Taking the stage shortly before midnight, A Million Years captivated a packed Mercury Lounge Thursday with their anthemic rock. After tours with 30 Seconds to Mars, Phoenix, The Drums, Longwave, One Eskimo and Jesse Malin, their hour-long performance showcased their prowess onstage.
The Brooklyn-based band kicked off their set with high energy as they performed “No Distance.” With Keith Madden’s soaring vocals, solid guitar riffs and heavy hitting percussion it’s easy to picture the band in an arena setting.
Throughout their hour set the band impressed with impeccably layered guitar textures, catchy choruses and powerful musical interludes. The haunting “Holy Ghost Town” featured polished guitar accompaniment while the atmospheric ballad “Incandescent” demonstrated their more serious side with slowed, ethereal vocals and delicate guitar parts.
While they’ve been compared to The Strokes and Queens of the Stone Age, A Million Years continue to set themselves apart with their memorable live show. Watch them perform “Holy Ghost Town” and “Suspicious” below and be sure to check out their Web site for more.
With hand clapped rhythms and his smooth vocals, Matt Nathanson‘s single “Faster” has become a catchy summer radio hit. Uptempo horn features and guitar accompaniment only add to the song’s laid back vibe. Watch the music video below.
You can see Matt perform the track and many of his previous hits live on Baeble music below as well as watch their exclusive interview with him on their Web site.
Yesterday Switchfoot let fans into their studio as they listened to their upcoming release, Vice Verses in it’s entirety. Their eighth LP, the San Diego natives reveal that this is their boldest record to date and share their emotions before and after listening to the record.
“I just listened to 12 songs that are probably 12 of the better songs I’ve ever heard you write,” said Tim Foreman to brother/frontman Jon.
Due in stores September 27th, the band is currently planning their fall tour with ANBERLIN. For tour dates, visit their Web site. Watch the album teaser below and be sure to read my previous interviews with the band.
Music has always been the passion in Brooke Annibale‘s life. It comes as no surprise, then, that the 23-year-old just released her third full-length album. An impressive LP, Silence Worth Breaking, debuted this spring and continues to put the Pittsburgh based singer-songwriter on the map. With smooth vocals and thoughtful lyrics, her music is bound to get stuck in your head.
Songs like the emotional “Under Streetlights” are relatable. While her familiar vocals draw the listener in, it is the impressive musical landscape that keeps one’s attention. Strong guitar parts and percussion add to Annibale’s singing style, but never overpower it.
Singing about love, life, and loss, Annibale holds a certain wisdom unprecedented for her age. At times, her raspy and earthy singing style give slight reminiscence to Brandi Carlile while comparisons to John Mayer’s “smoky” quality have also been made. Fittingly, on “Empathy” she sings “I just can’t be someone I’m not” with soaring electric guitar reminiscent to that of Mayer at the fadeout of the song.
While her whispered vocals are familiar to that of Priscilla Ahn and Meiko on tracks like “Feels Like Home,” Brooke offers something fresh with her personal and relatable lyrics. With additional string accompaniment, the song strikes a chord.
Silence Worth Breaking was produced by Paul Moak (Third Day, Jennifer Knapp, Matthew Mayfield, Mat Kearney) in Nashville, Tennessee. After working with Brooke in the studio Moak said, “Brooke Annibale is an artist of true depth both as a writer and a performer. Her ability to draw you in with that voice is equally matched by what she has to say once you are there.”
I couldn’t agree more. Annibale’s emotion fueled vocals captivate the listener, begging him to hit that repeat button. Watch Annibale perform “Under the Streetlights” below and for more, be sure to visit her Web site.
Earlier today, Brandi Carlile released dates for her upcoming fall tour. You can find the complete list below. Additionally, she’s offering fans a free 4-song download. The EP includes “Looking Out,” “Before It Breaks,” “Way To You,” and “Us Again.” To download, click here. Be sure to watch my interview with Carlile below.
