Category: All Ages

Posted on

Rusted Root

 The Movement

“The Movement, means a new work ethic to me – it’s going from the industrial age to the individual spiritual age. I feel everyone should devote all their actions to all that is love, healing and pragmatic. We’re seeing the growing pains of this right now…the world is split…some people are fearful and fighting it with all their might… Rusted Root is trying to help with this…this is our movement!!” shares Rusted Root founder, front man, songwriter, singer/guitarist Michael Glabicki. Having collaborated with one another for two decades, Rusted Root, has honed the perfect combination of musical intuition, freedom and virtuosity, which has allowed them to organically shape shift their music into their own distinct and undeniable vision. With eight albums under their belt, over three million records sold worldwide and countless nights on the road, Rusted Root, transcends age, generations, cultures and musical styles. Their music has been featured in films likeIce Age, Twister and Matilda, TV shows like New Girl, Ally McBeal, Charmed and Chuck as well as recent Enterprise Rent-A-Car commercials. Bassist and vocalist Patrick Norman says, “From the very first time we played music together, I knew we had something special. The music and the enjoyment of creating and playing with one another I feel is the driving force behind this band.” The powerhouse ensemble’s sweat-inducing and hypnotic live performances have allowed them to tour alongside everyone from Santana, Dave Matthews Band, The Allman Brothers Band, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page’s reunion tour and countless others.  Rusted Root’s Shanachie debut, The Movement (10/30/12), is an energized and poetic collection of originals that capture the Pittsburgh based unit at their best. Glabicki says, ” The Movement is an extremely joyous recording with seriously deep undertones. It is a culmination of everything we have learned, or have tried to learn, over our entire career. It truly is a career record for us.”

The Movement is a tribute to Rusted Root’s fans. “The title itself is a testament to the community surrounding our music,” says vocalist and percussionist Liz Berlin.  Rusted Root created the “Fortunate Freaks Unite! We Are Rusted Root” campaign, a fan-funding campaign where fans contributed to the making of the album, while receiving some cool opportunities with the band. Glabicki adds, “Rusted Root is a state of mind shared and explored by many people- we are a community that supports one another.”
The Movement transports listeners though an array of emotional and musical terrain, creating one seamless journey. “There is real space on this album, you can hear the room, us breathing, laughing, playing music together,” says Liz. The pulsating, cathartic and uninhibited “Monkey Pants” opens the CD. “I have these little dance moves I do on stage every night,” confesses Liz. “I almost feel like a monkey puppet on a string when we play this song, it’s like the groove pulls my body in very specific ways.” Glabicki adds, “The song embraces our unique human animal- focusing on our ability to spiritualize, sexualize, and dream our own existence.” The album continues to entice with “Cover Me Up,” which begins and ends with gorgeous guitar and percussion interplay and an enchanting Calypso and African vibe. Glabicki shares, “The guitar work on this song is really extraordinary, Colter Harper’s parts are beautifully layered with mine, his many trips to Africa really show through on this song.”  Glabicki’s and Liz’s vocals tease and slither through the melody as the band crescendos to a bluesy showdown.

The camaraderie, sheer love for musical experimentation and a desire to break down musical boundaries comes full circle on “The Movement,” the title track and first single. “Our drummer, Preach Freedom came up with such an interesting drum pattern for the song and along with the tambourines, foot stomps and claps, it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before,” exclaims Glabicki.  “It was really great having Lucy Stone singing background vocals with us on this one.  She came up with a couple harmony ideas that I worked off of to create the vocal arrangement for the song, it feels like exciting new territory for us.”

Another highlight on The Movement is the rhythmically charged and scintillating “In Our Sun.”  The trance-like rhythmic patterns and Sub-Saharan drenched chanting reach a fevered pitch and then fade like a mirage.

