Contact: jessemalin@7smgmt.com

“Sad and Beautiful World is for the survivors, the dreamers, the leavers and the believers,” said Jesse Malin.  “My music has always been about rebirth and redemption. This record is for those who pick up the pieces and find beauty in the madness.”

The first double album of Malin’s career hits like a collection of heartfelt and eloquent short stories that never lose their dirt and swagger.  The phoenix bird could be the spiritual mascot of Sad and Beautiful World, out September 24 on Wicked Cool Records.  Forged in the wild flames of the lost pandemic year, the album follows Sunset Kids (2019), Malin’s acclaimed album produced by Lucinda Williams and Tom Overby.  

Described by Uncut magazine as a “fearless storyteller,” followers have always appreciated the many sides of Malin, from his pioneer days in the hardcore band Heart Attack to D Generation and his solo career.    Sad and Beautiful World, which takes its title from a line of dialogue in Jim Jarmusch's 1986 cult-classic film Down By Law, divides itself down the middle.  

A lyric in the song “Almost Criminal” gives the split record its theme: Roots Rock Radicals, Malin’s take on a phrase from the intersection of punk and reggae back in the day. The "Roots Rock” side leans to the sad-eyed ballads, while its companion, the "Radicals" side, roughs things up a bit.  But not everything is as black and white as the movies.  All of Sad and Beautiful World is both tough and tender, laced through with vividly drawn characters striving against circumstance and a raw emotional tenor.  The 17 songs served up here will break your heart, move your hips, and keep the lights shining.

Right before lockdown, Malin was moving fast on the heels of 2019's Sunset Kids with sold out dates in the US and UK.  The album earned a four-star review from Rolling Stone and won three Independent Music Awards.   “I took all my anxiety, fear and loneliness and began writing,” described Malin, who made the record in the fall of 2020 at Flux Studios in New York. “The sirens, the protests, riots and the darkness outside my doorstep definitely made its way in these songs.  Everything rose to a boiling point, and we found a way to get through it.”

At the heart of Sad and Beautiful World lies empathetic character sketches like "Todd Youth," which features Bad Brains' frontman H.R., a lifelong mentor to Jesse with his message of PMA (positive mental attitude), and brings a wistful voice from beyond the grave speaking to loved ones that remain – and "A Little Death," a scathing but ultimately compassionate read on a millennial brat.   Hearts are broken and hearts are full – sometimes both at once – as on the stark opener "Greener Pastures” or the rebel soul of "Dance With The System," as cool and slick as a black leather jacket.

Billie Joe Armstrong once said “New York City is the center of the universe, and there is no New York City without Jesse Malin.”  Jesse masterfully sets the scene of his beloved hometown with the autobiographical "Backstabbers," a coming-of-age tune about navigating through the city lights, blood suckers and the arcade-prowling chicken hawks.  Written in 2019, the slinky strut of "The Way We Used To Roll” now has an extra layer of meaning.  Both songs were produced by fellow roots-rock-radical Lucinda Williams, who also sings backup on “Backstabbers,” and her partner, Tom Overby.  The majority of Sad and Beautiful World was produced by Malin’s longtime guitarist Derek Cruz and Geoff Sanoff.

Throughout 2020, Malin created and produced the celebrated weekly livestream series The Fine Art of Self Distancing to keep people connected worldwide and dancing on their couches.  The show raised money for independent national venues, his band, crew and the Joe Strummer Foundation, and was named one of the best of the year by Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone.

“When I was kid in Queens, my mother had a sign over the kitchen sink with a flower or something, that said ‘today is the first day of the rest of your life.’  I still feel that way. Growing up here, you find a way to carry your dreams up from the street and out to the stars.  I try hard to keep my sense of humor, community and always find a way to dance through the flames.”

Contact: nathanielrateliff@7smgmt.com

It took Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats less than five years to become one of the most recognizable new forces in contemporary rock ’n’ roll. Since 2015, Rateliff has led his denim-clad, horn-flanked Night Sweats, supplying the zeal of a whiskey-chugging Pentecostal preacher to songs about this world’s shared woes. They’ve had hits, sure, but their combustible mix of soul and rock quickly cemented them as the rare generational band who balanced ecstatic live shows with engrossing and rich records. To wit, is there any other modern act capable of revving up stadium crowds for The Rolling Stones while also appearing on Saturday Night Live and CMT Crossroads and at NPR’s Tiny Desk in short order?

When Rateliff returned from his pandemic-truncated solo tour in March 2020, he struggled with the same question that vexed so many of us then—what now? Fortunately, he returned to his Colorado homestead and penned a set of songs that synthesized his introspection with his anthemic inclinations. The result is The Future, the third Night Sweats album but the first to capture this octet’s true depth and breadth. An instant classic of 11 songs, the album presents something more sustainable, interesting, and indeed open—a songwriter and band growing into bigger questions and sounds, into a future that allows them to remain recognizable but be so much more compelling than some denim-clad caricature.

Contact: ptm@7smgmt.com

Over the past decade, Portugal. The Man has established themselves as one of rock’s most prized possessions and a live phenomenon, with over 1,600 shows under their belts and a storied reputation as festival favorites.

Originally heralding from Alaska, the Portland-based band soared to new heights in 2017 with the release of their now RIAA certified-Platinum album, Woodstock. The album was marked by the astounding success of their infectious single, “Feel It Still,” which earned the group a plethora of new accolades – including a GRAMMY for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance,” a 7x RIAA Platinum certification, a record setting 20-week residency at #1 on alternative radio, and an inescapable presence on the Top 40 airwaves. This June, the band released their critically acclaimed LP, CHRIS BLACK CHANGED MY LIFE. Produced by the legendary Jeff Bhasker (Beyonce, Harry Styles, SZA, Mark Ronson), the project features additional collaborations with Paul Williams (John Lennon, David Bowie, Mac Miller), Asa Taccone, Black Thought, Nick Reinhart, Homer Steinweiss, Natalia Lafourcade, and Bhasker.

Contact: DinosaurJr@7smgmt.com

There is nothing quite like a Dinosaur Jr. album. The best ones are always 
recognizable from the first notes. And even though J tries to trip us up by smearing “Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know” with keyboards, it’s clear from the moment he starts his vocals that this is the one and only Dinosaur Jr., long reigning kings of Amherst, Massachusetts (and anywhere else they choose to hang their toques).

I Bet on Sky is the third Dinosaur Jr. album since the original trio – J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph – reformed in 2005. And, crazily, it marks the band’s 10th studio album since their debut on Homestead Records in 1985. Back in the ‘80s, if anyone has suggested that these guys would be performing and recording at such a high level 27 years later, they would have been laughed out of the tree fort. The trio’s early shows were so full of sonic chaos, such a weird blend of aggression and catatonia that we all assumed they would flame out fast. But the joke was on us.

The trio has taken everything they’ve learned from the various projects they 
tackled over the years, and poured it directly into their current mix. J’s guitar approaches some of its most unhinged playing here, but there’s a sense of instrumental control that matches the sweet murk of his vocals (not that he always remembers to exercise control on stage, but that’s another milieu). This is headbobbing riff-romance at the apex. Lou’s basswork shows a lot more melodicism now as well, although his two songs on I Bet on Sky retain the jagged rhythmic edge that has so often marked his work. And Murph…well, he still pounds the drums as hard and as strong as a pro wrestler, with deceptively simple structures that manage to 
interweave themselves perfectly with his bandmates’ melodic explosions.

After submerging myself in I Bet on Sky, it’s clear that the album is a true and worthy addition to the Dinosaur Jr. discography. It hews close enough to rock formalism to please the squares. Yet it is brilliantly imprinted with the trio’s magical equation, which is a gift to the rest of us. For a combo that began as anomalous fusion of hardcore punk and pop influences, Dinosaur Jr. have proven themselves to be unlikely masters of the long game. Their new album is a triumph of both form and function. And it augurs well for their future trajectory. If I were prone to wagering, 
I’d say their best days are yet ahead of them. And yeah. I would bet the sky on it.
--Byron Coley

Contact: gracepotter@7smgmt.com

Back in summer 2021, acclaimed singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, band leader, and rock and roll performer Grace Potter took off on a solo cross-country road trip that would soon bring a life-saving reconnection with her most unbridled self. The Vermont-born artist spent the coming weeks crashing in roadside motels and taking time each night to transcribe the song ideas she’d dreamed up behind the wheel, often scrawling those notes onto the backs of postcards and motel notepads. After completing two more trips on her own—Potter flew to Nashville for a series of recording sessions that resulted in her most magnificently unfettered collection of songs to date. Equal parts fearlessly raw memoir and carnivalesque fable, Mother Road is a body of work that goes far beyond the typical album experience.

“Mother Road is a reframing of my understanding of my history,” she says. “It’s an important and powerful perspective I’d never had until this record, and the heart of it is my journey to self-reliance and a sense of worthiness.” The follow-up to 2019’s Daylight—a release that earned GRAMMY nominations for Best Rock Album, and Best Rock Performance—Mother Road (due August 18, 2023, via Fantasy Records) fuses elements of soul, blues, country, and timeless rock-and-roll with masterful abandon. Produced by Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Slash, and Weezer) and recorded at RCA’s famed Studio A, the LP is an essential insight into the endless nuances of life and love and belonging. And after thousands of miles on the road, countless nights at seedy motels, and a heartrending return home, Potter has made her way to the kind of creative freedom that leaves both artist and audience indelibly altered—a freedom that’s undeniably led to her masterpiece.

Contact: mattnathanson@7smgmt.com

as a kid, i couldn't get out of new england fast enough. i left massachusetts when i was 18 and would've moved to the moon if i could have. instead, i drove out to california with my buddy jeff and never looked back… built a support system, a family, a career. i left a place where i didn’t feel understood or connected and went about creating one where i did.

and you know what's crazy…

the group of friends i made along the way... the ones i trust most, the ones who made me feel understood and connected… almost every one of those people are from massachusetts.

that’s what this record's about.

it’s about being jealous of the cool kids who got to spend their summers on nantucket and martha’s vineyard. it’s about how the hint of a boston accent can make me drop my guard and feel connected to a complete stranger. it’s about how growing up listening to folk singers like james taylor, cat stevens, indigo girls & tracy chapman shaped the music i’ve always wanted to make.

and it’s about surrendering to the fact that the person i’ve become is built squarely on the back of the person i was.

-----

Over his almost 30 year career, Matt Nathanson has evolved into one of the most applauded songwriters and engaging performers on the music scene today. His sixth studio album, Some Mad Hope, yielded his breakthrough multi-platinum hit "Come on Get Higher.”  He followed up with Modern Love, a critically acclaimed album (PopMatters called it "the closest a pop album comes to perfection this year”) that garnered Nathanson two RIAA Gold Certified singles, “Faster” & “Run (featuring Sugarland)”. His 2013 release, Last of The Great Pretenders, debuted at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 while hitting #1 on iTunes' Alternative Albums chart. His most recent album, Sings His Sad Heart spawned the hit single “Used To Be” which was a chart climber - hitting top 20 at Adult Top 40.  Throughout his career, Nathanson has been known to cover songs and artists that inspire him. His Def Leppard approved cover album of their iconic Pyromania called Pyromattia shot to #1 on iTunes Alternative chart and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott called the album “an amazing reinterpretation” with “heart & soul.” Last year he covered U2’s Achtung Baby as a tribute to his all time favorite album. His holiday LP Farewell December, includes "Blue Christmas” to “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” — as well as his somber take on Joni Mitchell’s “River.” Nathanson has performed on The Howard Stern Show, Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Dancing with the Stars, Rachael Ray, and The CMA Awards to name a few.

Contact: crawford@7smgmt.com

Shane Smith and the Saints offer up a hard-hitting version of American roots music that’s influenced by country, folk, and roadhouse rock & roll. It’s a sound that’s been shaped by the road, where the Saints spent the past decade on tour, building a cult audience with each gig.

Thanks to early albums like 2013’s Coast and 2015’s Geronimo, Shane Smith and the Saints became a popular act in Austin, regularly cutting their teeth with marathon gigs at venues like The Stage On Sixth. Released in 2019, Hail Mary introduced the band’s current lineup, as well as a heavier sound that separated the Saints from other Texas acts. It wasn’t rock & roll. It wasn’t country, either. It was everything that connected those genres, glued together by the camaraderie of a road-tested band that built its audience the old-school way: by hitting the stage and winning over the crowd, song after song, night after night.

Their latest album, Norther, builds upon that singular sound while also highlighting the bandmates’ road-warrior chops. For an independent band like Shane Smith and the Saints, the work is never done. “It’s like you can’t help but feel like you’ve paid your dues to get to a certain spot, but once you get there, you realize you’re just starting to touch the surface of the bigger picture,” Smith admits. “At the end of the day, it still feels like we’re getting discovered. But maybe that’s what it’s all about.” Norther is the soundtrack to that discovery. It’s the sound of a band pushing its limits, broadening its reach, and expanding its audience.

Contact: bhtm@7Smgmt.com

Big Head Todd and The Monsters have quietly become an American institution following three and a half decades of writing, recording, and touring (totaling over 3,500 performances). After countless sold out shows in amphitheaters and on the high seas, beaming their tunes to outer space (literally), earning the endorsement of everyone from Robert Plant to The Denver Broncos, and tallying tens of millions of streams, Big Head Todd and The Monsters cite the friendships formed in the crowd among their proudest accomplishments. Fast forward to 2021 and the Colorado quartet—Todd Park Mohr [vocals, guitar, keys, sax, harmonica], Brian Nevin [drums, percussion], Rob Squires [bass, vocals], and Jeremy Lawton [guitar, keys, vocals, steel guitar]—continue to unite audiences.

“Friendships have spawned because of our band,” smiles Todd. “Maybe a bit like the Grateful Dead, the line between audience and stage has over time become a bit blurred and many lifelong friendships have been made in every direction. I’m very proud of that. Bringing people together and sharing a joy for a couple of hours is an important function of music. Music can cultivate community, even harmony. We need that!”

Fittingly, the guys in the band began as friends as well. Todd and Brian first crossed paths in high school jazz band circa 1982. Soon, the guys started to jam in Brian’s basement also joined by Rob. Sweat-soaked house party gigs and talent shows followed until they became a fixture on the bar circuit “before I was even old enough to drink,” laughs Todd. As perennial outliers, the musicians performed original material at these formative gigs, standing out from a bevy of cover bands in the scene at the time.

Adopting the moniker Big Head Todd & The Monsters, they served up their independent debut Another Mayberry in 1989 and Midnight Radio in 1990 to critical acclaim, setting the stage for their seminal 1993 breakout Sister Sweetly. Powered by staples “Broken Hearted Savior,” “It’s Alright,” and “Bittersweet,” it eventually went platinum, and they supported Plant on tour. At the time, Variety hailed Todd as “a soulful singer and nimble lead guitarist,” while The Los Angeles Times claimed, “Mohr, who has a voice like smoke, writes great songs that incorporates blues, folk, rock and country, which sounds sort of like, well, Big Head Todd and the Monsters.”

Throughout the next decade, the group presented fan favorites such as Strategem [1994] and Beautiful World [1997]. The latter yielded the cover of “Boom Boom” [feat. John Lee Hooker], which famously served as the theme to NCIS: New Orleans. In 2005, they exceeded our atmosphere altogether. Friends with connections to NASA encouraged Todd to write a song for NASA, so they ignited 2005’s “Blue Sky.” In 2011, Big Head Todd and The Monsters played “Blue Sky” live from the middle of Mission Control to awaken the astronauts aboard the shuttle. 2017 saw them release New World Arisin’ to fan adoration and critical acclaim. Glide Magazine claimed, “such tracks, like most of this music, radiate a sense of optimism and purpose ever so welcome in these fragmented times.”

Along the way, the band joined the Denver Broncos on their Super Bowl victory parade, delivering a triumphant performance to boot. Not to mention, they’ve headlined their own cruise multiple times and introduced Rockin’ the Reef as a five-night musical extravaganza in Jewel Paradise Cove in Runaway Bay Jamaica for 2022.

Big Head Todd and The Monsters took the stage at hallowed hometown haunt Red Rocks Amphitheatre a staggering 32 times. In June 2021, they made a rapturous homecoming to Red Rocks for their first full capacity gig at the venue post-COVID. Chronicling the gig, 303 Magazine described the group as “a longtime pal that has defined Colorado’s blues-rock scene for multiple decades.”

“The Red Rocks performances have all been special to me,” Todd goes on. “Growing up in Colorado, I always loved going to shows there as a teenager. I’m super proud of that. The COVID year was really unique, because we played there four times before finally getting back in front of a packed house. It meant a lot to all of us.”

In 2019, the band instituted another fan favorite tradition, by launching Monsters Music Monthly. They revealed a free song and video on a monthly basis, including “Hoochie Coochie Man” [feat. Buddy Guy], “Rosalita” [feat. John Popper of Blues Traveler], “Remedy” [feat. Ronnie Baker Brooks], “Sunshine of Your Love” [feat. David Hidalgo], and more. Todd and Co. have notably managed to collaborate or perform with a myriad of their heroes over the years, namely Neil Young, B.B. King, Allman Brothers, John Prine, Albert Collins, James Cotton, John Lee Hooker, Hubert Sumlin, and dozens more.

“For a half-Asian kid growing up in Littleton, Colorado, it’s not likely I would’ve ever ended up being as involved in blues music as I have been,” he observes. “It’s unbelievable we’ve gotten to play and even record with some of my idols.”

In the end, Big Head Todd and The Monsters will never stop bringing crowds together. In fact, they’ll hit the road yet again for a full-scale US tour in winter 2022 with more on the horizon.

“If I had any message for our listeners, it would just be, ‘Thank you’,” he leaves off. “We’re so fortunate to have lives making music. We’re grateful to be in the situation we’re in, and we’re going to continue as long as we can.”

Contact: mcc@7Smgmt.com

With hits like “Passionate Kisses” and “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” Mary Chapin Carpenter has won five Grammy Awards (with 18 nominations), two CMA awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, and is one of only fifteen female members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Over the course of her acclaimed career, Carpenter has sold over 16 million records. In 2020, Carpenter recorded two albums -“The Dirt And The Stars,” released in August 2020, and “One Night Lonely,” recorded live without an audience at the legendary Filene Center at Wolf Trap in Virginia during the COVID-19 shutdown, and nominated for “Best Folk Album” at the 64th Grammy Awards in 2022.

Of the new album “The Dirt And The Stars,” produced by Ethan Johns (Ray LaMontagne, Paul McCartney, Kings of Leon) and recorded entirely live at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Bath in southwest England, Carpenter quotes the writer Margaret Renkl, “ ‘We are all in the process of becoming.’ That doesn’t stop at a certain age. To be always a student of art and music and life, as she says, that, to me, is what makes life worth living. The songs are very personal and they’re difficult in some ways, and definitely come from places of pain and self-illumination, but also places of joy, discovery, and the rewards of self-knowledge. They arrived from looking outward as much as inward, speaking to life changes, growing older, politics, compassion, #metoo, heartbreak, empathy, the power of memory, time, and place. There are many themes, but they all come back to that initial truth that we are all constantly ‘becoming’ through art and expression.”

Contact: dawes@7smgmt.com

From the first downbeat, Good Luck With Whatever, the seventh studio Album by the Los Angeles based rock band Dawes, sets a tone all its own. The album unfurls with the crunchy chordal cadence of what could only be Goldsmith’s guitar. As the band quickly hop their way aboard this rhythmic rail car, we find ourselves thinking “Hey, these guys are pretty good. I’m so glad you dragged me to see some live music!” — “Still Feel Like A Kid” serves as a reminder that we all love a good filet, but there’s no shame in still ordering off the kids menu from time to time. You can hear the eye contact in the room, you can see the lyrics as they fly from Goldsmith’s mouth straight into your ears, you’ll find yourself singing along to a song you’re hearing for the first time. It’s fresh, it’s raw, it’s a four tiered seafood tower of all American ear candy. Think “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m A Toys R Us Kid” meets “I Wanna Be Sedated”.  

Recorded at the historic RCA studios in Nashville Tennessee, the boys teamed up with six time Grammy award winning producer Dave “Corn On The” Cobb (Brandi, Jasi, Chrisi, Stergi, etc) and just decided to LET IT RIP. “We were out in Nashville for just under 730 hours, or 1 human month” says bass player and resident ‘problem child’ Wylie Gelber. “We wanted that sloth like urgency, that cold heat, that all knowing curiosity. And me thinks that’s what we got.” The arrangements are as lively as they are lovely, from the rapidly ruckus “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To” to the robustly restrained “St. Augustine at Night”. A culmination of their entire catalogue and career all wrapped up in nine tracks. If you don’t know Dawes by now, you will never never never know them...

Far from apathetic, Good Luck With Whatever is Dawes at their most unapologetic. It’s sympathetic and magnetic, 50% genetic and highly kinetic. Songs like “Didn’t Fix Me” and “Me Especially” showcase Goldsmith’s poetic prowess perfectly; a historian of the human condition, transforming turmoil into motor oil. Drop the tone arm down, turn the volume up, unplug the phone and if you still feel nothing… call a doctor.

Having self-released their music for the last 1/20 of a century, Dawes has now joined forces with their former legal counsel now president of Rounder Records, John P. Strohm. Attorney client privilege has been lifted. Finally without the constraints of the fat cats up on Capitol Hill and their ever flowing spools of bureaucratic red tape, Dawes and their beloved ex-ambulance chaser are together again. Court is in session and  they’re prepared to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

“We’ve learned so much over the years about what it means to be A BAND” says drummer/free range dog farmer Griffin Goldsmith, “I used to want all our records to be ONLY drums, but I’m finally starting to realize, maybe a lil’ bass, keys, guitars and vocals ain’t so bad after all.” How right he is, the ballet of interplay between these four is nothing short of breathtaking. Where Griffin dives, Wylie ducks. Where Taylor weaves, Lee is sure to bob.

Dawes began their journey in the San Fernando Valley back in 2009, it was the year of the Ox, but don’t be fooled, these guys are No Bulls#$t. Having played with, for, and against some of rock’n roll’s most illustrious icons, the merry men have picked up more than a few things when it comes to sticking around and what it means to be a true BAND. “Sometimes I wish I did hate my brother”, explains frontman/stuntman Taylor Goldsmith, “might sell us a few more books… but the reality is, I can’t get enough of the guy! Scariest part bout’ it all is, knowing we’re gonna be playing music together for a long, long time.”

“We’re a living breathing organism,” says keyboardist/San Jose’s 15th most famous man, Lee Pardini. “People love to say, ‘this record sounds so THIS’ and ‘that record sounds so THAT,’ but to us, it just sounds like Dawes. We make records to document where we are at that time, but every time I check, it just sounds like Griff, Taylor, Wylie and me.”