7/28 Bellingham, WA Mt Baker Theatre
7/29 Seattle, WA Woodland Park Zoo – SOLD OUT
7/30 Portland, OR Oregon Zoo Amphitheater – SOLD OUT
8/1 Chico, CA El Rey Theater
8/2 Lake Tahoe, NV Montbleu Casino
8/3 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Concert House
8/5 Sandpoint, ID Festival at Sandpoint (Memorial Field)
8/6 Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton Folk Festival – SOLD OUT
8/7 Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton Folk Festival – SOLD OUT
8/9 Bozeman, MT Emerson Cultural Center
8/11 Boulder, CO The Fox Theatre – SOLD OUT
8/12 Omaha, NE Slowdown
8/13 Apple Valley, MN Minnesota Zoo – SOLD OUT
8/14 Duluth, MN Clyde Iron Works
8/16 Fargo, ND Fargo Theatre
8/19 Lyons, CO 21st Rocky Mountain Folk Festival
8/20 Aspen, CO Belly Up
8/21 Salt Lake City, UT Red Butte Gardens
8/23 Eugene, OR John G. Shed Institute For Arts
8/24 Seattle, WA Woodland Park Zoo – SOLD OUT
9/6 Bend, OR Les Schwab Ampitheater
9/9 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
9/10 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
9/11 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl
9/13 San Diego, CA Copley Symphony Hall
9/14 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre
9/16 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Festival
9/18 Atlanta, GA Verizon Wireless Ampitheater
9/19 Cary, NC Koka Booth Ampitheater
9/21 Nashville, TN Grand Ole Opry House
9/22 Charlottesville, VA Charlottesville Pavillion
9/23 New York, NY Town Hall Theatre – SOLD OUT
9/25 Canton, MA Life Is Good Festival
9/27 Oneonta, NY Oneonta Theatre
9/29 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavillion
9/30 Philadelphia, PA Mann Center for Performing Arts
10/1 – Kent, OH – Kent Stage
10/5 – Billings, MT – Babcock Theatre
10/6 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
A phenomenal performer, I was lucky enough to witness Carlile live last year and interviewed her for Venus Zine. Watch Brandi discuss how Lilith Fair shaped her life musically and socially, her songwriting process and advice on achieving success below. For my complete writeup, where she filled me in about working with Elton John and the stories behind some of her songs, visit Venus Zine.
I’ve been following New York based trio Lights Resolve since I met them over three years ago while on my first tour. One of the hardest working bands I know, their energetic live show always impresses and I’ve witnessed them win over many of my friends show after show.
Their debut album, Feel You’re Different, will be released later this year and the band is currently offering a sneak peak of their first video off the LP. Watch “Happens Every Day” below and be sure to visit their Web site and sign up for their mailing list for a free download of “Sew It Up.”
Justin Moore has a lot to celebrate. His fastest rising single, ‘If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away,’ rose to No. 1 this week on the Billboard & Country Aircheck/USA Today Country Singles charts. The song shows the Arkansas’ native’s softer, more sensitive side. But it’s his comedic side you’ll see if you search for him on YouTube.
“When I first came out, before we came out to radio, we had some underground success and a lot of it has to do with me acting like an idiot on YouTube,” Moore said with a laugh. “I’m pretty good at being an idiot, so we just turned the camera on and whatever happens happens. I’m on the road with all my best friends in the world so we get to travel around, see the country and play music together. You never know what’s going to come from conversations we have.”
For the complete article visit The Boot. Watch one of his videos below.
This week on Billboard‘s Mashup Mondays Jason Reeves impresses with his folk infused cover of Nicki Minaj’s “Moment 4 Life.” Watch below as he performs the track live at Billboard‘s studio and find out just why Reeves is a huge fan of Minaj. For the complete article click here and be on the lookout for Reeves’ upcoming album due out later this summer.
Last month, I received an email from Michael Shoup introducing me to his music. While I receive plenty of band pitches on a daily basis, his words were genuine and his past and current projects peaked my interest. The Nashville based singer-songwriter got his start attending songwriter nights in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, in his teens before moving to Nashville for college. He soon began designing artist Web sites, including A-listers like Lady Antebellum and Kelly Clarkson, when he noticed bands he toured with were in need of a Web site to promote their music.
