Wednesday, October 25, 2023

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

Monday, October 23, 2023

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



Saturday, October 21, 2023

Moe Joe





Moe Joe, now respectively known as “the ever first electric blues band in Turkey” was founded by Feramerz Ayadi, İzi Ergil and Vefa Karatay in 1994, in Istanbul. Instead of other contemporary blues rock bands which were keen to cover the scholastic repertoire of 60’s and 70’s alumnis, Moe Joe chose a different path to follow by putting an emphasize on covering the milestones of post-war Chicago blues repertoire thus, choosing to struggle hard on the club scene for finding a venue in late 90’s. Hence, in time, the venues hosting the performances of the band in various cities in Turkey became a shelter for local purist audiences.


In 1996, Sarp Keskiner (vocal, guitar, harmonica) and İlhan Babaoğlu (alto and soprano saxophone) joined the band; both were until then well – known members of phenomenal Istanbul Blues Company. Under guidance of Keskiner and Ayadi, Moe Joe centered upon Chicago Southside & Westside standards, spicy Detroit style boogies, early Texas shuffles and dark Louisiana grooves.


Between 1998 and 2001, the band set the heights for the musical quality of this genre on the national scene by adding harmonica virtuoso – flautist Tuğrul Aray to its line-up and back from NYC, enter Ergin Özler to take over the drum stool aiming at to bring the swinging authenticity to the sextet.

After releasing the “all originals” debut album, “Chicago Istanbul Mainline” in 2000, Moe Joe received rave reviews from national and international music media; having been interviewed and guested on various magazines, web sites, radio and TV channels.


From 2001 Caribbean, Brazilian and Afro - Cuban beats into their well-established sound, while stabilizing the line up as a quintet; with addition of Özün Usta (conga, djembe, cajon). Within this context, live recordings compiled in this album which were recorded in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir direct to DAT tapes feature the diversity of a veteran Turkish blues band, which is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary of foundation in 2024.


https://boneunionrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-2002-2009



Thursday, October 19, 2023

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

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

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

Sunday, October 15, 2023

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/

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Jeff Pike


Classic love songs, beautifully arranged, exquisitely crafted, and passionately performed, never go out of style. Time stands still within the emotional impact of the lyrics, be it celebratory or heartbreak, and the soul-moving melody it caresses with the ease of a wave gliding across the ocean. "Keep On Walking" is that kind of song. We are all on our path to finding ourselves and our one true love, and it is often simultaneously a painful and blissful experience. "Keep On Walking" beautifully explores this quandary.


"Keep On Walking" was produced, recorded, and engineered by award-winning and multi-million-selling recording artist, vocalist and songwriter Gino Vannelli. His brother, award-winning songwriter, composer and music producer Ross Vannelli produced and directed the video.

It's the second single from Jeff's upcoming album and video project "Right Where I Am". Both projects were recorded, produced and directed by Gino Vannelli and Ross Vannelli.

http://www.jeffpike.com/