Good Luck With Whatever is an unfiltered photograph of a band doing what they do best. A moment in the timeline of 10 year old band who still possess the wonderment and fearlessness of a 10 year old man. These guys learned to rock before they could crawl and now it’s time to let em’ run. Ask any scientist and they’ll tell you one thing… you can’t fake chemistry.

Contact: management@floracash.com

Husband-and-wife duo Flora Cash craft atmospheric indie folk born from a cross-Atlantic courtship. The pair met on an online social sound platform and struck up a musical connection, leading Shpresa Lleshaj to travel from Stockholm to Minneapolis to meet Cole Randall in person. They returned to Sweden together and immediately began work as Flora Cash. Their debut EP, Mighty Fine, was released just months later. The next year, they released another set of harmonious tracks on Made It for You.

Flying back to Minneapolis, they got married and honeymooned in Los Angeles before making their way back to Europe. Their third EP, I Will Be There, was issued that year. After signing with Icons Creating Evil Art, they released their debut LP, Can Summer Love Last Forever, in 2016. The mini-LP was nominated for two GAFFA awards as Swedish Group of the Year and Swedish Breakthrough.

Nothing Lasts Forever (And It's Fine) arrived in the spring of 2017. The album spawned the hit "You're Somebody Else," which reached #1 Alternative Song and Adult Alternative Song on the BDS charts in America. On the heels of the group's success, they signed to RCA Records.

Following an extensive tour, they returned in 2019 with the Press EP, which featured the single "They Own This Town.”

Contact: DenverEstate@7smgmt.com

One of the world’s best-known and best-loved performers, John Denver earned international acclaim as a songwriter, performer, actor, environmentalist and humanitarian. Denver’s career spanned four decades and his music has outlasted countless musical trends and garnered numerous awards and honors.

The son of a U.S. Air Force officer, Denver’s artistic journey began at age eleven when he was given his grandmother’s guitar. Denver eventually took guitar lessons and joined a boys’ choir, which led him at age twenty to pursue his dream of a career in music.

In 1963 he struck out on his own, moving to Los Angeles to be in the heart of the burgeoning music scene. It was during this time that Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. was urged by friends to change his name if a recording career was to be in his future. He took his stage name from the beautiful capital city of his favorite state, Colorado. Later in life, Denver and his family settled in Aspen, Colorado and his love for the Rocky Mountains inspired many of his songs.

John Denver experienced his first major break in the music industry when he was chosen from 250 other hopefuls as lead singer for the popular Mitchell Trio. Two years and three albums later, Denver had honed his considerable vocal talent and developed his own songwriting style. He gained recognition when his song “Leaving On A Jet Plane” was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, becoming their first and only number one hit. As the Mitchell Trio disbanded, Denver was climbing up the pop charts as a solo act with songs like “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Rocky Mountain High,” “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” “Annie’s Song,” “Back Home Again,” “Thank God I’m A Country Boy,” and “Calypso,” solidifying his position as one of the top stars of the 1970s.

By his third album in 1970, Denver’s social and political leanings were defined more clearly. Denver was one of the first artists to share an environmental message through his music, beginning with the song “Whose Garden Was This?” This was the first in a long line of songs that he wrote about the environment.

Denver contributed his talents to the benefit of many charitable and environmental causes and received numerous civic and humanitarian awards over the years. Fans responded to his heartfelt urgings about ecology, peace, and compassion that were consistently delivered in a gentle manner on his records and at live performances.

His passion to help create a global community paved the way for ventures into new musical and geographic territories. In 1985 he was invited by the Soviet Union of Composers to perform in the USSR, inspiring the internationally acclaimed song “Let Us Begin (What Are We Making Weapons For?).” The powerful video for “Let Us Begin” moved viewers around the world.

“I thought that I might be able to do something to further the cause of East/West understanding… The Russians say that the first swallow of spring won’t make the weather for the whole season, but it can mark the turn toward a warmer climate. I tried to be that swallow.”

The success of his visit lead to a concert tour of the USSR in 1986. These were the first performances by an American artist since the Cold War began – an unprecedented cultural exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. He returned to the USSR in 1987 to do a benefit concert for the victims of Chernobyl.

Denver was also the first artist from the West to do a multi-city tour of mainland China, in October 1992. He was somewhat astonished to discover how popular and well known his songs were in China. “‘Country Roads,’” he was told, “is the most famous song written in the West.”

Denver was a true adventurer, exploring all that the world had to offer. Throughout his life’s journey he challenged himself on every level, which is an integral part of what made him an extraordinary man, an uncommon friend and a rare human being.

While the frontiers of the American West satisfied his spirit, less-traveled frontiers appealed to his imagination. Denver was an experienced airplane pilot and collected vintage biplanes. His interest in outer space was so great that he took and passed NASA’s examination to determine mental and physical fitness needed for space travel. He then became a leading candidate to be the “first civilian in space” on the Space Shuttle Challenger. Denver planned to write a song in space, but circumstances kept him from joining the ill-fated expedition, which saddened the world when it exploded during take-off in 1986.

Among his many gifts, Denver was also a talented photographer. He photographed images of the people and places he experienced in his travels and showed his work professionally, often in connection with speeches made at colleges and universities as well as government and business facilities across the country.

Many of Denver’s songs reflected his relationship with nature and indeed, one of his greatest pleasures was spending time outdoors. He spent as much time as possible backpacking, hiking, climbing and fishing. He was an avid golfer and skier, regularly participating in celebrity charity events for both sports.

John Denver died tragically in a plane crash on October 12, 1997. He was survived by his brother Ron, mother Erma and three children, Zak, Anna Kate and Jesse Belle.

On March 12, 2007, Colorado’s Senate passed a resolution to make Denver’s trademark 1972 hit “Rocky Mountain High” one of the state’s two official state songs, sharing duties with its predecessor, “Where the Columbines Grow.”

Today, millions of fans old and new enjoy the work of this extraordinary performer. Thirty albums and four decades after he began, John Denver’s music is as relevant as ever. His humanitarian work continues to strengthen our global village, and his dynamic celebration of life, spirit and nature is a powerful inspiration to us all.

Contact: americanauthors@7smgmt.com

Since releasing their debut album Oh, What a Life in 2014, New York-based pop-rock outfit American Authors have experienced milestones most bands only dream about. They’ve watched their music climb to the top of the charts, and seen singles go multi-platinum. They’ve played awards shows, hit the stages of legendary venues all over the world, and toured the world with bands such as Andy Grammar, OAR, OneRepublic, The Revivalists, and The Fray. Their anthemic hit single “Best Day of My Life” has been featured in over 600 movie trailers, TV shows, commercials, and as a theme song for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite these accolades, however, lead singer Zac Barnett vows that the best day of their lives is still yet to come. “We just want to keep going,” he says. “We can’t wait to continue this adventure.”

Originally formed in 2006 at Berklee College of Music in Boston, American Authors - Zac Barnett [vocals/guitar], Dave Rublin [bass], and Matt Sanchez [drums] - eventually dropped out of college and moved to Brooklyn to continue refining their airtight songcraft.

“My whole reason for attending Berklee College of Music was to find other like-minded musicians to start a band with. I knew I had found those people after the first night we jammed,” claims Barnett.

Shortly after moving to Brooklyn, American Authors crossed paths with Shep Goodman while playing a gig in the city. Eventually signing with Goodman’s production company Dirty Canvas, the band wrote and recorded “Believer” and quickly saw the track thrown into rotation on Sirius XM’s Alt Nation radio. Their next song “Best Day of My Life” was featured in a commercial campaign for Lowes. Shortly after, American Authors inked a deal with Island Records.

“Boston was a great city to get our feet wet in but moving to Brooklyn completely changed our lives,” drummer Matt Sanchez explains. “Constantly surrounded by so many new creatives and artists fueled our music to a whole new level.”

By 2018, the guys had impressively generated over 1 billion global streams on a string of alternately striking and soaring smashes. Their inescapable and instantly recognizable breakthrough “Best Day of My Life” earned a triple-platinum certification from the RIAA and vaulted to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in addition to receiving countless film, television, video game, and sports syncs. Their 2014 full-length debut, Oh, What A Life, achieved gold status, while the follow-up What We Live For, spawned another Top 20 hit, “Go Big or Go Home,” in 2016. Along the way, they sold out shows around the globe and ignited stages at festivals, including Lollapalooza, Firefly Music Festival, BottleRock Napa Valley, Reading Festival, and Leeds Festival, to name a few.

“I don’t think anyone knew how special Best Day of My Life really was when we first wrote it,” bassist Dave Rublin reflects. “It just kept snowballing from TV to commercials then one day into a number one record.”

Hot off of their critically acclaimed third album Seasons (2019), the band wasted no time getting back in the studio to record the Counting Down EP, released during the 2020 pandemic. The condensed album is at once a sonic adventure, an introspective on overcoming self-doubt, and a surging contemplation of hope and opportunity.

2021 and 2022 brought forth notable single collaborations with Santana & Rob Thomas (“Move”), Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray (“Nice & Easy”), CVBZ (“This Time is Right”), Chad Tepper (“Timeless”), and Fedde le Grand (“One Way Up”), followed by unique cover renditions of songs by Olivia Rodrigo (“good 4 u”) and Post Malone (“Circles”). The band is putting the finishing touches on a new album due in early 2023.

“We’ve never been afraid to explore new musical genres but we always try to maintain a message of hope in our music,” states Zac.

It all comes together to present a vision of the band that’s at once recognizable and unfamiliar. For while Barnett does think some of the new songs “are even more in the genre of classic American Authors than a lot of other stuff we’ve done in recent history”, he also sees this next chapter as opening a new door and leaving the past behind.

“Nothing ever came easy for us,” Dave reveals. “We had this crazy dream and we had to do everything ourselves and keep working harder and harder every day to make those dreams a reality.”

Contact: bobbydarin@7smgmt.com

Bobby Darin’s voracious desire for show business fame was fueled by a sense that the sword of Damocles was always hanging over him. Darin was born Walden Robert Cassotto on May 14th, 1936 in the Bronx to a family of very modest means. At an early age Darin developed rheumatic fever which damaged the valves of his heart. He was a frail and sickly boy, and normal stickball in the streets or roughhousing with other kids his age was just not possible for him. He was however a very bright and gifted boy and his “mother” Polly realized this early on. Polly was a Vaudeville performer in her youth and she encouraged Bobby to explore music and to read constantly. Around the house Bobby was regularly exposed to music of the great big bands and singers such as Al Jolson, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. Music played a big part in the Cassotto household in Bobby’s youth. By the time he was in his early teens he could play the piano and drums. With Polly’s love and encouragement and with a deep desire to make Polly proud, Bobby began to plan and work towards his dreams. Sometimes important events in one’s life happen randomly. One day he overheard the family Doctor say to Polly that “even with the best medical treatment and luck the boy probably won’t live to see age 20.” Friends and family later theorized that this medical revelation was what fueled the brash, arrogant and intensely driven Darin to never suffer fools gladly or to waste a single moment. He was on borrowed time and he knew it.

Bobby attended the prestigious Bronx High School of Science which only very gifted students could attend. After graduation he attended Hunter College but dropped out after one semester. He concluded that college was not the path for him and he would “fight the fight in the streets to achieve his show business dreams.” He began to write songs and sing demos and hung around the famous Brill Building, which was the epicenter of music and creativity in New York City at that time. He was signed to Decca Records but was later dropped when none of the songs made an impact. He got a second chance at Atco Records, founded by the legendary Ahmet Ertegun. After a few sessions there again with no success, the executives at Atco were about to drop him from the label. Ahmet personally intervened and decided to produce some sessions with Darin. The musical gods shined on them as a session on April 10, 1958 produced a song that would go to number 3 on the charts. ”Splish Splash” was written by Darin in 15 minutes after a half-joking dare from disc jockey Murray the K Kaufman’s mother. The sickly boy from the Bronx was on his way. Other hits soon followed such as “Queen of the Hop,” and the beautiful Latin-flavored tune he wrote “Dream Lover,” which sold over a million copies and went to number 2 on the charts. With regular appearances on the Dick Clark and Ed Sullivan Shows and regular touring gigs, Darin was beginning to fulfill the dream he and Polly had mapped out.

With Darin established as a solid rock and roll star, Ahmet and the brain trust at Atco were stunned when he came to them wanting to do an album of standards in the Sinatra, Ella and Dean Martin genre. Quite simply they thought he was crazy and strongly opposed the idea. Bobby however always wanted to be an all around entertainer and he believed that rock and roll was fickle and that rock and roll singers would come and go without longevity. Darin had the courage of his convictions and made a deal with Ahmet that he would pay for the album out of the royalties that he had earned from the rock hits. The 1959 album “That’ s All” launched Bobby Darin into another level of artistry, global fame and critical acclaim. “Mack the Knife” reached number one and stayed there for 10 weeks and sold over two million copies. “Beyond the Sea” reached number 6 and may be the most well known Darin song ever due to its constant usage in movies, ads, documentaries and TV shows. Darin won a 1959 Record of the Year Grammy Award for “Mack the Knife” and a Grammy for best new artist. The album also put Darin into the adult/swing genre audience that helped elevate him from just a rock and roll singer. To see Darin on a nightclub floor was to witness a consummate performer. Liz Taylor once said “he's so comfortable on stage it’s like he's in his own living room." Ahmet sent a young Diana Ross to see Darin live to learn about how to control a room. The early 60’s saw Darin perform to sellout crowds at the most prestigious nightclubs in the country, from the Copa in New York to the Flamingo in Las Vegas. He also began to do movies. He met his future wife Sandra Dee on the film “Come September” filmed in Italy in 1960. A seven-picture deal with Paramount showcased what a fine actor he was. His gritty performance with Sidney Poitier in the film “ Pressure Point" brought critical acclaim. His role in the 1963 film “ Captain Newman M.D.” with Gregory Peck garnered him a best supporting Oscar nomination. Musically he ventured into folk/country music with songs he wrote such as “Things,” “ You're the Reason I’m Living,” and “18 Yellow Roses.” By 1964 Bobby Darin was at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry and had achieved many of the goals he had set out for himself.

When the Beatles arrived in the US in 1964 music and pop culture changed drastically. He and his peers such as Sammy, Dean, and Frank all had to adapt to the new zeitgeist. In 1964 Darin began to focus more on the business side of music with his publishing company TM music. He took a break from touring and spent more time with his family. In truth, he was also a bit afraid of the “empty seats” syndrome, which all entertainers confront at one time or another. In 1967 Darin got divorced from Sandra Dee. This was a difficult and painful period for him but it would only get worse a year later. In 1968 Bobby had become close with Senator Robert F. Kennedy and he campaigned for him actively. He was with the Senator the day before he was killed in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968. This stunned Bobby to the core but an even more painful chapter was about to be revealed. RFK had spoken at length with Darin about his running for political office. Darin was serious about it and when his sister Nina and “father” Charlie heard about it they had to unearth a very dark secret. Nina and Charlie feared that if Darin got into politics the press would uncover a hidden bombshell. His beloved Polly, whom he so revered, was not his biological mother but actually his grandmother. Nina, who he had known as his sister his entire life, was actually his biological mother. This revelation emotionally scarred Darin for the rest of his life. He was angry with Nina and he felt that his whole life had been a lie. In the wake of a totally changed musical landscape, the death of RFK, and the revelation about his family, Bobby Darin sold all his possessions and moved into a trailer in Big Sur in northern California to reevaluate his life. He read voraciously, spent time with his son, and debated politics with friends who lived on the property with him. In 1968-69 he wrote and recorded two albums that covered issues such as civil rights, poverty, the Vietnam War and the death of RFK. Gone were the super polished Vegas act and the hipster swagger of a consummate showman. What replaced it was a man who was writing and singing about the issues the country was facing and what he personally was facing; turmoil. He told Dick Clark at the time that he was “lost” and that back in the day he “chose plastic when he should have chosen ethnic.” One of the songs from this period is one of Darin’s finest compositions, “Simple Song of Freedom." The tune’s lyrics insightfully spoke of a country at war with itself. Singer Tim Hardin recorded it as well and had a nice hit with it.

By 1971 Darin was facing serious health problems. Throughout the 60’s he would battle heart arrhythmias and extreme fatigue. In February 1971 he underwent open-heart surgery to put in a pacemaker. The surgery was a success and he began to reemerge into the show business world again. In addition to Vegas gigs, he appeared as a guest on many TV shows of the era including the Flip Wilson Show, The Dean Martin Show and Sonny and Cher. He began to integrate into his shows contemporary music from writers such as Laura Nyro, James Taylor and The Beatles. Audiences in the 1972-73 period saw an evolving artist who still would do the golden hits but would weave in songs about social consciousness that were relevant to the times. It also showed a more compassionate man who realized there were more important things in life than superficial show biz success. Around this time he spent a day with his son Dodd throwing away various awards and accolades from a lifetime in show business. He explained to his son that those things were meaningless to him. What a difference from the brash young singer who years earlier told Life Magazine that he “wanted to be a legend by the time he was 25.” Darin was determined to not to be an old rocker or Vegas hipster simply to be trotted out for retirement conventions. In 1972 he got his own weekly variety show on NBC, which ran through 1973. He also had a regular gig at the prestige venue of the time, The Las Vegas Hilton which was home to Elvis and Barbra Streisand. He had signed a deal to open the new MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas in January of 1974. The 27-week 3-year deal was his "insurance policy” financially so if he were too ill to work later he would be solvent. Things were on the upswing for Bobby Darin after the tumultuous and deeply troubling times of 1967-68.

In early 1973 Darin was again having severe heart arrhythmias and exhaustion. The finest Doctors of the day could not find the cause. After wrapping his NBC TV show in May 1973 and then closing for the final time at the Las Vegas Hilton in August 1973, Bobby Darin went to LA to rest and try and get better. On December 20th, 1973 he underwent exploratory open-heart surgery. The Doctors found a massive infection in his heart and he died hours after the surgery. He left his body to medical research in the hope he could help other people. He was 37 years old.

Bobby Darin left an indelible mark on the music industry and world of entertainment in his brief 37 years. From his early rock and roll hits, to his swinging interpretations of the great American Songbook, to his later forays into folk and country; he did it all and did it with conviction and passion. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1999, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. His life was portrayed in the 2004 feature film “Beyond the Sea” for Lions Gate entertainment. The 1998 PBS documentary “Beyond the Song” told his story in a poignant way with interviews from his peers, friends and family woven with footage of him performing. There have been five books written about his life. Because Darin ventured into so many different genres, critics and sometimes the public had a hard time defining him or fully appreciating his talent. However, his work may best be understood in this quote from Neil Young given to LA Times journalist Robert Hilburn in 1990 “I used to get so mad and frustrated with Darin because he kept changing his musical style. Only later did I realize what a genius he was.”

In 2018 “Dream Lover” The Bobby Darin musical broke box office records in Melbourne, Australia and won a Helpmann award, the equivalent to a Tony Award in the US. Plans are underway for a Darin musical on Broadway.

The length of a man’s life is not what is important but rather what he leaves behind. Bobby Darin left us an amazing body of work that has stood the test of time and will be enjoyed forever.

Contact: galactic@7Smgmt.com

Galactic’s first new studio album in more than three years, ALREADY READY ALREADY – released on their own Tchuop-Zilla Records – sees the renowned New Orleans based instrumental outfit taking a distinctly contemporary approach towards their own progressive sound, interpolating modern rhythms and electronic instrumentation within the house-shaking framework of the Crescent City’s funk pop ‘n’ roll. Produced by ​the band’s Robert Mercurio and Ben Ellman, the new LP finds Galactic once again enlisting a diverse array of vocal collaborators to assist in their musical exploration, each of whom lend lyrical flavor and individualistic personality to the band’s multi-faceted sonic grooves. Bookended by a high powered pair of trademark Galactic instrumentals that give the album its title, ALREADY READY ALREADY. The album is a short, sharp blast of undeniable creative muscle, from the stripped down kick/snap verses of “Going Straight Crazy,” featuring New Orleans singer (and YouTube sensation) Princess Shaw, to punk cabaret artist Boyfriend’s quirky speed-rap on the breakneck “Dance At My Funeral.” As ever, Galactic’s omnivorous musical interests make easy classification utterly impossible – ALREADY READY ALREADY is as all encompassing and universal as the band’s moniker established long ago.

“I’ve never been able to put a label on what we do,” Ellman says. “I could say it’s funk or I could say it’s R&B or jazz or whatever else, but really, it’s all of that.”

“It’s not that we’re always trying to push boundaries,” says Mercurio, “but we definitely take influence from our hometown and try to do something new with it. We tour all around the world and we’re exposed to tons of elements that filter their way into our consciousness and come out through our music.”

Though their hearts are always in New Orleans, Galactic spends virtually all its life on the road, leaving limited timeframes in which to record. Whenever time allowed, the group holed up at their studio headquarters, Number C, where they were free to experiment and develop new ideas.

“Having our own studio allows to not be on some schedule,” Ellman says, “where we have to have material, save up some money, book the studio, and that’s the time we have to make a record. It’s a completely different process, where we can always be working on music.”

Over time, the tracks revealed themselves as either instrumentals (like the slippery, dub-inflected “Goose Grease”) or vocal songs. The band, so well woven into their city’s ever-changing music scene, began to thumb through their little black book in search of collaborators.

“Our community is so rich with talent,” Ellman says. “We’re just lucky to be in a situation where we can make phone calls, then someone comes to the studio, we kick it, start working on things. It’s all really organic.”

Galactic brought in a diverse array of predominantly young female singers, each of whom brings their own disparate musical tastes and cultural flavor. Working with artists lesser known on the national stage but beloved in their own community enables Galactic to evince a kind of sonic truth about their hometown, putting its multi-faceted underground to the fore. 

“Trust me, I loved having Macy Gray and Mavis Staples on our last record,” Mercurio says. “It was an honor to work with them. But there’s something fun about making music with someone not everybody has heard of and end up getting a great reaction to it. There are no preconceived thoughts as to what the song should be like because the listener doesn’t know the artist as well.”

That being said, a number of the voices heard on ALREADY READY ALREADY are Galactic veterans: “Touch Get Cut” features the band’s touring vocalist, Erica Falls, while “Clap Your Hands” is sung by Ms. Charm Taylor, previously featured on 2015’s acclaimed INTO THE DEEP. The lilting “Everlasting Light” teams Galactic with frequent collaborator, The Revivalists’ David Shaw, alongside Nahko of Nahko & Medicine For The People – the only non-New Orleans resident among the features.

As for working with Nahko, Ellman says, “We just liked his vocal.” “Being from New Orleans isn’t a prerequisite for working with us. You never want to be restricted, it’s whatever serves the song best.”

Galactic is, likely even at this very moment, on the road as usual, with Erica Falls putting her own stamp on ALREADY READY ALREADY’s songs as they manifest new shapes through live performance. As if their perpetual tour schedule weren’t enough, Galactic announce the band’s purchase and future stewardship of New Orleans’ legendary Tipitina’s nightclub.

