Mad Buffalo
Montana-based Mad Buffalo announces the release of a new CD, 'Wilderness', distributed by Burnside Distribution.
Backing singer/songwriter/ guitarist Randy Riviere on the new album is an all-star band of musicians, including Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame-member James Burton on guitar and long-time Willie Nelson band harmonica player, Mickey Raphael. Other players include Marty Grebb (who also produced the album) on keyboards, mandolin, banjo, dobro and backing vocals; Michael Ward on guitar, James Pennebaker on violin and pedal steel, banjo and lap steel; Bob Glaub and Dave Roe on bass; and Jim Christie and Gary Mallaber on drums.
The music on 'Wilderness', Mad Buffalo's third album release, was inspired by the many years Randy Riviere spent as a wildlife biologist working to protect our rapidly diminishing landscape values. The 12 original songs weave a magnificent tapestry of real people working through honest emotions and real-life situations, all imbued with the spirit of the land and its rich history that flavors each of the tunes.
Riviere's music is informed by a wide variety of influences ranging from The Beatles and Lynyrd Skynyrd to The Band and Neil Young. Told with the keen sense of a master story-teller, the songs on 'Wilderness' convey the spirit of the open road, the natural beauty of forests and meadows, the freshness of sparkling streams and the majesty of the mountains and deserts, all tied together with lyrics that are at once both personal and universal. Rock, country, blues, folk, bluegrass and rockabilly all meld together with a sense of nostalgia that promises to make Mad Buffalo's Wilderness one of the most exciting new releases of the year.
www.madbuffalo.com
www.myspace.com/madbuffalo1
Majors Junction
Rich textures created by the band have been described as “Plush Lonesome Western Blues”. Attracting a listener base whose musical taste transcends different genres, Majors Junction produces a diverse meld of country honky-tonk blues with folk undertones and hints of bluegrass pickin' and good old rock & roll. It is a unique sound that celebrates individuality and hard work, two qualities the band shares with its hometown of Chicago.
The band came onto the scene in 2003 with their debut release "A Desert Oasis". Local garnered praise has propelled the group to bigger gigs and a growing fan base.
Their latest release "Confluence" has been receiving rave reviews from the US and abroad. Providing upbeat rockers and smooth ballads the album shows off the songwriting and performance abilities that puts this band at the forefront of the Americana scene.
The husband and wife duo of Mike Mulcahy and Heather O'Brien provide the upfront harmonies that give the band a rich sound. Mulcahy writes the majority of songs for the band and is a graduate of the University of Iowa School of English. Moving from the serious to the satirical he provides a scope for the listener but will not disavow the intelligence of his audience. Other members of the band include multi-instrumentalist Michael Scott Duplessis whose tasteful playing transcends the guitar, piano and bass and Colin Williams who drives the beats on the drums and other percussive instruments. Colin also co-produced “Confluence“ with Mulcahy and has been with the band since its conception back in 2002.
Beyond the core of Majors Junction there is a family of musicians throughout Chicago that joins the band regularly to satiate any Americana palate. Upright bass player Roger Sherman, pedal steel ace Brian Wilkie, fiddle player Allie Kral and slide guitar player John Hasbrouck are just a few of the musicians that join the band live and in studio.
Majors Junction can be regularly seen and heard at Chicago clubs like Martyrs’, The House of Blues and The Hideout, and also perform at festivals like the Taste of Chicago and the Greeley Stampede in Colorado.
The new album "Confluence" melds together a pleasurable roots experience exploring some beautiful instrumentation ranging from mandolin, fiddle, pedal steel to horns, harmonica, piano, B3 and plenty of guitars and vocal harmonies. It is a musical treat that is leaving listeners awaiting the release of the bands third album expected soon.
Maplewood
Rising up on a breeze of three-part harmonies and twelve-string acoustic guitars comes Maplewood, evoking a joyride up the Pacific Coast Highway. Like the scent of night jasmine in bloom, the Maplewood sound wafts from the canyons to the beaches and out into the desert, an ode to a Californian ideal mapped out by such precursors as America, Bread, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Gene Clark, 70s Beach Boys, late-period Byrds, The Stone Canyon Band, John Phillips, Neil Young, Hearts and Flowers, and even CSNY. Maplewood are one toke away from the cosmos, the press says, and harbingers of a movement already afoot. For the four dudes who make up Maplewood, lost gems like "Ventura Highway" and "Make It With You" evolved from guilty pleasure to buried treasure: In such castoff anthems of mellowness, Maplewood managed to find improbable inspiration. Call it canyon rock, call it breezy, call it desperado dust. Maplewood is like a desert sunrise, like a dappled afternoon up in the orange groves, like a moon-lit walk on the beach and a swig of dandelion wine with the one you love the most.
Maplewood is Mark Rozzo, Steve Koester, Craig Schoen & Ira Elliot.
Mark Boulle
Mark Boulle is a singer-songwriter raised near the Hinterland rainforests and golden beaches of the Gold Coast, Australia. In 2005 he formed his band the Haba Dudes. With them he has made three independently produced, full-length releases, with limited runs of 500 copies each - ‘All The Leaves Are Falling Down’ (2007), ‘Shoot To Kill’ (2008) and the newly released ‘Music Will Make You Go Insane’ (2009).
