We just finished plotting our late August/September run that will take us to some familiar places as well as some new ones. Presales for most of our newly-announced headline dates are live NOW at BiscoTix! We start in the Northeast with a beach party in Dewey Beach. We hope to recreate the magic that we created in South Carolina earlier this month. Then we head down to North Carolina with a show at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh. Both these shows will be with our friend MiM0SA who will be joining us at many other stops along the way. If you’re not familiar, he is incredible young dubstep producer and DJ that you’ll have to come and see. After making our debut appearance at the Blackwater Music Festival in Florida on August 27, we hit Atlanta for what promises to be an amazing weekend of music with our close friends STS9. On Saturday night August 28, we co-headline at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre with STS9 and on Sunday August 29, we have our own headlining show at the Tabernacle. From Atlanta, we head up north making stops in Lexington, KY and Cleveland with our new up and coming friends in Papadosio. Come early and check them out.
Labor Day weekend sees our return to Chicago to take part in the North Coast Music Festival, where we’ll be joined by some great artists and friends including Pretty Lights, Damian Marley and NAS, the Chemical Brothers and Umphrey’s McGee. On Friday night, September 3, we will play our own very special late-night show at the Congress Theatre immediately after the Festival closes at 10 PM. This is our first return to the Congress since January 2009 when we tore the roof off the sucka with RJD2 and Prefuse 73. Ticketing details for this show will be announced shortly. On Saturday of Labor Day weekend we will make a quick jolt down to Austin for the Nocturnal Festival: Texas where we will perform with Pretty Lights, Girl Talk, and Armin Van Buuren. We will then fly back up to Chicago to perform our headlining festival slot at the North Coast Festival on September 5. From Chicago we will head east for a night in State College, PA on Tuesday, September 7 and a two-night throwdown at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo on September 8-9. This will all be followed by an amazing weekend in Holyoke, MA at Mountain Park and Boston at the Bank of America Pavillion, September 10-11. We will be joined at these shows by some very special guests to be announced shortly!”
Dates:
08/25/10 Wed Bottle & Cork Dewey Beach, DE
08/26/10 Thu Lincoln Theatre Raleigh, NC
08/27/10 Fri Blackwater Music Festival @ Spirit of Suwannee Live Oak, FL
08/28/10 Sat Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park Alpharetta, GA
08/29/10 Sun The Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
09/01/10 Wed Buster’s Billiards & Backroom Lexington, KY
09/02/10 Thu House Of Blues Cleveland, OH
09/03/10 Fri Congress Theater Chicago, IL
09/04/10 Sat Apache Pass Rockdale, TX
09/05/10 Sun Union Park Chicago, IL
09/08/10 Wed The Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY
09/09/10 Thu The Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY
09/10/10 Fri Mountain Park Holyoke, MA
09/11/10 Sat Bank Of America Pavilion Boston, MA
The ninth studio release from Big Head Todd and the Monsters happens NOW. Get it from iTunes, our webstore, or at Amazon.com. Rocksteady is now, and heading live to a city near you today! Check out our tour schedule below…with more tour dates on the way.
The ability to connect with music lovers through social media has become the ultimate key to success. In the internet revolution of the music industry, the fans are recapturing the music long ago lost to the pratfalls of big business. It is common knowledge that technology has transformed every aspect of the music experience, from pushing record sales ever-lower to bridging the gap between artist and listener. Nowhere is the metamorphosis more evident than within the jam band scene, whose characteristic tight-knit community is thriving with the emerging social media. Everything from interacting with popular artists to consuming the latest tracks is being redefined. And it’s not only the fans who are changing the way they listen through their Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and favorite sites – young bands are also finding that the way to make it big hinges on their ability to manipulate those very technologies. As the old way crumbles, the industry, the artist and the fan must adapt or perish.
Get a music marketing plan started in one session. Boost the effectiveness of the plan you already have. A great marketing plan doesn’t have to be complicated. A good one can be just one page long. Spreadsheets, graphs and numbers are not necessary.
But you NEED a plan. Lack of a good plan destroys more careers than lack of talent. Good marketing is simply getting your work to the largest number of people at the lowest possible cost.
Three music marketing experts give you the facts you need to take your artist to the top in this special NARIP session.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Hayley Cammarata, Partner, SMG Entertainment
Erik Koral, Founder, FanManager LLC
Other speakers TBA.
YOU WILL LEARN
* Most important parts of music marketing strategy
* An easy way to begin your marketing campaign
* Your complete digital toolbox: what you need… and what you don’t
* Branding made simple… and effective
* How to use social networks, blog, MySpace & YouTube
* 5 ways to boost your presence on the Internet
* How to get press features
* Sites seeking content – excellent marketing opportunities for you
* How to build a brand and get more fans
WHEN
Thursday, July 29, 2010
6:00 p.m. – Registration and networking
7:00 p.m. – Program begins
8:15 p.m. – Break
9:30 p.m. – Program ends
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Artist Managers, Producers & Artist Reps
Record & Music Publishing Executives
Concert Promoters, Agents, Tour Managers
Anyone seeking to create or enhance a music marketing plan or campaign.
WHERE
SAE Institute
6565 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(across from Cat & Fiddle, between Highland & Vine)
Psy-Trance innovators, Infected Mushroom, have become one of the biggest electronic bands on the planet. Twice ranked among the world’s 10 best DJs by the bible of the scene, the U.K.’s DJ Magazine, the Israel-bred, Los Angeles based duo bring a frenetic rock energy to the form. Their explosive show, featuring guitars, live drums, intensely passionate vocals and an ambitious multimedia backdrop, ranks among the genre’s most unpredictably joyous events.
The band’s founders, Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani (also known as I.Zen and Duvdev), started performing together as a duo in 1998. By 1999, they’d created Infected Mushroom and released their debut album, The Gathering. Guitarists Tom Cunningham and Erez Netz were brought on board in 2004 and Brazilian percussionist Rogério Jardim joined in 2007 to play percussion and drums. The band has a total of nine albums released to date, with their latest offering, Legend of the Black Shawarma (2009), reaching the number nine spot on the U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. The track “Killing Time” featuring Perry Farrell is currently #24 on the Billboard dance charts.
The release of the app is timed with the internationally-attended Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles, happening June 25 and 26th in downtown’s Exposition Park & The L.A. Coliseum. Infected is a headliner and will be performing live at the Circuit Ground Stage on Friday the 25th from 8:00-11:00pm. Want a taste? Download the app (http://road.ie/infected-mushroom) and get official news, listen to tracks, watch show and behind-the-scenes footage from a selection of 25 videos, browse photos, post comments on the fan wall, get the latest show schedule, and more. What more do you want, a cookie? Get on it!
If you’ve never had the chance to attend EDC and shake your shizz, check out the official 2010 trailer below.
Big Head Todd and The Monsters’ ninth studio album Rocksteady – due July 20 on the group’s Big Records imprint, distributed by Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group – finds the veteran Colorado band returning to their DIY roots and forging into surprising musical territory.
Funky, lilting, and melodic, the new collection features founding members Todd Park Mohr (lead vocals and guitars), Rob Squires (bass), and Brian Nevin (drums), with keyboardist, steel guitarist, and backup vocalist Jeremy Lawton, who joined The Monsters in January 2004. Lawton produced and mixed the album.
Rocksteady cuts across a broad swath of stylistic terrain. “Beautiful,” the set’s first single, offers a sunny Caribbean vibe, as does the band’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden,” long a concert staple. “Back to the Garden” and the homage “Muhammad Ali” pulse with a roots rock groove, while the set’s title track is based in the like-named, revved-up Jamaican style that preceded reggae’s arrival in the late ‘60s. “I Hate It When You’re Gone,” dressed with a full horn section, is blazing old-school R&B, while a version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning” is burning Chicago blues in a Monsters pocket.
“It’s a soul/Caribbean record that rocks,” Mohr says. “We almost went out of our way to take all the rock out of it, but it really rocks. It’s the very first album we’ve ever done that’s this cohesive and focused. That’s what makes it shine and stand out from our other albums.”
Rocksteady is the latest chapter in a rock ‘n’ roll career that stretches back nearly 25 years. Founded in 1986 by Mohr, Squires, and Nevin, then University of Colorado students, Big Head Todd and The Monsters became one of the region’s most popular acts through constant touring. After issuing two popular independent releases on their Big imprint, the band hooked up with Irving Azoff’s Giant Records for the platinum album Sister Sweetly (1993). The Monsters issued four chart albums on Giant and Warner Bros.
Their formidable reputation rests on their stage performances; Big Head Todd and The Monsters Live was recorded on the fabled H.O.R.D.E. tour. Over the years, the group has developed a close relationship with their fans: Their last album, All the Love You Need, was released as a free download, and was snapped up by half a million of The Monsters’ followers.
Rocksteady can be seen as Act One of a two-act Big Head Todd spectacular, since the band cut enough tracks to fill two CDs. A projected future release will include the sessions’ more hard-edged material.
Mohr says, “We went into the studio and recorded over thirty songs. We’ve always been a versatile group with a wide range of influences and so our albums tend to be an eclectic mix of different genres of music. Somewhere along the line we realized we had a group of songs that fit together really well as a soul/R&B/Carribian kind of thing. So we set aside some of the harder rock stuff in order to focus on a soulful, danceable sound.”
Lawton adds, “We were noticing we had these two different directions in songs. Big Head Todd albums are always like a buffet – there’s always a rocker, and then there are a couple of mood songs, and then there are some R&B/soul songs. We said, ‘Let’s try to concentrate on one of the branches of the tree.’ We went towards this fun, happy R&B kind of sound.”
Mohr attributes some of the funk in the Rocksteady sound to the influence of the late Nigerian Afrobeat titan Fela Anikulapo Kuti and his son Femi Kuti, whose work he had been listening to deeply, and to his ongoing fascination with reggae and its intersection with punk rock.
While Big Head Todd and The Monsters have worked with such well-known producers as David Bianco, Jerry Harrison, and David Z, the band found their sound refreshed by working essentially on their own with Lawton at the helm in his home studio, recording on their own schedule.
“Obviously, I have high regard for producers,” Mohr says. “In this case, I didn’t think anybody else was going to put the time into it – into following each strand. And being able to decide in the middle of something that you have two albums instead of one isn’t something you normally can do in a producer scenario. There is just too much pressure and not enough time. For me it’s all about being able to have the time and the resources to do things your way, and the right way. It’s only when you do it yourself that you have that luxury.”
As ever, the hard-touring Monsters will go out to meet the fans this summer. “The quality of the relationship between the band and the fan is the most important aspect of our career,” says Mohr. “We’ve always realized that. That’s why we do cruises with fans, and we sign autographs after shows. We still try to play every request. We listen to our audience and do whatever we can to acknowledge that relationship.”
Here are the Current Tour Dates
6.03.10 | People’s Court | Des Moines, IA
6.05.10 | Red Rocks Amphitheater | Morrison, CO
6.11.10 | Higher Ground Ballroom | South Burlington, VT
6.12.10 | Port City Music Hall | Portland, ME
6.13.10 | Palace Theatre | Manchester, NH
7.09.10 | Belly Up | Aspen, CO
7.10.10 | Belly Up | Aspen, CO
7.16.10 | XPoNential Music Festival | Camden, NJ
7.22.10 | Crystal Ballroom | Portland, OR
7.23.10 | Moore Theatre | Seattle, WA
7.24.10 | Pavillion Park | Liberty Lake, WA
7.25.10 | Spud Drive In | Driggs, ID
7.29.10 | The Fillmore | San Francisco, CA
7.30.10 | House of Blues Sunset Strip | W Hollywood, CA
7.31.10 | Red Rock Resort, Casino & Spa | Las Vegas, NV
8.06.10 | Wisconsin Valley Fair | Wausau, WI
8.07.10 | Ravinia Festival | Highland Park, IL
8.20.10 | Preservation Plaza Arnolds Park | Arnolds Park, IA
8.21.10 | Falls Park Festival Grounds | Sioux Falls, SD
8.26.10 | Minnesota State Fair | St. Paul, MN
8.27.10 | Crossroads | Kansas City, MO
8.28.10 | Southern Brewers Festival | Chattanooga, TN
4.15.11 | Paramount Theatre and Visual Arts Center | St. Cloud, MN
4.16.11 | Paramount Theatre and Visual Arts Center | St. Cloud, MN
The members of Lubriphonic have individually toured with artists as diverse as Koko Taylor, Buddy Miles, Otis Rush, The Ohio Players, Buddy Guy and Lenny Kravitz. They have fused their talents and experience as side-men in order to create an orignal project that is soulful, unique, and exciting. Their two 2008 releases, “Soul Solution” and “Lubriphonic Live” (the latter recorded live in a single set at aliveOne in Chicago) exemplify this. The recordings capture the band at it’s best—confident, daring, and very, very, funky. Lubriphonic fuses old-school soul music with hip shaking rock’n'roll and searing improvisation.
Some recent highlights
** Giles Corey was nominated best male vocalist for a “Chicago Music Award” 2009. “Soul Solution” was nominated best CD 2009.
** “Soul Solution” was #1 on Jambands.com radio chart in January. It also reached #5 on Homegrown Music Network radio chart.
** The band played a ton of shows so far this year including one with Buddy Guy & two with Buckwheat Zydeco.
** They are booked to play: Desert Rocks Music Festival, Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite CA, Chicago Blues Festival, Gathering Of The Vibes in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bear Creek & other festivals this season.
** Progressive Global Agency has signed on to book Lubriphonic. They toured the Southeast with The New Mastersounds culminating with a sold out show second Friday of Jazz Fest in New Orleans at House Of Blues.
** The band recorded their latest release “The Gig Is On” which is slated for release in September. National tours are bringing them from coast to coast.
JUNE
Jun 3 - The Mint - Los Angeles, CA
Jun 4 - Boom Boom Room - San Francisco, CA
Jun 5 - Morro Bay Music Festival, Morro Bay, CA
Jun 6 - Summer Fest at Benbow Lake - Garberville, CA
Jun 9 - Crossroads KC - Kansas City, MO
- opening for George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
Jun 10 - Rock Island Brew Co. - Rock Island, IL
Jun 11 - People’s Court - Des Moines, IA
- opening for Euforquestra
Jun 13 - Chicago Blues Festival - Chicago, IL
Jun 17 - Tres Hombres - Carbondale, IL
Jun 18 - Iowa City Yacht Club - Iowa City, IA
Jun 19 - The Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN
Jun 20 - Taste of Randolph - Chicago, IL
Jun 23 - Alive After Five - Boise, ID
Jun 24 - Whiskey Jacques - Ketchum, ID
Jun 25 - Downstairs - Park City - Park City, UT
Jun 26 - Groovefest - Cedar City, UT
JULY
Jul 1 - Summerfest - Milwaukee, WI
Jul 3 - Snowbird Cool Air Concerts - Snowbird, UT
- afternoon show
Jul 4 - City Park - West Yellowstone, MT
Jul 10 - Boulevard Bash - Chicago, IL
Jul 16 - The B.O.B. - Grand Rapids, MI
Jul 17 - Camp Euforia, Iowa City, IA
Jul 24 - Carbondale Mountain Fair - Carbondale, CO
Jul 29 - Canterbury Beachland Park - Cleveland, OH
Jul 30 - Thunderbird Cafe - Pittsburgh, PA
Jul 31 - Brooklyn Bowl - Brooklyn, NY
AUGUST
Aug 1 - Gathering of the Vibes - Bridgeport, CT
Aug 5 - US Coast Guard Festival - Grand Haven, MI
Aug 11 - Heritage Park, Algoma, WI
Aug 12 - Jazz in the Park - Milwaukee, WI
Aug 13 - Marly’s Pub - Springfield, IL
Aug 14 - Broadway Oyster Bar - St. Louis, MO
Aug 20 - The Llama - Telluride, CO
Aug 21 - THC Music Festival, Alma, CO
Aug 27 - TC Microbrew & Music Festival - Traverse City, MI
Aug 28 - TC Microbrew & Music Festival - Traverse City, MI
Aug 29 - Round Barn Harvest Festival - Baroda, MI
SEPTEMBER
Sep 25 - Double Door - Chicago, IL
NOVEMBER
Nov 11-14 - Bear Creek Music Festival - Live Oak, FL
Now in it’s third year, the Mile Migh Music Festival festival returns to The Fields at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on August 14 and 15. Headliners Dave Matthews Band and Jack Johnson will be joined by more than 40 diverse acts including Weezer, Steve Miller Band, My Morning Jacket, Slightly Stoopid, Atmosphere, Phoenix, Train, Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Keane, Bassnectar, Cypress Hill, Z-Trip, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band, Drive-By Truckers, Railroad Earth, Ozomatli and many more.Visit Home | Mile High Music Festival for the complete lineup. A relative newcomer on the national festival scene, Mile High Music Festival has already become a summer tradition for Colorado residents and for music fans from coast to coast. The festival grounds, with its remarkable views of the Denver skyline and Rocky Mountain Front Range, is the perfect backdrop for this diverse, lively, and distinctly Colorado music and arts festival.