“We’re so incredibly honored to be tasked as the current caretakers of such a historic venue,” says Ellman. “My connection with the club started way before I was lucky enough to take the stage. My first job in New Orleans was at Tipitina’s as a cook in the (now defunct) kitchen. The importance of respecting what Tip’s means for musicians and the city of New Orleans is not lost on us. We're excited for the future of the club and look forward to all the amazing music and good times ahead.”

With that in mind, it turns out that, despite the lack of released work, the past three years have in fact been remarkably prolific for Galactic. The sessions that yielded ALREADY READY ALREADY will generate still another LP due later in 2019, one which Ellman describes as “possibly more of a throwback thing” but will almost certainly morph into something altogether new and wonderful via Galactic’s evolutionary musical vision. 

“There’s no telling what those songs will sound like when we’re through,” Mercurio says. “Once we get in there and start twisting them, see what perks up our ears, stuff can definitely take a left turn. That’s kind of the story of Galactic right there – we’re constantly taking left turns. I wonder what it would be like if we took a right…?”

Contact: BYP@7smgmt.com

Beau Young Prince is a quintessential product of his environment. While being so heavily influenced by your surroundings could hamper one’s sound as an artist,Prince uses it to his advantage. From his earliest work to his studio debut Until Then, Beau has personified versatility. You are as likely to hear BYP rap about falling in and out of love, as you are to hear him croon about getting a Half & Half from the carry-out joint down the street.

Beau’s versatility is his greatest strength, as evidenced on genre-blending tracks like “What We Do,” recorded with hit U.K. artist TroyBoi, and released under Diplo’s Mad Decent label. The track has gained almost 3 million streams across multiple platforms. His collaboration with New York’s DJ YMNO — comprising the duo Young Futura — brilliantly mixes lyrical gusto and swagger that exemplifies the best of hip-hop, with the percussive heartbeat that makes house music thrive. The group's debut project "Patience" has been streamed over 2 million streams since it's release in early 2017. Prince is also capable of turning it loose and showcasing his masterful flow on tracks like Hounded’s “Crazy Love.” BYP is able to switch flows, cadences, and tonalities to suit any given melody, reminiscent of musical juggernauts like Kid Cudi.

Above everything else, BYP’s music is a reflection of his upbringing in DC. The southeast native clearly studied his city’s musical roots and implemented them into his music. Traces of jazz, hip-hop, and perhaps most notably, go-go music are all present in Beau’s work. Prince, a true DC native, blends elements of the city’s most iconic beats and sounds—everything from Chuck Brown flair to Fat Trel grit to Oddisee lyricism bubbles to the surface in BYP’s music. As a classically trained bassist, there is no sonic terrain too foreign for Beau to explore. Fortunately for listeners, unknown terrain is precisely where Beau Young Prince makes his most innovative, moving creations.

Contact: Luceromusic@7smgmt.com 

The search for one’s identity is a lifelong process that every individual must go through. Who someone is today, is not the person they were yesterday nor who they may be tomorrow. Despite those changes, there is a general idea of a defined sense of self. No matter what happens, it is that small yet solid and grounding definition of self that continues to drive us forward in our search for identity and whatever may come with it.

It would be difficult to find any artist who understands that better than the band Lucero.

Since forming in Memphis in the late 90’s, Lucero’s base musical hallmarks have remained similar to the band’s initial sound established with their first record The Attic Tapes. In the history of their expansive discography, Lucero has evolved and embraced everything from southern rock to Stax-inspired Memphis soul, whilst simultaneously maintaining their distinctive sonic foundations. Over 20 years later, dedicated fans of the group still flock to hear the band’s punchy driving rhythms, punk-rooted guitar licks, and lyrics that evoke the whiskey drenched sentimentality of Americana singer-songwriters. As expected of any band built to survive, Lucero has welcomed change over the course of their career, but it has always been on their terms.

The band’s twelfth album, Should’ve Learned by Now, began its life as hardly more than some rough demos and lingering guitar parts. These pieces that were left behind from the band’s previous albums, Among the Ghosts (2018) and When You Found Me (2021) were deemed too uptempo and capering for the prior records’ darker themes.

“I had a particular sound I was looking for on each record and there was no room for any goofy rock & roll or cute witticisms or even simply upbeat songs,” said primary lyricist and frontman, Ben Nichols. “But now finally, it was time to revisit all of that stuff and get it out in the world. That’s how we got to the appropriately-for-us-titled album Should’ve Learned by Now. The album is basically about how we know we are fuckups and I guess we are ok with that.”

The band, comprised of all its original members (which in addition to Ben Nichols, includes Brian Venable on guitar, Roy Berry on drums, John C. Stubblefield on bass, and Rick Steff on keys) teamed up for a third time with producer and Grammy Award-winning engineer and mixer, Matt Ross-Spang. Lucero began the recording process in Sam Phillips Recording Service before transitioning and finishing the record in Ross-Spang’s newly opened Southern Grooves Productions in Memphis, TN. Ross-Spang appears to have settled in with the band’s more trademark sound whilst very much making his touch known to listeners.

“He knows how to take the sounds we’re making on our own and just kind of polish them up in the right way. Or dirty it up in the right way. Whatever it takes, he just kind of does it,” says Nichols.

The first track from the album “One Last F.U.” is a punchy and somewhat combative song which was one of the original remnants of Among the Ghosts. Despite its title, “One Last F.U.” is less about standoffishness and more a self-reflection on the kind of people we are capable of being in difficult situations. According to Nichols “The rest of the song was simply about wanting to be left alone while I drank at the bar. That could be taken in a kind of grumpy/antagonistic way, but I feel ok singing the song because I’ve been both characters in the song at different times. Sometimes I’m the one wanting to be left alone and sometimes I’m the drunk one blabbing all night to someone that just wants to be left alone.” Right off the bat, Nichols’ vocals are awash in rock and roll slap-back reverb. The effect pushes Nichols' naturally upfront vocals wider, so they fill the space in a manner more akin to a live performance. It’s one of a few new production effects that extend throughout the record and add a new level of presence and attitude to the band’s sound.

The second track, “Macon if We Make It”, was inspired by the band having to traverse through Georgia during a hurricane. When asked where the next stop on the tour was, the band responded with, “Macon, if we make it.” Continuing to be reminiscent of older works, “Macon if We Make It” has echoes of the band’s 2009 album 1372 Overton Park. The song is really driven by guitarist Brian Venable’s formidable electric guitar. The lyrics seem at first to be mostly preoccupied with a literal storm situation at hand but turn out to be more about a troubled relationship back home. The proverbial dam breaks when the narrator sings “I don’t know if we were in love. I just know it wasn’t enough. Got caught in the storm and the water it’s rising…” The song gives way to a powerful drum lead up by Roy Berry and the listener is carried out, like a raft, on a ripping guitar solo.

The pushes and pulls, builds and breakdowns are all over the album’s subsequent tracks, but it isn’t all hard-edged rock and roll all the time. “She Leads Me”, is inspired somewhat by the classic tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, and delves into a softer and more nostalgic sound. With backing vocals supplied by Jesse Davis and Cory Branan, it’s a song that lyrically rests on the concept that we sometimes need to recognize and acknowledge our past for a gentle enough reassurance to move forward.

The rest of the album dives right back into its more rock and roll songs with “At the Show” and “Nothing’s Alright”, both of which examine the highs and lows of remembering old loves, reminiscing on the old days, and contented introspection. Aspects which finally come to a head in the album’s title track “Should’ve Learned by Now”, a rough and edgy song that tackles the fact that all the lessons, though clearly recognized, have yet to sink in. Quite poetically, the song is set to a tune that may be the greatest call back to Lucero’s punk upbringing.

From its original Ben Nichols-designed cover art to its credits, the album is a reflection of a band that knows itself. Should’ve Learned by Now bridges the gap musically between “old Lucero” and “new Lucero” in a manner which affixes the band’s position as the perfect intersection of punk initiative with hard-earned artistry. It’s an album that recognizes the past in its sound and content, but leaves the door wide open to the future and for the lessons still in store.

Contact: milow@7smgmt.com

Milow is the alias of Belgium-born singer/songwriter Jonathan Vandenbroeck, a mysterious moniker chosen at random to be the auteur of a body of music that sees the release of his seventh and latest studio album, Nice to Meet You. All of them, from his 2006 debut The Bigger Picture, which produced one of his biggest hits in “You Don’t Know,” have been self-released on his own Homerun Records as a truly independent DIY artist who follows his own muse.


“As someone used to responding to crisis situations, I was prepared when the pandemic arrived,” says Milow, who was surrounded by musical instruments as a child, picking up the accordion, guitar and piano in short order, writing his first song in English at 15. “This was something I recognized. Though it might seem like the worst time to make music, it turned out to be the best time for me. When things are at their most difficult, that’s when it gets easier and I’m at my most creative.”

Nice to Meet You was recorded with live musicians – including his longtime guitarist/ touring partner Tom Vanstiphout – at Brussels’ famed ICP Studios, with members of the band camping out in a bubble, eating meals together and sleeping on the premises. A greeting to the outside world – the title track is a paean to being a father to his two kids, 7 and 4 years old – the album is the perfect antidote for a world slowly emerging from the last two years of pandemic.

“After the last two years, I didn’t want to make a solitary album by myself,” confesses Milow. “I needed that energy to feed off, that interaction, camaraderie, feedback. Not just from producers, but the musicians, too. We were all happy to see each other and catch up.”

From the very first track, “Whatever It Takes,” a glorious homage to the thump of Motown bassist James Jamerson’s beat and the glorious ‘80s harmonies of Daryl Hall and John Oates, the album offers a vibrant, upbeat return to normalcy. The hook-laden, melodic pop includes the first single, “How Love Works,” about the trials and tribulations of relationships (with a stunning video directed by fellow Belgian Cecilia Verheyden), along with the Flamenco guitars and Moorish flavor of “ASAP,” a world music track about the responsibilities of friendship that channels the classic James Taylor/Carole King song, “You’ve Got a Friend.”



Other numbers, like the self-deprecating “Guinness Book of Records,” where the lovelorn narrator brags of setting the world mark for someone who “fucked it up a thousand times,” or the twin tributes to pop culture phenomena both created in 1981 -- the same year Milow, now 40, was born -- the ode to the Japanese video game “Donkey Kong,” and the breezy Motown rhythms of “DeLorean,” the homage to the ultimate underdog car featured in Back to the Future.

“I thought it was the right time for some lighthearted songs rather than any heavy introspection,” explains Milow. “I’m proud that I was able to get these 12 songs out of the last two years, making something positive out of difficult times. And that’s the way I look at life. In a crisis, I get a certain focus and see more clearly what I must do.”

But not all is pop hooks and sing-along choruses. The death of Milow’s longtime drummer Oscar Kraal during Covid from a battle with pancreatic cancer led to the title track, a rare contemplation on Milow’s relationship with his two children, in the wake of the two teenage kids left behind by the 50-year-old musician’s death, with the album’s closer, “Oscar,” serving as Milow’s musical eulogy to his friend.

“It was all about tearing these walls I had built around me,” says Milow, who referenced his own father as a rather distant presence in his childhood, along with his own vow to be a better parent. “Every album I’ve made is about leaving my comfort zone. The bravest thing I could do was write about something I didn’t have the courage to face before. I wanted to break the cycle I experienced with my own father, while acknowledging I have as much to learn from my kids as they do from me. I never wanted people to see that vulnerability before.”

Milow’s seven previous albums represent an ongoing dialogue with his audience, one that he may begin, but is soon picked up by his many followers around the world.

“My albums are like journals, diaries of that particular time in my life,” says Milow. “More people may discover me in the U.S., but I don’t want to attach my own happiness to making it there. One country won’t affect my career. I still get inspired to write songs that everyday people can relate to, rather than the life of a touring musician or rock star. That’s my role.”

Like his nod to the “DeLorean,” Milow appreciates maintaining the peculiarities of being an artist from Belgium.

“I can identify with that mentality of creating something independently and against all odds,” he says about maintaining his continental European focus. “The music scene is much more eclectic over here, from the festival lineups to radio. I love the freedom I have as a singer/songwriter to play many different genres.”

On Nice to Meet You, Milow does just that, renewing that relationship and inviting anyone and everyone who wants to join him. With a brave new world of streaming breaking down barriers of country and genre, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Milow add more fans – and territories -- to his ever-expanding reach.

Contact: akiragalaxy@7smgmt.com

In the songs on Los Angeles singer-songwriter Akira Galaxy’s debut EP What’s Inside You, pure and unfiltered emotional connection is everything. In their romantic vortexes, nothing seems to be in question, and consummate mutual understanding feels possible. Eventually, though, difficult moments throw deeper truths into relief, exposing the ways in which the narrators have been misled. Akira writes soulful and atmospheric alternative pop songs about being lost in these kinds of states, inserting bittersweet or acidic asides.

With divergent touchstones like Radiohead, Cocteau Twins (she covers Elizabeth Fraser’s Massive Attack collaboration “Teardrop”), and Fleetwood Mac, What’s Inside You covers a great deal of musical as well as spiritual territory across its five songs. Ecstatic but emotionally unsparing, immediate and catchy but sophisticated, the EP announces an artist eager to explore divergent ideas and already invested with a fully formed songwriting voice.

Born Akira Galaxy Ament, the 23-year-old singer cut her teeth as a musician while fronting high school bands in Seattle, having been steeped in eclectic music by her family since she was a toddler. In her songwriting and performance, she combines the grit and attitude of the alt-rock of her hometown—where she often retreats to write—with a sleeker, more transatlantic aesthetic. Aided by producers Chris Coady (Beach House, TV On the Radio, The Kills) and Sam Westhoff, the songs on the EP blend rock ’n’ roll edge with synth gestures reminiscent of ’80s dream pop. Akira’s smoky vocals feel intimate and otherworldly at the same time, mirroring the moments in her songs when the real and the imagined seem to fold together and become inextricable.

The yearning strummer “Virtual Eyes,” in particular, evokes this feeling of lost perspective. Inspired by a love affair that progressed entirely remotely, it explores —as Akira puts it—“Falling in love while the world stood still” before “going back to real life and realizing that the moment was built on fantasy.” In the song’s final refrain, it’s hard not to get swept up in that craving for human connection, even if it ultimately proves to be a coping mechanism: “I want your impossible devotion / So look me in my virtual eyes.”

The arch, upbeat pop of “Wanna Be a Star” distills another moment of post- pandemic realization—the feeling of facing people and situations one hasn’t seen for a long time. Bolstered by synths and guitar by John Anderson (girls) it functions as an anthem of self-actualization as well as an L.A.-specific social critique. Akira draws harsh conclusions while exploring the highest extreme of her vocal register: “A weight in your pocket / And still not good enough for you / Your dreams are half open / Like a black hole imploded.”

“Silver Shoes,” meanwhile, looks back on an older lost love, simultaneously capturing the feeling of being in a troubled but profound relationship and tracing its slow dissolution. As happens frequently across these songs, all barriers break down between lovers; whether that is the mark of idealized love or toxic codependency feels beside the point. “See, there’s no one who can see you like I do ... Beyond those lies / There’s no divide,” Akira sings, recalling an interplanetary Stevie Nicks.

Ultimately, Akira hopes her songs will connect with people who have gone through experiences similar to hers and effectively describe inner states that feel difficult to articulate—for instance, the desire for complete knowledge of another person. In the most powerful moments on What’s Inside You, she writes about our strange proclivities in love without judgment. These indelible songs capture emotional truth—the bold handiwork of an artist who prizes depth and substance in addition to her adventurous sounds.

Contact: Nate@7smgmt.com

Ax and the Hatchetmen came here to party. The Chicago based rock and roll band’s shimmering guitar attack, earthy rhythms and blistering horns have gained them a loyal following nationwide. Formed in 2018, the camaraderie and musicality between the long-time group of friends is apparent the moment they take the stage. Led by the vocals and guitars of Axel Ellis, the six piece band also showcases Sal Defilippis on guitar, Hunter Olshefke on bass, Nick Deputy on drums, Phil Pistone on trumpet and Quinn Dolan on saxophone. 2022 saw the band complete two headlining tours as well as release four new singles that have amassed millions of streams globally. They plan on touring and releasing music for the foreseeable future. They also will party.

Contact: BaykerBlankenship@7smgmt.com

Nineteen-year old Bayker Blankenship from Livingston, Tennessee has had one heck of a few months, going from playing his first home town gigs to signing his first record deal and going viral with his first hit “Maxed Out" in a short amount of time. “Maxed Out” is hitting new peaks at such an incredible speed- to name a few, it reached #2 on the Spotify Viral charts, #43 on Apple Country, and has over 100k creates on TikTok. Bayker has garnered over 40M+ streams in just a few months. “Maxed Out” highlights Bayker as one of Country’s rising stars, with fans falling for his bright personality and warm heart along the way. Bayker's debut EP “Younger Years" released in July 2024, hitting over 4M+ streams the first week and making it obvious he is far from a one-hit wonder.

Contact: betaradio@7smgmt.com

Home represents more than just a physical place.

It encompasses a state of being and an ideal. When you feel home, you feel whole. Humanity intrinsically seeks that feeling. This eternal search inspires Beta Radio’s third full-length and first for NETTWERK, Ancient Transition. The Wilmington, NC duo—Benjamin “Ben” Mabry and Brent Holloman—transform a tumultuous two years of corporeal and existential wandering into 10 songs cast in folk-style literary lyricism, Americana spirit, and orchestral experimentation.

On the journey, they creatively cover new ground.

“Throughout the whole process, there was an undercurrent of being displaced, because I moved four times,” says Ben. “Simultaneously, I was trying to understand how to reconcile who I was years ago with and who I am now. I was essentially searching for a home in a physical place as well as in an ideology and other people. My head was in this space for two years, so my reaction was to write songs that articulated these emotions. On the record, certain musical moments will prove sonically disruptive and reflect how I felt. The theme threads through everything.”

“While we were on the search, we let go of what we thought Beta Radio should sound like, experimented, and started simply pursuing what we like,” adds Brent. “For the first time, we utilized samples, an Unacorda, and old Juno 60 synthesizers from the eighties. We really expanded our sound.”

These lifelong friends carefully developed the sound over the course of two independent LPs. After quietly stirring a local buzz, 2014’s Colony of Bees marked a major breakthrough. Huffington Post touted the record among its “40 Best Albums of 2014,” while the single “On The Frame” generated 31 million cumulative Spotify streams between the original and acoustic versions. “Sitting Room” surpassed 11 million, and “I Am Mine” crossed the 4-million-mark. Meanwhile, they frequently occupied coveted real estate on high traffic playlists such as Soft Focus, Afternoon Acoustic, Happy Folk, The Most Beautiful Songs in the World, Calm Vibes, and more. As their profile organically grew, they released the holiday compilation, The Songs the Season Brings, Vol. 1-4.

By 2016, the musicians could focus on their next offering as they moved into a proper studio in downtown Wilmington.

“We both wanted to be doing Beta Radio full-time and, thankfully, we were finally able to,” continues Brent. “We’d recorded the past two records at home studios. With a proper studio and this newfound time, it was a seamless transition.”

Inspired by everything from The Arrival soundtrack to a re-reading of Slaughterhouse Five, the guys carefully crafted the music comprising Ancient Transition. The first single “Our Remains” illuminated a spark of inspiration. Off-time beats and ukulele bristle against strings as Ben’s delicate delivery captivates. It culminates on the thought-provoking refrain, “I’m wearing your remains.”

“The time signature forced us to think differently,” Ben admits. “In terms of the meaning, I had a very brief relationship with someone, but it didn’t go the way I thought it was going to go. I looked for home in this person and wasn’t finding it there.”

The opener “Tongue Tied” tempers electric guitar and broken Wurlitzer mixed with vibraphone. In order to achieve the warm echo, Ben sang into the guitar pickups, conjuring an airy vibe.

“In broad strokes, it touches on the idea that something’s missing,” he goes on. “You know there’s more you’re not seeing, yet you can’t find it. I don’t know what’s missing, but I’ve got to figure it out.”

Violin and banjo underscore a heavenly and hypnotic melody on the entrancing “Realistic City Living.”

“We like to add different instruments in unexpected ways,” says Brent. “The sonic palette is really rich. It makes for a record you can listen to from beginning to end. That was important to us.”

As they keep searching, Beta Radio ultimately offer a powerful reassurance on Ancient Transition.

“When people listen to this, I’d love for them to walk away feeling known,” Ben leaves off. “Art should reflect our humanity back to us. That’s definitely a big ambition for us. On the other end of the spectrum, we just hope listeners enjoy it.”

Contact: bigsomething@7smgmt.com

Hailing from the North Carolina countryside, or “The Middle of Nowhere,” as it is lovingly dubbed on their debut album, the 6-headed musical monster known as 'Big Something' has steadily become one of the most unique and exciting rock bands to emerge from the Southeast.

Huge rhythms paired with soaring guitars, E.W.I (electronic wind instrument), synths, horns and soulful vocals rise to the top of their signature sound taking listeners on a journey through a myriad of musical styles. With a diverse and growing catalog of timeless songs that tell stories, and a high energy live show fusing improvisational alternative rock with funk, reggae, jazz, electronica, heavy metal and more -- it's no secret why their fun-loving grassroots community of fans is so enamored with the band.

After over a decade together with 6 full-length studio albums produced by Grammy-nominee John Custer and even their own Summer music festival The Big What?, Big Something have carved out their own niche in the live music community and continue to grow nationally landing marquee appearances at Bonnaroo, Peach Music Festival, Lock'n, Summer Camp and Electric Forest as well as critical acclaim from the likes of Billboard, Guitar World, Glide Magazine and Jambase.

Contact: cayucas@7smgmt.com

A return to musical roots is a time-honored tradition for many established artists who have endured for the better part of a decade. Forming and shaping an identity can take an album or two, and perpetuating forward motion while perfecting a sound can take another. Sometimes a swerve gets thrown in, an unseen obstacle sets itself in the middle of a path, or an experiment or two get eked out for one reason or another. But oftentimes by this point in a career an itch pops up to circle back to where it all began in order to do what the artist does best. And so, for their fourth album as Cayucas, brothers Zach and Ben Yudin are heading back to the beach—in other words, to the sunny, vibrant, melodic rock from which they first paddled out.

A year or so on from their third album Real Life and nearly a decade since their debut, Bigfoot, in the summer of 2019 Cayucas sat down to take stock of their lot. With Real Life they had achieved a bigger, poppier, more bombastic sound; before that, with 2015’s Dancing at the Blue Lagoon, they had explored a moodier and more artsy terrain. Bigfoot had put them on the indie pop map with its catchy songwriting, buoyant rhythms, and singalong choruses, with lyrics celebrating the bright, coastal Californian life and all it has to offer. And so, dipping back into the creative juices still firmly flowing following the Real Life recording process and tour, the Yudins got started on a new album with a familiar tinge.