Mark is a prolific songwriter and with the Haba Dudes is quickly defining his own genre of unique Indie Folk Roots Gypsy Pop. He has a growing fan base on the Gold Coast and around the World. He is currently based in London writing songs for a new album.
www.myspace.com/markboulle
http://virb.com/markboullemusic
Mark Lennon
Mark Lennon has been singing professionally since the age of 14. One of the lead singers in the band "Venice" (with his cousins and brother), he has been recording albums since 1990, both with "Venice", and as a solo artist.
The youngest of 13 children, Mark is one of the many cousins of the famous "Lennon Sisters" (Lawrence Welk Show) and he has learned from them, and all of his other musical influences, the ability to find and sing a variety of harmonies without any difficulty. This makes him extremely able to vocalize in a style that reflects such artists as Prince, Annie Lennox, Michael Jackson, George Michael, and kd Lang . When singing ballads, Mark's emotions shine with heart and soul, many times moving the audience to tears.
Mark is third generation Venice California. His music and voice quality both exude that California beach sound, similar to that of the Beach Boys, Eagles and Crosby Stills & Nash. Celebrities such as Stevie Nicks, Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Graham Nash have come to see Mark's performances as well as sit in on them. Mark also sang backgrounds for Cher for two years and toured with Phil Collins. Mark has done session work for Don Henley, Billy Bob Thornton and hundreds of others.
Another of Mark's many qualities is his dancing ability. Without ever taking a dance class, Mark exudes his sexuality and honesty through his body movement with the music. His fluidness and timing are similar to Prince, Michael and Janet Jackson , and Jamiroquai, but he is still able to keep a rock and roll edge to it.
Mark's solo Christmas album "Christmas in the Groove" is a funky R&B Christmas album chalk full of 3 and 4 part harmonies done by Mark Lennon himself with a bit of Hip Hop flare that you can definitely groove to.
Mark sang Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" as the end credits roll in the movie Boxing Helena starring Julian Sands and Sherilyn Fenn, as well as ‘Route 66’ in the movie "Nothing to Lose" starring Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence. Mark's voice can also be found on many Disney soundtracks and throughout the many Disney theme parks.
Mark, along with Brad Chiet, was the Grand Prize Winner in the County category of the 2002 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, for their song "Love Carries On".
In February of 2003, Mark wrote, starred in, and directed a music video for the band "Venice" for his song "Blue Paint", overseeing all aspects of the six week project, which was then released by Sony Music. At the same time, he made his acting debut in an independent short film, soon to be released at Film Festivals across the U.S.
Mark has performed at many local benefit concerts as a solo artist, supporting projects by Anjelica Huston and Dennis Hopper.
"Venice" is very popular in Europe and Mark and the band spends much of their time touring there. When Mark isn't on tour, he's painting his now famous "hand painted clothing" line and recording the music that he writes himself which he recently turned into a solo album "The Demo Sessions". He enjoys traveling the world, dining out with friends, going to movies, dancing, body surfing, water skiing, and jumping off high cliffs into lakes and seas whenever possible!
All things combined, Mark's look and talents appeal to a wide range of audiences, young and old, all over the world.
Marisa Yeaman
Songwriter Marisa Yeaman’s new album ‘Roadmap Heart’ permeates visual imagery and emotional substance drawn from the journeys taken deep within, and yet colored by the external influences of the vast Australian landscape, the cobbled streets of Europe and the roadsides of India.
‘Roadmap Heart’ puts the listener in the passenger seat on the roads traversed since the 2006 release of her critically acclaimed debut album ‘Pure Motive’. Already a valid passport holder to Americana, this Australian songwriter stylistically crosses borders from folk to blues to country and beyond. With strong acoustic guitar work and vocals, laced with the unpretentious onstage ease of a natural storyteller, Marisa captivates audiences with her honesty and humility as she continues to forge new paths across the international Roots music terrain.
On this her second album, the darker lyrical content smoulders with a more mature edge reflecting time, events, people, love, pain and rebirth. ‘Roadmap Heart’ is a timeless, self produced offering poetic in content, and laden with the understated but brilliant musicianship of some of Australia’s best musicians. This year, ‘Roadmap Heart’ reached #12 in the European Americana Charts.
Yeaman’s multi facetted life, full of memorable highs and gut-renching lows is the genesis of a creative self-reliance, fostered from her childhood spent travelling the breadth of the Australian continent and giving rise to a distinctive sound, strong literary undertones, and a rarity that only comes from living your own story. Her strength as a writer lies in being able to connect the contradictions of the lives we lead and polarise them into songs which stay with the listener long after the notes fade.
Her own life reads like a road movie, travelling through third world countries including Central and South America, India and beyond. Marisa’s ever questioning mind explores the world through her many creative talents including, photography, drawing, poetry and writing. An artist with an acute sense of being on the outside of other peoples lives, yet living her own life ‘in the moment’ with eyes and heart wide open to all the world has to offer.
Yeaman created a groundswell of interest abroad with her first release ‘Pure Motive’, reaching #19 in the European Americana Charts, and then repeated the feat with the recent release of her follow up album ‘Roadmap Heart’ , proving indelibly that her success was no coincidence. ‘Roadmap Heart’ received ‘FOUR STARS’ and great reviews from across the globe. Her music has had airplay in over 19 countries.