TICKET INFO:
2010 Mile High Music Festival Ticket prices follow. No additional charges or fees apply!
Mile High Music Festival Single Day tickets will be available for $97.30 for a limited time (May 8 through May 31 at 6pm MDT) only at Altsounds.com
Two Day Passes are on sale now for $175.00 while supplies last. Once this price level of tickets are sold, the cost will be adjusted to $200.00 for a two-day pass. Two-day passes available at TicketHorse
Particle will reunite with guitarist Charlie Hitchcock for two very special concerts honoring the recent passing of two of Particle’s biggest fans and best friends, Gregg Lobdell and Jimmy Lebloch. Gregg and Jimmy were cornerstones of the Southern California music scene, and both played vital roles in helping build Particle’s fan base when the band first started with Hitchcock ten years ago. The band is eternally grateful for all the friendship and amazing experiences they shared with Jimmy and Gregg over the years, and they feel the best way to help their friends and family celebrate the lives of these two special people is to come together to perform as the classic Particle lineup that Jimmy and Gregg both loved so much.
This will be the first time in five years that Particle and Hitchcock will have played together.
There will be a Mockingbird Foundation booth set up at the shows where fans can make donations in Jimmy and Gregg’s names, and anyone making a donation will receive a matted poster print of Jimmy and Gregg (designed by longtime Particle artists and friends Jeremiah Harrison and Whitney Padgett). To make a donation to Mockingbird now, click here:
5/13/10 - The Cabooze, Minneapolis, MN - http://www.cabooze.com - Particle feat. Brian Jordan (KDTU) and Willie Waldman (Snoop Dogg) plus surprise musical guests, with special guest Roster McCabe: http://www.rostermccabe.com
5/20/10 - POSTPONED: The LA show at the Roxy has been postponed until further notice. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks…
**5/21/10 - St. Rocke, Hermosa Beach, CA - http://www.saintrocke.com - Particle feat. very special guest Charlie Hitchcock, with The Taxi Project, Spidergawd, Bent George
**5/22/10 - Winstons, Ocean Beach (San Diego), CA - http://www.winstonsob.com - Particle feat. very special guest Charlie Hitchcock, with special guests Virtual Boy
7/3/10 - The 80-35 Music Festival, Des Moines, Iowa - http://www.80-35.com - also with Spoon, Modest Mouse, etc.
8/14/10 - Come Unity Music Festival, Cushing, MN - comeunityfest.com - also with Roster McCabe, Heatbox, Shoeless Revolution, etc.
8/21/10 - Camp Barefoot Music Festival, Bartow, WV - http://www.campbarefoot.org - also with Steve Kimock’s Crazy Engine, Kyle Hollingsworth Band, EOTO, etc.
8/27/10 - Snow Ridge Jam Festival, Turin, NY - http://www.snowridgejamfest.com - also with Donna the Buffalo, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, etc.
8/28/10 - Blackwater Music Festival, Live Oak, FL - http://www.blackwatermusicfestival.com - also with Slightly Stoopid, Spearhead, G Love, Disco Biscuits, Galactic
9/11/10 - Catskill Chill Music Festival, Hancock, NY - http://www.catskillchill.com -also with Keller Williams, Soulive, etc.
Business Rx: He likes his employer’s idea so much he’d like to use it for a start-up. Does he tell the boss?
Spending a few years working for a company can spark entrepreneurial ideas. If your firm is finding success in one city, you might be curious to see if the business model might work in another. Alan VanToai found himself pondering just that. He had put his love of music to work as a grass-roots marketer for the past two years with a Los Angeles-based company called FanManager, helping to spread the word on up-and-coming bands. He’s learned a lot from FanManager founder Erik Koral.
Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA • Saturday May 8th 2010
On Saturday, May 8th, 2010 the City Underground Festival will take place at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, CA. This event will bring together an array of diverse alternative individuals to celebrate the vibrant underground youth culture the city of San Francisco has to offer. Boasting huge national and local names in music, skateboarding, and tattooing, this event is packed with enough entertainment and action to captivate youngsters and adults alike. Brought to you by Rude Boyz Present, the City Underground Festival will open its doors at 10AM with the skateboarding competition to begin shortly after at 11AM. This portion of the festival is being co-produced by World Cup Skateboarding. The World Cup has not held an amateur contest in SF for nine years and TCUF marks it’s triumphant return. The competition will be judged by Matt Milligan, Dave Duran, Mike Crum, and Toad and will host 35 of the best amateur skaters in the country. The Winner will have the special privilege of being able to compete in a full on World Cup Pro contest and still maintain their amateur status in addition to receiving a $2000 purse. One of these 35 is Ben Hatchell, the winner of the Tampa AM 2010. The other 34 will be working hard to keep Ben off the podium and take the purse home themselves.
As the skateboarding competition is taking place be sure to walk around and take in the beautiful Bay views and peak over the shoulder of some of the fantastic tattoo artists who will be working on walk-ups all day long. Out to Sea Tattoo Care will present the Tattoo area with Idle Hand, Frisco Tattoo, Let It Bleed, Lefty’s Tattoo, Black and Blue, Moms, and Mark of the Tiki, sending their best artists to sink some ink on festivalgoer’s. Along with a conventional stop by the tattoo chair the festival and artists are also adding a little twist. Any festival attendant, of legal age, can enter into a contest to be elected “Best Tattoo” of the day. The person with the winner tattoo will received the value of the tattoo in cash by Rude Boyz Present and the artist doing the rendering will win him/her self a new tattoo machine! Additionally, if a tattoo from your past is bothering you, you can enter the Worst tattoo contest. The winner of this will receive a three-month free supply of Tattoo removal cream to aid in the removal of that inky regret. Sounds pretty great for all involved.
Along with all the grinds and ink getting thrown down there will be a legendary line up of punk bands as well. The music will start at 4PM at the close of the skating competition with The Adolescents kicking it off. La Plebe, The Ataris, Circle Jerks and the headlining Face To Face will follow throughout the night.
A ticket to this widely diverse and entertaining event will run you $20 for general admission. For a little extra cheddar you can purchase a VIP section ticket for $50 with access to a birds eye view of the skate competition and a bar in case you and your company want a little space from the kiddies. Join us for the first annual City Underground festival, a celebration of life and living it to the fullest. This show promises to be a fantastic celebration of the enduring spirit of the diverse and underground culture that makes San Francisco the most unique city in the world.
Kick off the 2010 season in a big way on the big screen! The best of the best in marching music are back for a one night event in select movie theaters nationwide. NCM Fathom and Drum Corps International are proud to present DCI 2010: The Countdown on Thursday, May 13th at 7:30pm (local time).
TICKETS
Tickets will go on sale to DCI insiders on Friday, April 9th and will go on sale to the general public Friday, April 16th.
Sign up here for a reminder when tickets go on sale to the general public.
EVENT DETAILS
See your favorite corps, your friends or even yourself on a 40 foot movie screen in HD! This year’s event in select movie theaters will showcase the top five performances from 2009, exclusive past corps moments and a preview of the top corps as they prepare for the upcoming season.
From modest beginnings more than three decades ago, Drum Corps International has developed into a powerful, nonprofit, global youth activity with far-reaching artistic, educational and organizational influence. Through the annual Summer Music Games Tour and more than 37 World Championships in 17 North American cities, Drum Corps International provides entertainment to millions through live performances and other events.
ALSO - Mark your calendars for the 2010 DCI World Championship Quarterfinals LIVE on the big screen on Thursday, August 12th. Don’t miss your chance to see the quest for the title of “World Champion” as the top World Class corps perform during the Quarterfinals competition.
2010 DCI World Championship Quarterfinals LIVE on the Big Screen
ALO will head out on the road this summer to promote their new album Man of the World. The band will headline clubs throughout the East Coast in May and perform throughout the summer at music festivals including Mile High, Hangout, Summercamp, Mountain Jam and Wakarusa. In July and August, the band will join Jack Johnson as the opening act on his To The Sea U.S. tour.
ALO just completed the video for their new single “Big Appetite.” The video, directed by Jay Blakesberg, uses stop motion crafted from over 22,000 still photographs of the band.
Tickets for ALO’s May tour and summer music festival dates are currently available. Tickets for the To The Sea tour will go on sale to the public on April 10.
ALO Summer Tour Dates
5/16/2010 Gulf Shores, AL—The Hangout Beach Music and Arts Festival
5/18/2010 Boston, MA—Paradise Rock Club
5/19/2010 Burlington, VT—Higher Ground
5/20/2010 Brooklyn, NY—Brooklyn Bowl
5/21/2010 Philadelphia, PA—Theater of Living Arts
5/22/2010 Baltimore, MD—The 8x10
5/23/2010 Wilmington, NC—Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
5/24/2010 Charleston, SC—The Pour House
5/25/2010 Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse
5/26/2010 Louisville, KY—Waterfront Park
5/27/2010 Indianapolis, IN—Rathskeller
5/28/2010 Chicago, IL—Martyr’s
5/29/2010 Chillicothe, IL—Summercamp Music Festival
6/4/2010 Ozark, AR—Wakarusa Festival
6/6/2010 Hunter, NY—Mountain Jam Festival
7/9/2010 Hartford, CT—Comcast Center*
7/10/2010 Mansfield, MA—Comcast Center*
7/11/2010 Camden, NJ—Susquehanna Bank Center*
7/13/2010 Holmdale, NJ—PNC Bank Arts Center*
7/14/2010 New York, NY—Madison Square Garden*
7/16/2010 VA Beach, VA—Verizon Wireless Amphitheater *
7/17/2010 Columbia, MD—Merriweather Post Pavilion*
7/19/2010 Toronto, ON—Moison Amphitheater*
7/20/2010 Clarkston, MI—DTE Energy Music Theater*
7/21/2010 Cuyahoga Falls, OH—Blossom Music Center*
7/23/2010 Noblesville, IN—Verizon Wireless Amphitheater*
7/24/2010 East Troy, WI—Alpine Valley*
7/25/2010 Somerset, WI—River’s Edge*
8/7/2010 Petaluma, CA—Petaluma Music Festival
8/13/2010 Salt Lake City, UT—USANA Amphitheater*
8/14/2010 Commerce City, CO—Mile High Music Festival
8/16/2010 Bonner Springs, KS—Sandstone Amphitheater*
8/17/2010 Dallas, TX—Superpages Center*
8/18/2010 Woodlands, TX—Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion*
8/20/2010 Atlanta, GA—Lakewood Amphitheater*
8/21/2010 Raleigh, NC—Time Warner Pavilion*
8/22/2010 Charlotte, NC—Verizon Wireless Amphitheater*
8/24/2010 Orlando, FL—Amway Arena*
8/25/2010 Tampa, FL—Ford Amphitheater*
8/26/2010 West Palm Beach, FL—Cruzan Amphitheater*
10/6/2010 Berkeley, CA—The Greek Theatre*
10/14/2010 Santa Barbara, CA—Santa Barbara Bowl*
We have launched a new page called ABOUT US on FanManager so you can get to know a little bit more about the company, its founder, and our killer staff. Click the link to find out more about the office staff: Erik, Jeff, Andie, Valerie, Jeremiah, Anahi, Utsav, Amanda, and our newest staff members Ben and Carolina. Also read about our staff that works from different parts of the country: Alan (College Park, MD), Emilie (San Francisco, CA), Noam (San Francisco, CA) and Hannah (Asheville, NC). We are incredibly stoked to have such an awesome and enthusiastic team who are always hungry to learn more about the business. In addition, please check out our partner links for more info about our strategic partnerships with six companies. We look forward to broadening our partner base in the years to come.
FanManager founder Erik Koral decides to get close to his Norwegian roots
Norwegian Black metal is an institution, a solidified genre within a genre. Norwegian Black Metal began its conception as a radical entity of revolutionary attributes that has melted into a conservative mainstream genre. The pure genius of the music still lives on, but the effective ethos the scene once harnessed has long dispersed.
In the Beginning
With a stagnant Death Metal scene lumbering into the nineties, the emergence of Nordic Black Metal expanded upon its Deathly roots, regurgitating the creative elements of Celtic Frost and Bathory elements that were lacking in the more bland Death Metal formula.
To disentangle the history of Norwegian Black Metal is a task in itself, to place the bands in some order of notoriety is at first obvious, and then less so when faced with the wealth of material available. Bands that came and went in the blink of an eye become more tangible at second glance. Music that is buried becomes ever more significant. The aforementioned words be can likened to any genre and any scene of worth that is being dissected.
If we pinpoint the rise of Black Metal from the initial Mayhem/Burzum creative spark, in 1990-92, then we would be making a fatal error. In Norway during 1990, Death Metal influenced acts like Old Funeral, Cadaver, Thou Shalt Suffer, and Embryonic [to name a few] were tilting on the edge of something unknown in a stagnant metal world awaiting a spark to reinvigorate it. That spark was to be the well documented murder of Mayhem bassist, Euronymous, in 1993.
Prior to this spark, the Black metal underground to which Mayhem and Burzum belonged reached far out of their Norwegian seclusion. There was a whole network of bands from across the globe awaiting ride the blood blenched wave of Black Metals rise to infamy. In 1990 Mayhems infamous Live in Leipzig was recorded, and this can be cited as one of the genuinely True Black Metal recordings of the imminent scenes awakening.
At this time, the dark mutterings of Beherit [Fin], Samael, Tiamat [Swe], Profanatica [U.S.A], Blasphemy [Can], Mortuary Drape [It], and Root [Czech], to name a few, had demos circulating the underground, if not albums proper. In 1991, the likes of Marduk [Swe], Rotting Christ [It], Masters Hammer [Czech], Mystifier, and Acheron [U.S.A], were releasing albums. Here we find bands from across the globe, all displaying a dark Satanic/Anti-Christian musical ethos, that made the Black Metal phenomenon in the early nineties what it was. It was just, the Norwegians gave the whole movement its ignition, its impetus to become a formidable force in the extreme metal firmament.
There are certain main players, bit part players and the outer edge players. The enigmatic luminaries, Hellhammer [Jan Axel Blomberg], and Samoth [Thomas Thormodsaeter Haugen], for example, have contributed their talents no less than thirty Norwegian Black Metal bands since the scenes conception. Bands seem inter-related and all are tied together by one member or another. This brotherly strength has maintained the scenes longevity, creating a kinship unrivalled in other extreme genres.
The actual sound to the music is also at first obvious, then as the ripples of evolving styles spread out, less apparent. There are the icy drones of Darkthrone that manifest a primitive and raw monochrome sound. The symphonic beauty of early Emperor that signifies orchestral keyboards. The experimental surges of Ulver and Arcturus, that evokes electronica and a modern twist to the basic sound. Amongst these collective styles are Pagan/Viking inspired acts, orthodox thrash devotees, and more Deathly aspired outfits. All have one factor in common; they all adhere to/evolved from, a Black Metal nucleus that is the Norwegian Black Metal scene as a whole.
The History of the scene is well documented, with Mayhem being a pivotal force, paving the way and igniting the whole movement. The suicide of vocalist ‘Dead’, on April 8th 1991 served as a ripple compared to the forthcoming wave of hysteria generated by the media, when Burzum main man Varg Vikerenes murdered Mayhem guitarist, Euronymous in the stairwell of his apartment building on August 10th 1993. Hence, the movement was truly born. To put these events into perspective, we must be aware that none of the criminal acts were designed for public scrutiny; no premeditated media hype was constructed. The young teenagers responsible for the hysteria were indebted to a personal agenda that eventually became swallowed up in the media attention that ultimately followed.
Prior to this major spark, the only real bands of note were Burzum, Immortal, Dark Throne and the demo awakenings of, Thorns, Emperor, Enslaved and Carpathian Forest. The scene was as at that time an unknown entity and the music an exclusive underground movement. With the Death of Euronymous, the whole scene was dragged under a blaze of publicity securing the second wave to bolster the scenes already strong position. Gehenna, Kampfar, Ulver, Satyricon, Dimmu Borgir and the rest soon cemented the Norwegian genre as a scene incarnate.
One must not forget the original concept of the term ‘True Norwegian Black Metal’, A phrase etched onto the Darkthrone Transylvanian Hunger cd as Norsk Ǻrisk Black Metal. The very real connotations with Nordic pride, Aryanism, anti-Christian/Jewish themes and even Neo-Nazi affiliations cannot be ignored, although the quick back tracking by most of the bands when fame reared its persuasive head stifled these not so mainstream ideologies.
I have old letters/photos from both Shagrath and Mortis before they became artists of note. Mortis is scribing a swastika into a tree trunk and Shagrath signs his letter with a swastika. This is more teenage ignorance than blatant fascist idealism, but all the same it is a very real glimpse into the minds of the early band members, and their one dimensional ethos of Norse pride merging with Anti-Christian hatred. That, coupled with the pagan religion of the Vikings all go towards underpinning the Black Metal phenomena. One point that is often overlooked is that the Norway is a rich county, a clean country and although cold, extremely sparse in its population per sq mile. There are no immigration problems; the political climate is stable, and the standard of living high. So, unlike the fucked up rappers from downtown Brooklyn who can lay claim to gun violence as an impetus for their unruly behaviour, and foul mouthed lyrical content, or the high unemployment of the early punk scene in England that fuelled the whole punk movement, the Norwegian Black Metal scenes rise to infamy is based on a sequence of events that could well have happened in Finland or Germany given the same circumstances.