Liz explains that the members of Rusted Root are drawn to and have explored virtually every form of music. “I am very inspired vocally by anything from Indian to African to Middle Eastern sounds and scales having grown up with a lot of Hebrew music” she says. Michael Glabicki’s cites the Bee Gees, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Tony Childs, Black Keys, Black Sabbath and various Afro Pop music as among his influences.  Glabicki explains the song “In Our Sun” started out as an experiment and was created with several great Pittsburgh drummers. He was playing around with the song and started listening to it backwards; that’s where the fun began. “There’s an acoustic guitar that was used solely to record the drums through its magnetic pick up which caused the strings to ring out creating a drone effect which decided the key for the song. Since most of the vocals were then recorded on the tour bus you can hear the bus humming and rattling throughout the song too.” Glabicki’s vocals shine on the lilting ballad “Fossil Man,” and on “Fortunate Freaks” Rusted Root lets it all go and rocks out hard with the song’s energizing bridge. “Sun And Magic” showcases dazzling guitar and bass lines that shimmer like a summer breeze. Glabicki’s signature Tremelo picking and acoustic-electric guitar amplification shine throughout The Movement.  Rusted Root gets down right gritty on  “Up And All Around” while “Something’s On My Mind” continues to solidify their place as one of the most versatile and innovative bands on the creative music scene.
“I was in my first semester of college. I had just returned from a trip to the war torn country of Nicaragua and had come back very depressed. It was the physical type of depression where at times I couldn’t move my arms…I remember after one of those spells I picked up the guitar and wrote a song,” recalls Glabicki. “I can remember feeling like I had lifted out of my dead body and I could move so freely. Shortly after that night I dropped out of college to start a band – my first real band – Rusted Root.” It was the early 90s and it wasn’t long before Rusted Root garnered a rabid fan base with their unique blend of roots music and world rock. Although they have toured the world, the city of Pittsburgh still pulses through their veins. Patrick explains, “Living in our hometown helps keep us grounded and focused.” Liz adds, “Pittsburgh means so much to us as a band. The city, the people, the community are the womb where Rusted Root gestated, birthed and has thrived all these years. It is the home we can always come back to.”  Glabicki adds, “Pittsburgh is home. It’s family. It is our protection. It’s the perfect place to create something original. Pittsburgh is full of working class hero’s.”  In 1992 Rusted Root released Cruel Sun independently and two years later, while signed to Mercury, they released their platinum-selling breakthrough, When I Woke, which spawned the Top 40 hit “Send Me On My Way,” that went on to chart on Billboard’s Hot 100. In 2004, the band released the double album Rusted Root Live on their own Touchy Pegg label, following the re-release of the newly re-mastered Cruel Sun in 2003. Rusted Root continued to tour relentlessly between the release of Cruel Sun and the 2009 release of Stereo Rodeo.

Now with the release of The Movement, the journey continues. Liz says, “When we first got together as a band there was a groundswell of community, love and support that has taken us on a movement through our lives and together as a band.  This movement has never stopped all these years!”  Glabicki concludes, “I hope this music will help to lighten people’s load and elevate them!! Making this record was a lot more intense than any of our other recordings. It was the first time that I produced and engineered a Rusted Root recording.  It kind of upped the ante for me, there was no way I could step on eggshells and not be brutally honest, it was do or die. We were blessed to work with some really great musicians and singers. It was also awesome having some of the Fortunate Freaks supporters visit the studio to get us out of any routine we might have been in.  Our goal is to create a ritual with the fans, something that is truly healing.”

Posted on

Cannibal Corpse with Obituary, Cryptopsy, Abysmal Dawn

“If vomit were a movie, this would be the soundtrack,” wrote one critic of Cannibal Corpse‘s music, some of the most extreme, violent death metal sounds and subject matter ever committed to tape. Reveling in splatter-horror imagery in their often indecipherable lyrics, the group’s graphic album artwork and song titles like “Meat Hook Sodomy,” “Entrails Ripped from a Virgin’s Cunt,” “Fucked with a Knife,” and so on, have — not surprisingly — attracted a fair amount of controversy and sometimes resulted in their albums being banned. However, their over the top extremity has won them a rabid cult following and made them one of the most popular death metal bands of the ’90s; sticking with what works, the band didn’t alter or develop its style much over the decade, although fans didn’t seem to mind.