“We were on tour and I had the idea to write a song called ‘Blue Schwinn’ to get back to our roots,” Zach says. “We had this mantra: Back to the beach. That kickstarted the creative process. We were listening to a ton of Beach Boys music, fantasizing about living coastal again, and writing songs reminiscent of the original demos I wrote for Cayucas back in 2011—that’s kind of our base. For the first time in a while that idea felt really fresh and exciting; let’s go back to what really worked for us as songwriters and felt special, and what was most authentic for who we are as artists. To write songs that hearken back to where it all started now feels really good again.”

Inspired by that directive, the classic Pet Sounds and Smile Beach Boys sessions, the rhythmic groove of Jan & Dean, and an actual baby blue Schwinn bicycle Zach had owned when the band was going by the name Oregon Bike Trails ten years ago, the brothers began writing new material last fall. Digging up old drum loops, bass lines, and other samples from the personal Cayucas sound archive to pair with newly composed guitar riffs, vintage reverb effects, and other sonic elements, they quickly pieced together a few dozen short song ideas. “Blue Schwinn” was soon retitled “Summer Moon” and would be the first complete tune recorded for a new album, but despite the change its nostalgic Santa Monica/beach cruiser vibe remains. “I love a strong sense of nostalgia in a song, and a vintage baby blue Schwinn just creates the mood for me,” Zach says.

Working completely on their own in their home studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles, over the final weeks of 2019 and the first few months of 2020, they recorded three more similarly themed and toned songs. “From the Rafters” was rebuilt from a 2015-era demo unearthed by Ben that he says was originally a take on “Surfin’ USA.”“Yeah Yeah Yeah,” with its Brian Wilson meets

Beck textures, is about the contradiction of the West LA fantasy rock and roll life—“I’m on a Peugeot in the Palisades”—juxtaposed with their regular guy roots. And the creation of “Malibu 79” perfectly illustrates the brothers’ working dynamic: Zach began by throwing everything he could at the wall, including a theremin track, then stepped aside for Ben to determine what had stuck. At that point an album with a clear identity was beginning to take shape, fueled by their rediscovered sound as well as a consistent work ethic.

“Very rarely do we have major differences,” Ben says. “The songs can be very different but they have to feel cohesive in order to work together conceptually on an album.”

“We work on music every day, slowly chipping away,” Zach adds. “That’s how we feel productive. Plus we’ve gotten a lot better at songwriting over the last five years, so now we feel like we can turn those old demos into better songs. We use what we call our blink reaction while listening to music we write; your ‘blink’ works even better if you’re not as connected to the song. It’s about being honest and asking which section could be better. It can be a hard question to ask because it means it’s not finished.”

The band continued writing, revisiting, and recording at home throughout the spring of 2020— performing essentially every discernible task for the album short of mastering. The gem “California Girl” jangles and sparkles like the sun glinting on the sheet glass of the Pacific, with its veritable checklist of Golden State highlights woven through a classic “boy spots girl” narrative, while “Red-Yellow Bonfire” is a nostalgic, impossibly catchy acoustic groover ready- made for beachside campfire singalongs. And while at first listen the tracks may seem to simplify the glory of a sunny SoCal day, there is typically a slight pang or sense of longing present in the lyrics, such as with the line “it used to be easy—back when it was easy” from “Bonfire.”

The eight tracks also mark the first time Zach will earn a producer credit for a Cayucas album. The Yudins’ studio, dubbed Corner Pocket, is filled with many vintage pieces of equipment, but a vintage reverb tank found in Japan and a DanElectro with space echo may appear on the album more than any other sound.

When it came time to title the record, only one phrase seemed to capture the mood correctly. “The album is called Blue Summer, which is a lyric in the song ‘Malibu ’79 Long,’” Zach says. “It just felt right as a title. It was simple, classic and evokes the mood.

No matter your feelings about the warmest season, be sure that Cayucas will always be there to provide its perfect soundtrack.

Denver drummer Patrick Meese has revived his project The Centennial to release “Buried Gold”, his first recordings in over 10 years.

Aside from drumming and producing for Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, Patrick has performed live in other Colorado acts Tennis and with Gregory Alan Isakov.

The Centennial first came on the scene by hosting an annual house party held during the Underground Music Showcase- Denver’s influential indie music festival. The “Yellow House” party, as it became known in the community, brought in bands from Colorado and around the country and held host to one of the Nights Sweats first shows.

“Buried Gold” is a new five song release written, performed and produced by Patrick at his studio during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Writing and recording on my own is usually a slow process. The pandemic hit right as I began a year of touring with Nathaniel Rateliff so all of the sudden I had a pretty empty calendar. I’m grateful to have a studio at home and I tried to make the best of bad situation. I was able to try ideas I’ve had for years but never had enough time to experiment with.”

Patrick teamed with LA-based artist Ben Radatz and New York-based artist Brian Alfred to create five lyric videos for the release, each inspired by images of the West.

Colorado and the West helped shaped the sound of “Buried Gold”. Meese moved to Denver from Northeast Ohio in 2001. “I wanted to theme these songs around being something small in a big space, which is how I felt for much of 2020. It was important for it to sound expansive.”

“Buried Gold” is out Friday July 9th on Mod y Vi Records.

Contact: cocozandi@7smgmt.com

Half of the due Wild Child, CoCo Zandi makes music inspired by an acute love of the sound and vibe of 1950’s Hawaiian exotic records, chased with a modern twist. Armed with his trusty baritone ukulele, an irrepressible crooning swagger, a tablespoon of steel drums,a pinch of electro 808’s, and his trio of backup sirens known as The Coquettes; CoCO Zandi’s debut album explores themes of love, loss, and all that jazz. He’ll always deliver with the smirk on the lips and a half empty (half-full) Pina colada in hand.

Contact: colorgreen@7smgmt.com

Color Green is an expansive rock and roll band made up of Noah Kohll, Corey Madden, Kyla Perlmutter and Corey Rose. The dynamic unit throws extremes of raw energy contrasted by a night’s vulnerability into their performances, keeping their audience unsure of what to expect next. An infinite pool of influences, from The Rolling Stones to Spiritualized, gives Color Green their charm: an unlikely blend between explosions of sound and gentle harmonies.

Kohll and Madden, the fleet-fingered guitar gurus, formed the group in 2018 after jamming their way through the astral plane. Their debut, self-titled EP arrived on Maximum Exposure in 2020, following two strange years of jamming late into the mysterious desert nights. In an aimless onslaught of moving through the American west, Kohll and Madden landed foot in LA. Their Self-titled debut, released in 2022 on Aquarium Drunkard and ORG, blasts out of the gates at full strength. Equal parts fuzzy and twangy, the songs cull from many decades of the strange sounds of American music.

Joining forces with the devilish rhythm section of Perlmutter and Rose, Madden and Kohll are tethered down to earth with an unfaltering backbone. With all four voices featured throughout each performance, the band calls all colors of emotion into play. Color Green’s dedication to mastering the live show has established a cult like following across the country— opening for acts like Fuzz, Kikagaku Moyo, Circles Around the Sun, and Etran De L’air only begins to paint the picture of the malleability of the band. Like the cotton comedown after a potent tab of Orange Sunshine, Color Green is a gentle melter

Contact: tdm3@7smgmt.com

Contact: eddie9v@7smgmt.com

As far back as he can remember, Capricorn Studios was calling Eddie 9V. As a kid scanning the sleeves of his favorite vinyl records, this fabled facility in Macon, Georgia, was always the secret ingredient, adding a little grit and honey to every song born on its floor. Capricorn and the bands who blew through it urged the Atlanta guitarist to ditch school at 15, play his fingers bloody throughout the south, and turn apathy into acclaim for early albums Left My Soul in Memphis (2019) and Little Black Flies (2021).

Eddie spent his first quarter-century admiring Capricorn from afar. But in December 2021, the 26-year-old finally put his thumbprint on the studio's mythology, corralling an eleven-strong group of the American South's best roots musicians to track his third album. "There was overwhelming excitement at being in such a legendary studio," he says. "But we hugged and got right to work. Everyone was joyous, loving, and flat-out playing their asses off."

You don't come to Capricorn Studios for polish. Frozen in time since its opening day in 1969, the mojo from sessions by giants like the Allman Brothers and Otis Redding still hangs in the air, while the recording philosophy remains gloriously raw. That suited Eddie, whose output has been celebrated for its warts-and-all snapshot of what went down. "In a world where everyone is trying to sound the best, I'm trying to sound like me," he reasons. "I always want the listener to feel like they're in the room with us. So I'd leave it in if a drum pedal squeaked or someone laughed during a take on the Capricorn album. It's our way of putting a stamp on the song."    

Eddie's old-school ethos goes way back. Born Brooks Mason in June 1996, he acquired his first guitar aged six, "One of those with the speaker in it – the most bang for your buck, y'know?", ignored the prevailing pop scene at Oak Grove High School in favor of local heroes like Sean Costello and studied "older cats" like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Freddie King, and Rory Gallagher "to see what made them groove and tick." His shoot-from-the-lip lyrics adds Eddie came from family fish fries, where his Uncle Brian "taught me to make people laugh, how to hold an audience's attention."

When Eddie infiltrated his home state's live circuit – first with covers band The Smokin' Frogs, then its more adept blues-rock offshoot, The Georgia Flood – he quickly pricked up ears everywhere he played. His artistic vision became full realized when he killed Brooks Mason and adopted the solo moniker that promises an electrifying night out, “Eddie 9 Volt”.

"There are too many Joe Schmo r&b bands," he reasons. "I was on the road with another band, and we were talking like mobsters. So we gave each other names – mine was Eddie."  

Already, there has been massive acclaim for his early output, with Left My Soul in Memphis dubbed "fresh and life-affirming" by Rock & Blues Muse and Little Black Flies praised by Classic Rock as "the most instinctive blues you'll hear all year." But as the Capricorn sessions ticked closer, Eddie fused the nervous energy into his best songs yet. "Coming off a straight blues record, I wanted to show people we're more than that," he reflects. "I was listening to Muscle Shoals and soul, a lot of music recorded at Capricorn in the late-'60s too. So we spent way more time crafting the new tunes. Each song took a week to write, instead of five in one night like Little Black Flies."

“Beg, Steal and Borrow” is ballsy soul with Eddie's spit flecking the mic. “Yella Alligator” is as swampy-sounding as the title, with slide guitars lapping around cardboard-box beats. Bout To “Make Me Leave Home” is a propulsive shuffle, Eddie's vocal seemingly made up in the moment. The gospel-touched “Are We Through” catches a breath before How Long drapes mellow organ over bone-dry riffs. “It's Goin' Down” fuses porch blues with psychedelic woodwind, while “Tryin' To Get By” brings brassy strut while concealing lyrics from the perspective of a man on a downward spiral, surviving on the crumbs of a love affair. "The lyrics and meanings of these new songs are way deeper," says Eddie. "Take the song “It's Goin' Down". It’s really about my struggle with alcohol, the dangerous nightlife of bars, and the drugs offered to you in the music industry. But then, one of my favorite tunes, “Yella Alligator,” is about a fictional psychedelic party in the bayou…"

Likewise, Capricorn is an album of thrilling musical contrasts. Bob Dylan’s “Down Along the Cove” is a pugnacious blues-rocker, followed by Khristie French's gossamer lead vocal on the spiritual Mary Don't You Weep. Mellow Missouri is dusty as a great lost soul session, while brass punches through the glassy chords of “I'm Lonely”. Finally, the album ends with Eddie's laughter as he realizes he has no more to give: "I gotta come out of this room…!"

Never meet your heroes, they say, and many young artists have been overwhelmed by walking the holy ground of their dream studios. At Capricorn, Eddie 9V breathed in the history – but the album he spat out is worthy of sharing the name, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the studio's greatest hits and taking music back to the golden age. "We made this record," he considers, "the way they would have done in 1969…"

Elephant Revival is a unique collection of multi-instrumentalists blending elements of Celtic, Americana, Folk and Indie Art Rock. The band consists of Bonnie Paine (vocals, cello, djembe, washboard and musical saw), Bridget Law (fiddle, vocals), Dango Rose (upright bass, mandolin, vocals), Charlie Rose (banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, vocals) Darren Garvey (drums, percussion, vocals) and Daniel Sproul (guitars, vocals) of Rose Hill Drive. The music they create together is like weather systems meeting in the sky, Bonnie’s warmly haunting voice either merging with the rhythms and melodies of the band or providing a counterpoint and transforming it.

Contact: emelise@7smgmt.com

Emelise is a singer/songwriter from the Rocky Mountain Front Range, whose passion for making music brings an infectious new energy to a classic sound. Ever since she started performing at age six, she has often been described as having the voice of an old soul. While she enjoys playing covers by her influences periodically, Emelise primarily performs songs from her own catalog.

In 2017, Emelise placed first in The Stars of Tomorrow Competition at the world famous New York's Apollo Theatre. She has performed in premiere events in North America including TedX Uncommon in Denver, Move the Dial in Toronto, LA's Winston House, and the Denver Women’s March. Emelise also enjoys street performing which has led to her booking shows across the country at coffee shops, farmer’s markets, microbreweries, festivals, as well as traditional music venues. No matter where she’s playing, her voice demonstrates one thing very clearly: she is an unstoppable powerhouse who can captivate any audience.

Contact: floozies@7smgmt.com

Just outside the jazz mecca of Kansas City springs liberal oasis Lawrence, Kansas—separated only by the waves of wheat from the epicenter of the electronic music revolution in Colorado. From Lawrence, it would logically follow that an act could rise to prominence fueled by the swing of Basie, the birth of Charlie Parker’s bebop, and the wild frontier of electronica. Born in funk and bred in the digital age, live electronic duo The Floozies have burst onto the scene at a time when the industry needed them the most.

Brothers Matt and Mark Hill share the stage just as easily as they share a musical brain. Without a setlist, and without a word between them, Matt’s guitar is in lockstep with the thud of Mark’s kick. Endless looping and production builds the raw scenery upon which palm muted chugs, searing solos, and wobbling bass paint their dazzling array of colors.

Well versed in everything from Chris Cornell to Kavinsky, the sonic vision shared by the brothers eschews contemporary electronic influences in favor of broader, deeper tastes including Zapp & Roger, Lettuce, and Amon Tobin. That wide-angle view of a century of popular music allows the Hills to remix Toto and The Dead—in the music you can hear reverence for the giants of the past, all the while producing wildly futuristic tunes for the masses to dig now.

When the pendulum swung as far as it could away from live instrumentation to laptops, The Floozies rose up to the challenge, swinging as hard as they could in the other direction with neck-snapping, knee-breaking funk so dirty that the gatekeepers stood up, wiped themselves off, and took notice. A bold live show full of sonic exploration and unbreakably deep pocket grooves has landed the brothers on stage with luminaries of the jam world Umphrey’s McGee as readily as electronic elites STS9 and Big Gigantic. Sold out shows across the Country, huge festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, High Sierra, Summercamp, Wakarusa, Camp Bisco, Summerset, Bumbershoot, and a headlining Red Rocks show have continued to cement the duo’s ascent.

The Floozies are bringing the funk back, and they’re right on time.

Contact: glenphillips@7smgmt.com

During his years as lead singer and main songwriter of Toad the Wet Sprocket, Glen Phillips helped to create the band’s elegant folk/pop sound with honest, introspective lyrics that forged a close bond with their fans. When Toad went on hiatus, Glen launched a solo career with his album Abulum, and stayed busy collaborating with other artists on various projects including Mutual Admiration Society, with members of Nickel Creek and Remote Tree Children, an experimental outing with John Morgan Askew.

“Until recently, I’ve seldom stayed in one place for very long,” Phillips says, explaining the genesis of his new album, THERE IS SO MUCH HERE. “I was lucky during the COVID lockdown to move in with my girlfriend, now wife, and to be home for the longest stretch I’ve had since the birth of my daughter, 20 years ago. I began noticing the little things. After a life of travel and seeking out peak experiences, I began to appreciate sitting still, watching the paint dry and loving it.

“I’ve been playing a songwriting game with Texas folk singer Matt The Electrician, for about ten years. Every Friday, he sends out a title. We have a week to write a song that includes it. The process allows me to write songs I wouldn’t write on my own. I’m always surprised at what comes out.”

“When my friend John [Morgan Askew] invited me to come up to his studio and make music, I said, ‘Yes’, as I collected a bunch of the new songs and headed up to Bocce Studios, in Vancouver, WA. John invited drummer Ji Tanzer and bass player/multi-instrumentalist Dave Depper along. When we started playing, I wasn’t sure we were aiming for, but as the process unfolded, the songs began to make sense together.”

Phillips’ previous solo record, SWALLOWED BY THE NEW, was about grief, a post-divorce outing while THERE IS SO MUCH HERE finds Phillips writing love songs again focusing on gratitude, beauty and staying present. “With this batch of songs, I noticed I was writing hopeful music again. I’d turned the corner and was more interested in curiosity and play than I was in gazing at my navel. I was finally in a state of being that wasn’t about grief and loss. Things felt doable and even exciting again.”

“As I sat still during the lockdown, I realized how much is always here – in the space around me, in the sensations of my body, in the sounds and smells and tastes and thoughts that emerge and drift away. It’s not a new concept, but it is a novel experience when you’ve spent your life running from one thing to another.”

Ultimately, as Phillips reflects on the album, he shares: “This is an album about showing up for what is and letting it be enough.”

Contact: tgc@7smgmt.com

Comprised of Addie Sartino, Pierce Turcotte, Noah Spencer, and Micah Ritchie, the spirit of purposeful sharing has served as something of a lifeline for The Greeting Committee. From the sense of community that surrounds their live shows to the subject matter of their music, the band has created a warm world where all are welcome to shed the weight of living and simply experience a moment together.

Contact: heavyhours@7smgmt.com

Having made an acclaimed debut in the midst of worldwide crisis, The Heavy Hours now return with WILDFIRE, a five-song collection that further exemplifies their distinctive strain of warm-hearted, open-armed alternative rock. Working with renowned producer Simone Felice (The Lumineers, Matt Maeson, The Avett Brothers), the Cincinnati, OH-based band infuse well-crafted  powerful songs like “Desperate Days” and “Wildfire” with uncommon honesty and a radiant energy that converts subtle strokes into an altogether different kind of volume. WILDFIRE packs an emotional punch from the very first chord, fusing larger-than-life melodies and epic choruses with soulful, sophisticated songcraft and remarkably universal lyrical spirit.

“From the moment that we finished tracking ‘Wildfire, we all had such a connection to it,” says lead singer Michael Marcagi. “I remember being in the studio listening back to it for the first time and thinking, if someone were to ask me, ‘What do you guys sound like?,’ I would play them this song.”

The musicians at the heart of The Heavy Hours have been united for close to a decade, first coming together in high school over a mutual love of diverse sounds spanning contemplative  folk to wildly experimental post-rock. In 2018, they rechristened themselves as The Heavy Hours – inspired from a line in William Butler Yeats’ Autobiographies – and began fusing their questing spirit and relentless work ethic with an emphasis on more traditional songwriting and production.

Fueled by support from such Ohio heroes as The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, The Heavy Hours made their way to Sun Mountain Studios in bucolic Boiceville, NY to record with producer Simone Felice and his longtime studio collaborator David Baron (Vance Joy, Matt Maeson). There the band pushed themselves towards new creative heights, resulting in a plethora of material including last year’s widescreen debut single, “Don’t Walk Away,” co-written by Marcagi and Yorio with Auerbach and award-winning songwriter Ronnie Bowman. “A purely American blend of folk, rock and good feelings,” declared American Songwriter, hailing the song for “its unbelievably catchy lines and effortlessly organic arrangement… a perfect pairing with a late-summer sunset or an evening with friends.”

Summer 2021 saw The Heavy Hours reveal yet another aspect of their multi-faceted nature with a surprisingly tender take on Dua Lipa’s glitterball smash, “Don’t Start Now,” once again bridging aesthetic differences to fashion their own imaginative take on contemporary songcraft.

“We love playing covers,” says guitarist AJ Yorio. “That's how the band started; we played pop covers at youth group weekend camps. So, learning hit tunes and reimagining them is a familiar challenge.”

“Doing something in that realm was definitely a new challenge for us,” says bassist Jonathan Moon. “Something that was at first a little bit out of our comfort zone but in the end turned out really fun.”

Refreshingly authentic and impossible to ignore, the WILDFIRE EP further spotlights the spirited versatility and simple elegance that The Heavy Hours have cultivated since day one. Songs like “Desparate Days” and remarkable title track – the latter co-written with Felice – masterfully defines The Heavy Hours’ overall approach, melding heart-wrenching, impressionistic lyrics with cinematic scope and joyous musicality.

“‘Wildfire’ was just an unfinished demo – a song that Simone used to show us where he thought The Heavy Hours could find a sound,” says Yorio. “I remember hearing the tune from Simone and having two light bulbs go off. My first thought was, we would never record something like this, but then realizing we have a chance to make this song our own, to finish writing and arranging it. It was a weird process of taking the song into our basement back home and adding our signature to it before taking it back to Woodstock for Simone and Dave to produce. In the end, I think we created something epic.”

A recent series of sold out live dates across the Midwest and East Coast alongside New Orleans’ legendary Galactic only served to cement the band’s commitment and sense of purpose. With the world open once again – and their long awaited debut album on the way – The Heavy Hours are fully focused on the now, keen to fully hit the road and see just how their music touches people.

“It was amazing,” says Marcagi.  “You could tell that people had been starved for live music for a very long time. The first show we played in Cincinnati was packed to the gills. It just felt like the most amazing night of our lives. It kind of solidified in all of our minds, Oh yeah, this is what we want to be doing with our lives.”

“Things are really starting to open up and people are booking shows like crazy,” Moon says. “We’re like, Alright, this is what we signed up for. Essentially it’s like a rocket launch. We're on the ground right now, in our uniforms and our helmets, getting ready for to be sent into space, getting ready for lift-off.”

Contact: schwartz@7smgmt.com

“I went looking for peace,” says songwriter M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger about his new album Quietly Blowing It, out June 25, 2021, on Merge Records. “It’s not exactly a record about the state of the world—or my world—in 2020, but more a retrospective of the past five years of my life, painted in sort of impressionistic hues. Maybe I had the presence of mind when I was writing Quietly Blowing It to know that this was the time to go as deep as I needed to in order to make a record like this. And I got the time required in order to do that.” He pauses and laughs ruefully. “I got way more time than I needed, actually.”