There is no doubt in my mind, had the early Finnish scene succumbed to murder, desecration and bizarre homosexual murders, the quality of bands already simmering under the surface would have had the same impetus to create a scene of equal strengths and ingenuity. As it happens, Norway is where it all happened, and no streetwise, hard done by, drug fuelled kids were to underline the events that would shape things to come. These kids, where breathing clean air, living in good homes and were well educated. Indeed, the teenagers who frequented the Helvete shop in 1991 were reasonably well behaved, well spoken and generally normal bored teenagers.
So 1993 was the year Norwegian Black Metal was truly born with the death of its founder so to speak. Church burnings [the first occurring in 1992], suicide, and murder all a contributing factor to the genre as a whole living entity. Norwegian Black Metal has become a byword for ‘True Black Metal’, a phrase much attributed to Mayhem and Darkthrone. The erosive atmosphere and basic recording quality of the early movement re-defined the very soul of what one perceived as Black metal and ignited the genre incarnate.
The fact that Norway has a climate reflective of darkness and evil, also helped to create the impetus for the scenes violent image elsewhere. One cannot envisage the same darkly solitude emanating from the southern hemisphere. The stark beauty of its landscapes, its brutal past and timeless visage has become synonymous with the Black metal born from its surface.
MTV2 and mtvU will be premiering the new Disco Biscuits video for their song “On Time” at the top of every hour today, March 23rd. If you cannot tune in, you can check it out here…
MOONALICE SINGLE “IT’S 4:20 SOMEWHERE” SURPASSES 200,000 DOWNLOADS!!!
Band with no manager, label or publicist leverages Twitter/Facebook
March 15, 2010 (Howling Monkey, CA) – To the astonishment of an entire tribe, Moonalice’s new single “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” has been downloaded 208,719 times since its introduction on November 13, 2009. It has been less than six weeks since we surpassed 100,000 downloads. Three-fourths of the downloads have been in the lossless FLAC format. Recorded, mixed, and mastered for a mere $5,000, “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” is available only on the web and only for free. The FLAC version can be found at http://moonalice.bit.ly/2uZpcY
Moonalice is a San Francisco band featuring John Molo on drums, Barry Sless on lead guitar, Pete Sears on bass and keyboards, Ann McNamee on bass and keyboards, and Chubby Wombat Moonalice on bass and guitar.
To celebrate the success of the single, Moonalice is touring nationally, with in southern California this week and then the northeast next week.
Moonalice invented the Twittercast concert, where it shares links to songs for an entire show, either live or after the fact. Moonalice has done 72 Twittercasts (and Facecasts, as the Facebook equivalent is known) and also broadcasts a song an hour over Twitter via Moonalice radio.
The wait is finally over! On Tuesday, March 16th, we will be releasing our new studio album Planet Anthem . We are excited to unveil the album in its entirety as most of you only have heard a sampling of tracks and remixes. The album is currently available for preorder in several locations including at Newbury Comics and at Amazon.com. Preorder through Newbury and receive a signed copy or order from iTunes and get two bonus tracks. On Tuesday, the album will be available at all retail and all other digital providers.
To celebrate the release of Planet Anthem, we will be playing two special shows this upcoming Monday 3/15 and Tuesday 3/16 at the TLA in Philly. A limited number of tickets for these shows are available at Ticketmaster.com. Do not miss these shows. We have a lot of special treats in store to celebrate!
We are also really excited to be partnering with our good friends at Livestream to broadcast the entire Planet Anthem CD Release Party at the TLA for FREE, LIVE on Tuesday, March 16th. The show is going to be off the hook with lots of special guests from the album. The stream will be available at http://www.livestream.com/discobiscuits. The show starts at 8:00 Eastern. Tell all your friends about it!
THE BLACK EYED PEAS ‘PUMP IT’ UP ON BIG SCREENS LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES ON 3.30NCM Fathom and AEG Live Team Up Again to Present an Exclusive One-Night Concert Performance with Behind-the-Scenes Footage Broadcast LIVE to Nearly 500 Select Movie Theaters
Centennial, Colo. – Feb. 11, 2010 – The Black Eyed Peas are getting the party started across the country on The E.N.D. World Tour, presented by BlackBerry® and will rock the big screen as their concert performance from Los Angeles is transmitted LIVE nationwide on Tuesday, March 30th. Broadcast from STAPLES Center to nearly 500 select movie theaters across America, The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour LIVE Presented by BlackBerry event will feature a 30-minute exclusive program for movie theater audiences, including behind-the-scenes footage and band interviews.
Tickets for The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour LIVE Presented by BlackBerry on March 30 at 10:30 p.m. Eastern / 9:30 p.m. Central / 8:30 p.m. Mountain / 7:30 p.m. Pacific are available at participating theater box offices and online at http://www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit the web site (theaters and participants may be subject to change).
“This tour is not the E.N.D. but the beginning of The Black Eyed Peas experience presented to you in full Pea fashion,” says Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas.
Presented by NCM Fathom and AEG Live and produced by AEG Network Live, The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour LIVE Presented by BlackBerry event captures the six-time GRAMMY Award-winning group – will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie – on their first tour since 2006. The North American leg of The E.N.D. World Tour 2010 presented by BlackBerry, is the group’s most ambitious stage production to date. In support of their multi-platinum No. 1 album, The E.N.D – featuring the chart record-breaking consecutive No. 1 singles “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” – The Black Eyed Peas will transform major arenas into massive club parties across the country and around the world. The E.N.D. World Tour Presented by BlackBerry proves The Energy Never Dies with state of the art lasers, lights, HD visuals, flying stunts and eight world class dancers that will be a visual assault on the senses for hundreds of thousands of fans.
The Black Eyed Peas won three more GRAMMY Awards this year - Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (“I Gotta Feeling”); Best Pop Vocal Album (The E.N.D.); and Best Short Form Music Video (“Boom Boom Pow”). To date, The Black Eyed Peas’ fifth studio album The E.N.D., has sold nearly 2 million units in the U.S. and over 5.5 million units worldwide with digital single sales in the U.S. selling over 12.5 million tracks. The Peas have logged over 350 headlining tour dates in 29 countries, with over 2.5 million tickets sold.
“The Black Eyed Peas, hot off their Grammy wins, are as good as it gets, and fans in theaters nationwide are in for an amazing one-night-only concert experience,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of Fathom. “Fathom is proud to again partner with AEG Live for this theater event, giving audiences a front-row view of this explosive concert, live from STAPLES Center to their community.”
The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour LIVE Presented by BlackBerry appears on the big screen in high-definition with Cinema Surround Sound in 476 select movie theaters, including AMC Entertainment Inc., Celebration! Cinema, Cinemark USA Inc., Clearview Cinemas, Cobb Theatres, Georgia Theatre Company, Goodrich Quality Theatres, Hollywood Theaters, Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, Marcus Theatres, National Amusements and Regal Entertainment Group movie theaters, as well as the Carolina Theatre (Asheville, NC), Palace Cinema 9 (South Burlington, VT), Penn Cinema (Lititz, PA) and El Raton Theatre (Raton, NM), through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network – North America’s largest cinema broadcast network.
‘Cali-soul’ is the term Samantha Stollenwerck uses to describe her sound; a unique blend of soulful pop rock that has landed her on bills with the likes of Dave Matthews Band and Ziggy Marley. Samantha fuses the elements of catchy songwriting and funky undertones with a fresh west coast vibe of rock and roll to create a style all her own.
Samantha, a California native formed her first band, Shady Lady, in college 1999 in Berkeley, California. She quickly gained attention in San Francisco with the support of KFOG radio and key slots at venues such as the Fillmore and Shoreline Amphitheater. Samantha has toured extensively over the past 8 years and has graced the stages at festivals such as Bonnaroo, South by Southwest and Austin City Limits Music Festival. When touring, Samantha usually rocks with a full band yet takes the time to play intimate solo acoustic sets to connect with her fans.
This past year Samantha completed a record titled “Carefree” with producer, Jeff Trott. Jeff is best known for his work with Sheryl Crow, having penned several of Crow’s hit songs such as “Everyday is a Winding Road” and “If it Makes You Happy” as well as was Sheryl’s touring guitar player for over a decade. Stollenwerck and Trott’s chemistry in the studio gave permission for Samantha’s authentic voice and personality to resonate through in her songs.
Samantha also collaborated with songwriter Danielle Brisebois who is accredited with several hit songs including Natasha Bedingfield’s singles, “Unwritten” and “Pocket Full of Sunshine”. Samantha rounded out her record by bringing aboard Grammy Award winning mixer, Manny Marroquin (Alicia Keyes, Usher, Kanye West) to bump up the grooves and add the unique sound that “Carefree” represents.
Samantha released “Carefree” independently on November 10th 2009 and has toured acoustically in support. She plans to be on the road touring consistently in 2010.
THE DISCO BISCUITS ANNOUNCE FIRST ROUND OF PERFORMERS FOR CAMP BISCO 9
The Disco Biscuits have confirmed the first round of performers slated for Camp Bisco 9, the ninth annual three-day music and arts festival in Mariaville, New York this July 15-17, 2010. The 50+ performer lineup at the multi-stage camping festival includes: The Disco Biscuits - All 3 Nights; LCD Soundsystem; Ween; Thievery Corporation; Girl Talk; Bassnectar; Pretty Lights; Major Lazer; The New Deal; Diplo; Aeroplane; Rusko; Sunrise Silent Disco; The Album Leaf; Brothers Past; Dieselboy; Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious); Future Rock; SOJA; Telepath; Felix Cartal; Two Fresh; Kill the Noise; Eskmo; Orchard Lounge; Rubblebucket Orchestra; Emancipator; Spiritual Rez; Sub Swara; Derek Plaslaiko; Big Gigantic; Earl Greyhound; The Black Seeds; Grimace Federation; C-mon & Kypski; Nobody Beats the Drum; King Britt; Dubskin; Woodhands; Justin Paul; Lee Maytals and DJ Everyday. More artists and festival details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Camp Bisco 9 will once again be held at the picturesque Indian Lookout Country Club in Mariaville, New York. The expanded setup will include: a second stage in the main field, an improved location for the DJ and late night dance tent - complete with a surround sound system, a local artists and performance art stage. Indian Lookout Country Club is located approximately 20 minutes travel time from Albany, New York, and sits on 200 acres of rolling, grass fields. The grounds come equipped with full bathrooms; which include flush toilets and showers, as well as 24/7 bathroom attendants. Festival goers will have access to a full bar on site and a general store, which sells almost every necessity for a comfortable and care free experience.
Early bird tickets are on sale now for a limited time only and begin at $135. Tickets are available online at http://www.campbisco.net and 1-800-594-TIXX, as well as at all FYE stores in New England and select outlets in New York state
Desert Rocks is proud to announce our new lineup additions: JGB feat. Melvin Seals (playing the music of Jerry Garcia), SLC dub reggae sensation Afro Omega, The Gristle Gals (all female CO bluegrass quintet), 8 year old musical prodigy Jaden, The Velvetones, Lubriphonic, Matt Lewis Band, MusicGarage all stars Advent Horizon, hip hop acts fIZZY fORM and GeorgeLife, Dirty Blonde, 3 Austin phenoms (Beckham Bros. - Cowboy and Indian - Josh Weathers and The True Endeavors), Brian Thurber Quartet, and New Orleans hip hop legend Dee-1 co-mcing with Alfred Howard.
Get Desert Rocks discounts, merchandise, stickers, and posters by joining the Desert Rocks Street Team. Simply click here to sign up
In other exciting news Desert Rocks has created a Forum on the new website featuring a ride board, ticket swap, lineup discussions, upcoming shows, and a general discussion board. Be sure click the community button and sign up at> http://www.desertrocks.org
Stay Tuned, many more exciting announcements yet to come!
With Planet Anthem’s release only a few weeks away on March 16th we thought we would do something a little fun and different for our pre-order. Visit our website at http://www.planetanthem.com to check out what we mean.
Each box on the screen represents a unique pre-order item. The boxes will become live and you will be able to click on them to go directly to our merch store checkout to purchase the item. Every item on the entire screen has a flat service / shipping charge of $2.99. After you purchase the item you will receive an email about how to go about redeeming the unique prizes. This is NOT an auction for the items. The prices are set and the first person that buys each one gets it.
If you have any questions about the preorder please email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Tickets for the TLA CD Release Party shows will be mailed and the CDs will be picked up night of show.
Jamaican reggae music is one of the best-known genres of music around the world, uniting people of all countries, all races, and all religions with a sound that is dedicated to searching for the answers to life, to conflict, to humanity, to the world, to love. There are few artists in this music genre today that are creating the epitome of this artistic insight, professing subjects that are so often glazed over by mainstream music. Hailing from Washington D.C. – reggae band SOJA is on the forefront of this revolution, telling the roots story, but from the other side: America. SOJA embodies musicians unlike any other band in any genre of music, to date. The members: Jacob, Bobby, Ken, Ryan, and Patrick have been a team since childhood with lifelong musical goals, which they are still pursing today.
Lead singers Jacob Hemphill (vocals, guitar) and Bob Jefferson (bass) met in first grade in Virginia, shortly after Jacob had returned from living in Africa with his family. The two instantly became best friends, and in middle school found a common love for hip hop and rock music. Throughout middle and high school, they met Patrick O’Shea (keyboards), Ryan Berty (drums), and Ken Brownell (percussion) – who would later form SOJA. During this period, reggae music was becoming an addiction for the budding musicians. Lead singer Jacob shares, “We loved rock and hip hop, but there was something missing in the message. Even with our favorite artists, you would get one song that hit home and touched you, then three that were about nothing. With our favorite artists in the reggae genre, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, they were singing about something beautiful that truly mattered in every song. We never really got over it.”
SOJA’s first album was recorded independently with renowned sound engineer Jim Fox. Jacob notes, “Jim told us that he would work with us and so we could afford to make our first record, and when we ran out of money he started making up ‘discounts.’ It was awesome. I asked him why a while back, and he said ‘I didn’t want to see a good thing stop.’ What was even crazier was at the time he wasn’t working with bands that were from the US, just Jamaican artists. Big ones like Black Uhuru, Israel Vibration, Culture, Don Carlos, and Inner Circle. Jim worked with us independently and recorded, mixed, and mastered the whole thing. That is how it all started.” SOJA’s first album, “Soldiers of Jah Army EP” was released at the beginning of 2000.
In 2002, SOJA released their first full-length album, “Peace in a Time of War.” Though the band was young, the album had hits. “True Love,” “Rasta Courage,” and “Peace in a Time of War” were the first songs to bring the band strong attention nationally and internationally and cement them in the reggae world. Tours became larger, their fan base expanded rapidly and they grew up smart in the independent music industry. In 2006, the band released “Get Wiser,” their second full-length album. The album was a break through for the band, as they explored the duality in their music, combining beautiful, longing melodies with hard drum and bass, and layered with intricate lyrics. SOJA created their musical style with a new complexity and depth that they would carry with them to their future albums. Jacob shares, “When you listen to an artist you can either have a series of one liners, or you can tell a story with your music. We set out to tell a story, it’s like poetry – dancing around an entire theme, but never putting a period on anything. It is like the two sides of a coin, but you can see them at the same time.” “Get Wiser” debuted in the Top 10 Reggae Albums on iTunes and has remained in the top 100 since its release. Singles off the album including “Open My Eyes, “You Don’t Know Me,” and “Can’t Tell Me” remain in heavy rotation on college radio across the United States, and have also received major radio play internationally in places such as France, Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela, Guam, and Tahiti. The success of “Get Wiser” took the band on three years of intense touring nationally, and internationally. In 2008 SOJA released their EP “Stars and Stripes.” They blended new sounds and new rhythms with their existing reggae sound, growing into what SOJA was becoming. The EP contained three new songs plus remixes and new versions of popular songs. In early 2009 the band released the documentary DVD “SOJA Live in Hawaii: A Marc Carlini Film,” showcasing the power and energy of their 2008 Hawaiian tour which included four islands, five cameras, four shows, and everything in between.
Now, SOJA has unleashed their third full-length album “Born in Babylon” - the culmination of all past efforts on their label DMV Records. Released on August 25, 2009 exclusively on iTunes, “Born in Babylon” debuted at #1 on the iTunes reggae charts and remains in the top 10 today. In addition, the album reached #3 on the Billboard Reggae Charts, #11 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums, and #31 on all of Billboard. “Born in Babylon” focuses on telling the same roots story that reggae artists have been singing about for decades, but their way, from the flip perspective of kids who grew up not in poverty, but in a government saturated community in Arlington, Virginia, across Mason-Dixon Line from the White House. SOJA shares about their new album, “This is the album we’ve been wanting to make for ten years. At first we were hard-core old school, then we got new school and inventive. This is what we’ve learned from all that. ‘Born in Babylon’ is hard roots drum and bass, big wide guitar and vocal melodies, and two and three sided lyrics, with two and three sided messages.”
For the rest of 2009 and moving into 2010 – SOJA plans on touring the United States extensively while promoting “Born in Babylon” with mainstay horn players Hellman Escorcia (saxophone) and Rafael Rodriguez (trumpet). Currently, SOJA averages 150 shows a year and the group has toured every major city in the US and internationally throughout Canada, Puerto Rico (avg 2500), Brazil (avg 4000), Argentina, Uruguay, New Caledonia (16,000 in attendance) Palau, Saipan, Guam (avg 3500), Hawaii (avg 2,000 on each island), Sweden, Switzerland, France, Portugal (avg 2000) and Holland. The band has also shared the stage with notable artists such as Citizen Cope, Matisyahu, Ben Harper, Slightly Stoopid, Damian Marley, Govt Mule, Umphrees McGee, and Steel Pulse to name a few.