Cannibal Corpse were formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1988, their lineup composed mostly of musically active scenesters: vocalist Chris Barnes, guitarists Bob Rusay and Jack Owen, bassist Alex Webster, and drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz. Musically, they were closest to Slayer, although more extreme metal bands like Death also played a role in their sound. A 1989 demo helped the band secure a contract with Metal Blade Records, which released their debut album,Eaten Back to Life, in 1990. A cult following began to build behind the group with albums like 1991’s Butchered at Birthand 1992’s Tomb of the Mutilated. Bob Rusay was fired in 1993 and replaced with ex-Malevolent Creation guitarist Rob Barrett, who joined the group in time to appear as a club band in the Jim Carrey film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Barrett debuted on record with 1994’s (relatively) more accessible The Bleeding, which proved to be Barnes‘ final album; 1996’s Vile featured ex-Monstrosity vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. Cannibal Corpse soldiered on through the decade, returning in 1998 with Gallery of Suicide. Bloodthirst followed a year later, and in 2000 the band issued both a video and CD titled Live Cannibalism(their second concert video but first official live album). Gore Obsessed arrived in 2002, followed by the obsessively packaged box set/DVD 15 Year Killing Spree. Their ninth album of all-new material, Wretched Spawn, was released in 2004, followed by Kill in 2006. In 2008, the band went back into the studio with producer Erik Rutan (ofHate Eternal), emerging early the following year with the band’s highest-charting album, Evisceration Plague. Two years later the gore-metal masters released the live DVD Global Evisceration before returning with the all-new studio album Torture in 2012. A Skeletal Domain, the band’s 13th long-player, followed in 2014.

Posted on

Rancid

One of the cornerstone bands of the ’90s punk revival, Rancid’s unabashedly classicist sound drew heavily from the Clash’s early records, echoing their left-leaning politics and fascination with ska, while adding a bit of post-hardcore crunch. While some critics dismissed Rancid as derivative, others praised their political commitment, surging energy, and undeniable way with a hook. And, regardless of critical debate over their significance, the band’s strengths made them perhaps the most popular neo-punk band after Green Day and the Offspring. Their third album, 1995’s …And Out Come the Wolves, made them a platinum-selling sensation and an inescapable presence on MTV and modern rock radio. While they never translated that success into an enormous blockbuster record (like the aforementioned bands who hit the mainstream first), that wasn’t necessarily their ambition, choosing to stay with the independent punk label Epitaph and the creative freedom it allowed them. That decision helped them retain a large, devoted core audience as revivalist punk-pop began to slip off the mainstream’s musical radar.

Rancid were formed in 1991 by San Francisco Bay Area punk scenesters Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals) and Matt Freeman (bass). Lifelong friends and longtime punk fans, the two had grown up together in the small working-class town of Albany, near Berkeley; they’d also played together in the legendary ska-punk band Operation Ivy, Armstrong as “Lint” and Freeman as Matt McCall. After Op Ivy disbanded in 1989, Armstrong and Freeman spent a few weeks in the ska-punk outfit Dance Hall Crashers, as well as Downfall; Freeman later briefly joined the hardcore band MDC. Meanwhile, Armstrong was waging a battle with alcoholism (but, fortunately, winning), and to help keep his friend occupied, Freeman suggested they escape their day jobs by forming a new band, which became Rancid. The duo added drummer Brett Reed, Armstrong’s roommate and a familiar presence on the Gilman Street scene where Operation Ivy had cut their teeth. Just a couple of months later, Rancid were performing live around the area, and in 1992 they released a five-song debut EP on Lookout! Records.

The EP caught the attention of Epitaph Records founder/Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz, and Epitaph signed Rancid to a highly favorable contract guaranteeing the group a generous amount of creative control. The band’s eponymously titled, first full-length album arrived in 1993, pursuing an uptempo hardcore/skatepunk style with few hints of early British punk. Rancid had been seeking a second guitarist, and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong even played live with the group at one show. They pursued Lars Frederiksen, a Bay Area resident who’d joined a later incarnation of U.K. Subs and was performing with the band Slip; Frederiksen initially declined Rancid’s invitation to join, but when Slip disbanded, he quickly changed his mind and came along on Rancid’s first tour. Frederiksen made his recording debut on the early-1994 EP Radio Radio Radio, a side dalliance on Fat Wreck Chords. Released later that year, Let’s Go was the album that made Rancid’s name in the punk underground. It marked the beginnings of their fascination with the 1977-era London punk scene, particularly the Clash, and it also provided their first widespread exposure when MTV picked up on the video for the single “Salvation.” Let’s Go quickly went gold, and with the breakout mainstream success of Green Day and the Offspring that year, major-label interest in Rancid quickly escalated into a full-fledged bidding war (even Madonna’s Maverick imprint got in on the action). Ultimately, Rancid decided that no major could offer them the level of decision-making power that Epitaph had given them, and stayed right where they were.

