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Concert Reviews

Chambers Celebrate Record Release at Maxwell’s

Photo Credit: Robert T. Huber

As Chambers took the stage late Saturday night, it was evident this would be a record release party like no other. A mosh pit soon formed a few feet from the stage while frontman Dan Pelic told the crowd, “Come closer. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

Together for just more than a year, Chambers’ debut album, Old Love is aggressive rock & roll with heavy vocals and ear-grabbing guitar riffs. With the goal to make a record that captured the band’s live sound, after witnessing their performance Saturday it was obvious this was accomplished.

For the complete review, visit Hoboken Patch. Stay tuned for my interview with Dan of Chambers in the upcoming days.

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Concert Reviews

Good Old War, Yukon Blonde and Audra Mae Impress at Maxwell’s

It was evident on Friday night that Good Old War, Yukon Blonde and Audra Mae don’t want their current tour to end. With two shows remaining, the bands couldn’t get enough of each other. Whether it was Audra Mae calling members of Yukon Blonde and Good Old War onstage during her performance or a nearly five-minute jam between members of all three bands during Yukon Blonde’s set, their excitement permeated into the sold-out crowd.

Good Old War began with “My Own Sinking Ship” complete with accordion accompaniment. As the trio alternated instruments they continuously danced around the stage. Circa Survive frontman Anthony Green surprised concertgoers at the end of second track, “Weak Man” when he jumped onstage to sing along with the band.

For the complete review, visit Hoboken Patch.

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News

One Day Left to Vote for You Sing I Write as MTV Twitter Jockey

Last week, I told you about MTV’s search for a Twitter Jockey. They’re currently looking for a social media enthusiast who will act as a liaison between the public and staff at MTV.

If you feel You Sing I Write should be a contender vote here. There are two spots still open, so if you enjoy reading music news and interviews I provide and think MTV can benefit from my help, feel free to nominate me! The voting ends tomorrow, June 27. Thanks for your support!

Here are the rules:

1) MTV selects 18 candidates.
2) You, the audience, selects two (2) candidates through open nominations.
3) The 20 candidates compete in a series of Twitter-based challenges.
4) Five candidates move on to the final challenge round in New York City.
5) You, the audience, votes for the final MTV TJ during a live televised show on August 8, 2010.

To find out more about the contest, and how to enter visit http://tj.mtv.com/about.

Categories
Concert Reviews

Dion Roy Showcases New Songs at EP Release Party

Wednesday night, singer-songwriter Dion Roy performed new tracks off his latest EP, The Nearest Light to a packed crowd at New York’s The Living Room. As he showcased his emotion-filled songs with a full band, Roy proved he is an artist to watch. Midway through his set, he informed the crowd that his EP debuted at No. 16 on the singer/songwriter chart on iTunes. A day later, The Nearest Light, peaked at No. 8.

Roy started his EP release party with a few songs from his full-length album, Gallery, including “Wants It” before he performed The Nearest Light in it’s entirety. When I interviewed Roy earlier this year, he told me the track is a collection of different relationships he has been in.

“At first glance, [‘Wants It’ sounds like] I’m heartbroken. If you listen or read the rest of the lyrics it shows how I was heartbroken but when she decided to come back into my life it was like, ‘See you later.'” A personal track, Roy says it’s a song he plans to play throughout his career.

“I’m so humbled you’re all here tonight,” he told the room before introducing first track off his EP. “The Wave is kind of a love song,” he said.

With Roy’s descriptive lyrics combined with Peter Roessler on guitar, Ed Marshall on bass, and Boots Factor of Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers on drums rounding out the sound, the song struck a chord.

Next track, “Dirty Hotel Scenery,” showcased an edgier sound with heavy percussion and bass accompaniment. One of the first songs he ever wrote, Roy said it’s one of his favorite tracks. The set concluded with the beautiful haunting ballad “Of Grey” and the upbeat “On the Way Down.” The room fell silent throughout each song, as Roy captivated the audience’s attention.

The Nearest Light has remained within the Top 20 singer/songwriter position on iTunes throughout the past three days. Additionally, it has been licensed for use in the upcoming seasons of “The Real World” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” With a U.S. summer tour in the works with “American Idol”‘s Josiah Leming and Todd Carey, Dion Roy shows no signs of slowing down.

Be sure to visit Dion Roy on MySpace and you can read my interview with him here.

Categories
Artist of the Week Features

Artist to Watch: Jaron and The Long Road To Love

A few months ago I was introduced to Jaron and The Long Road To Love while watching country music videos on CMT. (Yes, I love country THAT much). Jaron looked extremely familiar so I did my research. Remember twin brothers Evan and Jaron from the 90s? Their hits include “Crazy For This Girl,” “From My Head to My Heart” and “The Distance,” many of which landed in major films like “Runaway Bride” and “Serendipity.”

When Evan decided to take a break from the music business to start a family, a decade later Jaron chose otherwise. His MySpace states that in March of 2009, after growing tired of hearing the bad news about the economy, he took out his guitar and wrote a song to feel better.

“I felt selfish. I felt like I had this gift that I was keeping to myself. A friend of mine had told me years before that someday I would realize that my talent belonged to all of us and not just to me. He said I had a social responsibility to share but it took a decade for those words to make sense to me.”

Fast forward to 2010. Quirky current single, “Pray For You” is a staple on country music countdowns and Jaron released his debut country album, Getting Dressed in the Dark, this past Tuesday. The LP features 10 songs about Jaron’s journey to love. Of the album’s theme, Jaron says, “Why do I choose to write about love? Because that’s where I am right now. I’m not interested in writing stories about doors, or blue skies or whatever. It’s not interesting to me right now.”