A seasoned live performer, Marisa has appeared at Australian & International festivals and venues for over a decade now. She has been joined onstage and in the studio by some of the worlds top musicians, has shared festival bills with artists like John Cale, and has opened shows for some of the most respected songwriters of today including Canada’s Ron Sexsmith & USA’s Tom Russell. In 2008-2009 Marisa toured Europe, USA and Australia. She returns to Europe during 2010.
‘Roadmap Heart’ contains 15 stunningly crafted songs to be enjoyed like a favourite book, chapter by chapter. Driven by her inner passion for her art, Marisa travels ever onwards building a credible and poignant body of work as both a writer and a musician. One gets the sense that Yeaman is here for the long haul…..
‘The window’s open in the warm breeze, she’s got a thousand mile stare’
www.marisayeaman.com
www.myspace.com/marisayeaman
It's been 4 years since Martha's Trouble put out their national self-released album, ‘Forget October’. After taking the last two years off from national touring, the band is set to release their 8th album simply titled ‘EP’.
‘EP’ is a collection of 6 songs recorded in Asheville, NC, February 2008. This recor-ding captures the organic sound of the band in a live studio atmosphere. On ‘EP’, Martha’s Trouble mixes current singer/songwriter songs with modern day production, as well as referencing elements of the 80’s and 70’s. Martha’s Trouble manages to mix in aspects of Michael Penn, Aimee Mann, as well as Jonathan Brooke and The Story. They also have a simplicity and optimism in their writing that's reminescent to The Weepies. It really shows on the song ‘Everyday Love'.
Martha’s Trouble is a singer/songwriter band but they’re also a great Pop band. They have the musical chops of bands like Del Amitre and Fleetwood Mac.
Martha's Trouble was formed in 1998 when Rob & Jen Slocumb met in a small cafe on the outskirts of Houston, TX. Jen had moved from Toronto, Canada with her family during the summer of 1995. At the same time, Rob was moving from Richmond, VA back home to his family in Houston.
As fate would have it, the two met and within a years time would be married in 1996.
In 1998, Rob & Jen recorded & self released their first album titled, ‘Tale Of A Foreigner’ and immediately hit the road touring in the southeast promoting their new release. "I'll never forget the first night I slept in the back of a van" recalls Jen. "We were at the TA Truck Stop off I-10 in Lafayette, LA."
Rob & Jen would continue to play 180+ dates a year for the next 2 years while being based out of Houston, TX. They played as a duo, Jen, lead vocalist/percussionist & Rob acoustic guitars. Around 1999 Jen was eager to relocate back to her hometown of Ancaster, ON.
After moving all their 'stuff' to a basement apartment in Ancaster, ON, the duo purchased a 1988 Dodge Camper Van and would call this home for the next 4 years. From 2000 - 2002 the duo would release 3 albums, ‘The Road Ahead’, ‘Sleeping Dogs’ & ‘Christmas Lights’. They played 250+ shows all across the USA & Canada.
In 2004 they decided to relocate again back to the U.S. this time moving to Auburn, AL. During this time they also released their first national release title, ‘Forget October’.
Marty Finkel
Marty Finkel is a 23 year old singer-songwriter from Madison, Wisconsin. He released “Sleeping With The Stars” in 2005, which was a self-written, performed, recorded, and released album.
In 2006 he released “Songs My Mom Likes EP” which was recorded with Adam Pike at the legendary Jackpot! Studio in Portland, Oregon. The same year he also released a psych/folk album that was self written, performed, etc. under the name Spinning Swords.
In 2007 he released his self-titled album which sparked reviewer comparisons to The Beatles, Elliott Smith and The Decemberists. The self-titled album was also nominated for two Madison Area Music Awards for 'Best Folk Album of the Year' and 'Best Folk Song of the Year' for “Hallelujah”.
His new album, “The Good Life,” just released, has received international acclaim and radio airplay. “The Good Life” shows Finkel's alt-country side while holding the strong pop sensibility that has been in his music throughout his career. In August 2009, Finkel and his live band had the high honor of playing onstage as cult hero, Daniel Johnston's backing band.
http://martyfinkel.com
www.myspace.com/martyfinkel
Mason Casey
The rhythm and the blues had a baby and they named it rock ‘n’ roll. But sometime later they had another child you may not yet have heard so much about. His name is Mason Casey.
Born in New York City, raised in the country, Mason worked as a stone mason for many years; all the while learning and practicing the blues harmonica and soul singing. He continued working on his music, playing his style of soulful blues at small dives, on the streets, anywhere he could get a gig or draw a crowd.
In the early 90’s he moved to New York City and moved up through the ranks of the NYC blues scene. From 1994 through 1998 he was billed as “New York City’s Number One Blues Harmonica player” at Manny’s Car Wash in New York City. When playing in Brazil at the Natu Noblis Blues festival in 2002, Ron Levy (B.B. King’s former band leader) said to Mason “You really know how to get the people going!” Mason soon thereafter hooked up with a soul music producer/songwriter named Jon Tiven. They wrote and demo’d a bunch of songs together and Tiven used him as a harmonica player and vocalist on the records he was producing, including Wilson Pickett and Don Covay.