Rancid scored a major success with their next album, 1995’s …And Out Come the Wolves, whose title was a reference to the near-predatory interest in signing the band. The Clash fetish was even more pronounced, augmented with a greater interest in the original Two-Tone ska revival the Clash had helped influence (bands like the Specials). “Ruby Soho” was a major MTV and radio hit, and “Time Bomb” and “Roots Radicals” were hits in their own right. The album went platinum and made Rancid one of the most visible punk bands around. They played the 1996 Lollapalooza Tour, and afterward took a short break, their first since becoming a quartet. During that time, Freeman played with former X singer Exene Cervenka in Auntie Christ, while Armstrong set up the Epitaph subsidiary Hellcat; he and Frederiksen both began doing production work for other bands they hoped to spotlight.

Rancid returned in 1998 with the even more ska-heavy Life Won’t Wait, a guest star-loaded affair that featured members of ska bands the Specials and Hepcat, Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, dancehall reggae star Buju Banton, and Agnostic Front vocalist Roger Miret. While it didn’t cross over on the level of …And Out Come the Wolves, it demonstrated that Rancid retained a substantial fan base. For the 2000 follow-up, their second self-titled release, the group largely scrapped its ska-punk side, recording a visceral, hardcore-influenced album that blasted through 22 songs in under 40 minutes (in contrast to its two lengthy predecessors). Perhaps for that reason, Rancid received a highly positive response from the punk community. The band’s installment in the BYO split series arrived in March 2002 alongside NOFX, each band covering six of the other’s songs. Rancid’s next full-length, Indestructible, followed a year later; though technically released through Hellcat, the album was their first that got additional support from a major label via Warner Bros. The highly personal album (songs were inspired by the deaths of family and friends, and Armstrong’s bitter 2003 divorce from Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle) hit number 14 on the Billboard charts, as “Fall Back Down” did well on radio and MTV.

Following the record’s release, Rancid went on something of a hiatus, its members working on various side projects: Armstrong continued work with the Transplants, his band with Rob Aston and blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, and collaborated with various artists, including P!nk; Frederiksen further played with his side band Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards; Freeman briefly joined Social Distortion from 2004-2005. By the spring of 2006, a revitalized Rancid regrouped; they toured worldwide starting that summer to the delight of fans. Several shows, however, had to be postponed and rescheduled after Frederiksen collapsed on-stage in Montreal, apparently suffering a seizure. Soon enough, though, he was back and the band continued on. Rancid promised a new record for the following year, and Armstrong released his first solo album, A Poet’s Life, that fall through Epitaph by releasing songs online for free download over the course of several months. With the band getting back on track, it then came as a shock in November 2006 when Reed announced he was leaving Rancid after 15 years; the split appeared to be amicable and he was soon replaced behind the kit by ex-Used drummer Branden Steineckert. After taking some time to look back at their luminous history with a B Sides and C Sides compilation, a music videos collection, and an online webisode retrospective dating back to the bandmembers’ days in Operation Ivy, Rancid returned to the studio to record 2009’s Let the Dominoes Fall at George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound Studio with Brett Gurewitz producing.

It would be another five years before fans got another Rancid album. The band entered the studio in 2011 and did some recording, but Armstrong eventually abandoned the sessions in favor of doing another Transplants album. One new Rancid track from the sessions, bluntly titled “Fuck You,” was released in 2012. That same year, the massive online-only box set Essentials compiled their back catalog on 7″ vinyl. In 2013, Transplants released their third album, In a Warzone, following which Rancid got back together to finish their eighth album. Again produced by Gurewitz, the back to basics effort, Honor Is All We Know, was released in late 2014.