While “Pray for You,” is a revenge ballad, “Meantime Girl” tells the whimsical story of a fleeting infatuation at a traffic light and “Kill Me For Loving You” is a vulnerable song about the pain of a break up. With his return to music, Jaron says he wanted to do things differently.

“I wanted to write the songs that I felt were being left off other people’s albums. I wanted to talk about the little details that get overlooked but that I think are really the biggest issues. It was also important to me to be very candid in my lyrics and make sure that I was honest in not only my frustrations towards others, but also when discussing my own failings. If honest was going to be the foundation of this album, I had to be willing to start with me.”

For more on Jaron and The Long Road to Love, visit him on Facebook and MySpace. You can watch the video for “Pray For You” below as well as download the album on iTunes here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atBg9zLI2bA]

Categories
Benefit News

Thank You for Supporting Girls Who Rock!

Photo Credit: Wendy Hu

Nearly two weeks ago, Girls Who Rock took over New York’s Santos Party House. What started as an idea among three friends turned into a four-hour party with nearly 400 guests. Raising just under $5,000, the benefit concert partnership between She’s the First and AfricAid resulted in sponsoring three girl’s four-years of high school education.

The money raised will help sponsor the girls two-year program of the Kisa Project via AfricAid, which is one of the many partner programs that She’s the First supports worldwide by encouraging fun, affordable grassroots fundraising among young women and men. AfricAid was chosen as the beneficiary because the organization recently piloted The Kisa Project, an initiative that enrolls girls in leadership training and digital storytelling workshops, where they learn to share their lives with sponsors through rich, vivid videos.

Through the Kisa Project, young women in Tanzania will finish their schooling, go through a powerful 2-year leadership training program, start their own service and business projects, and build meaningful relationships with students and sponsors in the United States through kisaproject.org and shesthefirst.org.

The night was a success with impressive performances by Kat DeLuna, Shontelle, Lenka, MoZella, Vita Chambers, Cara Salimando, Kelli Pyle and DJ Kalkutta. Kat DeLuna even taught the audience the official “Push Push” dance.

Online donations can still be made here. The girls sponsored through Girls Who Rock will be communicating to all of their co-sponsors on the She’s the First blog throughout the year. Thanks so  much for all of your support and for helping promote the importance of girls education! Stay tuned for updates from Girls Who Rock and ways you can get involved in the future.

If you missed the show, you can still watch it on livestream here.

Categories
Concert Reviews

The Gaslight Anthem Celebrates New Record Across State Lines

Photo Credit: Wendy Hu

From the moment the Gaslight Anthem took the stage at New York City’s Irving Plaza last Tuesday, the energy in the room skyrocketed. The day of their record release for new album American Slang, the New Jersey quartet demonstrated what a rock show should be. As fans clapped along at the right moment on every song, singing word for word and creating havoc by dancing and crowd-surfing in a mosh pit on the floor, the excitement of the sold-out show was evident.

For my complete review with additional photos, visit Venus Zine.

Categories
News

Stream Griffin House’s Latest Release on AOL Music

Just over a year ago, I featured Griffin House as artist of the week. A colleague introduced me to him and I haven’t been able to stop listening since. His honesty and sincerity are evident in each song and he is one singer-songwriter to be on the lookout for.

Tomorrow, he releases The Learner but you can listen to the album in it’s entirety on AOL Music here. House blends the emotional with humor on his upcoming disc. Complete with songs about following your dreams (“Gotta Get Out”) and chasing an unobtainable girl (“She Likes Girls”), The Learner has much to offer listeners. Taking a step away from past albums, his LP has a much edgier feel.

“Feels So Right” is an upbeat track that’s bound to get your feet tapping with heavy musical accompaniment including piano, percussion, horn and guitar. Though the album is definitely a step in a new direction for the Nashville singer-songwriter, longtime fans will be pleased that his meaningful lyrics and deep vocals never falter as tracks like “Let My People Go” and “Native” can attest.

Be sure to give Griffin House’s new album a listen here and stay tuned for upcoming tour dates on his Web site. You can download “She Likes Girls” for free below.

http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/email2/swf/TSEmailMediaWidget.swf?timestamp=1277149709
Categories
Contest

Contest of the Week: Win a Copy of Pat Benatar’s Memoir

This past Tuesday, Pat Benatar released her memoir, “Between a Heart and a Rock Place.” You can read my thoughts on it here as well as peruse an excerpt of the book here.

One lucky reader can win a copy of it this week! Just add You Sing I Write on Facebook or Twitter and tell me why you want to receive “Between a Heart and a Rock Place.” I’ll pick a winner next week. Good luck!

For more on “Between a Heart and a Rock Place” watch a synopsis below as well as Benatar performing “Hit Me with Your Best Shot.” What’s your favorite Pat Benatar song?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkRZYLb35k0]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa0KZFz-az4]

Categories
Benefit Song of the Week Videos

Song of the Week: “Push Push”

Last Thursday, Kat DeLuna impressed the packed crowd at Santos Party House for Girls Who Rock with her catchy beats and seductive dance moves. This week, she debuts the new video for latest single, “Push Push” featuring Akon.

Sure to be a summer hit, she even picked a fan from the crowd to teach him and the entire audience the official “Push Push” dance. Watch the videos below and learn it yourself!

http://d.yimg.com/m/up/fop/embedflv/swf/fop.swf

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItXNyrEMAAc]

Related Links:
• Girls Who Rock: Meet Kat DeLuna
• Girls Who Rock: Meet MoZella
• Girls Who Rock: Meet Shontelle
• Girls Who Rock: Meet Cara Salimando