In addition to their new music and touring, the band remains committed to creating real music, music that cant be ignored. Jacob pauses, “Bob Marley’s fans all feel like when he is singing a song, it’s to them. You could be from anywhere, any situation, rich, poor – it doesn’t matter; the song is directed at them. He speaks to you, the love songs too. That is what we are after. Not one side of the story, the whole thing, both sides of the coin. Just listen to ‘Born in Babylon.’”
Thanks to YOUR voting and support my band is now in the FINALS of the KTLA “Battle of the Bands” contest, and we will perform on the KTLA morning news TOMORROW (Wednesday) at 8:50am and 9:30am!
The winner is decided by popular vote! So it’s YOU guys that will make the difference!
2. Forward this email to your friends with an instruction to vote for Alina!
3 RSVP “attending” to this Facebook event and click “Invite friends” under the main picture. Select as many friends as you’d like to invite and hit “send”.
4. Hit “share” (also under the main photo) to post information about the voting event to your profile!
5. Post a Myspace bulletin titled “Vote for my friend Alina in a TV music contest”!
And to make this more fun for you guys – I’d like to offer some cool perks!
1. Cast your vote and get your friends to vote for us and – get a FREE mp3 of my brand new song “One Last Dance”! (email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with “I Want One Last Dance!” in the subject line or email body).
2. By voting you’re automatically eligible for a chance to WIN 2 FREE TICKETS to Alina’s big show @ the Mint in Los Angeles on March 31st! To enter yourself (or, if you don’t live in LA – your friend or relative), email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with “Free Tickets Entry: (your name here)” in the subject line or email body. The winner will be decided by a random drawing on Sunday, February 21st.
I’m so excited about my performance tomorrow! Actually, last time I was playing on the news I was 10 and wearing a pink tutu (see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRM8PNTn-fk )
Band with no manager, label or publicist leverages Twitter/Facebook
To the astonishment of an entire tribe, Moonalice’s new single “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” has been downloaded more than 100,000 times since its introduction on November 13, 2009. Three-fourths of the downloads have been in the lossless FLAC format. Recorded, mixed, and mastered for a mere $5,000, “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” is available only on the web and only for free. The FLAC version can be found at http://moonalice.bit.ly/2uZpcYM.
Moonalice is a San Francisco band featuring John Molo on drums, Barry Sless on lead guitar, Pete Sears on bass and keyboards, Ann McNamee on bass and keyboards, and Chubby Wombat Moonalice on bass and guitar.
To celebrate the success of the single, Moonalice will launch the “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” tour in Seattle on February 17. Some shows on that tour will be priced at $4.20, including the giant Moonalice Tribal Pow Wow at Slim’s in San Francisco on April 20.
Moonalice invented the Twittercast concert, where it shares links to songs for an entire show, either live or after the fact. Moonalice has done 67 Twittercasts (and Facecasts, as the Facebook equivalent is known) and also broadcasts a song an hour over Twitter via Moonalice radio.
INFECTED MUSHROOM ANNOUNCE MAJOR APPEARANCES AT THE HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM FEBRUARY 20, ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL MARCH 26 AND THE COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL APRIL 18
“This is what happens when real musicians make aggressive dance music…Amit Duvdevani and Erez Eisen produce category-defying electronica that engages your cerebrum even as it kicks your gluteus maximus onto the dance floor…What ever expectations of ‘dance music’ you have, this CD will shatter them and make you thankful that it did. A great ride.” —Stephen Fortner, KEYBOARD, September 2009
Electronic-rock innovators INFECTED MUSHROOM have announced several high-profile performances and new tour dates for this spring as they continue to support their latest release LEGEND OF THE BLACK SHAWARMA (Perfecto). For these dates, the INFECTED MUSHROOM band—Amit “Duvdev” Duvedevani (vocals), Erez Eisen (keyboards), Rogerio Jardim (drums) and Tom Cunningham (guitar)—promise an intense live show highlighting songs from the new album, plus material from their previous seven releases.
The psy-trance pioneers will make a momentous appearance at Awakening, a double-header bill with German electronic artist ATB February 20, at the Hollywood Palladium. The band will also head to Miami where they will perform Friday, March 26 at this year’s Ultra Music Festival.
In April, the Israel-bred, Southern California-based outfit return home for their second appearance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. On Sunday, April 18, they’ll perform in front of thousands at the popular Sahara tent. The band is also scheduled to make stops at the Gryphon Nightclub in Hollywood, FL, the Fox Theater in Boulder, CO, San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom and many more on the extensive tour. Tickets for these shows are available now.
On Legend Of The Black Shawarma, INFECTED MUSHROOM continue to push sonic boundaries with their psy-trance fusion of bruising, metallic rock and unstoppable dance-floor beats to a new level and sees the pair teaming with high-profile rockers. The album’s lead single “Smashing the Opponent” features scorching vocals from Jonathan Davis of Korn fame, while Jane’s Addiction frontman and alt-rock trailblazer Perry Farrell lends his inimitable pipes to the follow-up track “Killing Time.” Most recently, the duo collaborated with Matisyahu on the track “One Day,” which is now charting in the Top 10 in Israel.
INFECTED MUSHROOM’s current North American tour dates are as follows:
2/4 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theater
2/5 - San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom
2/6 - Toronto, ON - Guvernment
2/20 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
3/12 - Ft. Collins, CO - The Aggie Theatre
3/13 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
3/19 - Minneapolis, MN - Epic Events Center
3/20 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
3/26 - Miami, FL - Ultra Music Festival
4/18 - Indio, CA - Coachella Music and Arts Festival
5/7 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
5/28 - Reno, NV - TBD
SHPONGLE ANNOUNCES US TOUR IN SUPPORT OF NEW ALBUM
Shpongle, pioneers of modern musical psychedelia, will be on tour in the US from 4-16-10 to 5-8-10 to promote their new album, Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland.
Having recently released their long-awaited and much anticipated 4th studio album, Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland, the UK-based DJ/Producer Simon Posford (who, together with Raja Ram on flute, makes up Shpongle) will tour the United States from coast to coast this April and May, making stops in all four corners of the country along the way. With the release of this album and subsequent tour, the internationally acclaimed electronica project have returned from what many fans feared was a void after the release of their 3rd album in the summer of 2005. Posford, the producer, multi-instrumentalist and driving force behind Shpongle’s exploratory odyssey and sonic oddity, will delight fans new and old with tonal textures that break boundaries of convention while at the same time harnessing the primal energy of sound. Coupled with the richly evocative flute musings of Raja Ram, the Shpongle experience is one of both worldly and otherworldly roots.
Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland contains languages of harmonic and melodic construction that long-time fans will know and love, while taking massive leaps forward in terms of production techniques, structure and direction. With influences drawn from Steve Reich to Big Brother TV shows and beyond, Shpongle continues to evolve and inspire. All out Shpongle-mania has ensued for this album’s release, clearly demonstrated in October when the London launch party sold out and a second night had to be added.
For portions of this tour, Shpongle will be accompanied by a smorgasbord of artists including fellow Twisted Records alumni, Prometheus (Benji Vaughan, who, together with Posford constitute the group, Younger Brother), world-renowned digital media artist, VJ Zebbler and ArcheDream for HUMANKIND, an international theater company that merges ancient ritual with modern technology to unite, uplift and empower. The experience is sure to enchant audiences with a visceral dance of psychedelic sensory information that can only be described as “…a strange hybrid of electronic manipulation and shamanic midgets with frozen digits squeezing the envelope and crawling through the doors of perception…”
There are 20 appearances scheduled:
04.13.10 | Charleston Pour House | Charleston, SC
04.14.10 | New Earth Music Hall | Athens, GA
04.15.10 | The Vallarium | Knoxville, TN
04.16.10 | Limelight | Nashville, TN
04.17.10 | The Fillmore | New York, NY
04.20.10 | The Granada | Lawrence, KS
04.21.10 | Bourbon Theater | Lincoln, NB
04.22.10 | Aggie Theater | Fort Collins, CO
04.23.10 | The Fox Theatre | Boulder, CO
04.24.10 | The Fox Theatre | Boulder, CO
04.28.10 | The Roxy Theatre | Los Angeles, CA
04.29.10 | Arcata Theatre and Lounge | Arcata, CA
04.30.10 | The Regency Ballroom | San Francisco, CA
05.01.10 | La Zona Rosa | Austin, TX
05.02.10 | Trees | Dallas, TX
05.05.10 | Pantages Theater | Minneapolis, MN
05.06.10 | Kinetic Playground | Chicago, IL
05.07.10 | Crystal Ballroom | Portland, OR
05.08.10 | Showbox | Seattle, WA
Contact:
Ron Rivlin
Phone: 213.471.1100 xt.23
Fax: 213.471.1106
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
THE BAND WILL SPIN DJ SETS AND PLAY LIVE SETS DURING THE TOUR
Here are the dates
01.27.10 | Cobra Club (DJ Set) | Toronto, OH
01.29.10 | Webster Hall (DJ Set) | New York, NY
01.30.10 | Vain Ultra Club (DJ Set) | Detroit, MI
02.12.10 | Avalon (Live Set) | Hollywood, CA
02.13.10 | Heat Festival (Live Set) | Riverside, CA
03.26.10 | Ultra Music Festival | Miami, FL
Like a Super Nova burning bright in the night sky comes Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. Based out of San Diego, KDTU began its journey in 1998 after bandleader Karl Denson decided to change gears five years after he’d help create The Greyboy Allstars. GBA had proven themselves as the ultimate party band, spreading their “West Coast Boogaloo” style all over the world, making “Jazz” a dance term once again. Karl set out to take this formula to the next level by putting more emphasis on vocals and adding some funk, r&b and hip hop elements. It turned out to be a winning combination which set KDTU on the top of the heap in the touring world from 1999 through 2005. In 2005 Karl decided to get back to his roots and work in a smaller jazzier setting. During 2006 and 2007 Karl led KD3, a trio configuration featuring Sax, Organ and Drums. This led to the 2007 release of KD3’s “Lunar Orbit”, an album which was a great critical success. In 2008, Karl rejoined his former boss Lenny Kravitz and spent the year country hopping through Europe and North America. In 2009 Karl went back into the studio and conjured up what is being hailed as the most soulful KDTU adventure yet, “Brother’s Keeper” which was released Sept 15th, 2009.
Here are the confirmed tour dates for 2010 so far…
2.05.10 | Crown Room | Crystal Bay, NV
2.06.10 | Crown Room | Crystal Bay, NV
2.12.10 | La Zona Rosa | Austin, TX
2.13.10 | Tipitina’s w/ Galactic | New Orleans, LA
2.14.10 | The Bottling Company | Hattiesburg, MS
2.15.10 | Tipitina’s w/ Galactic | New Orleans, LA
2.16.10 | The Lyric Oxford | Oxford, MS
2.17.10 | George’s Majestic Lounge | Fayetteville, AR
2.18.10 | The Pageant w/ Galactic | St. Louis, MO
2.19.10 | CarniVail | Vail, CO
2.20.10 | The Fillmore w/ Galactic | Denver, CO
2.23.10 | Wilma Theater w/ Galactic | Missoula, MT
2.24.10 | Zebra Cocktail Lounge | Bozeman, MT
2.25.10 | Knotty Pine | Victor, ID
2.26.10 | Whiskey Jacques | Ketchum, ID
2.27.10 | The State Room | Salt Lake City, UT
3.13.10 | Belly Up | Solana Beach, CA
Grammy Weekend
THE VIPER ROOM
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
Full band
8852 W. Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Set Time: 9pm
HERE IS SOME OTHER RECENT NEWS ABOUT JENNIE LAWS
“Heavenly” in upcoming Lifetime Movie “Double Wedding”
Jennie’s track “Heavenly” will be featured in the upcoming Lifetime movie “Double Wedding” featuring Tia and Tamera Mowry!.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
Jennie’s iPhone App Available Now!
Download Jennie’s app and stay connected to all of her music, news, tweets, videos, and other content in real-time.
Jennie’s track “Heavenly” has been included on a new compilation import entitled “Nick the Nightfly Buona Vita.” A few other artists included on the compilation; Seal, Alicia Keys, Robin Thicke. Release date 12.1.09
The quintessential sound of the West Coast has returned as The Greyboy Allstars emerge with a new studio album and live performances. Last year marked a return to the stage after a six-year hiatus from touring, reenergizing the San Diego-based five-piece and motivating the creation of What Happened to Television?
“It was really liberating to be in the room with so many talented people and just have a good time again,” says Elgin Park of reuniting with the group in the studio. Park (also known as Mike Andrews) is illustrative of how busy the individual members of The Greyboy Allstars have been during its relative hibernation. Andrews scored the hip cult films Me and You and Everyone We Know and Donnie Darko, the latter generating a number one hit in the UK for his cover of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World” with singer Gary Jules, as well as the acclaimed television program Freaks & Geeks. Andrews has also produced albums by Brendan Benson, Inara George, and Metric. But The Greyboy Allstars offer Andrews something unique; the opportunity to be Elgin Park. “In this band I’m a completely different player than in almost any other circumstance,” he explains. “I am normally not a blues or jazz player. So this band has really opened up a new world for me creatively.”
Music by The Greyboy Allstars have been a popular staple on television (ESPN), in films (such as Zero Effect), and even extreme sports videos, reflecting the culture of some of the group’s most devoted fans. This wide and varied exposure has garnered one of the broadest, multi-generational fan bases a group could possibly ask for, mirroring the diverse ethnic and artistic makeup of their native Southern California. What Happened to Television? marks the first studio release in almost 10 years for The Greyboy Allstars, and the first since 1995’s debut West Coast Boogaloo (which featured former James Brown musical director Fred Wesley) where they have reunited with producer and namesake DJ Greyboy.
If any of this sounds a bit confusing, it’s time to press pause and hit rewind for a minute.
The Greyboy Allstars were formed in December 1993 by Greyboy (aka Andreas Stevens) and Karl Denson as an extension of Greyboy’s classic soul and funk DJ sets at a weekly residency at the now defunct Green Circle Bar in downtown San Diego. The hand-picked players performed both classics from the catalogs of labels like Blue Note and Prestige as well as new material, much of which emerged on Greyboy’s debut Freestylin’, an album which label Ubiquity Records still considers one of its cornerstones and launching pad to international success.
Despite the diverse, bustling music scene in San Diego, nothing could contain the force of the players that Greyboy put together into some sort of local secret. That’s a fact that has only become more apparent in the years that the members have spent pursuing various musical endeavors. Karl Denson spent four years as lead sax player for Lenny Kravitz in the early years of the Allstars, has recorded with artists including the Blind Boys of Alabama, Guster and Miles Davis cohorts Jack Dejohnette and Dave Holland, and still leads successful touring mainstays Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. In addition to recording solo, Robert Walter leads many successful touring groups and tickles the keys for the legendary Headhunters. The unstoppable rhythm section of Chris Stillwell and Zak Najor have been playing together since their early days as part of San Diego group Motherlode and have gigged with artists including Inara George, Ozomatli and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. After a few years and word spread of the group around the world, it became clear that Greyboy was not interested in the touring life in the way that the others were. And so retaining the name and spirit, The Greyboy Allstars and DJ Greyboy moved in different physical directions.
“He’s our mentor from the beginning,” clarifies Robert Walter. “We continued on and developed a chemistry amongst ourselves outside of that, but we always had him in mind when making music.” The Allstars continued on outside its initial intentions, but ties were never completely severed. This is particularly so in the case of Elgin Park, who has continued to work with and produce DJ Greyboy on and off over the years. To this day, DJ Greyboy is still the trusted friend who will give the Allstars the most honest feedback, good or bad. And after almost a dozen years, it’s a role he officially assumed as a producer along with the band on What Happened to Television?. He made suggestions ranging from style to tempo to that intangible feel that makes music work. Sometimes the suggestions themselves are slightly intangible, too; a buoyant head-nod, or maybe a sincere smile.
“He’s the taste,” says Walter.
“He’s the ears,” echoes Park.
What Happened to Television? was written and recorded in about a week’s time. The creation process was lead by a somewhat unique self-imposed rule. “No one was allowed to bring any ideas that they had in. We had to sit down and all create together,” explains Park. Capturing the sounds when truly fresh could in part be viewed as a nod to the freedom of the band’s live sets. The album was recorded totally live without the use of computers. What few edits were made were done by the old-fashioned technique of cutting tape by hand.
But it was also a simple case of the music feeling good to everyone right away that allowed both the conception and the recording process to be so brief. “It could have gone either way,” says Walter. “It was possible that we’d go in there and not come up with anything and be sort of stuck with a bunch of material that wasn’t really developed. But it flowed along real good. It was much easier than we thought, and that way the music really is a product of the group rather than trying to perform somebody else’s song. We’re trying to be more composition minded and work on songwriting and song craft.” Even for these well-seasoned musicians, the catalytic force that seems to take hold when they collaborate with each other seems to pleasantly surprise them. Karl Denson puts this accelerated pace of creation into astonishing perspective. “What we did in one week would take me two months to do of the same quality in any other situation,” he reasons.