Posted on

Houndmouth

Boasting a sound that’s informed by vintage country rock and the melodic side of indie rock, Houndmouth was formed in 2011 in New Albany, IN, a town across the river from Louisville, KY. Founding members included guitarist/vocalist Matt Myers, keyboardist/vocalist Katie Toupin, bassist/vocalist Zak Appleby, and drummer/vocalist Shane Cody. The driven group of musicians quickly built a loyal following based on its fervent live shows, and was soon sharing stages with like-minded bands such as Drive-By Truckers and the Lumineers. In 2012, the group issued a self-titled 4-song EP, andiIn 2013, Rough Trade Records released the band’s full-length debut, From the Hills Below the City, a hearty collection of ragged country-informed rock & roll. Houndmouth returned in the spring of 2015 with Little Neon Limelight, another set of lean country boogie and late night laments.

Posted on

Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime

The phenomenon known as Sublime, arguably the most energetic, original and uniquely eclectic band to emerge from any scene, anywhere, ended with the untimely death of lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Brad Nowell in May of 1996. But encompassing the sense of place and purpose long associated with Sublime’s music, Badfish, a Tribute to Sublime continues to channel the spirit of Sublime with a fury not felt for some time. What separates Badfish from other tribute bands is that they have replicated Sublime’s essence, developing a scene and dedicated following most commonly reserved for label-driven, mainstream acts. Badfish make their mark on the audience by playing with the spirit of Sublime. They perform not as Sublime would have, or did, but as Badfish does!

Posted on

August Burns Red and Between the Buried and Me

August Burns Red

 

Jake Luhrs—vocals; JB Brubaker—guitar; Brent Rambler – guitar; Dustin Davidson—bass; Matt Greiner—drums 

With 12 years as a band under the belt, Lancaster PA’s August Burns Red know what they are doing and what they want to sound like.

Found in Far Away Places, the band’s sixth full-length and Fearless Records debut, is full of unpredictable, unexpected moments that will both surprise and delight the band’s fanbase. With the support of a brand new label, August Burns Red are ready for the next chapter and to chart another period of l growth.

With a solid collection of 5 previous albums, Thrill Seeker (2005), Messengers (2007), Constellations (2009), Leveler (2011), 2013’s Rescue & Restore debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, establishing August Burns Red as one of the metalcore scene’s premier bands. They asserted themselves by being a bit sonically different from everyone else in the scene, refusing to rely on alternately sung and screamed vocals to make a point. August Burns Red’s career was built on the back of hard work, word of mouth, and moshable tunes. The band continues to skillfully craft a balance between ferociously heavy sound with empowering lyrical content, while showcasing a rich surplus of inventive guitar riffs, blistering solos, and dynamic drumming.

“We want to be at the forefront of our genre, not following the pack,” guitarist JB Brubaker declared. “We’re are always tweaking our sound and introducing new elements. For that reason, I think that every time we put out a new record, it’s its own beast and new fans keep finding us. They might not have liked our four records prior, but what we’ve become is more up their alley. That’s fine. We evolve and we try not to get stuck in a rut.”

The band bunkered at Atrium Audio in Lancaster, recording once again with Carson Slovak. The album finds singer Jake Luhrs still screaming like he is scaling the bowels of hell, but there are more melodic undertones, along with more guitar melodies, adding further layers to the overall sound. Brubaker labels Found in Far Away Places the band’s “most progressive record” and it’s their longest, clocking in at 55 minutes over 11 tracks.

“This is the next step forward in the direction we are heading,” Brubaker noted. “It’s not a massive departure and it is an August Burns Red record. It’s the latest installment. The next episode. We expanded on our favorite elements of the non-metal parts of Rescue & Restore, and those parts are the surprises the first time you hear it, since you will be like ‘Wow, I was not expecting that.’ Some of it is easier to grasp as a whole, yet faster than some previous records. The songwriting is more cohesive. There are catchier moments that are more hook-oriented.”

Some of the album’s many standouts are “Ghost,” which features a guest vocal from A Day to Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon and “Identity,” which is “a more straightforward August Burns Red song, heavier than granite, but backed by smart guitarwork. “The Wake” opens the album with choppy riffs, guitar squalls, and a rhythmic thrust.