When not working his 9-5 job, he has spent his time writing, recording and producing his debut solo release, Learning How to Live. An impressive LP, the 10 tracks (which you can download for free this week here) are relatable and emotion fueled with solid music accompanying Shoup’s soulful vocals.
While in Nashville last month I caught up with Shoup at 12South Taproom, his neighborhood cafe/bar that he described to me as “one of the most unpretentious, chill bars around.” Well recommended as a good place for conversation, we even ran into fellow singer-songwriter Mat Kearney. So, on a hot day in June I escaped the craziness that was the CMA Music Festival downtown for a while as we chatted about his career in music, latest album and the stories behind many of the tracks on Learning How to Live.
This is your first album as a solo artist. How was the recording process?
It took just about as long as I expected because I was doing it in pieces and didn’t want to ask fans for funding. I wanted to be able to do it myself and have it as a gift to people. Like, ‘Hey, I know you’ve been waiting to hear some of this, I want you to hear it.’ Not that I have anything against Kickstarter projects. For a debut I didn’t want people to feel like they owed it. And, what if they didn’t like the record? I wanted to do something they would enjoy.
I had a producer that worked with me on it named Paul Shearer. Paul and I took basically eight months to a year and scheduled how we wanted to do every song. We did it very systematically. ‘What parts do we need on this? Let’s plan it out.’ It came out to a really good process and a really good relationship between he and I. We continued that process throughout the last year. Even new stuff we’re writing. I know what I need to do and I know when I need to send it to him.
You’ve been collaborating with fans for Song-A-Week. How did that concept come together? (Watch one of the videos below and for more click here.)
The Song-A-Week I’m doing, Paul and I have co-written two of those together and those are working out really nicely. It was twofold for me. I released the record in November and I’ve had a Tumblr blog for years so I just said I would focus on that to be a way to talk directly talk to people who were into the music. I was trying to find a good way to do that, how to get some consistent content and also motivate me to keep writing. The record’s already out, what are you gonna do now? The thing with music for me, I always want to have something that’s communicating with people. I don’t want to just write a song and say, ‘This is what I was feeling.’ I want it to be what somebody else is feeling so they can feel like it’s their song. I think Tumblr as a format works really nicely.
I just opened it up and said, ‘If you guys want to submit ideas or stories about something big in your life, send them in and I’m going to start writing songs about it.’ For me, it was partially a challenge but it was also a weight lifted off because there was this giant pallet of things I had to choose from. I think the further it’s gone along, I’ve gotten some really in depth stories and some really personal stories that move me. I don’t think you can put a price on that as a writer. It’s like I just opened this great book and found an awesome story that I have to write a song about.
The week timeline was just to make sure I had a challenge. I wanted to put up consistent content. Having worked in the Web world for a long time, I understood that. But I also know myself and if I don’t put a deadline on it so many things could happen. I wanted to see if I could do it. It’s a perfect testing ground for me. I’ll write a song, stick it out there and I’ll see how much of a response it gets. If I hit close to what people had written in about, then they’d probably like it. If they don’t, that’s cool. It’s another song, I got some practice out of it, somebody probably got connected to it. I’m surprised I don’t see more songwriters doing that back and forth because it’s right there. There’s no reason you can’t do it. You’re getting instant feedback from the people that will hopefully be purchasing your stuff down the road.
One of my favorite tracks on the album is “Dying to Live.” What was the idea behind it?
That was a co-write between Paul and I and I had a basic idea. All my friends are in their late 20s and early 30s. I’m sure you’ve seen it. It happens in New York, it happens in Nashville, it happens everywhere. You get out of college or you get out of high school and you have these giant dreams and all these mountains you’re ready to scale and the world beats you back a little bit. That’s what it’s about. Sometimes it feels like those dreams are unattainable or sometimes it feels like they’re attainable but you don’t know how to get there. I wanted to put all of those stories from my friends around me into a song and say, ‘Hey, we understand you’re trying to get there. Hold out. Everybody else is trying to get there too.’