Quietly Blowing It was written and arranged by Taylor in his home studio—his 8’ × 10’ sanctuary packed floor to ceiling with books, records, and old guitars—as he watched the chaotic world spin outside his window. “Writing became a daily routine,” he explains, “and that was a ballast for me. Having spent so much time on the road over the past ten years, where writing consistently with any kind of flow can be tricky, it felt refreshing. And being in my studio, which is both isolated from and totally connected to the life of my family, felt appropriate for these songs.” Between March and June, Taylor wrote and recorded upwards of two dozen songs—in most cases playing all of the instruments himself— before winnowing the collection down and bringing them to the Hiss band. In July, the group of musicians, with Taylor in the production seat, went into Overdub Lane in Durham,NC, for a week, where they recorded Quietly Blowing It as an organic unit honed to a fine edge from their years together on the road. “We all needed to be making that music together,” he recalls. “We’ve all spent so many years traveling all over the world, but in that moment, it felt cathartic to be recording those particular songs with each other in our own small hometown.”

Throughout Quietly Blowing It, Taylor brings his keen eye to our “broken American moment”—as he first sang on Hiss Golden Messenger’s critically acclaimed, GRAMMY ® - nominated Terms of Surrender—in ways that feel devastatingly intimate and human. Beginning with the wanderer’s lament of “Way Back in the Way Back,” with its rallying cry of “Up with the mountains, down with the system,” Taylor carries the listener on a musical journey that continually returns to themes of growing up, loss, obligation, and labor with piercing clarity, and his musical influences—including classic Southern soul and gospel, renegade country, and spiritual jazz—have never felt more genuine. Indeed, Quietly Blowing It is a distillation of the rolling Hiss Golden Messenger groove, from the rollicking, Allman-esque “The Great Mystifier” to the chiming falsetto soul of “It Will If We Let It,” to the smoky, shuffling title track with its bittersweet guitar assist from Nashville legend Buddy Miller. The album ends with soulful lead single “Sanctuary,” a song about trying to reconcile tragedy and joy, with references to John Prine (“Handsome Johnny had to go, child...”), economic disparity, and the redemptive quality of hope. Indeed, when he sings, “Feeling bad, feeling blue, can’t get out of my own mind; but I know how to sing about it,” it feels like the album’s spiritual thesis. Throughout Quietly Blowing It, Taylor reckons with the tumultuous present in wholly personal terms, encouraging listeners to do the same. “These songs always circle back to the things that I feel like I have a handle on and the things that I’m not proud of about myself. When I think of the phrase ‘quietly blowing it,’ I think of all the ways that I’ve misstepped, misused my gifts, miscommunicated. ‘Born on the level, quietly blowing it.’ That’s what’s on my mind there. Always fuckin’ up in little ways.”

Surrounding himself with a trusted cast of collaborators that includes Miller, songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov, songwriter and Tony Award–winning playwright Anaïs Mitchell, multi- instrumentalist Josh Kaufman, Dawes’ brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith, and his oldest musical confidant Scott Hirsch, Taylor has made his most audacious and hopeful work yet with Quietly Blowing It; it’s an album that speaks personal truth to this moment in which the old models of being feel broken and everything feels at stake. “I don’t know that the peace that I crave when I’m far from home exists, actually,” says Taylor. “It’s more complicated. I still don’t know what peace means for me, because I can be sitting on the couch watching a movie with my family and be completely tangled up in my head. But if I keep on doing my own personal work on myself—writing records like Quietly Blowing It—I have to think that I’m getting closer.”

Contact: jandthecauseways@7smgmt.com

At the core of soul music is a vibrant, embracing spirit, one aimed at connecting the dots of humanity that reside on both sides of the microphone.

“It doesn’t matter if there are 10 people in the audience or a 1,000,” says Jordan Anderson, lead singer/keyboardist for J & The Causeways. “It’s that sacrifice we make of our art, so that people can feel it that much harder the first time they hear you.”

In a serendipitous sequence of events, J & The Causeways was formed at the legendary Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. A juggernaut soul/R&B ensemble, the group is filled with heavy backbeats and a soaring horn section, all swirling around the magnetic vocal stylings of Anderson.

“We definitely shine live because each and every member of this band loves to be onstage and in that genuine moment of performance,” Anderson says. “New Orleans is home to some of the finest singers and musicians on the planet, which also means you have to bring your A-game to every single show — you’re representing this city and the long history of beautiful music that’s been created here.”

As a kid, Anderson was first exposed to the power of music from his grandmother, a piano teacher in his small rural Louisiana hometown. It was her backroom record collection that mesmerized Anderson, where he found himself thumbing through the vinyl and discovering the likes of Otis Redding, Al Green, Queen, and Aretha Franklin.

“I learned early on to not fall into the vanilla variety of pitch,” Anderson says. “It’s about finding a certain power that you can harness with the pure emotion of your voice, which is what all of those singers had — finding that spectrum of vocalists who put it all out there for the audience.”

With J & The Causeways, Anderson is fronting a band that finds itself mentioned in the same breath as the likes of St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and The Marcus King Band — all modern-day entities of passion and purpose, each summoning the pulsating, endless energy of soul/R&B music.

“With soul music, it’s those live moments where you feel truly elevated, and you’re bringing the audience along with you to that higher place,” Anderson says. “And you’re creating this space of inclusivity and connectivity — there’s no way you’re leaving that stage without a smile on your face.”

For J & The Causeways, it’s about bringing forth a communal sense of self within the greater universe of knowns and unknowns — we’re all in this together, so let’s share in the depths of our raw, honest emotions through the sound and spectacle that is live music.

“I like to help people find joy. And I find that a lot of people just don’t know how to be vulnerable enough to find that joy,” Anderson says. “I want our music to help unlock that beauty that resides within each of us, to let out that vulnerability of what it means to be in the presence of live music, and of each other — music has always lifted me up, and I want to lift up the listener every single time I’m on that stage.”

Contact: JMascis@7smgmt.com

It’s all but inconceivable that J Mascis requires an introduction. In the quarter-century since he founded Dinosaur Jr., Mascis has created some of the era’s signature songs, albums and styles. As a skier, golfer, songwriter, skateboarder, record producer, and musician, J has few peers. The laconically-based roar of his guitar, drums and vocals have driven a long string of bands – Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Gobblehoof, Velvet Monkeys, the Fog, Witch, Sweet Apple – and he has guested on innumerable sessions. But Several Shades of Why is J’s first solo studio record, and it is an album of incredible beauty, performed with a delicacy not always associated with his work.

Recorded at Amherst Massachusetts’ Bisquiteen Studios, Several Shades is nearly all acoustic and was created with the help of a few friends. Notable amongst them are Kurt Vile, Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mount Zion), Kurt Fedora (long-time collusionist), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), Matt Valentine (The Golden Road), and Suzanne Thorpe (Wounded Knees). Together in small mutable groupings, they conjure up classic sounds ranging from English-tinged folk to drifty, West Coast-style singer/songwriterism. But every track, every note even, bears that distinct Mascis watermark, both in the shape of the tunes and the glorious rasp of the vocals.

“Megan from Sub Pop has wanted me to do this record for a long time,” J says. “She was very into it when I was playing solo a lot in the early 2000s, around the time of the Fog album [2002's Free So Free]. She always wanted to know when I’d do a solo record. [Several Shades of Why] came out of that. There are a couple of songs that are older, but the rest is new this year. And it’s basically all acoustic. There’s some fuzz, but it’s acoustic through fuzz. There’re no drums on it, either. Just one tambourine song, that’s it. It was a specific decision to not have drums. Usually I like to have them, but going drum-less pushes everything in a new direction, and makes it easier to keep things sounding different.”

There is little evidence of stress on Several Shades of Why. The title track is a duet with Sophie Trudeau’s violin recalling Nick Drake’s work at its most elegant. "Not Enough" feels like a lost hippie-harmony classic from David Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name. "Is It Done" rolls like one of the Grisman/Garcia tunes on American Beauty. "Very Nervous and Love" has the same rich vibe as the amazing rural side of Terry Reid’s The River. And on and on it goes. Ten brilliant tunes that quietly grow and expand until they fill your brain with the purest pleasure. What a goddamn great album.

by Byron Coley

Contact: jamesiha@7smgmt.com

James Iha began his career as a co-founder of The Smashing Pumpkins in Chicago in 1987. He recorded and toured with the group until 2000, during which time they released ten albums and became one of the biggest bands of the era, selling millions of albums and filling arenas worldwide. In addition to his guitar playing and singing, James was also a contributing songwriter.

In 2002, James joined the acclaimed progressive rock band A Perfect Circle (featuring members of Tool and Marilyn Manson). He continues to tour with the band, most recently headlining amphitheaters and arenas in the US in 2016.

James released his first solo album, LET IT COME DOWN, in 1998. It was an intimate, acoustic guitar-driven record that focused on the more personal side of his songwriting. During this period, he also co-founded indie label Scratchie Records, releasing albums by The Sounds, The Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr., Robbers On High Street and others. In the late 90′s James relocated to New York, where he opened Stratosphere Sound Recording Studios along with friends Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne/Ivy) and Andy Chase (Ivy).

In 2012 James completed his second solo record entitled LOOK TO THE SKY. The album features such guests as Shudder to Think’s Nathan Larson, Karen O and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara and Tom Verlaine of Television.

James joined Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, Hanson’s Taylor Hanson, and Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos to form the power-pop group Tinted Windows whose critically acclaimed, self-titled debut album featured several Iha-penned songs. They toured throughout the US and Japan.

James is as producer and studio owner. He has produced and guested on records by the likes of Michael Stipe, Cat Power, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Annie, Ladytron, Whiskeytown, Fountains Of Wayne among many others.

In 2012 James moved to Los Angeles to concentrate on scoring film and television. Building on his previous indie film score credits he landed jobs composing for the television series Dead Beat (Lionsgate/Hulu), The Arrangement (E!/NBC), A History of Radness (Amazon) and the James Franco film Mother May I Sleep With Danger (Lifetime).

Born and raised in Morrison, Colorado - a tourist town in the foothills outside of Denver that’s home to Red Rocks Amphitheater - Jobi Riccio grew up surrounded by music and found inspiration in artists ranging from Sheryl Crow to Joni Mitchell. Sonically, Jobi’s music exists between worlds, melding the classic craftsmanship of her songwriting with modern indie-leaning production to forge a lush, expansive sound that feels traditional and experimental all at once. She has received acclaim for her songwriting, including winning the 2019 NewSong Music Competition, performing at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, receiving the 2019 Lee Villiare Scholarship from her alma mater Berklee College of Music, and being named a finalist in the 2018 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriters Showcase. In 2023 Jobi was awarded the Newport Folk Festival John Prine Fellowship.

Her previous release, EP "Strawberry Wine" (2019), is an ode to the women of classic country and bluegrass she grew up learning to sing from. Her debut album, "Whiplash" (out September 2023 on Yep Roc), follows in similar footsteps but introduces influences from a variety of genres, while still holding space for Riccio's love for all decades of country and americana music.

Contact: johncraigie@7smgmt.com

Much like community, music nourishes us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It also invites us to come together under the same roof and in a shared moment. In similar fashion, John Craigie rallies a closeness around music anchored by his expressive and stirring songcraft, emotionally charged vocals, lively soundscapes, and uncontainable spirit. The Portland, OR-based singer, songwriter, and producer invites everyone into this space on his 2024 full-length album, Pagan Church. Following tens of millions of streams, sold out shows everywhere, and praise from Rolling Stone and more, he continues to captivate.

“The music is always evolving and devolving with each new record,” he observes. “With my last album Mermaid Salt, I really wanted to explore the sound of isolation and solitude as everyone was heading inside. With this record, I wanted to record the sound of everyone coming back out.”

In order to capture that, he didn’t go about it alone…

Instead, he joined forces with some local friends. At the time, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings booked a slew of outdoor gigs in Portland and they invited Craigie to sit in for a handful of shows. The musicians instinctively identified an unspoken, yet seamless chemistry with each other. Joined by three of the five members, Craigie cut “Laurie Rolled Me a J” and kickstarted the process. With the full band in tow, they hunkered down in an old schoolhouse TK & The Holy Know-Nothings had converted into a de facto headquarters and studio, and recorded the eleven tracks on Pagan Church.

“At first, I knew ‘Laurie Rolled Me a J’ would sound great with a band, but we realized there was this chemistry between us,” Craigie recalls.

During this season, Craigie listened to everyone from JJ Cale, Michael Hurley, and The Band to Donny Hathaway and Nina Simone. He also consumed music biographies and documentaries on the likes of Ani DiFranco, John Coltrane, The Velvet Underground, and Neil Young. Now, he introduces the album with “Where It’s From.” Dusty acoustic guitar underlines his warm delivery as he warns, “Be careful with this feeling. You don’t know where it’s from.” Meanwhile, he plugs in the electric guitar on the Southern-style boogie of “While I’m Down.” Bright organ wails over a palm-muted distorted riff as he urges, “Come on and love me up while I’m down.”

Then, there’s “Good To Ya.” Setting the scene, glowing keys give way to a head-nodding beat. He laments, “Oh babe, I was good to you,” before a bluesy guitar solo practically leaves the fretboard in flames. The album concludes with the pensive and poetic title track “Pagan Church.”  In between echoes of slide guitar, he repeats, “I sing a pagan song out in a pagan church.”

“Taylor Kingman suggested the title Pagan Church to me,” he reveals. “I liked the multiple meanings. The album cover shows all of us in front of Laurelthirst Public House in Portland, which is an important gathering place for musicians in the area. It’s almost a church in a way. However, the song has an entirely different meaning.”

An incredible journey has brought Craigie to this point. He has consistently packed venues across the country, gracing bigger stages each time he rolls through town. His annual #KeepItWarm Tour has become a holiday tradition as it supports regional non-profits focused on fighting food insecurity with a donation of $1 from each ticket purchased. Showcasing another side of his voice, he has recorded “Beatles Lonely” versions of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road,  recording these seminal albums live to sold out audiences, and releasing them on vinyl for Record Store Day 2022 & 2023. Beyond touring with Langhorne Slim, Brett Dennen, and Bella White, he has also sold out his annual river trip on the Tuolumne River, just outside of Yosemite in California and graced the bills of Newport Folk Festival, Pickathon, Mariposa Folk Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, and many more.

In the end, Craigie channels the power of community in Pagan Church.

He leaves off, “I just hope you can hear the collaboration with this amazing band of musicians and hear the energy in the songs of people who are allowed to get out and do their art again in this chaotic world.”

Contact: johnhollier@7smgmt.com

Life leaves its imprint on us in the form of memories, scars, and lessons. Like a well-trodden and trusted highway, Hollier proudly brandishes the wisdom and experience of a fascinating personal journey in his music. The Louisiana-born and Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist shares honest stories over a backdrop of gruff heartland rock with a twist of country soul. He’s gone from accompanying multiplatinum stars such as Carly Pearce and Cassadee Pope to generating north of 1 million streams independently and packing houses as a solo artist. Now, he formally introduces himself on his self-titled 2022 full-length debut, Hollier.

“I’m trying to tell a story,” he emphasizes. "I’ve done a lot of growth as an artist, as a writer, and as a person. I wanted this record to be raw and show some scars, but I also wanted it to have subtle moments. I hope people hear the honesty in these songs.”

Hailing from Central Louisiana, Hollier absorbed a passion for music through his family. His uncle performed in a Cajun zydeco band, while his brothers picked up guitar. He initially experienced live music through the church and honkytonks, teaching himself chords on the internet and gigging with local bands. At the same time, he listened to everyone from Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Byrds to Ozzy Osbourne. After two years at Louisiana State University, he transferred to Belmont University and settled in Nashville. He joined Levi Hummon’s band as a guitarist, hitting the road with Dwight Yoakam and more. During 2018, he handled guitar duties for Cassadee Pope before serving as a touring guitarist for Carly Pearce.

Not long after, he made a crucial decision…

“I made a personal pact to not simply be a hired gun by the end of the year,” he recalls. “I wanted to put out my own material.”

During 2019, he dropped “War Cry” and gained coveted playlist placements on Spotify, racking up nearly half-a-million streams. “Living in the van,” he logged 55 shows coast-to-coast and chronicled the experience with “Jeff Buckley’s Ghost.” He caught the attention of GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer Eric Masse [Miranda Lambert]. They hit the studio to record what would become the album with a little help from Cage The Elephant guitarist Nick Bockrath, multi-instrumentalist Robbie Crowell of Deer Tick and Midland, and Miranda Lambert drummer G. Maxwell Zemanovic.

“We did everything analog,” he goes on. “We got in one room and cut the tunes live. I’d never done anything like that before, but I trusted the system. I’m so happy with how it turned out.”

The first single “Reckless Love” ebbs and flows between gruff verses and a skyscraping refrain uplifted by unpredictable guitars and airy keys as he assures, “I don’t mind, if you don’t mind, a little reckless love.”

“At the time, we were playing to audiences who were as gritty as the bars and clubs themselves,” he admits. “Henry Conlon and I wrote several songs about the scene, and our muse was an imaginary traveling songwriter girl. She’s on a perpetual tour, and she’s always looking for love in the wrong places.”

Piano and guitar entwine on “Devil’s in the Details” before a soaring saxophone solo shines in the spotlight.

“It’s a personal favorite,” he grins. “It tells another story. You let some guy into your house, and you tell yourself it doesn’t bother you how he creeps you out. I was watching a lot of NETFLIX documentaries at the time,” he laughs.

Slide guitar glows on “Wrestle My Heart” as he sings “about laying it out there for someone who loves you even though it’s going to be tough love.” Then, there’s the rollicking “St. Germain.” Channeling New Orleans folklore, the track sinks its teeth into the lore of vampire Jacques St. Germain who “folks still apparently see to this day,” as he notes.

A steady beat simmers on “Malina” as he bottles the tension of mythic tale amidst evocative instrumentation. It burns off on the embers of multiple acoustic guitars around a lone microphone.

“Malina is an Inuit sun goddess,” he elaborates. “She ran so fast she became the sun, and Anningan ran so fast he became the moon chasing her. The tribe witnessed the chase every day like a spiritual clock.”

In the end, Hollier puts everything he’s gained on his road into his songs—and he makes an instant connection.

“At this point, I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember,” he concludes. “This embodies a 20-year journey. It shows what music always was for me—plugging in and not being afraid to make mistakes. I hope you hear that. I’m being as honest as I can be with the sounds and my storytelling.”

Contact: jonathanterrell@7smgmt.com

Austin, TX singer-songwriter proves bad boy with a heart of gold. Born in a singlewide trailer deep in the pines of East Texas to a family of ex-religious cult musicians, Terrell has been engulfed in a life of music since birth. After migrating to Austin, he anchored himself firmly in the city's infamous music scene as a beloved country and folk songwriter, trailing close to his heroes Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt. His sweaty and electric live shows spin honky tonk dance floors and quickly whip heads around to reveal him as a bold lyricist and explosive frontman with prowess.

Contact: judyblank@7smgmt.com

If Judy Blank told you she was from some sunny town in California, you would believe her on her blue eyes. But she just comes from Utrecht, although she is well on course to conquer the world with her fresh songs and a good dose of self- mockery.

After a number of mediocre TV performances, a poorly sold club tour and a completely flopped debut album in the Netherlands, the young singer-songwriter rediscovered himself during a mega tour through America. With nothing to lose, she borrowed a guitar, taught herself to play and wrote a handful of new songs on the spot. Won back with a bang

With self-confidence and a new kind of energy, she took the stage in dark bars in New York, community centers in Boston and coffee bars in New Orleans.

After this adventure she decided to give her musical career one more chance. With her last savings she left for Nashville, where she infested the Southern Ground studios with a group of seasoned American musicians. It resulted in the long- awaited album 'Morning Sun' (2018), a wonderful mix of stubborn indie folk, groovy Americana and a pinch of rock 'n roll here and there. The sultry hit single 'Mary Jane' was declared Top Song on Radio 2, folk ballad 'Tangled Up In You' was streamed more than 5 million times on Spotify and with her song '1995' she won the heart of none other than Elton John. After the album's release, she played at the international showcase festival SXSW in Austin, toured Europe with the indie rockers SUSTO, opened for Wilco in a sold-out Paradiso and was the very first Dutch artist ever to play at the biggest festival in the genre: AmericanaFest in Nashville. So you see: even your wildest dreams can come true. Sometimes it just takes a little longer.

Last year the Morning trilogy concluded with the third part, Morning Tapes. It contains acoustic bedroom versions of songs from the album and the EP Morning After (2019), the rawer brother of Morning Sun. With that third part, released on cassette tape, she shows that her songs remain intact even when stripped to the bone.

And now it's high time for something different. She has currently been working hard on a new record with indie producer Roy van Rosendaal (Figgie) for almost a year in a dark studio on the edge of the forest. There she worked with a brand new band on brand new songs, creating a sound that we have never heard from her before. Colorful productions, hit-sensitive melodies and playful lyrics that transport you like a broken time machine to different pasts. Prepare yourself for a tasteful collection of quirky synthesizers, drum machines, rattling electric guitars and classy harmonies from a bunch of well-dressed guys who don't mind a bit of dirty sixties rock.

Contact: keenanomeara@7smgmt.com

Born in maryland, living in the catskills, unmotivated naturalist, writing songs instead.

Contact: kiltro@7smgmt.com

Creatures of Habit, the debut album from Denver-based, Chilean-folk rock band Kiltro, has put the emerging trio on the musical map. Seamlessly weaving ambient textures and looping guitars, Andean folk with flashes of shoegaze and lively percussion, Kiltro has created a fascinating world, somewhere both familiar and foreign.  

Kiltro’s story, as it were, requires more than a modicum of globe-trotting. Frontman Chris Bowers Castillo was born to a Chilean mother and American father and raised in a Spanish-speaking home in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. He spent childhood summers with his mother’s family in Santiago, and later moved to San Pedro de Atacama, a small town in northeast Chile near the Bolivian border. While there he lived in a dorm and worked in a five-star hotel, traipsing back and forth between the two spots through the desert at the hottest and coldest times of day.

Contact: latenightradio@7smgmt.com

Alex Medellin aka Late Night Radio is a Denver-based musician, producer, and pillar of the Colorado electronic music scene. His unique hybrid electronic sound is inspired by classic soul and third coast hip-hop.

“The easiest way to describe my music is, ‘Electronic music for people who don’t really like electronic music’,” Alex explains. “There’s hip-hop bass and beats, which keep it relevant. However, I’m taking it into new territory.”

It’s also a style he’s been working towards perfecting for nearly a decade. The Houston native bounced from New Orleans to Austin to Temecula and eventually Big Bear. During 2011, he started composing music for online videos and commercials before relocating to Colorado and going full-time in 2014. Along the way, he released a series of fan favorite albums—Concrete College [2012], Far Into the Night [2013], Soap Box [2014], Reflective Tangents [2016], Sunday [2018], Further Into the Night [2019], plus two collaborative albums with Canadian rapper Def3, Small World [2017] and Weddings & Funerals [2021].  In 2022, Late Night Radio released the bass EP Back Around on Philos Records and the 10th installment of his Vinyl Restoration series.