August Burns Red’s Found in Far Away Places charged fiercely into release week, debuting at #4 on the Billboard Top Albums Chart, #9 on the Billboard Top 200, #1 Rock Album, #1 Independent Album, and #1 on iTunes Metal Chart, selling over 29,000 copies in its first week. Found In Far Away Places has been noted by Revolver Magazine as “heavier and more creative than ever”, “an emotionally charged thrill ride of a record,” by Metal Hammer Magazine, while Absolutepunk.net calls the album “a clear contender for Album Of The Year for 2015.” Lead singer Jake Luhrs was featured on the cover of Substream Magazine’s Warped Tour Issue, and the band was featured on the cover HM Magazine’s May issue. Members of August Burns Red were nominated in this year’s Alternative Press Music Awards 2015, and Jake presented the award for ‘Best Guitarist’.

 

 

Posted on

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with The Soul Rebels

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

New Orleans native Trombone Shorty is the bandleader and frontman of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, a hard-edged funk band that employs hip-hop beats, rock dynamics and improvisation in a jazz tradition.  Together, Trombone Shorty and his band have toured the U.S. and Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Russia and Brazil. Trombone Shorty began his career as a bandleader at the tender age of six, and toured internationally for the first time at age 12 before joining Lenny Kravitz’ horn section at the age of 19 for a 105-date world tour in 2005-2006

His third outing for Verve Records, “Say That To Say This,” co-produced by Shorty and R&B titan Raphael Saadiq, was released in September 2013. In 2010, Trombone Shorty released the Grammy-nominated “Backatown,” followed in 2011 by “For True,” which topped Billboard Magazine’s Contemporary Jazz Chart for 12 weeks.

In January 2014 Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue performed on the 56th Annual Grammy Awards with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mary Lambert, Madonna and Queen Latifah, and the band has made guest appearances on Conan, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Arsenio, and Austin City Limits. Shorty also played himself in a recurring role on the hit HBO series “Treme” In 2012, he performed at the White House in honor of Black History Month with music royalty such as B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, Booker T. Jones, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, and Gary Clark Jr. Later that same year he received the President’s Medal from Tulane University in recognition of his charitable work with his own Trombone Shorty Foundation.

Good things continue to happen for Trombone Shorty, thanks to his virtuosity, his dedication, and his ability to move people. That he pursues his passion with such humility and unpretentiousness makes his still-unfolding story as compelling as the music he’s making along the way.

The Soul Rebels

The New Orleans group the Soul Rebels, which combines elements of hip-hop with a traditional brass band sound, was formed by former drum majors from the marching bands of Southern, Grambling, and Texas Southern University. Lumar LeBlanc (snare drum), Derrick Moss (bass drum), and Damion Francois (tuba) first played together as Young Olympia, the junior division of Milton Batiste’s Olympia Brass Band. Joining Tannon Williams (trumpet), Winston Turner (trombone), and Marcus Hubbard (trumpet), they began playing on their own in 1991. (In addition to the six permanent members, the group was frequently augmented by guests Will Terry on tenor sax, DJ Ike Turna on turntables, Mike Woods on percussion, and Thaddeus Clark on electric piano.) In 1993, when they shared a stage with the Neville Brothers, Cyril Neville christened them, saying, “Hey, you’re a brass band, but y’all got funk and soul. Y’all are like soul rebels.”
The Soul Rebels released their first album, Let Your Mind Be Free, on Mardi Gras Records in 1994. No More Parades followed on Tuff City in 1998. (More Jams from No More Parades was a live remix of the album for DJs made without the band’s approval or input.) Rebelution, their third album, followed in February 2005 on Barn Burner Music. The hardworking band (averaging about 250 shows per year) suffered an understandable setback that year when Hurricane Katrina devastated their hometown. Though its members were scattered across the Gulf region, they still managed not only to get back together to play shows from time to time, but also to release an album, 2006’s Urban Legend. Following local releases like No Place Like Home: Live in New Orleans, which appeared in 2009, the band saw an increase in visibility, appearing in an episode of the New Orleans-themed HBO original series Treme, as well as the television broadcast of the parade before the 2010 Super Bowl (the year the Saints won the NFL championship game). Eventually, the Soul Rebels signed on with Rounder Records, which released their 2012 album, Unlock Your Mind.