When Wilson Pickett heard Mason play the harmonica he said, “Now that’s how the harmonica is supposed to sound!” Pickett also had raves for Mason’s singing, telling him “Man you sound like Joe Cocker, when me and Joe Cocker do a concert together they got to re-adjust the microphones!”
As luck would have it, Tiven’s tenacious nature brought the good fortune of a record offer to Mason’s door. Fred Litwin, president of NorthernBlues Music, heard Mason’s latest work and decided this Mason Casey needed to make a record. So make a record they did. And it was good. No, it was great. Sofa King great.
"Sofa King Badass" available here:
www.rootsy.nu
Matt Keating
"Matt Keating is in that same class of songwriter as Ron Sexsmith and Elliot Smith, but doesn't sound at all like either of them. His songs are elegant in structure and packed with wordplay that can amuse, dazzle, or hit way too close to home" — No Depression
Matt Keating's three albums for Alias Records - 'Tell It To Yourself' (1993), 'Scaryarea' (1995) and 'Killjoy' (1997) established a distinctive sound that split the difference between folk-rock and power pop, and favored words and music over angst and posture. While Keating's music is often labeled Americana, it is in fact inspired by a broad range of influences; traditional country, old school punk and classic songwriters. His persona has always leaned decidedly more towards the vulnerable everyman than the coolly affected and often emotionally distant rock icon.
For his 4th album Matt decided to choose an endangered format (the long-playing record-album) to perform some much-needed resuscitation on the great lost art of the album. It's exactly the kind of implausible, foolishly romantic, unabashedly retrograde quest that deserves a title like 'QUIXOTIC'. And so it seems perfectly natural that QUIXOTIC should also be a double CD collection of 23 new songs. However, 'QUIXOTIC' is no rock opera. Instead, like two sides of a vinyl LP, each of the 40-or-so minute discs are, essentially, two perfectly paced legs of the same destination-anywhere road trip.
Matt has just signed a deal with Red Parlor Records to release his brand new album, 'Between Customers' worldwide in early 2010.
www.mattkeating.com
www.myspace.com/mattkeating
Matthew Davies
With an honest approach to songwriting, and a healthy respect for those who have had an influence on his work, Matthew Davies is quickly becoming an artist to watch out for. His first record, 'Road Song', was recorded in unoccupied rooms of the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.
Matthew spent several years in Chicago learning from peers and playing the local venues. Since the release of 'Road Song', Matthew has been touring the country and recording new material.
His brand new release, 'Highway Specific', draws upon his roots in folk and blues. With the help of esteemed producer Jon Christopher Hughes and several talented musicians, Matthew has created an album that goes beyond himself, a notebook's worth of words and a guitar.
The future will certainly bring many great recordings from this talented artist, but for now keep your eyes peeled and your ears open from your local cafe to the street corner.
www.matthewdavies.org
www.myspace.com/matthewdavies
The Mayflies
The Mayflies are a party, a delightful mess, a crazed amalgam. Electric and acoustic, fast and slow, a bewildering explosion of hectic elation and angry loss. They’re the rock end of roots and the country end of rock, and as such, they’re hard to describe, but impossible to forget.
The Mayflies are a band you walk away from after a single hearing, humming the chorus and wondering, “I could swear I’ve heard that somewhere before…”
What ties it all together, what unifies their songs and their sounds — is a quality of movement. Movement in Stacy Webster’s frenzied sweat-flinging guitar that owes as much allegiance to Django Reinhardt and Willie Nelson, as it does to Jerry Garcia. But also movement in the skittery picking of traditional bluegrass. In infinite ways, The Mayflies jump and race, slow and sway. They never stand still.
And although their music is unquestionably Americana — a distinctly Midwestern mix of blues and country guitar, folk and rock lyrics, mandolin and sometimes fiddle and banjo — The Mayflies are also a firm bridge to that rabid universe of live music, that head-bobbing, crowd-shouting, young and wild world of jam and jazz. The Mayflies allow themselves to improvise, but as fiercely talented, serious musicians, they never lose themselves, or their songs, in that experience. They’ve played with Robbie Fulks. They’ve played with Asleep At The Wheel. They’ve played with Shanti Groove. And they’ve headlined Camp Euphoria to thousands of screaming fans.
"A Thousand Small Things" is the new, chaotic, sinewy, psychedelic, rootsy, album from Iowa's own Roots-jam-Americana band, with 5 songs penned by Mud Dauber label-mate Patrick Bloom. "A Thousand Small Things" preserves some of the frenetic quality of a wild live show, but these songs never allow themselves to be untethered. They don’t noodle or wander too far. They come back, always, to their lyrics, their melodies, their roots. Artful and purposeful, devoted to storytelling and tradition, with a clear sense of pathos and place, The Mayflies take jam rock to the edge of energy. Then they pull back a little, to leave a listener wanting more.
www.themayflies.com
www.MudDauberRecords.com
www.myspace.com/themayflies
MC Hansen
”Hey - I am MC Hansen. I’ve played shows all over Europe - From The Olympia in Paris to a highway diner on the Swedish island of Gotland, since I started making a living as a musician in 2003.