2023 has started off with several collaborations – “Hold On” with Motifv, a remix of Maddy O’Neal’s “Climb On”, “Blindfold Yourself” and “Storm Clouds Rising” on Daily Bread’s new LP Invisible Cinema, “Emerald City” with Michal Menert, and now a new full-length album on the way - Pocket Full of Dreams, out October 20th on Philos Records.

In the end, the moniker Late Night Radio reflects the vibrant versatility at the heart of the sound.  “At 3AM, DJs will play whatever they want on the radio,” he leaves off. “That’s what I’m doing. It’s a very eclectic mix. It’s who I am.”

Contact: lespecial@7smgmt.com

lespecial is redefining the term “power trio”. The multi-instrumentalists from Connecticut continue to push the boundaries of what a three-piece band is capable of both live and in the studio ahead of their latest album, “Odd Times”. The band’s signature blend of “heavy future groove” combines headbanging metal riffage and surgical rhythmic precision with bone shaking 808s, sub synths and ethereal vocal stylings for a dance floor that welcomes moshing, dancing and hip swaying alike. Listeners are taken on a journey to the musical netherworld through esoteric soundscapes punctuated by raw, primal power.

Odd Times, lespecial’s darkest and heaviest record to date, is an enigmatic and compelling musical project that explores the ever-changing nature of time amidst isolation. With heavy riffs, tribal drumming, and hints of levity, it's a captivating journey crafted in collaboration with Havok's David Sanchez. An intriguing blend of old-school metal and modern djent-inspired riffage awaits in this haunting sonic experience.

Contact: louhazel@7smgmt.com

Lou Hazel was born in the town of Olean, New York to a family of northeastern wiseacres.

Not one to commit, he skirted the compulsive hunting and fishing tradition held close to his father’s heart - instead cultivating a sensitivity more suited to artists and vagabonds. As a result, his travels brought him across the country and eventually through debilitating depression before coming to rest with a sense of personal peace and positivity in Durham, NC.

Yet, Lou’s brain is still a bat cave. Mostly, he wakes up with no idea what he’s going to do next, then finds himself there. In songwriting, he pulls from this cave rambling, heartfelt tales flowing through unselfconscious truth. In illustrations, he swirls and meanders towards an eventual finish only understood upon completion – as in his music. And in his photography and design work, he renders the essence of fellow musicians into expressive, personalized works of art.

Today, Louie continues crafting genuine folk tales of honest longing, disquieting loss, and nostalgia through a brilliant sheen of fresh insight with humble humor. Grabbing us by the ears in a new-age, Prine-like grip. Transforming the minutiae of everyday life into ever more evocative music. And surprising us all, including himself, with where we emerge.

In other words, Lou Hazel is coming out of this unbearable, unbelievably tragic, disconcerting year like a damn newborn moth with jet engine wings aimed toward a totally full super-moon. And it is good.

Contact: madelinehawthorne@7smgmt.com

The miles we travel make up the stories we tell.

The soles of your favorite boots or the tread on your prized car’s tires soak up the experiences and wisdom of the road under your feet. Born in New England, based in Bozeman Montana, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Madeline Hawthorne pens the kind of tunes you listen to on a cross-country trek to start anew or in the dead of night when you just need a reminder that somebody’s listening.

In this respect, her 2024 independent album, Tales From Late Nights & Long Drives, serves as a fitting soundtrack to life’s trip.

“It’s the perfect road trip record,” she affirms. “It was mostly written while I was on tour. If the songs were written at home in Montana, I took inspiration from journal entries and memories of my travels. This is me stepping onto the stage with more miles under my boots. I’m giving into the moment and the melody to tell a story. It’s like eleven different versions of me—a woman I could have been, a woman I perhaps thought I was, and a woman I hope to be someday.”

Obsessed with music since her childhood on the East Coast, Madeline planted roots in Bozeman, MT during college and never turned back. She honed her talents through countless backup and band gigs before going solo amid the Global Pandemic. Balancing Americana, roots, folk, and rock, she introduced herself on the 2021 LP, Boots, co-produced by Brad Parsons and Tyler Thompson in Pittsburgh. In between, she shared the stage with everyone from Jason Isbell, Lukas Nelson, Josh Turner, and Kip Moore to Sierra Hull, John Craigie, and Nathaniel Rateliff. Plus, she wowed audiences at festivals such as Treefort Music Festival (ID), Americanafest (TN), WinterWonderGrass (CO), Pak City Song Summit (UT), Roseberry Music Festival, (ID), and more. Earning acclaim for tracks like 2023’s “Neon Wasteland,” Relix applauded her “vibrant and buzzing.” Hawthorne has also caught the eye of CMT, who featured her “Neon Wasteland” video at CMT.com and she has received praise from tastemakers such as No Depression who says, “She’s been crushing rootsy tunes.”

Eventually, she decamped to Bear Creek Studios for ten days to record Tales From Late Nights & Long Drives alongside producer Ryan Hadlock [Zach Bryan, The Lumineers].

“I was fully immersed in the experience,” she recalls. “I went for a walk every day, wrote in my journal, and spent a nice amount of time with the spirits of artists who have worked there before me. I appreciate that Ryan put my acoustic guitar first in the arrangement. He felt it was important for listeners to hear the songs with the instruments of origin driving the vibe and feel of the music.”

You can hear this energy loud and clear on the first single “Chasing The Moon.” Bright acoustic guitar underlines pensive lyrics uplifted by piano and a steady beat. Her words resound with excitement as she observes, “That lonesome highway is my Hollywood Boulevard.” On the hook, she exhales, “You can’t change the way things are, but I’ll try again. I’ve got nothing left to lose chasing the moon.”

“I wrote “Chasing the Moon” about my many late nights driving through Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado,” she notes. “It was born driving down Highway 191, going from Big Sky to West Yellowstone. Sometimes, I’ll pull over, get out of my car, and look up at the night sky. It’s powerful to stand in the quiet of the night and listen with your heart.”

Loose slide guitar mirrors the sway of her vocals on “Where Did I Go Wrong.” Her reflections ripple with raw emotion, “Pushed you away for the sake of a song, I need a drink, a moment to think, where did I go wrong?”

“The words you hear are the first words that came out of my mouth,” she goes on. “There are no edits. Although I’m happily married, I’d be lying if I told you this career path doesn’t challenge even the strongest of relationships. I never want to be that woman sitting alone at a bar wondering where she went wrong. It’s a good reminder to nurture a loving relationship.”

On the other end of the spectrum, “Night Ride” instantly intoxicates as she urges, “Roll me up like a joint and smoke me.” She remembers, “It’s about the time I had with my husband during the pandemic. It’s rare we get that much time together without a million things to do. It was a silver lining to an incredibly challenging period.”

The opener “Cold Shoulder” culminates on a wild guitar solo laced with organ. “The record starts off hot and heavy,” she goes on. “It’s a sequel to Boots, which ends with my songwriter character leaving her old self behind to step into a new form. It’s a sassy statement about where I am and how I feel as an artist and a woman.”

The LP concludes with the pensive and poetic “Long Drive To Bozeman,” which traces a map of her life so far. “It’s about my journey to Montana from New Hampshire when I was 18-years-old,” she notes. “I met a boy. We both had aspirations to move to Montana for school, so I drove him to college. Driving into Bozeman still stops my breath to this day. I wound up marrying that man and now we have a house in Bozeman with two cats, two dogs, and a garden. I followed my heart and it brought me home.”

In the end, Madeline is here for you on your journey.

“I’d suggest playing this in your car this summer on a long drive,” she smiles. “Sip your favorite beverage and spin the vinyl in your listening room—or turn it up to 11 and dance wildly around your kitchen. Wherever you are, I hope it gives you what you need. This is an album for the lovers, the wild children, and the ones who refuse to grow up too much. Adventure is always out there. Go on and take the leap.”

Contact: michaelmarcagi@7smgmt.com

Contact: Midlake@7smgmt.com

Indie Folk Rock pioneers Midlake formed in Denton, Texas, in 1999. Currently comprised of Eric Pulido, McKenzie Smith, Eric Nichelson, Jesse Chandler, and Joey McClellan, the band has released 4 studio albums to date. Their most recent release “Antiphon” was released to high praise with Mojo naming it “Album of the Month” saying, “This fourth LP marks a return to brighter, more breezily melodic territory. The groovesome Stone Roses-produced-by-David Axelrod psychedelic shapes of the title track are utterly upbeat. On Antiphon, Midlake sound like a band unburdened and ready to fly.” Anyone who knows Midlake’s preceding albums will recognize some constituent parts of Antiphon: the quirky psychedelia of 2004 debut Bamnan and Slivercork, the ‘70s soft-rock strains of breakthrough album The Trials Of Van Occupanther and the Brit-folk infusion of 2010’s The Courage Of Others. The band have recently finished work on their 5th full length album. Be on the lookout for more information coming fall 2021.

Contact: Nate@7smgmt.com

Mike Doughty, former Soul Coughing frontman, has released 11 albums in the 21st Century, from Haughty Melodic to The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns. and are preparing a third. Doughty’s biblical oratorio Revelation was staged by WNYC at The Greene Space. Doughty has published two critically acclaimed memoirs, The Book of Drugs and I Die Each Time I Hear The Sound. He has posted a new song on his Patreon page weekly since 2015.

His new band, Ghost of Vroom, have put out two albums produced by Mario Caldato Jr, performed improvised-music residencies in LA and Brooklyn last year and are preparing to release a third album.

Contact: themoss@7smgmt.com

In a musical landscape with fewer boundaries than ever before, THE MOSS’s exuberant brand of alternative rock spans genres, eras, and even oceans.

The Utah-via-Hawaii group was born on the shores of Oahu in 2015, as teenage buddies Tyke James (vocals/guitar) and Addison Sharp (guitar) picked up a gig serenading diners at local taco trucks in between surf sessions. Naturally, their songs took shape in the spirit of the island, imbued with the joyfulness and breeziness of reggae culture yet cut with the introspection and communal spirit of mainland indie acts like Pinegrove and Cage the Elephant.

By 2018, the duo had grown, enlisting Willie Fowler on drums and Addison’s brother Brierton on bass, and traded in beaches for the Great Salt Lake. They hit the stage at spots like local cornerstone Kilby Court, live-testing their modern-indie-meets-’60s-blues with a wide-eyed exuberance that translated effortlessly into their 2019 self-released debut, Bryology.

Colored by the sound of Stratocasters jamming through reverb-cranked Fender amps, all backed by bouncy rhythms, Bryology marked a big step for the still-young quartet – but, true to The Moss’s nature, was still hard-coded with a DIY ethos. “We basically had no budget,” James remembers fondly. “We bought some nice mics and an interface and I ended up learning how to mix while we were recording.”

The follow-up, 2021’s Kentucky Derby, brought a more aspirational, blue-sky tilt to the foundation they’d laid on Bryology, expanding the group’s sonic arsenal while keeping the relatable lyrical style and sun-soaked sentiment at the forefront. “I’m really proud of how we’ve evolved as a band over time,” Addison Sharp says. “It feels like we’ve taken every different influence and mashed them all together to create something that feels really special.”

“Bryology seemed like a collection of separate songs we put together to make an album, whereas Kentucky Derby is a similar thought and story coming together to collectively make a more cohesive album,” adds Brierton Sharp says, noting the album’s tracks are sneakily arranged in pairs of two that seamlessly flow into one another. “Each song could be listened to on its own, or you could listen to them all and get a broader sense of our intention.”

No matter how listeners choose to interact with The Moss’s music, the band just hopes they feel something. It’s that kinetic relationship between band and audience that makes their live performances – including a pitch-perfect recent set for Audiotree – so compelling. “No matter what we do, we want to make sure the songs are fun to play live,” says Fowler. “We pride ourselves on being a band people want to see live.”

“There’s something special that happens when you get an immediate reaction to a song,” says James. “Whether it’s during a live show or even just a songwriting session, if there’s a reaction from people in the room, you know you’re on the right track.”

Contact: themotet@7smgmt.com 

Formed over two decades ago, the funk six-piece The Motet have learned to work as an interlocking unit, with each member bolstering one another towards the best creative output. This symbiosis has led to a unique style and cohesive musical chemistry, as seen in the band's immaculate live performances and seamless blend of funk, soul, jazz, and rock. With a fervent fanbase in tow, The Motet have sold out shows across the nation, performed six headlining slots at Red Rocks and sets at festivals such as Bonnaroo, Bottlerock, Electric Forest, Bumbershoot, Summer Camp, and High Sierra.

But even after their 20+ years of accolades and recognition, the legendary outfit - composed of Dave Watts (drums), Joey Porter (keys), Garrett Sayers (bass), Drew Sayers (keys and saxophone), Ryan Jalbert (guitar), and new singer Sarah Clarke - are still exploring new sonic ideas and finding new ways to showcase each other’s skill sets.

The band released their 10th studio album, All Day, in January 2023 - an eclectic instrumental voyage threaded by the infectious grooves and immaculate, layered arrangements that The Motet have become known for.

Now with vocal powerhouse Sarah Clarke in tow, the band continues their journey with new songs and fresh arrangements of Motet classics.

Contact: thenewdeal@7smgmt.com

The New Deal first began in Toronto in 1999, quickly gaining support from Toronto’s underground club scene as pioneers in electronica, recreating the DJ experience with live, improvised music. Soon the band brought their interpretation of Electro House, Trance, Breakbeat and Drum & Bass to the US where they were embraced by the crowds at NYC’s Wetlands Preserve and cultivated a loyal following in the American jam scene.

In contrast to their dynamic improvised live show and recent albums, their latest release, Isolation Suite, is an EP of fully composed new music that was written, recorded, and mixed in isolation during Covid-19 quarantine. Culling influences as diverse as Les McCann, The Who, & Herbie Hancock, the Isolation Suite’s four movements culminate with a guest appearance from Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Brendan Bayliss.

Contact: palmyra@7smgmt.com

Birthed in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Palmyra explores the fusion of traditional folk string instruments, lush harmony, and earnest songwriting. The trio, now based in Richmond, captures the collective spirit of three Virginia natives: Teddy Chipouras, Mānoa Bell, and Sasha Landon. Often described as a distant cousin to The Avett Brothers and The Wood Brothers, Palmyra nods toward Appalachian and Midwestern Americana, with intricate arrangements that create the illusion of a full, larger-than-three ensemble.

The breakout folk trio has worked diligently to cement themselves as an unmistakable force in the Americana music landscape at large. Their forward momentum is propelled by their craftsmanship and dedication to an intimate performance experience; at the heart of the Palmyra is the evident love and regard that the three musicians share for each other and their craft.

Contact: pigeonjohn@7smgmt.com

Throughout his storied career as one of hip-hop’s brightest talents and most energetically singular creative entities, the rapper/singer/songwriter/producer Pigeon John has carried the flag for self-made, upstart, good-time rap music.

“I love that I’m still able to do music—this is my eighth album, but my roots have everything to do with why I’m still here doing it,” John says. “What I love about hip-hop is that there are no rules or patterns. That freedom, which is how I experienced hip-hop as a kid, is so important to who I am. And I still approach my new songs in the same way today.”

From paying his dues at the fabled Good Life Cafe in the Los Angeles open mic scene of the early ’90s to time on the road as a part of the successful L.A. Symphony rap group, John learned the value of grinding and hard work while unleashing his true creative self. As a budding solo career began to take shape, he toured the world relentlessly, soaking in the diverse scenes he came across and filtering them into his own sound. Never one to shut off his faucet of ideas in mid-flow, he embraced all sides of his muse to establish himself as a multi-talented artist, one who could bounce around genres, styles, and subjects with ease and often in the same song. And as his music has grown—from multiple smash singles and myriad synch placements in films, television, commercials, and more—Pigeon John has learned to ride the wave rather than to attempt to control the wheel. Never one to set out to make a record from scratch, his constant work ethic and continuous process often yields unexpected results, and this time around was no different.

“It seems like I’m always in the middle of making a record before I even know I’m making a record,” he says. “It always comes together a little quicker than expected. I think letting it flow has benefitted my whole process. I see the garden grow on its own—a bass line, a melody, a hook idea…it comes out of nowhere. We just grab onto it and ride that little doggie through the dirt.”

Ironically, having recently relocated with his lady and two young daughters from Southern California to the thriving Northwest scene in Portland, Oregon, John toyed with the notion of starting an album from a clean slate. Yet, with the frantic rush of modern life’s demands, before he knew it he was already knee-deep in new material. “I never like to work by forcing it,” he says. “I prefer to linger. If you have a child and they throw a tantrum, what they tell you to do is to not respond and instead just be with them. So if I’m stuck on a beat or verse or hook, if it doesn’t come to me I just linger around it. Maybe I’ll write one word a day, homeboy. I started the song though!”

Meeting with various producers sporadically at different times and in different cities, in addition to working from his own home studio in Portland, John began to build a body of work one song at a time. At some point, he realized that not only did he have enough songs for an album, but they all seemed to fit together in a cohesive thematic mood. “Working with other artists and producers on this record was like playing ball with other ballers,” he says. “Everyone has the talent but in a whole different language. This record is like a big, fun film we all got to do and we didn’t even know it ended—we didn’t know it was a wrap until months later.”

Loosely based around the construct of a day in the life—not just any day, but “a good day,” John emphasizes—Gotta Good Feelin’ is filled with optimistic high points and bursts of frenetic energy but also levels out with more somber, introspective moments as well. From the start of the title track’s opening verse, it’s clear that Pigeon John has come to play ball: “I feel it in my bones, gotta shake it out/I’m coming harder than before, let me hear you shout.” It’s all there in that simple bar, from the measured simplicity and good-natured boasting to the sly nod to his motivations: the music is in him and he has no choice but to let it rip. The track was made with his previous collaborators in the Campfire production team (Pitbull, Will Smith) while John was still living in LA, and arrived in the same way many of his songs do.

“It starts with the music, the first chords, and vibing to what it makes you say,” John says. “Then we’ll kick around the beat and chord progression and do a little kickoff coin toss to start the game. The song builds like a house, starting with a smooth foundation—always music and vibe first, then I soak up the mood and write the verse.”

The Fatboy Slim-influenced “They Don’t Make ’em Like Me” is another Campfire production that arrived in a similar way. Seeking a danceable vibe with sparkly, simple chord progressions, he aimed for it to play the role of a hype song that makes people move. The instrumental blend of a standup piano with live guitar and drums fleshes the song out with a timeless, upbeat quality. John, who does not play instruments live but uses a guitar and Rhodes to write melodies by ear, calls the recording process “like being in a virtual band for a day.”

Elsewhere, the pulsing, driving “Running It Now” plays like a hip-hop infused Tame Impala track, replete with a distortion heavy guitar pulse and singalong chorus. “Watch Me Move” hearkens back to a retro Motown era and highlights John’s ability to play confident frontman, while “Geeshid” is a slowed-down reggae-esque groove that makes way for some of his hardest spitting and deftest braggadocio. The album ends on “Without You,” a vulnerable, finger-snapping waltz of an anthem he calls a “tuck you into bed, kiss you on the forehead” closer. Written on a QY100 beat machine while on the road, he was influenced by songs whose mechanics maintain a sense of mystery. “I’m a huge fan of songs that are absolutely broken, where you don’t know how they’re pulling it off,” he says. “I love that vulnerable approach. Ending my album with ‘Without You’ is like a classic Beach Boys LA day that’s coming to an end.”

For Pigeon John, however, the sun never sets on his insatiable hunger to make music. Eight albums and a couple decades deep into a storied career, he shows no signs of slowing down.

“Sometimes I’m surprised where I go with my own music,” he says. “I’m so happy to still be doing it and enjoying the process, just showing my heart. The more vulnerable you can be, the more you’ll connect with people, so I’ve always followed whatever I’m hearing in my heart and trusting it. I’m letting it all out and I love still being surprised by the end result. It’s a cool balancing act. Music will always stay young and fresh. It’s always new.”

Contact: raquelgarcia@7smgmt.com

At age 17, Raquel Garcia is bursting into the music industry with the unique talent, confidence, and vocal capabilities of an artist well beyond her years. While growing up in Colorado as the eldest sibling of seven who recently lost her father, it's no surprise that a young woman like Garcia might mature more quickly than the average teenage girl. But the level she's at musically--that many artists could only dream of accomplishing one day--is far less expected.

Garcia caught the attention of legendary concert promoter Chuck Morris at a fundraising event for Denver's own Mayor Michael B. Hancock back in 2017 and has grown into a beloved local artist in the city of Denver since. She started out small but busy at age 13, singing 3-4 times a weekend for private events in her hometown for both Spanish and English speaking events, and has graduated to perform in iconic lineups featuring the likes of Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson, and Bonnie Raitt. Her talent has also attracted the attention of Peter Asher, who, after gaining permission, had Raquel record two tracks originally written by Ed Sheeran & Matthew Sheeran.

Raquel has signed with music industry powerhouse CAA and is hoping to release her first album, produced by legend Peter Asher, next year. What can you expect from the record? Warm, honey tones and a vocal range like none other. Garcia has the rare ability to jump from a delicate, whispery touch to a full-throated, sonorous sound within the same breath, evoking comparisons to Adele, Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox, and most of all, a young Linda Ronstadt. Staying true to her Mexican heritage, Garcia intends to release music in both of her fluent languages - English and Spanish.

Contact: Alex@7smgmt.com / Simonne@7smgmt.com

Although his musical talents make it easy to believe he’s always been a full-time musician, Rob Drabkin attended Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, where he graduated with a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with the intention of becoming a doctor. His focus quickly changed after a family trip to New York. “My Dad played Jazz full time for 30 years before he got into medicine. On that trip, we re-connected with his old musician friends, and it was inspiring to see them giving their lives to music night after night for so many years. That was the night I dropped science and dedicated myself to music. After that moment, I spent every possible minute singing and honing all of the songwriting skills that I could.” He adds, “It's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I had an epiphany while watching the Broadway musical “Chicago.” I decided right then and there that I didn't want to work in a research lab for the rest of my life and that I wanted to pursue music full time even though I had never sung a note up to that point.” He took to Denver’s music scene quickly, and set his career into motion.   

Drabkin’s newly released single, “Someday,” has earned a spot on major international Spotify playlists such as Spring Acoustic on Spotify UK and Discover Weekly, and in just one month, the single accumulated half a million plays from listeners around the world.  "We too often forget that love is ever-present. We share it with each other through laughter, smiles, and sympathy.  We can find it in everything and we can also create it in the smallest, most unassuming moments of our lives. I wrote this song for those moments.  All we can do is keep being kind and have the courage to choose love in every decision we make.” In “Someday” His lyrical talents show his listeners that you can take whatever you might endure, and turn it into a way to express yourself. Although the Colorado native has an impressive list of musical achievements, this song serves as an opportunity to start his career from scratch. A new plateau with new possibilities  

“With earnestness and originality, Drabkin thrives within stylistic excursions that range from driving folk rock to understated experiments with classical musicians.- ““Denver Westword

Contact: shooktwins@7smgmt.com

It just happened.