Posted on

Mutemath

Taking cues from several decades of alternative rock, Mute Math (also known as MUTEMATH and MuteMath) fuse together New Order’s synth-dance epics, the Stone Roses’ shambling shuffle, Radiohead’s chilliness, Air’s ambient pop, and the booming vocals of mainstream pop/rock. Singer Paul Meany, formerly of the Christian rock group Earthsuit, was working in New Orleans when he began a long-distance musical correspondence with drummer/programmer Darren King, who was based in Springfield, Missouri. The two began sending CD-Rs back and forth up the Mississippi River, eventually putting enough songs together to convince King to relocate to New Orleans and start a proper band. After adding guitarist Greg Hill and bassist Roy Mitchell-Cardenas, the new band completed the Meany-King compositions in 2003; Meany then took the resulting demo to noted CCM producer Tedd T., who was enthusiastic enough to launch a new indie label, Teleprompt Records, in order to release 2004’s Reset EP. The EP’s success allowed Mute Math and Teleprompt to negotiate a distribution deal with Warner Bros., which reissued the EP in 2005.
Although Mute Math completed their self-titled debut album that same year, marketing disputes between Teleprompt and Warner Bros. delayed its release for nearly a year. Because Warner Bros. wanted to promote Mute Math as a CCM band instead of an alternative rock act, thereby limiting the group’s mainstream exposure, Mute Math and Teleprompt Records filed suit against the major label, claiming breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation. The band’s website announced that the suit was settled out of court, concurrent with the signing of an improved deal with Warner Bros. An expanded version of Mute Math, featuring remastered tracks from Reset and a bonus limited-edition live EP, was released on September 26, 2006.
“Typical” proved to be a modestly successful single, cracking the mainstream rock charts in 2007 and finding a home on MTV, where the song’s Grammy-nominated video became a hit. Tours with Eisley, Alanis Morissette, and Matchbox Twenty honed the band’s live chops, and Mute Math returned in 2009 with a new album, Armistice. The album debuted at number 18, and Mute Math toured heavily in support, capturing one of their live shows on the 2010 concert album Armistice Live. Todd Gummerman replaced guitarist Greg Hill that October, and the follow-up studio album, Odd Soul, was released in 2011.

Posted on

97.3 HITS SESSIONS featuring Natalie La Rose

A contemporary R&B vocalist from Amsterdam, Natalie La Rose was signed to Flo Rida‘s International Music Group — after she approached the rapper at an ESPY Awards after party — but eventually landed on Republic, a label distributed by Universal Music Group. Her debut single for Republic, “Somebody,” was a low-key club track in the vein of Tinashe‘s 2014 hit “2 On.” “Somebody” featured Jeremih, who provided the Whitney Houston-referencing hook. It was released in January 2015 and became an international hit, landing in the Top Ten on the U.S. singles chart.