From the smoldering raw urgency of “Still Waiting” and the jaunty bounce of the title track, to the laid back West Coast shuffle of “Deck Shoes,” What Happened to Television? is much more than a pleasant distraction from the banality of the boob tube. “Old School Cylons” is a flat out homage to the purity of early rap jams and their funk antecedents, a breath of fresh air in contrast to stale mainstream hip-hop. “How Glad I Am” hearkens back to the ‘40’s sass of the Andrews Sisters, but instead the vocals are provided by the current harmonies of the Living Sisters, a group helmed by Blue Note Records artist Inara George (daughter of the late Lowell George and member of The Bird and the Bee). The finale is a rousing cover of the Kings’ classic “Give the Drummer Some,” highlighting all the members individually and collectively. DJ Greyboy even gets some as well, thanking the accolades with lively cuts and scratches of vinyl records. Elgin Park’s take on The Greyboy Allstars and its singular feel-good energy sums up a feeling that not only radiates amongst band members when they take time out of their individually busy schedules to work together. It also resonates with its diverse range of appreciators.
“It really is a musical vacation,” he says
But don’t just take his word for it.
Elgin Park (guitar, vocals)
Karl Denson (saxophone, flute, vocals, percussion)
Robert Walter (keyboards)
Chris Stillwell (bass, vocals)
Zak Najor (drums, percussion, vocals)
SHINOBI NINJA are the super group for the 21st century, composed of six colorful, vibrant New York City musicians and performers from different corners of the music world. “To put it simply, they are a walking, breathing and screaming cartoon: loud, colorful and full of enough energy to put nearly any other band to shame,” says New York’s Radio Exile. With their debut EP Brooklyn to Babylon and their own revolutionary video game Shinobi Ninja Attacks, the band is ready to bring the party to you, wherever you are!
Onstage and online, Shinobi Ninja have built themselves a devoted following, garnering much-deserved attention from notable sources such as Mergent Music Magazine, who proclaimed the band were “taking over the world, one sweaty rock circus at a time.” That conquest begins now with Brooklyn to Babylon, a high-energy collection of eight party-starting tracks that have already been concert-tested for maximum enjoyment. The band will take their breakthrough to a wider audience one step further with the upcoming release of their own video game app, Shinobi Ninja Attacks. Designed for the iPhone, users are invited to play as their favorite member of the band, journeying through a cartoon New York while select Shinobi tracks play in the background. “These days, a lot of people are more into interactive multimedia experiences than just listening to music,” says drummer Terminator Dave. “So, we found a way to get our music out to people and get them to interact with the band in an exciting new way.”
So far, the band has accomplished everything by staying true to their DIY work ethic. They’ve produced their own records. They’ve booked and promoted their own shows. And, like many of today’s up-and-coming groups, they’ve built a formidable web presence using social media platforms such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. “Up to this point, we’ve insisted on doing it all ourselves, all the way,” says Shinobi Ninja drummer Terminator Dave. This year they appeared on Fox 5’s FEARLESS MUSIC program, delivering unstoppable versions of “Brooklyn to Babylon” and “Nah Nah” live on-air. They’ve also built a reputation as one of New York’s most inspiring, dazzling live acts, winning over crowds at the CMJ and Afro Punk festivals.
It all started at Progressive Studios, a Hell’s Kitchen haven for local musicians, where lead singer DA and bassist Adriano Morez were working as producers and engineers. Across town, Terminator Dave and his twin brother, guitarist Maniac Mike were working with local turntablist DJ Axis in their band Wax Machine while refining their own production skills at their home studio. The two groups came together for the first time when Maniac Mike showed at Progressive to lay down guitar parts for a session. The final ingredient was Baby Girl, a regular at Progressive herself taking vocal lessons from Sugarhill Gang’s Craig Derry and checking in for solo sessions with DA. Mike and Dave discovered her incredible talent onstage during her appearance at SXSW 2008. “She was performing with Santigold at the festival,” remembers Dave, “Mike and I were completely blown away at what an amazing singer and dancer she was. We were bragging to everybody, ‘That’s our friend up there!’” Looking back on her introduction into the fold, Baby Girl recalls being equally impressed with her new band mates’ skills. “I knew DA was an amazing producer and singer, but I had no idea the rest of the band were so good at what they do,” she says. “Once I found out, I said, ‘Y’all are dope, let’s do this.’”
It wasn’t long before the musicians were partying together and fleshing out ideas for new music, sometimes crafting complete songs in a matter of hours. The tracks merged influences as diverse as Nirvana, Janet Jackson, Faith No More, Poison, Sublime, Metallica, Beastie Boys, and 311. “A lot of our sound comes from partying, it’s party music,” says Baby Girl. “But at the same time, it’s eclectic – it can appeal to all different audiences, and I think that’s the way it should be.” With this unbeatable group dynamic also came their unbeatable name. “The studio where we first recorded these tracks was my mom’s house,” says Dave, “which everybody thought looked like a ‘ninja house.’” DA, for one, was transported back to his childhood pastime of playing the classic Sega game Shinobi. The band had briefly considered naming themselves after one of their first tunes, “Brooklyn to Babylon,” but, as Dave says, “as soon as we told everybody we were Shinobi Ninja, they said, ‘That’s the f***ing best name I’ve ever heard!’” It stuck.
Their boundless energy and creativity has resulted in the band’s smashing debut EP, Brooklyn to Babylon, with tracks such as “Rock Hood.” The song was originally a solo track from DA, inspired by the King of Pop: “I was thinking of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana,’” he says, “and I just tried to write a song that was as good as that.” The resulting track is a funk-rock workout, embellished by scratches courtesy of DJ Axis, with an out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new attitude: “I could keep on talking but they just don’t get it/They wonder why I listen to the music I do/They’re old school so they really don’t know,” sings DA, half-crooning, half-rapping. “Brooklyn to Babylon” was also a formative moment for the band, which found the members working in an all-night session to assemble the bulk of this party-line call-to-arms – featuring nods to grunge, rap and reggae within the song’s first 30 seconds – in just one recording session. The instantly memorable chorus that begins the song can be seen as a playful statement of purpose for the band itself: “Daps to my homies mad love to my chicks/Hip-hop the Rock, I gotta get that fix.” Another standout is the Baby Girl showcase “Nah Nah,” again, a song written in a lightning-speed burst of inspiration between DA and the Baby Girl. “He encouraged me to make that beat myself,” says Baby Girl. “I didn’t think it was anything, but the rest of the band latched onto it and rocked it.” The song is a sassy shuffle, featuring Baby Girl’s seductive raps and the insistent, teasing refrain: “Nah Nah/You can’t get it/You can’t have it/You can’t grab it.”
“’Extra’ is our motto,” says Dave. “When we play, Mike will be head banging while he’s finger tapping on his guitar, and Adriano will be jumping off a six-foot amplifier right in front of the microphone to sing. We live for this, and we love what we do – and you can tell when you watch us play.” With their must-see live gigs, their party-in-a-box debut EP and interactive video game, Shinobi Ninja are always going the extra mile to make you part of the excitement. And you’ll find the band’s irresistible funky rock hooks, energetic performance style and fun loving attitude will make you want to join the revolution.
CHECK OUT: RECENT PRESS, RECENT SHOWS, AND DOWNLOAD THE EP!!
For further information, MP3s, JPGs, etc., contact:
Versa Manos – (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Michael Shane – (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Gorgeous PR
323 782 9000
For Booking: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
From here, Shinobi Ninja’s plan is to take over the world, one sweaty rock circus at a time!
As we turn the corner into 2010, we can’t help but look back on some great times in 2009 including our first headlining Red Rocks appearance, our debut performance on Mt. Fuji at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, our set at Rothbury and all of the amazing tour dates in between. And of course we wrapped it up in grand fashion with 5 amazing nights in Times Square in New York City. The energy in the Nokia was off the charts, which was fitting for the end of 2009, possibly the most supercharged year we have had all decade! We are excited to carry that momentum into 2010!
We are at home resting up for our trip out West to Colorado. These shows at the legendary Fox Theatre promise to be 4 incredible nights! Following the Fox, we are happy to announce the following tour dates in February, March and April.
From Brownie
First off, thanks for a great time last week. We appreciate the energy the crowd puts at us, it makes it so easy to put it back at the crowd. Happy Holidays to all.
We would like to point out a few things about the tour. Ultra! Here we come, Florida. Let’s rock it.
Some other notes: This will be our first time playing at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, and we hear it is a great venue! Another really interesting, cool, great sounding room is the Egg in Albany, NY. The venue holds less than 1000 people, so it will be a very intimate show for the area, and the building is an architectural wonder. If you’ve been to Albany, you’ve seen it. Check it out HERE . Our return to the House of Blues in Boston will blow up, we promise, and the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ is a beautiful venue in a really cool town just outside of NYC. My best friend from childhood just bought a huge house there, and he put hook ups for cable, water, and power in his driveway, hoping that we would eventually just move our bus into his driveway. Well, here we come, Nicky! Party at Nick’s place?
Four nights in sweet Virginia. Two nights at the National, one at the NorVa, and one in C-ville! Bring your speedos. (just kidding, please don’t). What else? Oh yeah, our now annual party at the 9:30 club on 4/20 will be heady. Very very heady. A long awaited return to NePa? For sure. Going to drop the heat on Wilkes Barre, that is, if you don’t mind. And then back to AC to lose all your fucking money. Good business plan, right? Go out and work for a few weeks, then bring the cash to AC and put it all on black.
At any rate, announcing shows is always really fun and exciting for me. It means that we all get to sit back for a day and imagine together the mayhem that is going to ensue. And ensue it will.
For the next few weeks it’s sit in the studio and make new music… But I think I may step into a portal to my empty head for a few days first.
Happy New Years my good friends.
Love,
Brownie
HERE ARE THE TOUR DATES
January 28, 29, 30 & 31
Fox Theatre -Boulder, CO
Sold Out!
Just Announced!
02.18 - Rams Head Live! -Baltimore, MD
02.19 - Lupo’s - Providence, RI
02.20 - Calvin Theatre - Northampton, MA
02.21 - Capitol Center for the Arts - Concord, NH
03.17 - Town Ballroom - Buffalo, NY
03.18 - The Egg Center For Performing Arts - Albany, NY
03.19 - House of Blues - Boston, MA
03.20 - Wellmont Theatre - Montclair, NJ
03.26 - Ultra Music Festival -Miami, FL
04.14 - Charleston Music Hall - Charleston, SC
04.15 - Lincoln Theatre - Raleigh, NC
04.16 - The National - Richmond, VA
04.17 - The National - Richmond, VA
04.18 - The NorVa - Norfolk, VA
04.20 - 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
04.21 - The Jefferson Theatre - Charlottesville, VA
04.22 - The Klein Memorial Auditorium - Bridgeport, CT
04.23 - Kirby Center For Performing Arts - Wilkes Barre, PA
04.24 - House of Blues - Atlantic City, NJ
04.25 - Webster Theatre - Hartford, CT
05.29 - Red Rocks - Morrison, CO
G. Love & Special Sauce will take on a full slate of winter dates early next year as the Philadelphia outfit continues supporting last year’s “Superhero Brother.” The road trip gets underway Feb. 3 in Oxford, MS, and crisscrosses the nation over two months’ time. The club and theater run will touch down in 40 cities through the April 3 conclusion in Austin, TX. Details are shown at right. G. Love & Special Sauce revealed “Superhero Brother,” the group’s 10th full-length album, in the summer of 2008. The Brushfire Records release peaked at No. 63 on The Billboard 200. G. Love—born Garrett Dutton III—began a supporting tour behind the set earlier this year after undergoing laser surgery last fall to repair a bleeding vein on his vocal cords. The procedure required the musician to take two months off from singing and go a week without talking at all. In September, the G. Love & Special Sauce unveiled “Long Way Down,” a 12-track set released exclusively in Australia. “We wanted to do a special release for Australia and include a number of different tunes that haven’t been released anywhere else,” the performer explained in a press release.
HERE ARE THE TOUR DATES
02.03.10 - The Lyric Oxford - Oxford , MS
02.04.10 - House of Blues - New Orleans , LA
02.05.10 - House of Blues - Dallas , TX
02.06.10 - The Warehouse - Houston , TX
02.09.10 - Orpheum Theater - Flagstaff , AZ
02.11.10 - The Marquee - Tempe , AZ
02.12.10 - House of Blues - San Diego , CA
02.13.10 - House of Blues - W. Hollywood , CA
02.14.10 - Downtown Brew - San Luis Obispo , CA
02.17.10 - Harlow’s - Sacramento , CA
02.18.10 - The Fillmore - San Francisco , CA
02.19.10 - The Catalyst - Santa Cruz , CA
02.20.10 - Harrah’s -Lake Tahoe , NV
02.21.10 - Mystic Theatre - Petaluma , CA
02.24.10 - Humboldt Brews - Arcata , CA
02.25.10 - WOW Hall - Eugene , OR
02.26.10 - Knitting Factory - Spokane , WA
02.27.10 - Knitting Factory - Boise , ID
03.05.10 - Turner Hall - Milwaukee , WI
03.06.10 - Barrymore Theatre - Madison , WI
03.07.10 - First Avenue - Minneapolis , MN
03.10.10 - House Of Blues - Cleveland , OH
03.11.10 - Intersection -Grand Rapids , MI
03.12.10 - Madison Theatre - Covington , KY
03.13.10 - The Pageant - St. Louis , MO
03.16.10 - Exit-In - Nashville , TN
03.17.10 - The Orange Peel - Asheville , NC
03.18.10 - Valarium - Knoxville , TN
03.19.10 - The Music Farm - Charleston, SC
03.20.10 - Amos’ Southend -Charlotte , NC
03.23.10 - The Handlebar - Greenville , SC
03.24.10 - Freebird Live - Jacksonville , FL
03.25.10 - Culture Room -Fort Lauderdale , FL
03.26.10 - The Ritz -Ybor City , FL
03.27.10 - House Of Blues - Lake Buena Vista , FL
03.29.10 - WorkPlay Theater - Birmingham , AL
03.31.10 - George’s Majestic Lounge - Fayetteville , AR
04.01.10 - Revolution Music Hall - Little Rock , AR
04.02.10 - Cain’s Ballroom -Tulsa , OK
04.03.10 - Antone’s - Austin , TX
Happy New Year Stoopidheads! To properly ring in 2010, we have added some shows in February. All shows go on sale this SATURDAY 1/9 , and we will be announcing a support act soon. Check out the tour dates below!
Slightly Stoopid’s Winter 2010 Tour is going on sale today at 10:00am PST. Ticket links & Facebook Event info can be found below. RSVP and let us know you are getting Stoopid this Winter! Hope to rage with you all in February. More info such as support coming soon.
For the next two weeks, I wanted to offer my friends the opportunity for a two for one Christmas present for the New Music Seminar, less than 36 hours after the Grammys in Los Angeles on February 2nd with our opening Night Party the evening of Monday February 1st. With NARAS being one of our partners this year, it should be a great event. We are also searching for the best Artists who are doing it on their own and have a contest in which an Artist can win a lot of money in prizes, promotion and other ways take their career to the next level, so please pass the below information over to any artists you feel might be a possible candidate. The submission deadline is December 22nd and a press release is attached to tell you more about the contest.
2 for 1 registrations. Go to http://www.NewMusicSeminar.Biz and write in code NMSLA2 into Google checkout and give one away as a Christmas Present
Contest to win over $25,000 in prizes for the Artist on the Verge Contest. Artists will be given a travel allotment of $2000 each for the top 3 Artists chosen to attend the New Music Seminar. Go to http://www.ourstage.com/go/artistsontheverge
—————————
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Pam Workman
WE + PR (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
646 351 6700
THE NEW MUSIC SEMINAR AND OURSTAGE.COM ANNOUNCE THE ARTIST ON THE VERGE WINTER NEW ARTIST SEARCH
Aspiring Artists - Enter to Win the Opportunity of a Lifetime
December 10th, 2009, New York, NY – The New Music Seminar (NMS) and OurStage.com announce the “Artists on the Verge” Winter New Artist Search. Enter to win this once in a lifetime opportunity aimed to help break aspiring artists’ careers in the music industry though direct exposure and personal mentoring from some of the most influential and connected industry leaders of the new music business. The winner will also receive a special prize musical package including free musical equipment, video promotion, publicity services, legal work, CD pressing and much more.
Entries are open to all unsigned artists in the Urban, Rock or Pop genres, and will be accepted until December 22nd, 2009 at http://bit.ly/TheVerge
Ten Finalists - A Judge Panel consisting of music industry leaders will select ten finalists from the top 20 ranked artists from each of the “Artists on the Verge” OurStage Channels. These ten finalists will have their A&R promotional packages and EPKs delivered to 20 top record labels in North America for consideration.
Top Three Finalists - The top three finalists will be awarded travel funds and passes to Los Angeles to attend the New Music Seminar on February 2nd, 2010 following the Grammy Awards. The three finalists will each receive a live mentoring and critique session by industry experts (led by superstar artists, producers, radio programmers, and bloggers) in front of the NMS audience.