Perhaps, it could be attributed to cosmic design, good old-fashioned magic, or the unspoken, yet understood bond all twins share. One day back in 2007, identical twin sisters Katelyn Shook [vocals, guitar] and Laurie Shook [banjo, vocals] found themselves writing, recording, and performing as Shook Twins. To their recollection, the pair never hatched a plan or even properly discussed it.

Hundreds of shows, four albums and 2 EPs later, the duo continue to tread this path.

“Neither of us remember a time where we planned things out, it all unfolded naturally,” affirms Katelyn. “We simply started to play out and call ourselves Shook Twins, because that’s simply who we are.”

“We never set specific goals either,” adds Laurie. “We talk about our hopes and dreams, but we’ve just let everything grow organically with the band. We’ll see what happens next.”

Since their 2008 debut You Can Have The Rest, Shook Twins have conjured up dreamy folk with ghostly traces of Americana tradition uplifted by transcendently hummable melodies and lilting cinematic instrumentation. Along the way, legendary New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman, USA Today, Langhorne Slim, Mason Jennings, and more fell under their spell and publicly professed adoration.

Simultaneously, they’ve graced legendary stages such as Red Rocks Amphitheatre with Gregory Alan Isakov and Ani DiFranco in addition to sharing bills with The Lumineers, The Head and the Heart, Sarah Jarosz, The Wood Brothers, and many others. Not to mention, they’ve carved a home for themselves after playing Northwest String Summit and Oregon County Fair over ten times each as well as appearing at High Sierra Music Festival, Lightning In A Bottle, Bumbershoot, Hulaween, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Electric Forest, Summer Camp Music Festival, and beyond. During 2012, the band welcomed multi-instrumentalist and “everything dude” Niko Slice on guitar, mandolin, and bass. Rounding out the sound (and the family) further, keyboardist and bassist Aber Miller joined the fold in 2018. Additionally, they welcome a rotating quiver of dynamic drummers, namely Alex Radakovich, Darren Garvey, and Simon Lucas.

“We essentially morph into different settings,” observes Katelyn. “We can be a mellow duo, folk-rock club band, or weird late-night band. We love this sense of musical diversity.”

Honing their vision like never before yet again, the group reached a critical and creative high watermark with 2019’s Some Good Lives. The standout “Stay Wild” generated nearly 4 million total streams. In addition to praise from Glide Magazine, Relix, and more, Paste praised, “Shook Twins have real sonic versatility,” while Atwood Magazine hailed it as “a record of musical and emotional maturity that goes beyond in nearly every aspect of the word.” Popmatters put it best, “‘Some Good Lives’ is as affirming as it is magical.”

After a quiet 2020, Shook Twins take another step forward in 2021, writing their next chapter. As always, each album, song, and show services a higher calling for the group.

“For us, music is a way to give back,” states Laurie. “It’s wonderful when our songs help someone through something. At each show, we have an offering to give. It’s our way to hopefully bring joy to people.”

“When we play, it’s a night for everyone to escape,” Katelyn concurs. “We all need that as humans—maybe now more than ever.”

Whether or not they plan to, Shook Twins foster a lasting bond with listeners worldwide as familiar and familial as their own.

“When you listen to us, we want you to remember how to feel more comfortable in your own skin,” they agree. “That goes beyond the show. We hope you walk away feeling more like yourself, because we’re fully ourselves on stage. We’re not shy. We have a sense of humor. We don’t ever take ourselves too seriously. We have fun up there. That’s our message through the music.”

Contact: siiga@7smgmt.com

‘Siiga - A highly esteemed and respected holy tree meaning ‘the soul’.

Growing gently from the haunting landscapes and enchanting seas of the islands, acclaimed singer-songwriter Richard Macintyre slowly emerged from the darkness of winter on the Isle of Skye, his home, a small Hebridean island in the North Atlantic sea off the coast of Scotland.

Recording through the night in a cupboard full of old coats, as the snow melted, Siiga remained- its roots bursting into life through Macintyre’s captivating song-writing, delicate artwork and transcendental videos, all of which would go on to create his debut album The Sea and The Mirror.

Once again Siiga will take listeners on a celestial journey with his latest release Gemini Rising. The 8 song collection guides its audience through love, loss and healing within to rise into the future - to question our place on this mystical, sleeping giant ball of energy amongst the stars.

“Gemini, the twin sign of the Zodiac is a mystical and infinitely powerful representation of the dual nature held deep within us all” says Macintyre. “There is a symmetry entwining the higher and lower self, connecting the shadow to the light, a mirror within the soul. Losing everything, when all hope feels lost, we await and awaken this fire from within, drawing upon its strength to pull us from despair and isolation, to soar onward into the horizon like Gemini Rising.”

Having already played to audiences across the U.K, Ireland, Europe and the U.S., Siiga has been heralded by Scotland’s radio and blogging community as ‘under the skin beauty’, ‘stunning in its emotion’ and ‘spellbinding’. Gemini Rising will be released this autumn on mod y vi Records.

Contact: sirwoman@7smgmt.com

To say that Sir Woman has taken the crowded Austin music scene by storm this past year, would be a massive understatement. With the release of their full-length self-titled debut, the band has quickly skyrocketed to headliner status at Austin’s most venerable clubs, and garnered Artist Of The Year at the 2023 Austin Music Awards.

The rolling funk/soul ensemble began as a solo vehicle for Wild Child/Glorietta vocalist Kelsey Wilson a mere two years ago. Their dynamic and joyful stage show led to quick buzz, with their recorded catalog quickly catching up to the acclaim (over 30 million plays on Spotify). They've also shared the stage with Black Pumas, Shakey Graves, Tank and the Bangas - and many more.

2023 included appearances at Newport Folk Fest, Luck Reunion, Jazzfest and an upcoming performance for Format Fest.

Contact: sonlittle@7smgmt.com

Conceived in a cabin overlooking the Delaware River in upstate New York, Son Little’s latest album, Like Neptune, trades in the existential dread permeating previous work for unbridled joy and self-acceptance. In this verdant space of freedom, Son Little transmutes the chronic pain of self-doubt into a beautiful opus about overcoming generational trauma, decorating the altar of the primordial blues and elevating the labor of healing to high art. 

"In the beginning of lockdown, I went into a closet full of junk and found a couple of boxes full of my old writing books,” Livingston explained. “There turned out to be 72 books in there.”

“The oldest book I got as a Christmas present when I was 9,” he continued. “In it, I wrote letters to myself about what was happening in my life. One page refers to a neighbor in Queens who abused me sexually around age 5. It was the first and only time I’d ever acknowledge this fact until after my 19th birthday, when I told my mother what had happened. She begged me go to therapy. I went under protest. My attempt wasn’t sincere. I wasn’t ready. I thought I could just power through it.”

Years of anxiety, depression, panic attacks and the aforementioned existential dread ensued, often dulled or numbed by the effects of alcohol, drugs, or sex. A frightening car crash and arrest finally led him back into therapy in 2017. Aggressively employing progressive methods like EMDR and somatic healing, Livingston, with the help of a trusted therapist, began identifying the roots of his trauma, and where it lives in the body. But the biggest breakthrough came from Internal Family Systems, a methodology that recognizes responses to trauma triggers as distinct entities or ‘parts’ within the person, and requires the patient essentially have conversations with the different traumatized personalities within them.

“One day in therapy I started talking to myself– to that annoying inner voice that criticizes everything when you mess up. I asked them how old they were and they said ’10’. I asked if they knew who I was, or how old I was and they said ‘no'! Strange as it all seems it’s had some amazing results. I’m able to soothe and comfort my inner…children.”  

The open exchange with his wounded inner self challenges a tradition of silence that masks the trauma coursing through the bedrock of the genre; the impact of abuse has infamously undergirded the catalogs and upended the lives of some of R&B’s most iconic musicians. Like Neptune, however, counters that no student or practitioner of the tradition should believe trauma to be a necessary component of their sound. 

“I’ve always felt as though I was making music because I had to, something inside compelled me. Fueled me,” Little shared. “This the first time in a long time I’m making music for the pure joy of creating.”

Delving into his journals and happily cooped up inside due to the pandemic, Son Little returned to beat making to craft the core of Like Neptune using apps on his iPad–– a method originally tasked with satisfying the nagging urge to create on a daily basis on the road; later he fleshed out the programming and added live instrumentation in Ableton live— while micro dosing LSD and immersing himself in the sounds of ‘70s era David Bowie and psychedelic Amazonian cumbia of the same period.

Like Neptune also marks a return, to Livingston’s origins in the east coast underground hip-hop and soul scene, which lead to collaborations with The Roots (“Guns Are Drawn” and “Sleep”) and Icebird partner and frequent-collaborator RJD2 (“Crumbs Off The Table”), and later Portugal. the Man (“Woodstock”).

With these DIY bedroom productions, many made with a cassette 4-track and a MPC drum machine, Livingston honed and refined the unique sound he would later employ producing soul music legend Mavis Staples’ 2015 Your Good Fortune EP (including a GRAMMY Award-winning cover of “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”) and writing and producing with blues soul singer Deva Mahal. The entirety of this timeline of artistic growth and influence forms the foundation of his latest release.

Noticeably confident from the opening note, Son Little prioritizes his signature rasp as the chief instrument of every song on a 12-track meditation on the mortal struggle to achieve inner peace. Doling out a pearl-strung collection of successive epiphanies he engages each of his re-invigorated parts, empowering them to finally speak freely, with him as the vessel.  

“Think of them as my inner R&B Boy Band, son little,” Livingston explained. “A different version of me takes lead on each song.”

Beginning with the opening track, Son Little lets loose in this expansive creative landscape. "drummer" is a chronicle of the artistic struggle punctuated by the expert timing of master percussionist Aaron Draper, Livingston’s inner critic delivers a spirited ode to the rigors and value of creative work.  

The anxious worrisome part, the part that sets the alarm because you stayed up all night worrying about sleeping through the alarm, describes the ongoing effort to repair a fraught relationship with sleep on "6 AM."  

And a once overly macho part finds power in vulnerability: "inside out” places balance and directness over possessiveness and toxicity with a groove inspired by both RZA and Prince, while "deeper" alludes to Son Little's long-standing desire to understand the human experience beyond mortality, someplace closer to the essence of the divine.

On the title track, Livingston’s voice does the heavy lifting – supported again by Draper’s percussion – and delivers the playful lyrics he attributes to his youngest and most wildly imaginative part, Neptune. Neptune is also responsible for “stoned love” which finds him cooing stoner wordplay flanked by the otherworldly synth work of Deshawn ‘Dvibes’ Alexander.

The lustful album closer “what’s good” practically oozes joy as a once angry, impatient part of him imagines reuniting with a would-be lover after a very long absence. This song demonstrates a depth of emotion with slick pop melodies and spare guitar to stomping gospel organ and brash arpeggios that scratch the psych-rock itch. 

Like Neptune establishes Son Little as the polyglot translator and rightful torchbearer of the celebrated musical tradition known as rhythm and blues. Continuing to revolutionize the modern understanding and expectation of the R&B sound, Son Little delivers an unadulterated transmission of Black American music performed in its praying and pleading mother tongue. With it, he completes the daunting tasks of confronting himself and pushing his sound to completion. The result is a timeless body of work reflective of his deep internal desire to inhabit the most radiant version of himself and become a positive force in the lives of people around him. It’s been a long time coming, so what’s good?

Contact: songconfessional@7smgmt.com

Song Confessional’s mission is to enable today’s top songwriters to create new songs inspired by everyday people’s experiences. Song Confessional collects recordings of people telling their own stories and then gives these recordings to songwriters who transform them into new original songs. Many of them are featured on our NPR podcast, Song Confessional.

Started by Austin musicians, Walker Lukens and Zac Catanzaro, the project was initially conceived as a music festival activation. In pre-pandemic times, the duo traveled to various festivals and events around the country in their blue camper trailer / recording studio. Attendees could hop into the trailer and be recorded recounting any experience they wanted. These ‘confessions,’ as we like to call them, were then shared with songwriters to write and record an original song. Once recorded, we’d press the song to a one-off 7” vinyl record and send it to the confessor who inspired it all. Our favorite songs are featured on our podcast.

Contact: stantonmoore@7smgmt.com

Over the course of his 20-year career, drummer Stanton Moore has become known as one of the premier funk musicians of his generation. On his latest album, Conversations, he moves in a slightly different direction, returning to his roots while reinventing his trademark sound. The result is a lively and combustible jazz piano trio outing that reveals unexpected new dimensions to Moore's always-engaging virtuosity. 

Anyone who's ever heard the interplay between the drummer and his band-mates in the Stanton Moore Trio, Galactic, Garage a Trois or Dragon Smoke is no doubt aware of his intense improvisational chops. But with Conversations, Moore unveils his profound sense of swing and the fluency of his jazz vocabulary in its purest form for the first time. "I've played a lot of jazz in New Orleans through the years, but it's not something that the general public has ever seen me do or is even aware of," Moore says. 

Having delved deep into the styles of pioneering drummers like Jabo Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, and Zigaboo Modeliste for his multimedia 2010 project Groove Alchemy, Moore decided to explore his straight-ahead jazz influences with a similar focus. "Jazz has been part of my development and a deep love of mine for a long time. Everything I do funk and groove-wise is informed by what I've learned playing and studying jazz. I had put myself through what was basically a doctoral program on funk drumming, and I wanted to do the same thing with my jazz playing." 

Moore sent himself back to the jazz woodshed, taking lessons with veteran drummer Kenny Washington and spending time with Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra co-leader Jeff Hamilton, Moore's partner in the Crescent Cymbal Company. He refined his brush playing by studying the work of Philly Joe Jones—evidenced by his brushwork on "Tchefunkta," a slinkier transformation of the tune that opens his 1998 solo debut, All Kooked Out! 

The New Orleans native called on a pair of veterans from that city's vibrant, deeply rooted jazz scene to form his new trio. Pianist David Torkanowksy and bassist James Singleton have both played with saxophonist Tony Dagradi's long-running band Astral Project alongside Moore's mentor, drummer Johnny Vidacovich. Singleton has also worked with the likes of James Booker, Professor Longhair, Aaron Neville, Joe Henderson, Milt Jackson, Harry Connick Jr. and Lightnin' Hopkins. Torkanowsky's credits include work with The Meters, Maceo Parker, Dianne Reeves, Dr. John, Boz Scaggs, George Duke, Kirk Whalum, James Moody and Chuck Berry. 

Moore chose Torkanowsky and Singleton for their unparalleled musicianship, versatility, compatibility, and long history together. What he realized only after the fact is that his newly-assembled trio was already a Grammy Award-winning group: they had worked together as the rhythm section for Irma Thomas' After the Rain, which was named the Best Contemporary Blues Album of 2007. "I always love playing with Stanton," Singleton says, "and when he got me back together with Tork it became pure inspiration. We all share such deep bonds within very specific musical languages, and the energy keeps growing." 

The connection shared by the three New Orleanians, Moore says, "brings a deep sense of groove and pocket and a whole batch of ideas and cultural influences that I can reference and these guys know exactly what I'm talking about. There's the Mardi Gras Indian thing, the brass band thing, the James Black thing. It's hard to find a group of guys who are not only aware of all those influences, but are equally happy playing in any of those genres." 

The NOLA bond becomes even stronger through Moore's choice of material. All but one of the album's eleven tracks were written by a New Orleans composer, including the legendary drummer James Black, Tony Dagradi, Steve Masakowski, Evan Christopher, and all three members of the trio. The sole exception is Herbie Hancock, whose "Driftin'" is given a stride piano intro by Torkanowsky that makes it feel right at home in this company. 

"Some of these tunes are New Orleans standards or tunes that David and Jim have played a lot together over the years. I wanted to create an outlet for the jazz side of my playing, but I didn't want to do jazz standards that everyone else has done. So we developed a repertoire of tunes that were more in our wheelhouse." 

That material was honed over more than a year and a half of Tuesday-night performances at Snug Harbor, the renowned New Orleans’ jazz venue on Frenchman Street. The deep chemistry forged over the course of that residency is in ample evidence throughout the aptly-named Conversations, from the graceful but roiling opener "Lauren Z" to the wistful ballad "Waltz for All Souls," from the Bill Evans-inspired elegance of Steve Masakowski's "The Chase" to the deceptively complex celebration of the New Orleans standard "Paul Barbarin's Second Line." 

"Improvised music should be conversational," Moore says. "If one guy's holding the floor, you don't want to start speaking over him; you want to listen, you want to interject, you might want to convey another idea related to what he's saying, but the same rules for good conversation apply to making good music. The music on this album is conversational, and all the tunes are coming from friends who we've had musical conversations with over the years."

Contact: stevepoltz@7smgmt.com

It might’ve even been last night, but Steve Poltz just played the greatest show of his life. Guess what?

The next show will be even greater, making that show the greatest show of his life.

Are you starting to notice a trend?

He isn’t shy about it either.

Even after most likely thousands of shows (but who’s counting?), he hits the stage with the same amount of energy and always makes sure to declare, “This is the greatest show of my life.”

It’s why he’s quietly emerged as the kind of live phenomenon celebrated passionately by a diehard fanbase worldwide and renowned as a festival favorite everywhere from Bluesfest in Byron Bay and High Sierra Music Festival in California and Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado to Cayamo Cruise (where he actually got married). It’s why his music has crept into pop culture via collaborations with everyone from Jewel and Billy Strings to Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Nicki Bluhm, Oliver Wood, and even the late Mojo Nixon. It’s why after over a dozen albums, he’s still creatively firing on all cylinders and critically acclaimed by the likes of Rolling Stone, Associated Press, Billboard, and many more.

Nevertheless, the next gig will be the greatest show for him (and maybe for you too)…

“I started doing it years ago, because I feel grateful to still be alive,” he notes. ”Even today, I still do it, and I believe my own bullshit. I convinced myself that every show is the greatest show I’ve ever played. They’re all different, and it depends on my mood each day, but I know I’m there to entertain people. It always cracks me up when I stumble into some sort of weird thing that’s handed to me like a gift from the freaky deadly heavens above.”

Steve might as well be “a gift from the freaky deadly heavens above” himself. He was born in Nova Scotia—Halifax, to be exact. Somewhere along the way, he began his relationship with the guitar at six-years-old. “We’re joined at the hip and lip and it’s always near my grip,” he affirms. He grew up in Los Angeles and Palm Springs (where he “met Elvis and Liberace”) and settled in San Diego (where he cut his teeth “under the tutelage of The Beat Farmers”).

He kicked off his musical journey in San Diego-bred underground favorites The Rugburns. However, the world got to know Steve when co-wrote two tracks from Jewel’s diamond-certified debut Pieces Of You, including the multi platinum Billboard Hot 100 #2 “You Were Meant For Me” (he’s also in the video). He delivered his own full-length debut One Left Shoe in 1998 and paved the way for an extensive solo catalog defined by what he calls “evocative lyrics mixed with positivity and traces of tragicomedy.”

If you so choose, you can trace his evolution from “Everything About You” (which popped up in Notting Hill) to the staple “Can O’ Pop”— christened “a fizzy delight” by Rolling Stone. The latter graced his 2022 album, Stardust & Satellites. Co-produced and created with The Wood Brothers, it garnered widespread acclaim. HOLLER. hailed it as “a wonderfully energized, often joyful and wryly provocative release from the charismatic Steve Poltz,” while No Depression dubbed it “poignant and ultimately uplifting.” Glide Magazine applauded how, “He takes chances like few others and seems to be increasingly more unconventional as he embraces Americana.”

Simultaneously, a myriad of artists continue to seek him out as a collaborator in the studio. Whether it be “Leaders” with Billy Strings or “Million Miles” with Molly Tuttle, he’s got dozens of cuts with various friends under his belt. He contributed two tunes to Deer Tick’s Emotional Contracts with frontman John J. McCauley going on to profess to Brooklyn Vegan, “Steve Poltz may be the biggest, most direct inspiration for me on this record.”

Steve adds, “Usually when these folks and many others come over to my house in Nashville we end up with something I love. I try not to overthink it. There are no rules. It’s kind of like fishing. You don’t catch anything if you don’t throw your rod in the water. So I guess I just try to be available for inspiration, mixed with perspiration and exasperation.”

Speaking of perspiration, he regularly travels far and wide to audiences of all ages and all continents most every day.

“I travel from town to town and fool people,” he grins. “I sing them songs and tell them stories and somehow they decide to pay money to obtain some merch and witness the spectacle. Then I return a year later and fool them again.”

In the end, Steve is probably gearing up for the greatest show of his life as you read this.

Thankfully, that will never change.

He signs off, “I’m just a weirdo, a freak, a bon vivant, a rounder, a rabble rouser, a workaholic, a people pleaser, an idiot and a grateful kid who ran away and joined the circus.”

Can we say it might just be The Greatest Show on Earth?!

Contact: Alex@7smgmt.com

www.tennis-music.com

Tennis’ husband-and-wife team Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore began writing music together as a way to document the history of their time voyaging and living aboard a sailboat. The result was their first release, Cape Dory. Moore and Riley followed Cape Dory with Young and Old, which The New Yorker described as “winsome as it is ebullient” and debuted #1 on Billboard’s Heatseeker Chart and #1 on CMJ Top 200, where it remained for three straight weeks. The album also debuted on Soundscan’s “New Artist Chart” at #1, remaining there for nine consecutive weeks. Their third record, 2014’s Ritual in Repeat, received rave reviews from The New York Times, NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Fresh Air,” TIME, Vogue, Pitchfork, The FADER, Entertainment Weekly and many more. Yours Conditionally is Tennis’ greatest commercial success, selling over 24,000 copies of vinyl alone, placing them at #9 on Billboard’s mid-year vinyl chart. The album’s lead single My Emotions Are Blinding peaked at #1 on Friday Morning Quarterback Submodern charts. The album has received praise from NPR’s “Weekend Edition”, Vice/Noisey, and was chosen as the Vinyl Me Please record of the month. The band has performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Conan” and “Last Call with Carson Daly.” 

Contact: toomanyzooz@7smgmt.com

Self-described "Brass House" trio Too Many Zooz make manically kinetic instrumental music that combines avant-garde jazz, EDM, punk rock, and sundry other traditions into their own distinctive brand of high-energy dance music. A viral sensation since they first emerged as New York subway buskers in 2013, Too Many Zooz have evolved into a globally recognized phenomenon who tour often and produce YouTube videos that have garnered millions of views.

