocal shifts back and forth between one side given to despair, and the other side that sees what's good in this existence. This alternating pattern connects with the melody to evoke honest feeling in this deep and ultimately hopeful tune. A beautiful, laid-back Folk-Country song with a nice build up towards the end.

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/Country-Rock.

 https://twitter.com/RidersGulf

Kintsugi

 

 

Kintsugi (golden joinery) is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Japanese aesthetics value the wear marks of the object caused by its use and the repairs are highlighted as an art rather than trying to mask them. As a philosophy, kintsugi is embracing the flaws or imperfections as part of the natural life cycle of the objects.

LILLI has been respecting the same philosophy when working on their second album. The songs are real life stories of broken lives joined from pieces to an album. The songs exude life with all its challenges and ups and downs. None of us survives life without physical or mental dents, but we have to learn to appreciate them in the sense of a person's spiritual growth.

The group’s debut album was released in 2020, so the band had time to work on the second album for almost two years. Careful maturation has not been in vain, as the end result is a tasteful, high-quality package. The album contains massive arrangements and captivating stories. The songs move musically on the borders of rock and metal music, which creates a pleasant surprise in the content of the album and carries the album brilliantly from the beginning intro to the last song. As a whole, the album's music is clearly more heavy in style than the band's debut album, but definitely in a good way.

"We are very satisfied with our new album and during the production process we had the opportunity to work with several highly talented keyboard players, such as Akseli Kaasalainen (Dreamtale), Mikko Kujanpää (Memoremains), Antti Simonen (...and Oceans) ja Marko Karttunen.  The visitors bring their own stylish fingerprint to the whole, which brought new drive and musical depth to the songs," says the band's bassist and studio chief Sami Halinen. "Some of the stories on the album are quite brutal human destinies, such as the long journey from Friday to Monday caused by loneliness, or the hard work of the nurses and doctors, especially during the last covid years", the band's singer Lily Black continues.

 https://m.facebook.com/lillitheband/

Mark Ruebery

 

Mark Ruebery is an original songwriter, singer. guitarist and recording artist.

Mark has been writing songs for over 25 years and has performed his material all over the world…..

After graduating with distinction in guitar from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, he recorded his debut album ‘Because of You’ at the legendary Rockfield Studios, Wales. 

The album was promoted by BBC Radio Wales as ‘album of the week’ and five songs were featured as ‘single of the week’. He has had multiple plays on BBC Radio 2 and his videos aired several times on Sky TV. Mark regularly performs his songs live in session on BBC radio and for many other stations.

His second album ‘One Night One Chance’ was recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios, London. A lifelong ambition for Mark. A song from Mark’s second album ‘One Night One Chance’ was featured on an American pilot TV Series “Do I have a hit Song?” in Jacksonville, Florida. 

https://www.markruebery.com/

Fritz Kahn and The Miracles

 

After a lengthy absence from music, Fritz Kahn and The Miracles return with a stirring new song titled ‘My Baby Star’.

‘Fritz Kahn’ is the pseudonym of the multi-talented musician and composer hailing from Portugal. Born in 1976, Serras began his musical studies at the regional conservatory of Tomar, but following an unsavoury relationship with his music professor, he chose to self-teach – he learned the guitar, harmonica and refined his rhythmic ability on jambés borrowed from the Castelo de Bode Campsite in Lisbon.
The singer-songwriter notes that his pseudonym represents “a fine irony”; the German Jewish doctor Fritz Kahn stood for science (quite the opposite of ‘The Miracles’, which stands for faith). Serras endeavours to find meaning and hope in everything he writes.

The Portuguese musician credits all of the gospel music he has ever heard as motivation for ‘My Baby Star’. He cites the work of some gospel and soul heroes, touting the rousing energy he brings on this track as similar to that of “the great Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, John Coltrane and so on.
“The song means a lot to me,” he says, “because it’s probably where my voice stands out from any other composition I´ve made.”

‘My Baby Star’ was recorded in Lisbon at Namouche Estudios as part of a project orchestrated by Tiago Machado, the producer (and pianist) on the track. Serras says Machado “transformed Fritz Kahn and The Miracles' music into something truly special.” The Portuguese pair worked hard to underpin the album with sound production and creative direction, letting Serras’s stirring voice take centre stage.
Despite his obvious vocal ability, the singer remains modest about his creative process: “It’s hard work – (ninety percent), and inspiration – (ten percent). It's a common thing to say, but it's true.”

The moving gospel ballad ‘My Baby Star’ is out now on all major platforms. Follow Fritz Kahn and The Miracles’ musical journey.

 https://www.facebook.com/fritzkahn1