Grand Prize Winner -The One Grand Prize Winner will be chosen at NMS to perform at the NMS After Party and will receive a comprehensive music consultation package that will include special music prizes, services and offerings from some of the smartest and most connected leaders of the new music business. (See full details below)
“Last year 105,000 albums were released but sadly, less than 50 artists doing it themselves broke 10,000 album sales for the first time. The New Music Seminar along with OurStage is dedicated to helping new artists learn how to ‘cut through the noise floor’. This contest will provide the opportunity and the right tools for the most talented new artists to break in the new music business,” explains NMS Founder Tom Silverman.
“We are thrilled to partner with the such an important program such as ‘The New Music Seminar’ and to help deserving emerging artists increase their exposure and improve their craft,” shares Ben Campbell, CEO of OurStage. “OurStage is in the business of delivering life-altering opportunities for worthy artists – so this is really exciting for OurStage and our whole community.”
The Grand Prize Winner Package will include:
* Travel funds to attend New Music Seminar in LA
* New Music Seminar attendance
* Mentoring & Consulting
* Tom Jackson – The Premier Live Performance Producer and Consultant
* Tom Silverman – Founder of Tommy Boy and the New Music Seminar
* Dave Lory – Manager and Touring Expert
* Martin Atkins – Author of Tour:Smart – expert on touring and the live experience
* Linda Lorence Critelli - Free 1 hour consultation with SESAC on “The business of songwriting and music publishing”
* Pam Workman – Founder/Owner of WE + PR and Public Relations, in-depth PR consultation and strategy session
* Joe Serling - Serling, Rooks, Ferrara, McKoy & Worob LLP - $5000 worth of billable time for legal work and consultation
* Music Business Toolbox
* Tour:Smart book – Signed by Martin Atkins
* Music Success in 9 Weeks book – Signed by Ariel Hyatt
* Musician’s Atlas Subscription
* Trendrr Pro Gold subscription
* Broadjam Subscription – One year to receive opportunities to get
* your music used in TV and Films
* Canadian Music Week – 2 Tickets to the convention in Toronto, March 2010
* New Music Seminar Guidebook
• Exposure
* A&R package critiqued at NMS by industry experts
* Performance at the New Music Seminar immediately after the final panel
* MySpace promotion
* Yahoo! Music – Exclusive front page video debut for your next video
* Pandora targeted ad campaign
* OurStage Feature
* WE + PR campaign to promote winner
* Ariel Hyatt PR Blog Campaign
* Corey Denis Cyber PR Social Network Makeover
* A&R Package sent by NMS to top A&R execs in North America (top 10 semi finalists)
* Monetize
* Sabian Cymbals
* Guitar Center $1000 Gift Certificate
* Rainbo Records1000 CD’s manufactured
* Mozes Connect Subscription
* Ross-Ellis 500 deluxe vinyl jackets (packaging only)
About The New Music Seminar
From the co-founder and director of the original legendary New Music Seminar comes a conference for the Next Music Business. Artists have never had so much power to control their own careers and build their success. This affordable, one-day event gives artists and their representatives the knowledge, tools and connections to step into the tomorrows music business today. Delegates get an intense program including a keynote speech and four Movements with an incisive curriculum redefining the music business from the artists’ perspective. Delegates all receive the New Music Business Guidebook filled with important do’s and don’ts by the experts, tips, information, forms and essential websites and blogs. The NMS Schmoozatorium will have important exhibits by companies to help artists with their careers and amazing networking opportunities
About OurStage
OurStage is emerging as one of the hottest new-music discovery platforms on the web. On OurStage, artists, fans and industry professionals all come together – to discover, judge, & enjoy the best new music and the best new artists online – as ranked by the fans. Top-ranked artists receive significant career-building promotion and support from famous artists, fans, industry professionals and a broad assortment of partners, including MTV2, ABC Radio, Radio-One, AOL Music, Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot, PLUG Awards, Newport Folk Festival, JVC Jazz Festival Newport, Paste Magazine, CMJ, Noise Pop, and many others. Founded in 2007, OurStage delivers music and related content to more than 4 million fans in over 140 countries each month. http://www.ourstage.com
Tap Tap Revenge 3 is launching FREE NOW with Infected Mushroom music! We’ve teamed up with Tapulous to bring you the best music-gaming experience of your life. You can listen to our music and play it on the newest game - Tap Tap Revenge 3! Tap along with your favorite Infected Mushroom songs! The all new Tap Tap Revenge 3 features enhanced gameplay, custom themes, and over 200 free songs! Challenge your friends, or anyone around the world through the online gaming arena with bombs and weapons, customizable avatars, integrated chat and even more new features. Get it now on iTunes!
Brett Dennen Partners With Livestream To Broadcast Special New Year’s Eve Show With ALO and Local Musicians
Brett chats with fans during a live Q+A Session on December 30th
Bay-Area native Brett Dennen has partnered with Livestream to broadcast an exclusive New Year’s Eve performance at the Fox Theater in Oakland presented by Life is good and Another Planet Entertainment. “Starting December 31th at 8:30PM PST, fans can tune in to Brett’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/brettdennen), Website (http://www.brettdennen.net), or Livestream (http://www.livestream.com/brettdennenalolive) to view the broadcast.” Joining Brett are Brushfire Recording artist and neighbors ALO, plus several local musicians at a party destined to be the Bay-Area kick-off to 2010.
To kickoff this special New Years Eve performance, Brett will also interact with his fans on Livestream, with a special Q+A session from his rehearsals on December 30th at 3PM PST. The performance at the newly renovated theater marks Brett’s first local headline since selling out two nights at the legendary Fillmore. He also recently engaged thousands at the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in Golden Gate Park and supported Jason Mraz for a sold out show at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre.
This show completes a highly successful year for Brett supporting his most recent release Hope For The Hopeless, which appropriately begins with Bay-Area homage “San Francisco”. Closing the year with a broadcast presented by Life is good makes perfect sense. Brett’s 54-city winter-spring tour was featured Life is good as a partner, and both Brett and ALO played for tens of thousands at Life is good Festivals in Boston, St. Louis and San Francisco in the summer and fall. Their vocal support for the Life is good Kids Foundation throughout the year helped this nonprofit raise over $900,000 in 2009 for children facing life-threatening conditions.
With Livestream as the exclusive streaming provider, the player for the webcast can be embedded anywhere. Integration with Facebook and Twitter allows viewers to engage in an online conversation with other fans and the band. The performance will also be encoded for the iPhone, making the broadcast accessible to over a million iPhone users with a 3G wireless connection at http://iphone.livestream.com/brettdennenalolive
The 6’4, free-spirited, former camp counselor is an unlikely front-man but his captivating performances and narrative rich lyrics, have gained him notice. Last Call with Carson Daly dedicated an entire show to Brett’s music on November 23rd and Rolling Stone named Brett an “Artist to Watch in 2008.”
Since the release of Hope for The Hopeless in October 2008, he has performed on The Late Show with Dave Letterman, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Good Morning America Weekend, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O¹Brien, CBS Saturday Early Show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Dennen¹s most recent album, Hope For The Hopeless (Dualtone/Downtown Records) debuted as the #4 Independent Album, the #6 Digital Album and at #41 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. The first single, ³Make You Crazy² features Femi Kuti, became a Top Five hit at AAA Radio and was accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek music video featuring Mandy Moore in an ironic take on ³trends² as seen on VH1.
About ALO:
A “little bit of funk, a little bit of pop, a lot of energy and a big dollop of dance-worthy music” is how San Diego Magazine describes this California collective. This February, ALO will release Man of the World which was recorded almost entirely live. Man of the World was produced by longtime friend and musical collaborator Jack Johnson and is the cohesive sound of four players who have truly found their groove together. ALO are favorites among the live music scene and will be touring extensively in 2010. For more information, please visit http://www.alomusic.com.
About Livestream:
Livestream (http://www.livestream.comhttp://www.livestream.com - formerly Mogulus) provides everything needed to easily webcast live, build an engaged audience and monetize these efforts. Founded in 2007, the company is based in New York and includes Gannett Co. as a minority shareholder and investor.
Producers can use Livestream to create live, linear and on-demand Internet television to broadcast anywhere on the Web through a single embeddable player widget. The service comes in two flavors: Free (ad-supported) and Premium (ad-free, white-label, higher-quality). Unique features include the ability to mix multiple live cameras, overlay graphics, and desktop streaming with 3D effects.
About The Life is good Company:
Life is good®, based in Boston, MA, spreads good vibes through its colorful collection of apparel and accessories, and the contagious grin of Jake, its optimistic cultural hero. For more information on Life is good®, please visit http://www.lifeisgood.com
Preparations for the 2010 Desert Rocks Music Festival (DRMF) have begun! Many great events have unfolded since the 2009 festival that promise to help make 2010 our best year yet. PCTV has created two television episodes based on the 2009 festival, DRMF has opened a classy new warehouse venue/showroom in Salt Lake City, the Desert Rocks bus is doing promotional tours, our talent buyer has created an indie music blog called Lux Illuminates http://www.luxilluminates.com, our family band Wisebird has been signed by a national booking agency, and there is a larger “buzz” about the festival than ever before.
2010 Desert Rocks tickets are on-sale now. The Desert Rocks New Years Special Tickets are the perfect gift for the holidays. Ticket prices are $65 for a regular festival pass and $295 for the all access VIP pass. Buy your friends, family members, or significant others a festival experience they will never forget. The sale goes now through January 1st. Purchase your tickets today at www.desertrocks.org/tickets. 2010 tickets will be shipped via certified mail.
With an extensive discography under their belts, the Disco Biscuits are back with the Widgets EP and a new full-length album due next year. The new video for the single “You and I” can be found below.
Ese Locos!! We hope you enjoyed your FREE DOWNLOAD stocking stuffer from Slightly Stoopid. We realize that you probably have most of the tracks on the sampler, but that your friends may not. In the spirit of the holiday season we encourage you to give the gift that keeps giving to all your friends, family, loved ones, even not so loved ones, and share the Stoopid Holidaze sampler with as many of your friends as possible!
Pass the joint through all of your social networks starting with Facebook. Join the FACEBOOK EVENT and invite all of your friends to experience the Holidaze Sampler as well. Also, be sure and let everyone know through TWITTER by using this short link: http://bit.ly/StoopidHolidaze
Thanks for spreading the holiday cheer!! We hope you are all looking forward to the Christmas break!
When The Disco Biscuits formed in Philadelphia in 1995, they introduced a pioneering blend of electronic and jam band elements. Since then, they’ve steadily cultivated a rabid fan base and have spawned an entire movement. Today the Biscuits are able to sell over a quarter of a million tickets in a year and have founded uber-successful summer music festival, Camp Bisco. But rather than remaining within their comfort zone, the band has forged ahead and introduced new ingredients to the beloved Bisco sound.
This Fall, the Biscuits gave a sneak peak of the highly eclectic new material with two EP’s, On Time and Widgets. On February 2, 2010 their latest chapter is fully realized in the form of their new album, Planet Anthem, on Diamond Riggs Records. Planet Anthem is the product of three fruitful years of labor, during which The Disco Biscuits absorbed everything from hip hop to pop to indie rock into their sound. The band collaborated for the first time with multiple producers, songwriters, and outside musicians, including Don Cheegro and Dirty Harry (Ludacris, Chris Brown, Beanie Sigel).
While the album still bears the signature Bisco sound, it also broadens the group’s palette and contains a mountain of meaty hooks. “You and I” is a pogo-inducing rocker with slightly sinister guitar riffs and a monster, arena-ready chorus. “On Time” is a breezy, electro-flavored anthem that is poised to slip into clubs across the country.
The Disco Biscuits have always attracted a diverse audience and their broad taste is reflected by the lineup of their Camp Bisco music festival each year. The past eight years have included performances by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, and fellow DFA artists Holy Ghost!, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dog, Kid Cudi, MSTRKRFT, Chromeo, and many more.
DIVIDED BY NIGHT HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR BEST ELECTRONIC ALBUM OF 2009!
“For its first studio album in five years, the Crystal Method — electronic savants Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland — has drawn up a predictably eclectic guest list, ranging from New Order bassist Peter Hook to rising hip-hoppers LMFAO. The result is a club-ready collection of fizzy dance tracks and atmospheric reveries, from the Eastern-flavored single ‘Drown in the Now,’ featuring Matisyahu, to the dreamy, percolating ‘Slipstream,’ with indie rocker Jason Lytle.” —Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY, May 12, 2009
“...big, heavy beats, pumping bass and layers of wavy synthesizers…Like the duo’s previous three albums, it’s sly, nuanced and hypnotic, and while at times it may work best turned up to a wall-rattling 10 at a packed club with slashing laser lights and smoky vapors, it’s a pretty good listening experience, too, with pop tunes and ballads rounding out the collection. While it retains the pulsing pull-through and anesthetizing repetition of the best rave music, the Crystal Method’s evolving form of big-beat electronica is characterized by tempo shifts, tranquil interludes and sparks of humor, a style Messrs.”—Jim Fusilli, WALL STREET JOURNAL, May 20, 2009
THE CRYSTAL METHOD, America’s top electronic act, is closing an impressive 2009 with a Grammy® nomination in the “Best Electronic/Dance Album” category for DIVIDED BY NIGHT, the fourth studio album from the duo of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland. This year’s nomination marks THE CRYSTAL METHOD’s second running in this category; their release Legion of Boom was nominated in 2004. Easily its most inventive and accomplished to date, Divided By Night is THE CRYSTAL METHOD’s masterwork. It features a vast array of guests including vocalists Emily Haines of Metric, Justin Warfield of She Wants Revenge and his wife Stefanie King Warfield, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, rappers LMFAO plus players like bassist Peter Hook (New Order) and drummer extraordinaire Samantha Maloney (Peaches, Hole, Chelsea Girls).
Up against several major label offerings, including David Guetta’s One Love (Astralwerks/EMI), Lady Gaga’s The Fame (Interscope), LMFAO’s Party Rock(Interscope) and Pet Shop Boys’ Yes (Astralwerks/EMI), Divided By Night marks the only independent release nominated in the “Best Electronic/Dance Album” category. Released on May 12 on the duo’s independent imprint Tiny E Records, Divided By Night has seen major success across the music landscape. It debuted across the Billboard charts: #39 on the Top 200 Albums; #2 on the Top Electronic Albums; #3 on the Top Digital Albums; and #4 on the Top Independent Albums. Additionally, Divided By Night landed several slots on Amazon.com’s best-of list for 2009, including Best Albums of the Year (#79); Best Song of the Year for “Drown in the Now” (#46); and Best Electronic Album (#3).
“We are just ecstatic! Two albums in a row nominated, wow!,” said Jordan of the nomination. “I just wish our albums didn’t come five years apart. Congrats to all the nominees and we can’t wait to dress up on January 31st.” Adds partner Kirkland, “We are so excited! It’s truly an honor to be nominated again. Make sure to check out the album.”
The recent Grammy® announcement serves as the icing on the cake for what has been one of the busiest years for THE CRYSTAL METHOD to date. Operating as an independent entity to promote the album, THE CRYSTAL METHOD launched an all-out marketing campaign helmed first-handedly byKirkland and Jordan with independent teams and strategies arranged directly by the duo. Following several high-profile performances at SXSW, THE CRYSTAL METHOD kicked off an extensive live tour at this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival as the headlining act at the popular Sahara tent on Friday, April 17, marking the duo’s first official tour as a live act in five years. They followed Coachella with a mind-blowing live performance at Electric Daisy Carnival on Saturday, June 27 in Los Angeles, where they played one of the largest single-day attended music festivals in the U.S. with over 90,000 fans in attendance.
In addition to several music video premieres and cross-promotional campaigns, including a remix contest for the most recent single “Come Back Clean” in conjunction with the music-based social network Indaba Music, THE CRYSTAL METHOD also launched their first-ever customized iPhone/iPod app to help fans interact with the duo and one another. Additionally, THE CRYSTAL METHOD recently provided the score for the ESPN film X Games 3D: The Movie, where the duo’s various works were featured throughout the film including original tracks and reworked versions of material from Divided By Night, as well as from their earlier records. The DVD version of the film will be released in the first week of January 2010.
Prior to Grammy® night, THE CRYSTAL METHOD will DJ at select engagements in support of Divided By Night which includes stops at Epic in Minneapolis,MN on Friday, December 4; Belly Up in Aspen, CO on Wednesday, December 30; and the Fox Theater in Pomona, CA. on Wednesday, December 16.
ALO REVEALS MAN OF THE WORLD ON FEBRUARY 9 AND TOURS THE WEST COAST
New Album From Brushfire Records Produced By Jack Johnson
On February 9, 2010 Brushfire Recording Artist ALO will release Man of the World. The 11-song collection captures the sound of ALO flexing their considerable creative powers to craft their finest album yet and is the sound of four players who have truly found their groove together. On Man of the World, the band strips down to their most organic and pure to create a tight, cohesive and energetic album.
Man of the World was engineered by the band’s frequent studio partner Dave Simon-Baker and produced by musical collaborator and longtime friend, Jack Johnson. “Jack functioned like a fifth member of the band,” says keyboardist Zach Gill. “At times, Jack was involved in everything from lyric writing to tambourine playing.” Adds Dan Lebowitz, ALO’s guitarist, “Most of us in the band have been playing together since we were 13 and over the years we’ve fallen into patterns. Jack shook things up in a really great way and got us to rethink how we record our music.”