Posted on

At The Gates

“The greatest Swedish Death Metal band ever reclaims their rightful throne.” – Decibel Magazine AT THE GATES are one of the most important bands in the history of death metal. But, with that sort of reputation comes expectation and pressure. Especially when you are dealing with the band’s first new studio album since 1995. “What we wanted to do was to be old school, but to ensure everything was also up to date,” says vocalist Tomas Lindberg. “Because we didn’t want to be rooted in the past.” The Gothenburg band have been careful not to raise fans’ hopes for a new album since they reformed in 2007, 11 years after splitting up. When they did return, it was with the full classic line-up, namely, Lindberg, guitarists Anders Björler and Martin Larsson, bassist Jonas Björler and drummer Adrian Erlandsson. But, for a long time, the five-piece were careful to distance themselves from any thoughts of new recordings. “We decided about a year ago that we would do a new album,” reveals Lindberg. “But we never went public with this for a while, because we didn’t want to put any demands on ourselves.” But slowly, the band assembled the material for new album ‘At War With Reality’. The actual writing process was fairly straightforward, but what took time was getting the song structures and arrangements exactly as they wanted them to sound. At no stage did the band rush the process, but through the exchange of ideas by email and person, it all took shape. All of the riffs and melodies here came from the Björler brothers, with Anders being responsible for 70 percent. And lyrically, there’s a concept at work, which again differentiates the material here from the four previous records. “It’s not that I’ve come up with a storyline that runs throughout. But there’s definitely a theme. And this is Magic Realism.” Magic Realism is a sub-genre of surrealism, where magic being cast as part of everyday life. It’s been best defined as ‘what happens when reality is invaded by something too strange to believe’. “I’ve been reading a lot of 1950s/60s South American authors in this genre, and felt this idea could be adapted to fit into the world of death metal. So that’s where my lyrical inspirations come from. And, throughout the songs there are hints acknowledging some of the writers I have read. Yes, the lyrics are ambitious, but they are also a return to the early days of the band when the words had a philosophical edge and depth.” The challenge of making this all work in the studio was given to producer Fredrik Nordström, who worked with AT THE GATES on their 1994 album ‘Terminal Spirit Disease’ and the celebrated ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’ the next year. “Fredrik works at his own studio in our home town (Studio Fredman in Gothenburg), so it was easy for us. We went there from 8am to 8pm every day for four weeks. Fredrik and his engineer Henrik Udd are also so easy to be around. We can be relaxed around these two, and just be ourselves, which was very important.” The man who mixed the album was Jens Bogren, one of the top names in the metal field at the moment. Bogren got the job after doing a test mix of a demo from the band. They were so impressed that he was given the entire album to do. “We wanted the style to come across as if it were the five of us playing together in a room, but also very precise. Jens has done an amazing job.” Just how much time and thought has gone into this album is also heightened by the involvement of artist Costin Chioreanu, who worked on the cover for Anders Björler’s 2013 solo album ‘Antikythera’. What Chioreanu has done is to create a different illustration for every song. “He requested all of the lyrics, and then used these as inspiration for every piece of art he’s done for this. He’s put a lot of thought and effort into what has been created.” The colours used in these impressive illustrations reflect the overall atmosphere in the music, being bleak, yet never depressing. It also accentuates the band’s old school attitude, in that it has a vinyl aptitude, harking back to the days when fans would spend literally hours poring over an album sleeve analysing every detail, because this was seen as being a crucial part of the overall effect. Lindberg believes that the album should be judged on its own merits and not compared to what the band have done before. In fact, AT THE GATES have always made a point of moving forward with each succeeding release. They are not a band who are content to repeat whatever’s been successful before. “That’s why each of our records sounds different to the rest. I’d say that ‘At War With Reality’ is aggressive, which is what you might expect. Yet it’s also darker than we’ve been.” Above all else, this is an album capturing the honesty and integrity that has always defined AT THE GATES, making them one of the most significant extreme metal names of the past 25 years. Since their original formation in 1990, this is a band who’ve never been less than true to themselves. They haven’t tried to second guess trends or fan behaviour, but always recorded what they know to be music that comes from within. “Our first priority was to ensure we were happy with this album. And we are very satisfied with the way it sounds. Now, it’s time for everyone else to make up their minds. I feel confident, though, we have done something our fans will enjoy.”

Posted on

Fort Laudi Gras

FREE ADMISSION 3-11PM

Authentic New Orleans Music featuring: The Lee Boys, Parker Urban Band, and Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio

Hundreds or pounds of Crawfish and Oysters!

Family Friendly, All Ages Welcome

BEADS, BEADS AND BEADS COSTUME CONTEST

Crawfish Boil by Shuck and Dive

Street Performers

Posted on

Super Sunday Funday

The Premier Branded Merchandise company, Wizard Creations, Inc. &America’s Backyard have joined forces to create the ultimate, “Super Sunday Funday,” “Big Game” Party. The event will consist of a General Admission area open to the public as well as special VIP section for invited guests, sponsors & paid VIP attendees. The concept is for the party to cater to all demographics via a “Day Time” event with dueling bands, outdoor games, food & drinks, while at night the sports enthusiasts can enjoy watching the “Big Game,” on dozens of screens at one of the funnest outdoor venues in South Florida!

The proceeds of this event will benefit the Miami Cancer Institute(Baptist Health).

PARTY WITH US FROM DAY TILL NIGHT:

Live Music (2 bands- Uproot Hootenanny & Pour Life Decisions Band), Cornhole, BBQ Food Included, Beer, Titos Vodka Drink Specials, DJ, BIG game shown on ALL TV’s, Raffle Prizes & MORE!!