People have listened to my songs at festivals, in livingrooms, symphony halls, in clubs, at libraries and in backyards. I take pride in calling myself a minstrel! My new album 'Pariah' was recorded in just two days in Denmark and has songs about judgement day, folk songs, songs about the moon, the seasons, train songs, songs about traffic, and it’s even got a few songs you can dance to, if you just can’t help it!"
Danish Music Awards winners Uffe Steen on guitar, and Morten Brauner on bass, team up with Jacob Chano and myself, and the list of guests on the album counts Danish 'Country Music Artist Of The Year 2009' Tobias Stenkjær, Danish Music Award-nominee CS Nielsen and multi-instrumentalist Rune Højmark.
Some people categorize me as 'country music', some say 'folk and I know people who think I’m from Ireland! I don’t where my songs come from, but I hope you’ll like ’em – That’s why I play them!
I have had the pleasure of opening for artists such as Madeleine Peyroux, Mavis Staples and Taj Mahal on stages in Sweden, England, Norway, Denmark and France, and I’ve visited Germany, Italy and Holland, playing shows in the past 6 years.
Danish journalist Kurt Baagø wrote the liner notes to 'Pariah': 'I’m several years older than MC. Never mind that. I think MC’s soul is at least as old as mine. Perhaps even a year or two older. I can tell by listening to MC’s songs. In a funny, wry way they contain great wisdom – no, not in any precocious sense, but a wisdom my own young soul is deeply fascinated by, and just beginning to comprehend. If it’s okay with you, MC, can I call you a Danish minstrel? A friendly long-nosed dude, travelin’ from town to town, singing his songs… With a hat!'”
www.mchansen.com
www.myspace.com/mchansenband
McGowan
Describing the road to his own music, Mcgowan notes, "I grew up with folk and classical music on NPR. I was about 5 or 6 when I heard the Beatles and the Stones and my little world caved in to rock and roll. Later there was a long period of listening to reggae - lots of Marley - he was a major force, musically and spiritually." This led Mcgowan to teenage rock band, Christopher’s Pocket, bringing him from rural New Hampshire to Philadelphia - his home prior to New York. After the Pocket folded in early 1999, Mcgowan turned to guitar-for-hire at studio sessions to pay the bills, but also realized he could and should step out and start singing his own songs. He built a following by playing coffeehouses and clubs from Boston to Baltimore, and found himself with thousands of myspace.com friends.
A break from Mcgowan’s own music came in 2002 when he joined Ben Lee’s band, touring the world, making the late night TV rounds, playing shows with Beck and Phantom Planet, and also co-writing and recording on Ben’s Awake is the New Sleep album.
It was during his two-year excursion with Ben that Mcgowan took a detour to Philadelphia-based drummer/engineer/producer Jesse Honig’s temporary home in St. Louis. The two Philadelphians-in-exile produced nearly 30 tracks over the course of two long weekends, capturing a restless spirit with intimate and inspired recordings that bring you into the makeshift living room studio where they recorded. The duo feverishly tracked guitars, drums, bass, keys, vox, loops – mixing a veritable kitchen sink into shape – working quickly, nearly instinctively – and creating the most perfect pop of their young careers. Their recordings eventually become the album Mcgowan.
As Mcgowan tells it, “This record just fell in our laps. I was on tour and itchin' with ideas that I couldn't seem to express in a little van. Jesse had just moved to St. Louis and set up instruments and recording gear in his house. We felt like we were in a foreign land, and that led to an adventurous attitude.”
"There's a lot of punk and soul in my head,” says Mcgowan of his sound. “I like spacey music and psychedelic sounds. Most of the time, though, I'm trying to front with an acoustic guitar, which means I rely heavily on the craft of pop songs to fill the sonic void. I'm excited for the album 'cause I think it is going to reflect a lot of elements that people don't always get to hear from me." To date, most McGowan material has been available through his Web site only. That will change with the release of Mcgowan on Manic Pop Thrill. Capable of touring with a band or as a solo artist, Mcgowan is preparing to spend the remainder of 2005 doing both – first on a solo tour with Zack Hexum and Robert Gomez that will take him across America this summer, and then with his current band, which includes Jesse Honig (Thelma)on drums, Tom Scheponik (Gringo Motel) on keys, and Rob Hann (Shovel, Ben Lee) on bass.
McGowan's debut album is available here :
www.dotshop.se
Melanie Dekker
Melanie Dekker, is an accomplished singer/songwriter and guitarist from Vancouver, Canada, who has graced the performances of the world’s best:
Played to presidents, toured and received international recognition, gained rave reviews, and has left thousands of fans wanting more!
Dekker crafts her witty and heartbreak style songs with a driving rhythm that teases, pulls and moves the listener. Through her own tenacity Dekker’s songs have been placed colourfully throughout feature films, television shows, top radio charts and also covered by other notable artists.
Sonoma Mountain Entertainment and Zabit Records worked with legendary LA producer David Kershenbaum (Tracy Chapman/Tori Amos) recently signed Dekker to produce her latest album, “Revealed”. This collection of songs clearly represents the pinnacle of Melanie's career to date as an artist and writer.
www.myspace.com/melaniedekkermusic
Michael Miller
"Awash in a melodic swath of near-psychedelic ether, Michael Miller's 'I Made You Up' teeters between that delicate dream state of newborn refuge and Milky Way haze. Don't let the SoCal singer-songwriter thing fool you: Miller's unassuming yet gumptious approach places him squarely alongside the likes of troubadours Pete Droge/Steve Forbert but with flecks of Supertramp/Bowie-style transcendental grandeur."