I was feeling the same thing myself. The whole time we were producing and writing and making this record, I was working 9-5 doing Web design. It was an anthem for myself to keep going to finish the record and to get everything together.
It was a funny turn around for me while we were doing the record. We took enough time to do it that by the time we had written and recorded everything it was sort of like an out of body experience. I didn’t feel like I 100% had written those songs, I could relate to them as a listener instead of a writer, which was the first time I had ever been able to do that. It was a really weird feeling.
Is there a song you’ve written that means more to you now than when you first wrote it?
Sure. There are a couple. I wrote this song called “Last Goodbye” years ago. I think you go through seasons in your life with relationships and a lot of times those seasons return. As I got older, the words that I put into that song made a lot more sense to me. I had written them out of this emotional moment and I never understood why other people related very well to it. As I got older and had other experiences, it made a lot more sense to me than when I first wrote it. There’s a line on “Last Goodbye” that says, “Maybe life’s not right for what this love has got in store.” That made a lot more sense to me as I grew older and realized that even though two people are in love, it can’t be right sometimes.
The other one that was really stuck in my head as we were doing the record and it was why I made it the title of the record, “Learning How to Live.” That’s one for me…I don’t know if it’s ever going to be a single. It’s not your usual pop song. You don’t get to the chorus in 30 seconds. But, for me and I think a lot of people who are in the same life place as me, can really relate to the chorus of it. “All I want to be is right in front of me but all I can see is how to live carelessly.” You understand how to get to where you want to get, but it doesn’t mean it’s always easy to get there.
What keeps you motivated?
Two things. Learning. Honestly, this is something I’ve newly learned about myself. I’m motivated to continue to do stuff when I feel like I’m learning new things from it. For Song-A-Week, when I first took that on I added a video element to it because it’s a totally new field I’ve never tried to do before. I’m going to learn how to shoot and to edit and figure out what 720p is and all that other stuff and it’s going to keep me motivated to want to do it more. The other side of it is the back and forth communication that I can get to people to be able to experience it with me. Whether it’s at a live show that I do or posts on Tumblr, emails that I get. That is the driving force. Anybody that does anything creative has to get that feedback.
What would you be doing if it wasn’t for music?
I really just like doing creative stuff. I think if I wasn’t making money off of music I would be doing something like that. Whether it’s helping other people be creative or doing video work or design. My life goal is to try to communicate to people that way. I just think the way that I’ve been gifted to do that is through songs. If it wasn’t through that, it would be something else.
For more on Michael Shoup, be sure to visit his Web site. You can download his debut album, Learning How to Live for free this week here and watch him live all day until 11PM CDT as he plays some music and gives viewers tutorials on making and editing videos, how to build a Web site and more.
Earlier this week the country site I write for, AOL’s The Boot, premiered Blake Shelton’s beautiful new single, “God Gave Me You.” As I played the track I realized I knew the song. Written by Dave Barnes and featured on his last album, Shelton explained how he first stumbled on the track and why he decided to cut it for his upcoming release.
“I had flown into Dallas, Texas and got into my truck and was driving back to Oklahoma … It’s no secret, Miranda and I have had our ups and downs over the years and this was definitely at a low point at our relationship. But I heard that song come on the radio — for whatever reason I was flipping through stations and landed on a contemporary Christian station, and that song came on and I almost had to pull the truck over. It was one of those moments for me where I felt like I was hearing that song at that moment for a reason.”
This isn’t the first time Barnes has worked with a country act. Last year, Billy Currington cut “Until You” another track written by Barnes and he also opened for Lady Antebellum at their NYC Nokia Theatre gig. Listen to Shelton’s cover and the original. Which do you like best? Be sure to pick up a copy of Shelton’s upcoming release, Red River Blue, due in stores July 12.
