Los Angeles – While being a contestant on the popular singing competition program The Voice was probably a boon for Melanie Martinez, it came with its own unique set of challenges. For one thing, the show has a weak track record of actually producing successful artists – another issue is that the contestants are required
Chicago - After a little breather and some time spent recording, D.C. band RDGLDGRN - okay they’re from Reston, Virginia, but word on the street is that Reston may as well be D.C. - is back with a new album, due out this Fall. And that’s pronounced Red Gold Green, by the way. Over the summer, the trio unleashed the first single, “No Pixar,” from
San Francisco – Leonard Cohen once sang, “I was born with the gift of a golden voice.” Anyone familiar with the man’s whispery, ragged delivery knows he was being a bit facetious when he wrote this line (Cohen? Facetious? Unbelievable). Strip away the irony, however, and this lyric perfectly describes the stunning, indeed golden, voice
Los Angeles – From the very beginning, Adrien Reju had a specific thematic vision for her debut full-length. Unconventional Love Songs was the title Reju chose for her Pledgemusic.com fundraising drive and it runs as a common thread on the tracks that make up Strange Love and the Secret Language. The Woodstock, NY based singer
San Francisco – “You say it’s cruel / hell you know it’s beautiful to know one day / you’re gonna die!” Lux Lisbon shouts during the chorus of “Memento Mori,” the third track off their EP Get Some Scars. Outside the musical context – the bright chords and ebullient backing vocals – the lyric sounds
San Francisco – Trying to pin a label on the music of Bent Knee is like trying to effectively interpret the series finale of The Sopranos – you can get close but you’ll never figure out the exact meaning. Just what was Tony looking at before the screen went black? And why the hell were
San Francisco - “I can’t remember a time when music wasn’t an important part of my life,” Kendra McKinley tells me at a small coffee shop/sci-fi bookstore in the Mission district of San Francisco. In between sips of green tea she continues, “It was always celebrated in my family and I was constantly exposed to new
Chicago – This May, eighteen year-old U.K. singer-songwriter Sofia Donavan not only finished her first year of college, she also released the EP Left to the Clouds, filled with plenty of country, folk, and pop. Even more surprising: this isn’t her first EP! While in high school, a teacher took notice of Sofia after hearing
Chicago – L.A. glam rockers Mini Mansions have been making the rounds lately, in support of their sophomore album The Great Pretenders (Capitol Records). Good friends Zach Dawes, Tyler Parkford, and Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman formed Mini Mansions back in 2009, while Queens was on a break from touring. After a
Chicago – Jackson-X, the alter ego of Jackson Begley, is a 17-year-old high school senior from Oshawa in Ontario, Canada, who began singing at age three. “I remember that my dad would play cassettes in the car, and I would sing along to them.” Begley’s father noticed he was actually singing along on key and