"I Made You Up" is Michael Miller's second full-length album. Miller describes the recording process as 'effortless', thanks to the group of elite luminaries involved. "They’re mostly old friends who all know each other and also happen to be some of the most talented players in L.A. I feel remarkably fortunate to have had them on this project."
The cast includes drummer Brendan Buckley (Damien Rice, Shakira), bassist Dan Rothchild (Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Beck), pedal steel guitarist Eric Heywood (Ray LaMontagne, The Pretenders, Son Volt), keyboardist Patrick Warren (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Tom Waits, Sam Phillips), guitarist Lyle Workman (Jellyfish, Beck, Sting), B3/keyboardist Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters, The Wallflowers), lap steel guitarist Ben Peeler (The Wallflowers, Jim White), cellist and violinist Stevie Blacke (Beck, Madonna, Snoop Dogg), guitarist Adam Zimmon (Shakira), bassist Joe Ongie (multi-instrumentalist, producer whiz kid), and guitarist Mike Roe (The 77s).
"I Made You Up" was produced by Miller and Buckley, co-produced by Joe Ongie, recorded by Mike Terry (Foo Fighters, The Eagles) at Elliott Smith's old place New Monkey Studios in Van Nuys, California, and mixed by Ryan Freeland (Aimee Mann, Crowded House, Rodney Crowell, Son Volt, Joe Henry, Grant Lee Phillips).
Miller wrote his first songs at the tender age of 6. "My best friend and I would make up these silly theme songs about all the kids in the neighborhood. They were sometimes cruel but extremely hilarious - at least to the minds of 6-year-olds - and we would get the rest of the kids to sing along."
These days, Miller's secret muse for inspiration now comes from his ongoing habit to go exploring in other countries. "It became an annual tradition and sort of my drug of choice. Besides the sweet freedom and built-in surprise of a new, faraway world, I just love getting lost, literally, in strange lands, hanging with the locals, the natives, and seeing how they live. It's sort of like soul mining. I get to go dig for beauty and truth in other people's backyards and the discoveries and treasure-finds typically end up in my songs in some way."
When Miller is not out trotting the globe, you'll find him drawing "little doodles," as he calls them, for several different international greeting card lines. "I still have a line with Hallmark. At one point, they fired some of their best art directors and VPs, then axed my line, saying they were 'reassessing their taste guidelines' and thought my work was too irreverent or inappropriate," he says, laughing. "They then asked if I would be willing to draw for their writers and editors on another line. I agreed but insisted that I use my pseudonym, which was in fact, my 'porn star name'. You know that game? I still get a kick out of seeing my 'porn star' by-line in mainstream card racks."
Michael Miller's sophomore release, "I Made You Up", is available now.
www.michaelmillercrusade.com
www.myspace.com/michaelmillercrusade
www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Miller/48255491086
Michael ONeill
Showcasing a new collection, this singer/songwriter, with a “roots-rock” history and a soulful ease, carries his listener into a time and place reminiscent of steel strings, guitar heroes, and great story-tellers like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. A living music legend, ONeill comes armed with vignettes of open-eyed romance, highway drama, and hard-earned tenderness – vocalized with the assurance and attitude that comes only from experience.
One of 13 children, he got started in music early. At the age of 24, he cut his teeth opening his first tour for a then-unknown band called U2. By the time the tour ended in Los Angeles, ONeill found himself signed with legendary manager Don Arden (father of Sharon Osbourne). A record deal followed soon after. ONeill put together a band that featured a young John Shanks (now superstar producer of Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morrisette, Vertical Horizon, etc), Kenny Gradney (Little Feat), and jazz saxophonist, Boney James.
He spent the better part of the next ten years touring with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan and penning songs with Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Steve Cropper (Booker T & The MG's), and Jason Scheff (Chicago). His band held down a weekly gig at the hottest club in town, The Central (now known as the The Viper Room), playing to packed houses. As the 90's approached, ONeill left Southern California for his hometown in the Pacific Northwest to raise horses and focus on his family. “I retreated to gain some perspective and try to keep my family together,” ONeill says, “I did pretty good on the perspective part.”
Quietly working on material for nearly a decade, ONeill found himself happily remarried and content. In 1999, he released “Dream On” to critical acclaim, garnering nation-wide airplay. His “From the Beginning” is an uncommon album that documents an artist in his prime, a man who knows himself, strengths and weaknesses alike. Part country crooner, part haggard storyteller, ONeill makes a noise that is refreshingly classic. Drawing on heroes like Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan for inspiration, “From the Beginning” plays like old-time rock and roll, deceptively simple yet focused on craft and execution.