For Man of the World, the band abandoned the traditional studio recording approach to build songs up track by track. ALO went for a raw, more organic route, recording as a group and letting their instruments bleed into each other. “I’ve always felt that you can hear the difference in recordings made this way,” says Gill. “You actually get to hear the sound of people in a room making something together.” Recording at Jack’s studio on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii also lent to the natural feel of the album. “Hawaii feels very pure and laid-back,” recalls drummer Dave Brogan, “it’s an easy place to get centered and feel inspired.”
Songs that sprang out of the band’s new recording approach span the sonic spectrum in classic ALO fashion. The album’s lead track “Suspended,” was recorded live in one take and exemplifies the musical freedom of the project. “Recording it was like an exhale” says Gill of the seven-minute anthem. Adds bassist Steve Adams, “on the last note we all looked up and smiled knowing we’d just recorded something very cool and special.” The album also features “Big Appetite,” a warm-hearted track with a probing message centered around a slow-burning groove and pedal steel accents, and “Man of the World,” a raw and simple rock ‘n’ roll stomp. “I Love Music,” already well loved by live audiences, and “Time and Heat,” which is considered a rare cult favorite, are included as well.
ALO thrives in the live environment and can’t wait to get out on the road to share the tracks from Man of the World with old and new fans. “We are the eternal tinkerers,” reflects Lebo. “There is no way that these songs will stay the same for long.” West coast fans will have the first opportunity to see the new songs live when ALO rings in the New Year in Oakland, CA with Brett Dennen and SambaDa. Continuing in the holiday spirit of giving, ALO will be setting out on their fourth annual Tour d’Amour on February 10-21. A portion of proceeds from the Tour d’Amour will be donated to Bay Area-based Music in Schools Today, a non-profit organization that supports music education for over 10,000 youth annually. ALO then joins Galactic for select dates through the end of the month.
ALO New Year’s Show with Brett Dennen and SambaDa:
12/31/2010 Oakland, CA — The Fox Theater
ALO Tour d’Amour IV itinerary:
2/10/2010 Long Beach, CA — Fingerprints Record Store
2/11/2010 Solana Beach, CA — Belly Up Tavern
2/12/2010 Hermosa Beach, CA — Saint Rocke
2/13/2010 West Hollywood, CA — Troubadour
2/14/2010 Santa Barbara, CA — Soho Restaurant & Music Club
2/18/2010 Santa Cruz, CA — Moe’s Alley
2/19/2010 Crystal Bay, NV — The Crystal Bay Club/Crown Room
2/21/2010 Arcata, CA — Humboldt Brews
ALO on tour with Galactic itinerary:
2/24/2010 Bellingham, WA — The Nightlight
2/25/2010 Whistler, BC — Whistler Live! (Vancouver 2010 Olympics)
2/26/2010 Seattle, WA — Showbox
2/27/2010 Portland, OR — Roseland Theater http://www.alomusic.com
The Wailers have announced their tour plans for the new year, as well as a New Years Eve show at the House of Blues in Lake Buena Vista, FL. For more information and tickets please visit The Wailers site. Tour dates are listed below
The Wailers have announced their tour plans for the new year, as well as a New Years Eve show at the House of Blues in Lake Buena Vista, FL. For more information and tickets please visit The Wailers site. Tour dates are listed below
12.29.09 | House of Blues | Columbia, SC
12.31.09 | House of Blues | Lake Buena Vista, FL
01.01.10 | The Masquerade | Atlanta, GA
01.02.10 | Carolina Theatre | Greensboro, NC
01.06.10 | Scout Bar | San Antonio, TX
01.07.10 | House of Rock | Corpus Christi, TX
01.08.10 | Antone’s | Austin, TX
01.09.10 | House of Blues | Houston, TX
01.10.10 | House of Blues | Dallas, TX
01.12.10 | Sheridan Opera House | Telluride, CO
01.13.10 | Budlight Street Beat | Vail, CO
01.14.10 | Ski Jam | Steamboat Springs, CO
01.15.10 | Ogden Theater | Denver, CO
01.16.10 | The Fox Theatre | Boulder, CO
01.17.10 | The Belly Up | Aspen, CO
01.18.10 | The Belly Up | Aspen, CO
Stoopid will be smoking out intimate venues across the U.S. for a brief tour before heading to Amsterdam! Special guests The Aggrolites will support most shows throughout the tour. For more information and to purchase tickets CLICK HERE.
Stoopid will be smoking out intimate venues across the U.S. for a brief tour before heading to Amsterdam! Special guests The Aggrolites will support most shows throughout the tour. For more information and to purchase tickets CLICK HERE.
11.10.09 | Belly Up | Aspen, CO
11.11.09 | Ogden Theatre | Denver, CO
11.12.09 | Sokol Auditorium | Omaha, NE
11.13.09 | Liberty Hall | Lawrence, KS
11.14.09 | The Rave | Milwaukee, WI
11.17.09 | Newport Music | Columbus, OH
11.18.09 | House of Blues | Cleveland, OH
11.19.09 | Terminal 5 | New York, NY
11.20.09 | Lupo’s Heartbreak | Providence, RI
11.21.09 | Borgata Events Center | Atlantic City, NJ
Lubriphonic is one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Chicago in ages, incorporating elements of funk, hard soul, and rock into a live show that leaves audiences breathless. The band is the brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Giles Corey and drummer Rick King, and began with a residency at Chicago’s legendary Checkerboard Lounge. They recruited some of the best blues, funk, and rock musicians in the city for these raucous sessions. The result fuses roots music with explosive rock’n’roll and sensuous old-school dance music—part Stones, part Funkadelic, and part Otis Redding.
Lubriphonic’s latest releases, “Soul Solution” (2008) and “Lubriphonic Live” (2008), have been featured in Jambase, Hittin’ The Note, and Relix Magazine (where the band was picked as an “On The Verge” artist and included in two of their CD samplers). Lubriphonic has been actively touring the Midwest and Rocky Mountain areas to rave reviews, as well as opening for acts as diverse as George Clinton, Derek Trucks, The Greyboy Allstars, Panjea w/ Michael Kang and PBS W/ Kyle Hollingsworth.
With a starring cast of six musicians (including a full horn section), Lubriphonic has a busy tour schedule for the rest of 2009, with runs through the Midwest and West Coast in the summer, and jaunts to the East Coast and Southeast this fall. The band has been invited to play the High Sierra Music estival, Taste Of Chicago, The Telluride Blues and Brews & others. While on tour, Lubriphonic is also recording tracks for it’s next release, “The Gig Is On”
August 15 - Shepherd Blues Festival - Shepherd, MI
August 20 - The GAP store - Maryville, IN
August 21 - Navy Pier Beer Garden - Chicago, Ill
August 22 - Billy’s Lounge - Grand Rapids, MI
August 23 - Private Party - Chicago, Ill
August 28 - Cubby Bear Chicago - Chicago, Ill
August 29 - Round Barn Winery - Baroda, MI
September 4 - Zeno’s - State College, PA
September 5 - Blinkin Lincoln - Philadelphia, PA
September 6 - Laughing Water Festival - Harrisburg, PA
September 8 - Vasser College - Poughkeepsie, NY
September 9 - Hamden Sydney College - Hamden Sydney, VA
September 11- Moe’s Irish Pub - Milwaukee, WI
September 12 - Moe’s Irish Pub - Wauwatosa, WI
September 17 - The Steam Plant” Salida, CO
September 18 - Alma’s Only Bar - Alma, CO
September 19 - Telluride Blues & Brews Festival - Telluride, CO
September 21 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT
September 23 - Memorial Park - Albany, CA
September 24 - Marilyn’s On K - Sacramento, CA
September 25 - Connecticut Yankee - San Francisco, CA
September 26 - 19 Broadway - Fairfax, CA
October 3 - This Must Be The Place - Lemont, IL
October 11 - Riverview Music and Arts Fest - Elgin, IL
October 23-25 - Eastwinds Music festival - New Delhi, India
November 6 - Iowa City Yacht Club - Iowa City, IA
December 18 - Upfront & Company - Marquette, MI
December 19 - Upfront & Company - Marquette, MI
THE CRYSTAL METHOD — now on the second leg of their tour for DIVIDED BY NIGHT (Tiny E music)—have just announced “Come Back Clean” as the second single from the album. The hook-injected track features Emily Haines of Metric on vocals and drummer extraordinaire Samantha Maloney (Hole, Motley Crue, Peaches, Chelsea Girls) providing extra beats. The track will first be launched at dance radio with a brand new Kaskade remix during the second week of September following the bands first U.K. festival performances at Leeds August 29 and Reading August 30, plus other European appearances.
To support the new single, the duo of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland has teamed with Indaba Music for a remix contest. The Crystal Method will be utilizing the Indaba Music platform to make the stems for the song available for Indaba Music’s community of more than 175,000 musicians to rework and remix the track into new versions. Entrants will be able to sign up at http://www.indabamusic.com/featured_programs/show/tcm from August 11 through September 8, during which time they will be able to download the stems and submit their unique version of “Come Back Clean” to the Indaba Music website. Entrants will be able to use Indaba Music’s new online music creation software, the Indaba Session Console 2.0, or their own music software to create their remix, and will be given a personalized widget to spread their submission across the Internet.
After the submission period ends, voting will take place between September 8 and September 22. The top ten popular submissions, as determined by public voting on the site, will receive an autographed copy of Divided By Night. The Crystal Method will also choose a winner to receive a mini Korg synthesizer. Two runners-up each will receive Skull Candy skate decks and Skull candy headphone sets.
The Crystal Method recently shot a video for “Come Back Clean” in Los Angeles directed by Alexandre Moorse who also directed Divided By Night’s critically acclaimed video for “Drown In The Now” with Matisyahu. It features Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland as NYC cab drivers with loads of different girls and crazy people hopping in and out of the back of their cabs, singing the track, making out, fighting—all kinds of madness. The song’s Samantha Maloney appears in the video which will be available in the coming weeks.
In other happenings, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland performed a DJ set at the premiere of the new ESPN film X Games 3D: The Movie at the NOKIA Theatre last Thursday, July 30. They DJ’d the event celebrating the film that’s due in 3D theatres across the country August 21. The electronic music duo’s various works are featured throughout the film and includes reworked versions of material from Divided By Night, as well as from their earlier records. Photos of The Crystal Method at the premiere of X Games 3D: The Movie and from the set of the video of “Come Back Clean” can be found HERE
We are excited to release our second full-length album “Bright Side of Life” today. It will be available for the first time in record shops around the United States and digital downloads will be available worldwide. This will be our first release in the past three years and the first ever on our own label 87 Music in partnership with Controlled Substance Sound Labs, Silverback Music and Raise Up Music. You can click the below links for your purchasing preference. We have a wicked bundle package going.
Coming off of our biggest Camp Bisco yet, we are so grateful to have such a great fan-base. Our fans were absolutely amazing at Camp! Standing in a foot of mud, having the time of their lives, while we laid it all out on the table for them. It was truly a circle of energy and we could not be more humbled by the reception we have received in 2009. All we can say is thank you, thank you, thank you! With Fuji Rock Japan behind us and Summer Tour 2009 in the bag, we look forward to the Fall, one where we’ll begin to roll out our newest release, in a series of EPs, leading up to the new full album, Planet Anthem, which will be available in January 2010. The highly anticipated roll out of new tracks has already begun, with the introduction of “Konkrete” at Camp Bisco and the live debut of “You and I” on the Road to Camp Bisco Tour. It will continue straight through the Fall, as the Biscuits shake up the industry with a plan to release songs from the new album in clusters on 3 EP’s planned for fall release. These pristine, studio quality, multi-media digital packages will include singles, remixes, and music videos. The first is due out in September and will be available through the website, on tour, online, and as a limited edition retail package. The next two will have similar content and will be released throughout the fall…in 6 week increments! The mystery surrounding Planet Anthem will slowly, but surely, be solved as the fall rolls on! As a show of appreciation for our fans, we are now offering a free download of both Konkrete and You and I for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!!
What would a roll out of songs be without a roll out of shows! We are starting our fall tour at our old haunt… the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ on Sept 12 and 13th. From there we fly down to Texas, by way of Fayetteville, where we meet the bus for the beginning of four weekends of road dogging it. The first weekend we play the Palladium in Dallas (Sept. 18) and Stubbs in Austin (Sept 19), our long awaited headlining performance in the music capital of the world! From there we have weekends at the Tabernacle in Atlanta and the Tennessee Theater in Knoxville (Sept 25-26) with special guests Infected Mushroom, TWO NIGHTS at the 9:30 Club (Oct. 2-3), and TWO NIGHTS at the Calvin Theater to end the first leg of the tour (Oct 9-10). We didn’t forget about the West Coast or the Midwest, don’t you worry! As previously announced, our Halloween Bash will take place at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago! We are excited to take on the Auditorium, we have heard it is an unbelievable venue. The bill will be insane. We will be joined by our friends The Glitch Mob, Holy Fuck and Orchard Lounge. With returns to Minneapolis, Madison, and Urbana, and a first time play in Kalamazoo, MI, the Midwest run is sure to be as crazy as always! And two weeks later, we head out to California for a trip highlighted by a TWO NIGHT RUN at The Fillmore in San Francisco on November 20-21! We are ready to bring it back home to Santa Cruz, LA, and San Diego. We are excited to get back out there and play those shows, finally! Of course we are just as excited to get back to Fayetteville, Oxford, Tuscaloosa, Nashville, Charlotte, Richmond, State College, Burlington, and Hampton Beach so don’t feel left out! We like to rage the midweek shows even harder than the weekends! We are joined by many incredible bands at most of these shows so check the dates for specific information on who will be sharing the stage with us this Fall! Presale for all shows will be at Noon Eastern on Monday, August 2nd. See you out on tour. - The Disco Biscuits
The current list of confirmed Disco Biscuits tour dates is as follows:
09.12 - Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ
09.13 - Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ
09.17 - George’s Majestic - Fayetteville, AR
09.18 - Palladium Ballroom - Dallas, TX
09.19 - Stubb’s - Austin, TX
09.22 - Jupiter’s - Tuscaloosa, AL
09.23 - The Lyric Theatre - Oxford, MS
09.24 - Venue TBA - Nashville, TN
09.25 - The Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
09.26 - Tennessee Theatre - Knoxville, TN
09.27 - The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC
09.30 - Legend’s Music Hall - Boone, NC
10.01 - The National - Richmond, VA
10.02 - 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
10.03 - 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
10.04 - The State Theatre - State College, PA
10.07 - Higher Ground - Burlington, VT
10.08 - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom - Hampton Beach, NH
10.09 - Calvin Theatre - Northampton, MA
10.10 - Calvin Theatre - Northampton, MA
10.28 - Kalamazoo State Theatre - Kalamazoo, MI
10.29 - Wisconsin Union Theater - Madison, WI
10.30 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
10.31 - Auditorium Theatre - Chicago, IL
11.01 - The Canopy Club - Urbana, IL
11.18 - Wave House San Diego - San Diego, CA
11.19 - House of Blues - Los Angeles, CA
11.20 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
11.21 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
11.22 - The Catalyst - Santa Cruz, CA
12.10-14 - Caribbean Holidaze - Runaway Bay, Jamaica
With distinctive and dynamic vocal artistry, unique and original songwriting skills and wide range of influences and inspirations, Jennie Laws has emerged as a beautiful and brilliantly talented new arrival on the cutting edge of today’s music.
Yet for all her extraordinary gifts, the Toronto-born singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist is perhaps most notable for her ability to bring it all together in one accessible and appealing package. Small wonder word of mouth has been spreading steadily since Jennie Laws first began recording and performing, both in her hometown and for a growing fan base from New York to Los Angeles and beyond.
It’s a buzz that’s about to grow a lot louder with the release of her debut EP. Featuring such Laws originals as “Heavenly,” “I Just Wanna Be Close To You,” “So Deep” and “My Soul,” it’s a collection that effortlessly spans musical genres while at the same time laying claim to a style that is wholly and completely her own. Mixing contemporary urban grooves with folk-flavored nuances and jazz-tinged flourishes, Jennie Laws has fashioned an alluring soundscape that draws on a lifetime of music making and points to a promising future for this passionate and polished young artist.
“It took me a while to realize that the music going around in my head ever since I can remember was there for a reason,” says Jennie. “As much as it is about entertaining people, it’s also about creating positive energy and spreading love. There’s a purpose to what I do and that’s the most important element of the songs I write and sing.”
It’s a purpose to which Jennie has been wholeheartedly committed ever since she can remember. “Music has always been there,” she explains. “Some of my first toys were musical instruments and although I experimented with acting and dancing and athletics, by the time I got into my teens I realized that music had a special place in my life.”
It did indeed and with characteristic determination, Jennie pursued it wholeheartedly, joining a series of singing groups, studying classical guitar and, at age sixteen, recording early originals on a four-track machine. “My influences are literally too numerous to mention,” she laughs. “It begins with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Louis Armstrong and then carried on to artists like George Michael and Michael Jackson. By the time I got to college, it was like I was carrying a musical encyclopedia around in my head; everyone from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder. I’ve also always admired artists like Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper and Lenny Kravtiz for the way in which they were able to build a solid base, one fan at a time.”
It was at the Southwestern School for Musical Vocations in Iowa where Jennie plunged into an intensive study regimen that included courses in arranging and conducting as well as ample opportunities to perform with fellow students. “I toured with school jazz vocal and instrumental groups,” she remembers, “and in between I was getting a great classical education. But the most important lesson I learned at the time was to never settle, to always strive to make the most beautiful music I possibly can without letting the ego get in the way.”