Formed in 2013 in New York City, Too Many Zooz features the talents of baritone saxophonist Leo "Leo P" Pellegrino, trumpeter Matt "Doe" Muirhead, and drummer David "King of Sludge" Parks. Pellegrino and Muirhead initially met while students at the Manhattan School of Music where they studied jazz. They eventually joined forces with percussionist Parks, whom Pellegrino had played with in a separate busking outfit. They began playing live at various New York subway stations and quickly attracted crowds with their aggressive instrumental sound and Pellegrino's ability to dance and hype the audience like a DJ while playing. In 2014, a video of the band went viral and helped set the stage for the group’s meteoric rise.

In 2016, the trio released their debut full-length album, Subway Gawdz, which featured guest spots from Kreayshawn, Armani White, members of Galactic, and Beats Antique. That same year they were featured on Beyonce’s Lemonade album, and performed with Beyonce and The Dixie Chicks at the CMA’s.

Too Many Zooz have continued to release EP’s – holiday-themed EP A Very Too Many Zooz Xmas (2018), ZombiEP (2019), a concept album about a fictional band playing a music festival during a zombie outbreak, Covers (2022), Pecking Order (2022), plus collaborations and remixes with The Floozies, Beats Antique, Spencer Ludwig, Moon Hooch, Dot Cromwell, Nitty Scott, Lester London, and RoRo. The band is currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on their sophomore LP.

Contact: treburt@7smgmt.com

Tré Burt was standing on a stage in Philadelphia in early 2023 when the latest bit of bad news arrived: His grandfather, a native of that very city, was dead. It wasn’t entirely unexpected. For years, Tommy Burt had struggled with early-onset dementia, slipping away a bit more each time Burt saw him. Burt even began recording his grandfather, letting his tape recorder roll as they had some of their final conversations. He wanted to preserve those moments, however repetitious or fragmented they might be, before the opportunity vanished forever. In fact, Traffic Fiction—Burt’s third album on Oh Boy Records and an unexpected musical reinvention rooted in his new and idiosyncratic version of classic soul—also preserves their relationship by committing another key piece of it to tape. The soul that animates so many of these 14 tracks? That was the music shared by grandfather and grandson.

Burt’s California childhood was not easy. His parents split when he was young, so he would often shuttle between their houses in Sacramento and the Bay Area. He was a bit of a wild child, too. From time to time, though, he would accompany his father to work at a plant nursery, riding shotgun in a 1975 Cadillac Seville as they listened to The Delfonics and Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and The Temptations. Those drives were his sanctuary, that music their blessed score.

But as Burt became a musician himself, he was a peripatetic troubadour, tapping into American folk and blues partly as a matter of necessity—it’s not sensible to busk, after all, with some sophisticated band at your back. Bits of those other roots and compositional ambitions finally emerged on 2021’s You, Yeah, You, the vivid result of Burt’s first proper studio sessions. On Traffic Fiction, they are in full bloom, from the sweet country-soul surrealism of the title track to the skywriting rock of “2 For Tha Show,” Burt as urgent and commanding as he’s ever been. Traffic Fiction is the sound of Burt confidently bending a sentimental past to his present will.

To get to this new alchemy of soul, dub, and more than a little punk, Burt returned to the basics—self-recording in sequestered silence. During a Canadian tour, he set aside a few days to stay in a friend’s spare apartment and write, renting enough instruments from the affordable gear emporium Long & McQuade to build a makeshift studio for his GarageBand demos. The title track soon emerged, its effortless magnetism prompted by a poem he’d written about stupid city congestion and a piece by saxophonist and singer Gary Bartz.

Burt recognized he had found the sound of the next album, so he booked another rural cabin in Canada for 9 days and rented more guitars, basses, and the same keyboard he’d bought during the You, Yeah, You sessions. For the better part of a lifetime, Burt had told himself he didn’t have the chops to sing like those childhood heroes from the Cadillac days. But now, as he built his one-man-band demos before returning to Nashville’s The Bomb Shelter to work with a trusted band of pals and esteemed producer Andrija Tokic, his versions of those sounds poured out in circumspect love songs and joyous tunes of existential reckoning. His grandfather was dying. The world was struggling with a pandemic and the specter of a third world war. But Burt gave himself permission to have fun and be funny, to let these songs lift him and, eventually, maybe others, too.

Traffic Fiction indeed feels like a buoy amid these turbulent times, something that pulls us above the wreckage. The love-or-something-like-it songs are crucial. With its rocksteady motion, rainbow keys, and slippery riff, “Wings for a Butterfly” is Burt’s honeyed plea to at least try a relationship out. Like The Beatles rebottled in Muscle Shoals, the brilliant “To Be a River” crescendos in a litany of all the things Burt knows he can be for someone—“your favorite word, a letter you read.” It is pure infatuation.

Even ostensible breakup songs luxuriate in the wonder of existence. “Santiago” recounts an overseas tryst that ended too soon, Burt jubilantly narrating moments of mirth and lust over go-go keyboards and a beat so simple and propulsive The Ramones would have loved it. And during “Piece of Me,” Burt turns the sting of ending it into an anthem of wishful thinking alongside sashaying organs and rail-grinding guitar. Maybe one more chance is all he needs? “You like me better when I’m in pain,” he sings slyly. “Well, baby, just look at me now.” Amid these warped jewels of psychedelic soul, you’ll find yourself pulling for Burt, hoping the world can come to its senses on his behalf.

Burt first earned notice for his imaginative and trenchant social protest songs, where he’d capture some corrosive element of American life—unchecked capitalism, unwavering racism, so on—in a compelling snapshot. Traffic Fiction isn’t that kind of album, necessarily, though his defiance hasn’t disappeared. Referencing his ancestral homeland of Promised Land, South Carolina, “All Things Right” scorns apathy and bureaucracy, the way we strand each other via our own pursuits. “I’ll never be free/but I can pretend,” he snaps with verve during the verse of “Kids in the Yard,” a mighty theme of self-empowerment. Burt finds the joy even here, pushing past problems rather than succumbing to obstacles.

And isn’t that a crucial role of music, especially now—to show us how to handle our burdens with aplomb and vision, to model the behavior of persevering with élan? At three points during Traffic Fiction, Burt interweaves bits of those recorded conversations with his late grandfather, Tommy. They talk about Stevie Wonder, Burt’s career and the fatigue it can bring, and, finally, the sense that he’s carrying on a family tradition through these records. It’s a reminder not only of what Burt experienced while making Traffic Fiction but also of what he overcame. He found strength in the soul of his youth, and, for that, he’s never sounded stronger.

Contact: thevelveteers@7smgmt.com

After spending their teens developing a distinctively badass amalgam of punk attitude, old-school metal thunder, and gutter-glam charisma, The Velveteers are using the obsessions of their adolescence to soundtrack the messy emotions of adulthood. The Boulder, Colorado, trio’s second album, A Million Knives, chronicles the volatile truth of being an artist in the music industry while still clinging to the joy they felt when they were just learning their instruments. “When you’re a kid, you just have a natural curiosity,” says singer/guitarist Demi Demitro. “As you grow older, the world makes you jaded. This album is about the hard truth that no matter how hard you protect your heart, it’s just going to be broken.” An even harder truth: Often you’re the one breaking it. Or, as Demi puts it, “Sometimes you realize that you’re the one stabbing yourself in the heart with a million knives.”

Writing and recording and in some cases re-recording A Million Knives was a painful experience for the band, but a necessary one: a process of musical and emotional self-discovery. By acknowledging the travails of that process, they’ve created an album that stretches out into imaginative directions, that offers new thrills and twists. The Velveteers devise new ways to combine crunchy guitars and rumbling drums, so that every song hinges on some wild new ideas: the heavy disco rhythms of “Bound In Leather,” the fluorescent flourishes of “Go Fly Away,” and most impressively the devastating confessionals of “Up Here” and “Fix Me.”

“Demi was writing all these songs about heartbreak,” says drummer Baby Pottersmith. “She was writing about love fading away or being torn apart, and wishing things could still have this magic that you used to feel. In my head, I was comparing it to our band. We were trying to be perfect about every little thing, so we overthought it. That made everything painful. Making this record was like giving birth to knives.”

Demi and Baby have been chasing that creative spark for more than a decade, after forming the band as teenagers—before they could legally drive a touring van. Even then, they felt a strong connection. As Baby recalls, “When I met Demi, she sat down and played a song for me on acoustic guitar. Hearing her sing gave me this magical feeling, like: Wow, I really want to play music with this person for the rest of my life.” They started jamming in Demi’s parents’ garage, writing songs, and playing the occasional all-ages show, all with the bravado of youth. “When we started out, we didn’t know what we were doing,” says Demi. “We were just making music and making art, and we weren’t stressed about it because there was no one there to watch it.”

At one point it looked like their friendship might not survive their teenage years. “I had my first experience with depression when I was 16,” says Baby. “I didn’t know what it was, so I got weird and stopped communicating. I blamed it on the band, and Demi kicked me out. Rightfully so. I’d never experienced being so close to somebody before, so it was terrible not being in a band with her.” It took a bit of growing up to get the band back together, but now their connection is stronger than ever. “We’ve spent every day since then just making art together,” says Demi. “I would definitely say we are creative soulmates. Baby is one of very few people I trust with my songs. So maybe it was destiny that it happened that way.”

Speaking of destiny: While in exile from The Velveteers, Baby played with other bands around Colorado, including one with a multi-instrumentalist named Jonny Figg. Playing with Jonny reminded Baby of playing with Demi—there was that same spark—so when The Velveteers needed a third member, he was at the top of the list. Jonny complements their close friendship rather than disrupts it, and he gives The Velveteers their distinctive two-drumkit attack.

Even in their early days, they developed a process together that allowed both Demi and Baby to define and direct The Velveteers sound. Their songs originate with Demi, the band’s primary songwriter. Baby, meanwhile, has a knack for selecting and sequencing those songs to form a larger statement. Baby is the reason A Million Knives ends with one of Demi’s best and most wounded tunes, “Fix Me.” “A lot of my writing happens in the moment, and sometimes I don’t even know what a song is about until many years later. When I wrote that tune, I felt this enormous release of emotion, but then I completely forgot about it.”

In the days before they flew to Nashville for sessions with producer Dan Auerbach, Baby felt they were missing something crucial. That old demo of “Fix Me” sprang to mind, particularly its sad-hearted lyrics: “The sparkle that once was in my eyes, it has slowly faded away. Does it come as a surprise, or did you see it from miles away?” It’s a tragic question, gesturing toward feelings that can’t be put into words, and Demi sings them like she might be talking to their fans or to her creative soulmate behind the drums.

Even as they worked closely with Auerbach at his Easy Eye Sound Studio (where they tracked Nightmare Daydream just three years and a lifetime ago), The Velveteers were determined to retain the demo quality of these songs: their spontaneity, their urgency, their creative spark, their brutal honesty. “Some of these songs appear on the album almost exactly as Demi first demo’ed them,” says Baby. “We didn’t want to overwork them. We didn’t want to mess them up. The first time we played them together was when we recorded them, because we didn’t want to ruin them by rehearsing all the spontaneity out of them.”

At the same time, they remained open to new ideas and new songs, including one written with both members of The Black Keys. As producer and head of Easy Eye Sound, Auerbach was always at the studio, but Patrick Carney “would show up and have lunch with us all,” says Demi. “We’d joke around, and he’d show us these really strange YouTube videos that had maybe 20 views. One morning he showed up early with an idea for something he wanted to work on with us.” That seed grew into the album’s first single—a catchy, trippy pop song called “Go Fly Away.” “It’s definitely a different-sounding tune for us,” she says. “We don’t usually write songs that sound especially happy, so it’s good to have a song like that in our setlist.”

It might sound happy, but there’s an intense melancholy at the heart of the song. Rather than the kiss-off implied by the title, it’s a deep wish for escape and freedom. “I want to fly away,” Demi declares over sequined synths and snaky drumbeats. And yet, they didn’t fly away: As difficult as it was to find their way forward on A Million Knives, they steeled themselves and soldiered on, using those million knives to carve out a creative safe haven for themselves. “We have this incredible, beautiful thing together that I love so much,” says Demi. “Making this album was not easy, but the one thing that stayed intact the whole time was our love for making music together. We’ve realized that’s never going to go away. We just have to let the songs guide us and have faith in each other.”

Contact: viji@7smgmt.com

As a teenager in Austria, rising alt-pop artist Viji – aka Vanilla Jenner – was always searching for something more. Fueled by an obsession with US TV shows and pop culture of the time, she dreamt of making an imprint on this world. As a budding musician, she longed for peers who took being in a band as seriously as she did. “There were musicians around but no one who wanted world domination,” she laughs. “Nobody was writing songs.”

Years later and now signed to Dirty Hit, the artist is building a world for herself that fulfils all her desires. Since releasing her debut single ‘Cherry’ in 2020, she has marked herself out as a creative new force in the alternative sphere – both through her hook-filled songs and the inventive visuals that accompany them – with a streak of determination driving her forward.

“Put my head down and work hard / Reach my hand out super far,” she sings on ‘Cali’, the balmy title track from her upcoming third EP and a love letter to one of her dream states. “I’ve forever and always had an obsession with California,” she explains, noting that in the future, she’d like it to be somewhere she calls home for at least some of the year. “I always say I’m gonna work hard, and then once I’m there – wherever there is – I’ll move to Cali.”

With the determination to write her own story, Viji left home at 15 to spend a year in Colorado. Following many summer breaks abroad in the states (including Hawaii), she made one more stop in the south of the continent, spending time with her Brazilian side of the family.

Just as America seems to have been a constant in the new talent’s life, so too has music. Her grandfather was a classical pianist, her cousin was in a band growing up, and her dad builds instruments for a living. Even her name comes from an album. “My dad does a lot of folk instruments and Renaissance instruments, and apart from old school rock’n’roll, he’s also into weird elvish folk,” she says. “There’s this band called Blowzabella and they brought out an album called ‘Vanilla’. He was like, ‘That’s a pretty name for my future daughter’.” When Viji was embarking on her own musical journey, friends suggested she use her first name as her stage name, but she refused: “I don’t personally relate to whatever vanilla stands for in this world.”

If vanilla is typically associated with something plain and unadventurous, then Viji is here to challenge that perception. Over the last 15 months, the London-based musician has built the foundations of her career on songs that breathe new life into ‘90s and ’00s-inspired guitar-driven sounds, upping her inventiveness with each release. It’s something that’s already won her praise from the likes of DIY, The Fader, The Line Of Best Fit, Nylon and more. Her debut EP, ‘Are You In My Head’, was more straightforward plaid-tinged grunge-pop, before 2021’s ‘Suck It’ EP invited fresh synth elements into the mix, adding more dimensions to her core sound.

Her third EP, ‘Cali’, moves things forward once again, leaning into some of the less six-string focused of Viji’s musical loves. You can hear components of hip-hop and R&B in her infectious, sing-songy vocal rhythms, while instrumentally, she takes new adventures in electronics as well as the hefty guitar lines she’s deployed thus far. “I listen to Frank Ocean religiously, but also Tyler, The Creator, Mos Def and a lot of hip-hop and pop artists,” she notes. “I think that always translated a little before – the beats were never straight rock beats – but now I’ve tapped into it a little bit more. The more you write, the more you develop what it is you write.”

If the ‘Cali’ EP finds Viji refining her artistic voice, it also finds her growing stronger in herself personally, too. Throughout its tracks, she addresses certain past situations in her life, and putting up boundaries against them. On the minimal, melancholy ‘Skin Deep’, she declares: “I cannot give more than I get from you.” The Strokes-inspired ‘Mercy’, meanwhile, finds her envisioning the end of the world, unfazed by those who’ve wronged her’s cries for forgiveness. It’s a powerful refusal to give in to the demands of those who don’t have her best interests at heart.

The EP finishes with ‘Parasite’, a one-minute-and-four-seconds lo-fi recording that highlights Viji’s DIY abilities. She recorded a demo in her room at home with just her guitar and one microphone. When she tried to re-record it in the studio, she found it lacking something. “It just wasn’t much of a vibe anymore,” she shrugs. “A lot of artists I listen to like Elliott Smith and Daniel Johnston have that intimacy [to their songs], so I just kept the original.”

Viji’s passion for DIY also led her to making her own music videos, like the stop-motion visuals for ‘BFS’ or the lo-fi VHS clip for ‘Cali’. “I only take on what I think I can do sufficiently by myself,” she explains. “But if you know what you want, then DIY is perfect – a lot of times if you work with someone, it becomes more of a compromise.”

One area of her artistry that Viji has been forced to compromise on so far is performing live. Like most new artists who’ve broken through in the time of COVID, gigging is an opportunity yet to be afforded to her. Other than getting on stage at last, the creative force is staying focused on a goal that’s very important to her – making records that people want to listen to on repeat. It’s a habit she’s had since she was young, listing off the likes of Nirvana, FIDLAR, Blood Orange and Alex G as artists who’ve all been on endless rotation at various stages of her life. “I feel like it’s a breath of fresh air when you find something you really love,” Viji says. As her most infectious release yet, the ‘Cali’ EP practically demands you hit ‘repeat all’ – you’d be foolish to try and resist it.

Contact: walkerlukens@7smgmt.com

Austin, TX-based songwriter has become well known for embracing contradiction, "blending genres and techniques" (Billboard) into a sound that's hard to pin down. NPR's All Songs Considered described him as a "rhythmic sound effect master" who creates "curious, textured music," while World Cafe called it "wonderfully inventive."

“I’ve never wanted to be one of those songwriters who compartmentalizes what part of their lives comes out in their songs," he says. "I wanted to deal with Trump, and Charlottesville, and the 'Me Too' movement alongside things like breaking up and falling in love." Lukens took creative inspiration from work like Bob Dylan's famously wide-ranging double LP 'Blonde on Blonde' as well as Frank Ocean's 'Blonde' while writing and recording ADULT.

"That, to me, is the trick - making something personal and political that doesn't try to make sense of itself," he says. 'ADULT' was produced by Spoon drummer Jim Eno, and features new tracks along with the previously released singles "Baby" and "Tear It Out My Heart."

Contact: wildchild@7smgmt.com

Wild Child won't settle. For seven years now the Austin-based ensemble has carried its infectious blend of indie-pop and infectious melodies across the international music scene, charting viral hits and wrapping their arms around a diverse and dedicated fan base. But earlier this year when the band set out to make their fourth studio album, they found they had their hands full: After half a decade of maturation, the group had grown beyond its traditional writing and recording process. “We had too many ideas for how we wanted to make this record” says Kelsey Wilson, the group’s lead vocalist and violinist. She shrugs. “So we said, ‘Why not just do all of them?’”

The group realized this offered an exciting opportunity to make a kind of record bands rarely get right: To take a new, multispectral approach to writing and recording that went beyond simply trying to engineer success. The band made a list of their favorite musicians who were also great producers in their own right — choosing ones they thought would shine a new and unique light on specific compositions — and then Wild Child set about chasing their album from studio to studio all over the world, never saying no to an idea.

The result — the band’s fourth album, Expectations — is Wild Child’s most creative, colorful and intellectually engaging album to date.

Now a seven-piece pop mini-orchestra (Wilson on violin and vocals; Alexander Beggins on ukulele and vocals; Sadie Wolfe on cello; Matt Bradshaw on keyboards, trumpet, and harmonica; Tom Myers on drums; Cody Ackors on guitar and trombone; and Tyler Osmond on bass), Wild Child formed in 2010 when the group's core duo of Wilson and Beggins wrote and released their first album, Pillow Talk.

Wild Child shaped their last record, Fools, in the shadows of more than one failed love, and Expectations, as the title suggests, is a continuation of that personal experience into an awakening. Wilson and Beggins, whose voices fit each other as naturally as any family act, pushed their boundaries as writers, drawing freely from the stories they've lived as well as the artists around the world that have inspired their growth. Their rate of output over that last year got them thinking differently about producing, focusing on one track at a time. “We’ve always focused on the record as a whole. We wanted to think about each track as it’s own piece- but somehow it all fits together” Wilson says of the approach. That route took them around the world — from Chris Walla's (Death Cab For Cutie) studio in Tromsø, Norway, where the Northern Lights are the brightest in the world, to a home-built warehouse studio on the outskirts of Philadelphia, where Dr. Dog's Scott McMicken picked up the bass and “joined the band for a week,” arranging harmonies and sharing living and recording space. Back in Wimberley, Texas, Matthew Logan Vasquez (Delta Spirit) set up a makeshift studio in Kelsey Wilson’s beloved childhood home — abandoned since the floods of 2015 — where they found the muses were eager to resurface. The group also tapped the talents of frequent tour mate Chris Boosahda (Shakey Graves), Atlantic Records recording artist Max Frost, and Grammy-winning producer Adrian Quesada (Groupo Fantasma, Brown Sabbath, Spanish Gold).

The result is a theater of possibilities, with arrangements that reflect the range of tastes of the producers, from scruffy lo-fi tape hiss, to smoothed out precision-cut electronic pop sounds. Smartly, the album avoids defining itself and kicks off with a child’s voice telling Alexander Beggins, "Don't think that way." The track that follows (called "Alex") is a hook-spangled opener which in its three breezy minutes builds from a single ukulele to a lush and playful arrangement reminiscent of Beirut.

The record almost immediately settles in to find the band at its most expansive. Songs like "My Town" and the deep-breathing "Eggshells" stretch the spaces between beats like a Chinese finger/time trap. They stop for more than one layover in Detroit, with "Back and Forth" evoking the horn charts of Arthur Conley and Jackie Wilson (or even Jens Lekman), and "Think It Over" throws an unexpected nod to Sly and the Family Stone.

The closing track, “Goodbye, Goodnight,” is also the first the group recorded, and the one they believe best epitomizes the journey of making this album. At first, Scott McMicken’s production caught the band off-guard: He slowed the waltz down to the tempo of a dirge — or a dirge with the levity of a waltz — and built the track up at an almost excruciatingly slow pace that in the end gives you what you want from it, but only gives it to you once. “At first we were all just trying to understand where he was coming from,” Wilson says with a laugh. “And it took us a while to get there, but the arrangement works out so well — with what the song is about and how we felt when we wrote it — that it ended up being one of my favorite songs on the record.”

And the more you listen to Expectations, the more the many worlds of this project begin to cohere around you. After all, one of the great joys of traveling the world is discovering surprising connections: A skyscraper in Barcelona reminds you of a spire in the Utah desert; the Northern Lights in the Norwegian sky look like an oil slick on the Philadelphia pavement. Expectations, an album which can by turns be bitter, wistful, angry, and flirtatious, is rich with these surprising rhymes across the record. “We’re all growing and changing and learning new tricks,” Beggins says. Wilson responds, “Yeah, there’s no right or wrong way to do anything.” Her own record, though, is proof she’s wrong.

Wildermiss is an indie rock band from Denver currently living in Nashville. Emma Cole sings and plays synth bass, Joshua Hester plays guitar and Caleb Thoemke plays drums.

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