Just released is the new album "Ain't Leavin' Your Love", produced by ONeill and Randy Kohrs, with contributions from Lloyd Maines and others.
www.michael-oneill.com
www.myspace.com/whosbadnow
Michael Tomlinson
With his honey-warm voice and earthy, uplifting lyrics, Seattle-based singer/songwriter Michael Tomlinson’s songs comfort the weary soul. Drawing upon folk, pop, and Americana, Tomlinson’s songs unfold with an easygoing charm and crystalline clarity, driven by his moving, poetic narratives. Tomlinson’s latest album, 'The Way Out West', finds him reflecting on his life, how the experiences of his past have taught him compassion and helped him appreciate the stunning beauty of his beloved Pacific Northwest.
'The Way Out West' could be seen as a journal of the two decades of his life since Tomlinson left his home in Austin, Texas, and made Seattle his home. On the cover, Tomlinson is seen in silhouette holding his guitar as he walks among bold outlines of trees; the brilliant blue of the sky lending a sense that he is embarked on a new beginning. The title track describes the grief of leaving all he knew behind, while the wind-swept strains of “Seattle Skies” conveys his life long love of changing seasons and natural elements.
Tomlinson moved to Washington State after a homemade cassette of his song, “The Climb,” became the most-requested track of all time on popular Seattle FM radio station, KEZX. The station had developed its own progressive music format that would eventually become known as Adult Album Alternative (AAA), and Tomlinson’s friendly hybrid of folk and rock, with a jazz-inflected vocal delivery, was greeted with wide enthusiasm. Inspired by the smashing reception from KEZX and its listeners, Tomlinson recorded and self-released his debut LP, 'Run This Way Forever'. Made available through his Desert Rain label, the record sold 15,000 copies in its first month in Seattle. It eventually moved over 100,000 units nationally as other independent radio stations began adding cuts from the album in high rotation.
By his second LP, Tomlinson had signed with a new L.A. record company. The album, 'Still Believe', earned Tomlinson his first Top-10 Adult Contemporary hit, “Dawning On A New Day,” and he headlined major theaters across the country as a result of its success. However, an amicable relationship with the label was short-lived. By his fourth record, Tomlinson had grown disenchanted with the company, and when he discovered that the label was secretly shifting his contract to a larger, international company, he rebelled, eventually regaining all of the rights to his previous work. Tomlinson then revived his Desert Rain label, freeing himself from corporate obligations and creative interference.
In addition to writing and recording music, Tomlinson has hosted nearly a decade of weekend retreats called, A Gathering of Friends, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, offering his music as a means to bring people together in friendship and goodwill. This spirit of this humanhood is very much alive in his music today.
Mikael Persson
”Strong melodies and a lot of voices - Voices add feeling”
After nearly 30 years as a songwriter and guitar-player with several local bands in Borås, Sweden, Mikael “Micke” Persson releases his debut album, “Moving With Mrs Carter” on Paraply Records.
The album’s twelve songs has a strong solid foundation, a lot of warmth, and beautiful harmonies, adding a little extra character and growth.
Recorded during a two-year-period, but written after a creative outburst on a single afternoon, the songs came to life during a turbulent time of inner and outer crisis. “I needed to build my own room, both mentally and physically”, Mikael says.
“The songwriting was a way of communicating with myself. Mrs Carter was my talking-partner. This new album is the result.”
The new album is released by Paraply Records, a label that will release Citizen K’s debut album later this year.
Stay tuned!
Mike Aiken
Not many people get to live life on their terms. But that is exactly what singer/songwriter/sailor Mike Aiken has been able to do combining his three greatest passions in life, music, sailing and adventure. Now, with the release of 'Hula Girl Highway', Mike’s sophomore record for Northwind/Aspirion Records, he continues to cement his place as an authentic voice of a wayfaring lifestyle that most of us will only just dream about.
Mike is truly one of the lucky ones, living the life he sings about with his wife and musical partner Amy aboard a 42-foot cutter in the Norfolk, Virginia area. He’s as adept at tying nautical knots as he is painting musical memories and images of the places and people he’s met along his journey.
Strangely enough, for a die-hard sailor that journey began very landlocked. Mike grew up outside of Buffalo in rural Western New York, his love affair with the sea kindled at the young age of eight when a family friend introduced him to sailing. Around the same time Mike started developing his natural musical ability, learning to play acoustic and electric guitar.
His musical metaphors are a mix of those two worlds. 'I come from those back roads, dirt under my boots, now I live on the water with a country point of view', Mike sings in his first single 'Find Me' off the new record. “I wrote this like I write all my songs,” says Aiken, “From the heart and from what I know. This one came to me while anchored in the Bahamas, holed up during a hellacious storm. Amy and I weathered it for three weeks, taking odd jobs to survive. We had wind generators to make drinking water and were better off than most. It was then I knew I was one of the luckiest SOB’s in the world to have the chance to live this lifestyle.”
While luck may have something to do with it so does hard work. It all started to pay off last year with Mike having a banner musical year touring all over the country and in Europe. Highlights included opening shows like the Sunset Festival in Newport, Rhode Island for Bruce Hornsby to appearing at the Hampton Coliseum Winter Blast with Ashton Shepard and Chris Cagle. He was also invited to participate at the prestigious Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
2007 also saw the release of his Aspirion/Northwind debut 'Just Add Salt'. Mike’s mix of country, and roots rock with a Caribbean flair struck the right chord with listeners, charting on both the Americana and Roots Music Country charts. And his two singles also made waves as up and coming on the New Music Weekly charts.