It was a realization that she would carry with her into the next stage of her musical apprenticeship, when she received a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee School of Music. “It all came together there,” she continues. “My natural inclination was toward a very earthy, gypsy style, which got filtered through the World Music I was exposed to – Latin, Indian and African – as well as hip-hop and R&B and even some classical influences like Ravel and Debussy.” Jennie absorbed it all and, in the process, began to fashion a sound that, while mixing and matching a broad range of approaches, was still unmistakably her own.
The result is Jennie Laws’ stunning debut EP. Showcasing her evocative and emotionally resonant singing and songwriting, the collection also boasts a impressive roster of supporting talent, including engineering by, among others, Grammy-winner Ari Raskin, and Juno-winner L. Stu Young.
Through it all, Jennie Laws had maintained her belief that music can bring wholeness and healing to the world. “My goal is simple,” she concludes: “To make the best music I can.” It’s a goal she’s reached and exceeds on her debut EP.
The first 7 tracks are from Jennie Laws’ stunning debut EP, showcasing her evocative and emotionally resonant singing and songwriting, the collection also boasts a impressive roster of supporting talent, including engineering by, among others, Grammy-winner Ari Raskin, and Juno-winner L. Stu Young. It’s a collection that effortlessly spans musical genres while at the same time laying claim to a style that is wholly and completely her own. Mixing contemporary urban grooves with folk-flavored nuances Jennie Laws has fashioned an alluring soundscape that draws on a lifetime of music making and points to a promising future for this passionate and polished young artist.
International superstar SHAKIRA has just released the first single, She-Wolf, from her forthcoming album on CD and digitally worldwide.
Shakira wrote and produced She-Wolf with John Hill (Santogold) and penned the, as usual, quirky lyrics. She weaves a mischievous tale of a metaphorical she-wolf in the distinctively dance – fusion style that fans have come to expect. An inventively sexy video directed by Jake Nava and featuring the metamorphosis of a woman told through her unique dance techniques, will follow the single in late July.
She-Wolf boasts the infectious and energizing sound that made Shakira a household name, with a slightly more dancey/ electronic beat (about 125 beats per minute). The song has an organic disco feel with a chorus, “There’s a she-wolf in the closet, open up and set it free, there’s a she wolf in the closet, let it out so it can breathe.” At the start, an ominous fanfare through a vocoder hooks the listener “there’s a she wolf in disguise, coming out, coming out, coming out.” Then a vibrant string section builds to a final crescendo at the end of the song.
The full album (title to be announced) is due out in October 2009 from Epic, a division of Sony Music. The album features a predominantly English track list with a follow up album of new and unique repertoire in Spanish to come in 2010. Though most tracks on the upcoming album will be in English, Shakira chose to service the Spanish version of the first single, Loba on June 29th, 2009, two weeks before the English single is launched. Loba will be made available globally in recognition of Shakira’s longstanding fan base and unique bi-lingual appeal.
Shakira boasts a string of chart-topping hits in both English and Spanish and sales of over 50 million records. Her last project, Oral Fixation Volumes 1&2, has sold in excess of 8 million albums worldwide with the singles La Tortura and Hips Don’t Lie having earned over 10 million digital downloads.
See how you are doing on each campaign you are participating on by clicking the See Your Current Point Standings link on the top of your profile! This is a great way to know if you are beating out the competition on our digital and street campaigns we are running for all of our artists and other clients. Before you were only able to see your total FanManager points and to see if you were in the top 10 on a particular team by viewing a Team page. Now you will never be in the dark!
Major personal profile upgrades can now be found in these areas:
New Cropped Main Photo
Show Your Location (Optional)
Private Messaging
Ability to See Your Point Standings on All Campaigns
Adding Your Social Networks
Build Out Your Bio with HTML Updates
See Your Latest Forum Posts
See the Teams You Have Joined
Adding a Photo Gallery With Up to 10 Pictures
Log into your account and play around. You will probably notice lots of missing info on your own page so now is the time to fill it in! In addition, all of the basic profile update issues have now been fixed. Please update your address and contact info if you have moved in recent months. Thanks and we hope you enjoy all of the new changes!
Hard-hitting electronic music comes to the big screen this summer! THE CRYSTAL METHOD’s music is being used to score the new ESPN film X Games 3D: The Movie, due in 3D theatres across the country August 21. The electronic music duo’s various works will be featured throughout the film including original tracks and reworked versions of material from their current album DIVIDED BY NIGHT, as well as from their earlier records. Before they set off on the second leg of their ‘Divided By Night’ tour, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland will attend the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on July 30 and perform a DJ set at its after- party.
The full-length feature film X Games 3D: The Movie is the first sports-themed 3D film which captures the drama and spectacle that play out at the X Games and tells the stories of the iconic action sports personalities Shaun White, Travis Pastrana, Danny Way, Ricky Carmichael, Kyle Loza and Bob Burnquist. Available now is a new version of THE CRYSTAL METHOD’s “Drown In The Now” video in which scenes from the movie—that immerse sports fans into the world of action sports and its top stars—are interspersed with the original animation version featuring vocalist Matisyahu.
In celebration of the film, THE CRYSTAL METHOD are also offering a “Win A Trip To The X Games” sweepstakes for anyone 21 years of age and older who is also a legal resident of the United States at the time of entry. From now until July 23 at midnight ET, fans can enter and obtain the rules via http://www.thecrystalmethod.com. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. One grand prize winner will receive round trip airfare for two from anywhere in the continental U.S. to Los Angeles, hotel accommodation and transportation, tickets to the X Games on Thursday, July 30 & Friday, July 31, admittance to the premiere of the “X Games 3D: The Movie” and its after-party, plus a meet and greet with THE CRYSTAL METHOD. The winner will be announced on Friday, July 24.
One Grand Prize winner will receive:
* Round trip coach airfare for two from anywhere within the continental US to Los Angeles.
* Three nights hotel accommodation
* Roundtrip ground transportation to and from the airport
* Two tickets to the X Games on Thursday, July 30th & Friday July 31st
* Two passes to attend the premiere of the X Games 3D: The Movie
* Two passes to attend the afterparty for X Games 3D: The Movie
* Two passes to attend a meet and greet with The Crystal Method
INFECTED MUSHROOM RETURN WITH ‘LEGEND OF THE BLACK SHAWARMA’ OUT SEPTEMBER 8 VIA PERFECTO RECORDS
LEAD SINGLE “SMASHING THE OPPONENT” FEATURING JONATHAN DAVIS AVAILABLE NOW!
For their highly anticipated release LEGEND OF THE BLACK SHAWARMA, electronic-rock innovators INFECTED MUSHROOM return with their patented hybrid of thrashing metal and psychedelic trance to bring a frenetic rock energy to the form and venture where other electronic acts fear to tread. The Israeli-bred, Los Angeles-based electronic duo continues to push sonic boundaries for their eighth studio album that’s due out September 8, 2009 on electronic music giant Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label.
Legend Of The Black Shawarma sees Amit “Duvdev” Duvedevani and Erez Eisen teaming with high-profile rockers. The album’s lead single “Smashing the Opponent” features a scorching vocal from Korn’s Jonathan Davis, while Jane’s Addiction frontman and alt-rock trailblazer Perry Farrell lends his inimitable pipes to the follow-up track “Killing Time.” “Recording with Jonathan and Perry was a highlight, of course,” Duvdev notes. “They were both incredibly cool. The fact that they liked the tracks was awesome because we’re huge fans of what they do.”
The album is the follow-up to 2007’s Vicious Delicious and takes INFECTED MUSHROOM’s psy-trance fusion of bruising, metallic rock and unstoppable dance-floor beats to a new level. “It’s a really diverse record,” Duvdev says, “but it’s even more aggressive–both on the metal side and on the breakbeat side.” Taking its time to craft the album, the duo worked on Shawarma whenever their frenetic, globe-trotting tour schedule permitted. Whether singing about “Smashing” and “Killing” or paying tribute to beloved (Los Angeles) eateries like “Poquito Mas,” “Frank’s” (“The best taco place in Mexico in our opinion”) or Israeli hummus factory “Sae’ed,” INFECTED MUSHROOM prove they’ve stayed hungry despite their massive international success.
And what of the album’s mysterious, culinary title? “We were on tour in Australia two years ago,” he explains. “My friend came to me said, ‘I have this dream to dive with sharks.’ They do that in Australia–you’re lowered into shark-infested waters in a cage.” At that point, Duvdev warned his burly friend that in a wetsuit he would resemble, to toothy denizens of the deep, a certain meat wrap of Middle Eastern origin. “I told him if he did this, there were five gigantic sharks waiting for a shawarma like him to come down in a cage and be devoured. We thought that was pretty funny and the Legend of the Black Shawarma was born.” As the title track’s cautionary lyrics have it: “Life’s been treating you nice/You better be wise/And enjoy your moment.”
Thanks to INFECTED MUSHROOM’s genre-pushing songs and incendiary performances, the adventurous duo has become one of the biggest live electronic bands on the planet. Their schedule has proved as relentless as their juggernaut jams. From the Ultra Music Festival in Miami (which drew over 100,000 attendees this past March), Coachella, the Virgin Festival in Baltimore, Mexico’s OMIX, Brazil’s Ipanema Beach and Melbourne’s Metro Club, INFECTED MUSHROOM has averaged about 120 live performances per year. Twice ranked among the world’s 10 best DJs by the bible of the scene, the U.K.’s DJ magazine, they routinely whip crowds of all cultures into the same whirling froth.
Their explosive show—featuring guitars, live drums, Duvdev’s intensely passionate vocals, Erez’s nimble keyboards and an ambitious multimedia backdrop—ranks among the genre’s most unpredictably joyous events. INFECTED MUSHROOM will highlight new selections from Shawarma during several of their live shows in North America this summer, launching “Smash The Opponent” during their performance at electronic mega-music festival Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles June 27. The complete list of dates follows below.
The complete track listing for INFECTED MUSHROOM’s Legend of the Black Shawarma is:
1. Poquito Mas
2. Sa’eed
3. End of the Road
4. Smashing the Opponent *featuring Jonathan Davis (Korn)
5. Can’t Stop
6. Herbert the Pervert
7. Killing Time *featuring Perry Farrell (Janes Addiction)
8. Project 100
9. Franks
10. Slowly
11. Legend of the Black Shawarma
PLATINUM CLUB CULTURE ICONS THE CRYSTAL METHOD RELEASE NEW STUDIO ALBUM ‘DIVIDED BY NIGHT’
RELEASED MAY 12, 2009 VIA TINY e RECORDS
With their just released DIVIDED BY NIGHT, electronic music pioneers THE CRYSTAL METHOD (TCM) are dropping what may be their masterwork. Bolstered by the innovation, flexibility and craftsmanship that have made the duo of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland club culture icons, the pair’s fourth studio effort—due out May 12, 2009 via Tiny e Records—is easily its most inventive and accomplished to date.
Launched with the momentous first single “Drown in the Now,” The Crystal Method’s infectious collaboration with mic master Matisyahu, makes a unique and memorable musical statement. “We met Matisyahu at a festival in British Columbia last July,” Scott Kirkland explains. “His tour manager approached us about him joining us onstage for a song and we thought it was a cool idea. He came by our trailer and we played him ‘High Roller’ off Vegas [the duo’s 1997 album] and he thought it was great. He came out with us about an hour later and his performance was magical. From there we knew we wanted to work with him. He delivered something unique that helped create a great vibe for the rest of the album.”
Elsewhere, “Kling to the Wreckage” is equally breathtaking, albeit remarkably different, as She Wants Revenge frontman Justin Warfield puts his fierce delivery atop an exhilarating soundscape. High caliber guests on Divided By Night–in addition to Matisyahu and Warfield–also include New Order bassist Peter Hook (on the groove-laden “Blunts & Robots” and “Dirty Thirty”), Metric front-woman Emily Haines and drummer Samantha Maloney, formerly of Hole and Peaches (on the hook-injected “Come Back Clean”), indie chanteuse Meiko (on the atmospheric “Falling Hard”), one-time Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle (on the optimistic “Slipstream”) and hip-hop up-and-comers LMFAO (on the party anthem “Sine Language”).
In conjunction with the release of Divided By Night, THE CRYSTAL METHOD will return to the road this year for a major national tour as a live band. “This new tour is going to be a completely new look,” Ken Jordan assures. “It’s like tearing down your house and rebuilding it.”
Since 2004 when The Crystal Method unearthed its Grammy nominated disc Legion of Boom, Jordan and Kirkland have been busy building their state of the art Los Angeles studio, Crystalwerks; keeping audiences entranced with their high energy DJ sets; rocking the airwaves of the recently defunct Indie 103.1 with their weekly ‘Community Service’ radio show which seeded two mix albums of the same name; and steadily constructed what can only be deemed the album of their career.
Notorious over the last ten-plus years for enduring dancefloor anthems (“Now Is The Time,” “Keep Hope Alive” and a dozen others), airwave smashes (“Trip Like I Do”, for one), a willingness to collaborate with an array of talent –including rock’s vocal elite, like Scott Weiland and Filter’s Richard Patrick–the duo also managed to succeed in the remix, film soundtrack, television, gaming and advertising worlds. Their platinum-status debut album Vegas (released in 1997) is one of the biggest selling electronic albums of all time, landing them in the top five of best selling electronic acts in America. They scored the film London, as well as the themes for TV shows “Bones” and “Third Watch” and were the first act to work with Nike for their running soundtrack series, but it’s Divided By Night that takes TCM to all new heights.
Whether it’s bringing in live drums or lining up collaborations with talents from the vast spectrum of pop sub-genres, The Crystal Method—veterans of world famous festivals like Coachella, Ultra Music Festival and Rothbury—has managed to put a distinctly American face on the European-dominated electronic movement.
06.03.09 | The Whiskey Nightclub | Calgary, AB
06.06.09 | Eagles Club | Milwaukee, WI
06.07.09 | First Avenue | Minneapolis, MN
06.08.09 | House of Blues | Chicago, IL
06.09.09 | The Pageant | St. Louis, MO
06.12.09 | Belly Up | Aspen, CO
06.13.09 | TBA | Denver, CO
06.14.09 | Murray Theater | Salt Lake City, UT
06.15.09 | Empire Events Ctr | Sacramento, CA
06.17.09 | Grand Ballroom | San Francisco, CA
Jerry Hannan is a genuine songwriter and performer to boot. Recently, Hannan recorded his own song, ‘Society’ with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, which is featured in Sean Penn’s film “Into the Wild”. “I Thought I Was You”, written by Jerry and brother Sean Hannan also plays in “Into the Wild.” In 2003, Jerry recorded his second CD “Sounds Like a Story”. A new song “DaDaDa” from the CD was featured in the film “The Pledge” (Jack Nicholson). He performed in Sam Shepard’s play, “The Late Henry Moss,” at San Francisco’s Theatre on the Square (along with Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Cheech Marin and Woody Harrelson). He also appeared as a raucous singer who offsets a romantic conversation between Harry Connick Jr and Sarah Jessica Parker. in Sony Picture’s “Life Without Dick”.
Described as “shades of Dylan, John Prine and Van Morrison…very Americana with a faint Irish lilt”, Hannan’s songs (like those of Springsteen, Steve Earle and Cat Stevens) speak of our everyday lives and the magic that we sometimes miss. He’s a storyteller who loves to stir the crowd. He has been called a “three chord wizard,” with guitar, lyrics and harmonica, often funny, sardonic in a good-natured way, dealing with issues like ecology, friendship, love, and what he calls an backward society.
Raised on jigs and ballads in San Francisco’s Irish community, Jerry Hannan grew up listening to the music of his Irish-born parents (The Dubliners, The Clancy Brothers), as well as Cat Stevens. As a youngster he took accordion lessons, switching to guitar in high school and playing in rock ‘n roll bands.
Hannan’s latest recording project features musicians Cody Dickenson (North Mississippi Allstars Hill County Revue John Hiatt), Luther Dickenson (Black Crowes North Mississippi Allstars, Jim Dickenson (Rolling Stones, Ry Cooder, North Mississippi Allstars, Bob Dylan, and MANY OTHERS), Chris Chew, Steve Molitz (Phil Lesh, Particle), Kirk Smith Heart (Hill Country Revue), John Molo (Phil Lesh, John Fogerty, Bruce Hornsby), JT Thomas (The Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby), Jackie Greene (Phil Lesh, Jackie Greene Band), Aaron Julison (Kid Rock), John Avila (Oingo Boingo) and many others.
TOUR DATES
06.08.09 | The Hotel Cafe | Los Angeles, CA
06.13.09 | Bonnaroo | Manchester, TN
06.19.09 | The Church of Universal Love and Music | Acme, PA
Another extremely useful new feature we have just added is the addition of multiple campaigns so we can have as many campaigns as we want happening at the same time for an artist or client. Once you are logged in, you can go to any Team page and go to REPORT YOUR WORK HERE you will land on a page like the page below if there are several tours, CD releases, Street campaigns, or Online Campaigns happening at the same time. Just select the campaign you want to help out with and you will rack up points for that particular campaign. Each campaign has its own set of rewards, rules, and sections we can let you r
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