Big Water, Solid Sound

Big Water throws you for a loop. “Stop & Boogie Down” has a little funk to it. You think from the look of the band and the name, you’d have more of a country feel - instead we’re grooving to a great beat with this one. With “Life on Earth” you hear this solemn intro. The heart comes through with each drawn out note escaping the speakers. It’s like that of a choral chant in some ways. “New Day” comes with that same amount of heart, but has a more modern approach. Also, after all of that, what’s most interesting is that Big Water is a one man show. A tall man that towers over a crowd, his music sounds like something from a timid soul at times, never overbearing listeners but instead guiding them towards musical ecstacy with all his tunes from his 2001 debut “Look, Listen and Feel” to his latest, last year’s “Whut?!” Those interested in hearing more from Big Water, can check out all he has to offer now. (https://www.bigwater.cc)

Eleanor Tallie - No Turning Back

URL: https://eleanortallie.jimdo.com/

Debuts aren’t supposed to be this good. There are supposed to be flashes of greatness, even from the biggest talents, and a little bit of fumbling in the dark searching for their future sound. Israeli-born Eleanor Tallie, however, emerges on her debut EP No Turning Back, as a fully formed talent with the expressiveness and artistic instincts of a much older singer and artist. Some expected things happen. Tallie’s youthfulness and PR demands lead her to insist that the music contained herein is her style, “neo-funk”, a presumed mashup of soul, funk, and blues into a greater than the sum of its parts whole. Young artists always look for ways to promote themselves and stand apart. Tallie stands apart from the pack on her debut because she’s so developed, so finished as a superb purveyor of blues, funk, and R&B, traditional American musical forms, that it’s actually a little frightening and baffling to imagine where she can go from here.

Sasha’s Bloc - Runaway Blues

URL: https://sashasbloc.com/ 

Recorded live in New York City’s legendary Capitol Records studios, Sasha’s Bloc new single “Runaway Blues” is the latest release from the powerhouse, Los Angeles based jazz collective. It follows close on the heels of two full length releases, 2013’s Melancholy and 2015’s Heart on Fire, and carries on with the same balance of virtuosity, intelligence, and stylish production that has distinguished these earlier releases. The group is joined on this song by the Grammy winning vocal group Take 6 and Alvin Chea, one of Take 6’s premier talents, delivers a spellbinding singing performance that matches the splendidly textured musical accompaniment. Every musical detail is rendered in vivid, beautifully rich detail. 

The Lowest Pair - Fern Girl and Ice Man

URL: https://thelowestpair.com/

The Lowest Pair, consisting of Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee, have established themselves as among the pre-eminent recording and performing acts working in the Americana genre today. It’s really the best of all possible worlds for fans of the genre. Winter is a memorable vocalist with an impressive range and Lee has multi-faceted musical talents that become quickly apparent listening to this album. He certainly doesn’t subscribe to the idea that the banjo has limited uses. They fuse this supremely melodic musicality with profoundly developed lyrical talents capable of making liberal use of the past while nevertheless making resounding personal statements that could come from no other pen. Their album Fern Girl and Ice Man is the first of two simultaneous, yet utterly distinct, full length releases and its eleven song track list should solidify the duo’s reputation as first among equals in Americana music circles.

Rachael Sage’s new album “Choreographic” is out

URL: https://rachaelsage.com/

Rachael Sage’s one of the most multitalented artists out there – from ballet, through music and songwriting, up to painting and graphic design, there’s almost no art form that she’s not experienced in. She even played in theater while she was studying in Stanford University and became famous in the Bay Area for her acting and music. Her passion for songwriting began in her teens. “Choreographic” is Rachael Sage’s 13th full-length album and despite the fatal number, it’s been very well received by critics and fans alike. She shares that “Choreographic” was a way of getting back to her roots – dance. In order to achieve that, Rachael isolated herself in a hotel room and, drawing inspiration from ballet, “envisioned” the music as a dance. She carefully combined elements from pop, folk and rock until she created the masterpiece “Choreographic”.

Angie and the Deserters - Country Radio

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/angieandthedeserters

Angie and the Deserters hit the scene with their 2014 release West of the Night and their latest release, the single “Country Radio”, harbingers the imminent appearance of their second effort Blood Like Wine. The first song off the forthcoming EP plays and feels like a shot across the bow of an entire musical community. The band enlisted uber-respected country producer Jeff Hutchins to helm the recording and he assisted them in creating a lean, meat and potatoes affair that puts Angie Bruyere’s once in a generation voice over without ever short changing her spectacularly talented band. “Country Radio” bristles with enough attitudes for five songs.

EP “Running Home” by Jonnie & Joy

SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/user-303708508-23353103

More than twenty years ago, Jonnie Rockwell and Joy Tolbert were playing with their all-girl rock band Starchild on various scenes – amusement parks, military events and clubs (like Limelight, Trax and Great Gildersleeves). Unfortunately, after a while they grew apart and the music they created together became a thing of the past. Now their paths have crossed again, thanks to their mutual work with the guitarist Justin – the vocals by Joy Tolbert and the backing vocals and keyboards by Jonnie Rockwell are together once more to take you on a musical journey through the past!

Inbokeh - Into the Sun

URL: https://www.inbokehband.com/

Inbokeh’s musical attack has the lean economy of a clinched fist. There isn’t any fat on the six songs making their debut release, Into the Sun. None run over four minutes in length and most clock in fewer than three. Inbokeh isn’t one of those self-indulgent alternative rock acts that, inside of three years, will be rejecting their old songs as primitive and planning grandiose concept albums. It is apparent from the first song and everyone after that Inbokeh, despite their obvious intelligence, is a blue collar rock and roll band committed to serving the song first above any virtuoso trips. These aren’t exercises in musical masturbation. Instead, Inbokeh’s songs sound like brief, desperate missives by a band playing for their lives.