What’s on the horizon for Mike this year, besides the release of 'Hula Girl Highway' then? Well making music and traveling of course. Mike and his band have been playing around the country and are set to go to Europe again in the fall. “I am one of the lucky ones,” muses Aiken. “With my music, my boat and my friends I am ready for wherever the winds blow.”
For the rest of us that’s a good thing, a chance for us landlubbers to close our eyes and live a life on the high seas vicariously through Mike Aiken and his music.
Mike Cullison
From the Oklahoma-Texas area to Atlanta to Nashville and stints in Europe, Mike's journey has been an extraordinary one. Mike’s innate writing skills and love of music merged early on. Raised in Oklahoma, he grew up on Country Western and Honky Tonk - moving into a diverse blend of music as a young man in the 60s. Many of his influences are: The Beatles, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett, Delbert McClinton and all the great story tellers of years gone by.
Professionally, Mikes career began in the small clubs and honky tonks of Oklahoma City - moving on to Atlanta in 1988 to expand his opportunities and sharpen his writing skills. While in Atlanta he worked with the Lowry Group and subsequently met Don Goodman, a successful Nashville writer with many hits including 'Angels Among Us' and 'Ring On Her Finger Time On Her Hand. With Don's encouragement, Mike made the move to Nashville in 1995 to have access to the larger writing community. One of those connections led to a European tour with Johnny Neel and the Italian power trio W.I.N.D.
Mike's songs reflect his diverse background. His initial release, 'BAC', has a Rock-a-Billy feel to it. The newly released, 'Blue Collar Tired', contains a blend of country and rock with a honky tonk feel. Both are sure to please everyone.
"Blue Collar Tired" available here.
The Molenes forge hard-twang melodies and driving steam-train rhythms into compelling songs that have been firing up the stages of the Northeast’s burgeoning Americana/Alt-Country scene since the band’s inception in 2005. Evoking the burnished lyricism of Son Volt, the organic atmospherics of Wilco, and the rootsy swagger of Steve Earle, The Molenes’ second album, 'Songs Of Sin & Redemption', takes the listener on a tour through both the dark and light sides of the American experience, a jaunt through the heartland—both figurative and geographical—that’s in turns jolting and unsettling, inspiring and uplifting.
Singer/guitarist/songwriter Dave Hunter weaves real-life tales of both modest hope and quiet desperation that are punctuated with incisive, compelling guitar hooks, while band members Andrew Russell (bass, vocals), and Zach Field (drums), and Cartwright Thompson (pedal steel) propel a journey that navigates between rural passes of heart-wrenching beauty and urban alleys littered with dispiriting squalor.
In the USA, 'Songs Of Sin & Redemption' has already received radio play on more than 100 Americana and independent stations, and was given heavy rotation on many of these. Writing in 'The Phoenix', Sam Pfeifle declared:
“There’s nothing at all wrong with reveling in whiskey, beer, bitter women, and sweet heartache, as long as the guitars are hot, the backbeat’s driving, and no one expects me to feel an ounce of sympathy. Dave Hunter and his Molenes know this well, and their second album, 'Songs Of Sin & Redemption', shows they’re more than just a guitar band. This 12-tune collection represents a tremendous upgrade over The Molenes debut and establishes them as one of New England's premier alt-country/ Americana bands.”
With its increased depth, imagination and artistry, and with the band coalescing into a formidable unit, 'Songs Of Sin & Redemption' promises an even wider reach and greater appeal, and is looking to propel The Molenes to the top tier of Americana, Alt-Country and Roots Rock artists.
Morello
Formed in 1996 in London by singer/multiinstrumentalist /producer Malcolm Cross. The band name is actually a reference to his childhood hero, West Coast jazz drummer Joe Morello.
The group were a mainstay of London's 'Acid Jazz' scene in the late 90's; outside of recording debut LP 'Jackpot' (1998, CDV Music) Mal worked as a sideman for various maverick UK acts including Spiritualized, Death in Vegas and M J Cole.
A lifelong dream was realised when a recording contract with UK band Minibar brought him to Los Angeles, California, forming the inspiration for his US debut 'Minimal' (2003, self released); a kaleidoscope of musical styles in tribute to his new home. The song 'Too Sweet' from that album was ultimately featured on the soundtrack to the Focus Features movie 'Something New'(2006, Lakeshore Records.)
His latest release 'Handheld'(2007, self released) is a nod to the music and influences of his mispent youth - early 80's synth pioneers Prince, Giorgio Moroder and Yellow Magic Orchestra. The current band lineup includes vocalist Em C, Zak Schaffer (guitar) and Pierre Martin (bass.)
About 'Minimal':
"Hyperactive fun...brimming with irresistable melody and the true flavor of L.A..." (Rave!)
"A real damn good album that you need to discover right away..." (Melodic.net)
"An infectious romp through California's magnificent musical memoirs, still managing to sound wildly Right Now." (Pamela des Barres)
MT Robison
“MT Robison’s new CD "Promise" will captivate your soul with his raw emotions and vulnerability and leave you wanting to hear more!” - The Shadow, Ontario, Canada
MT Robison’s music is Americana acoustic rock in the style of the great storytellers, yet with a fresh new sound that's being called "Hillbilly-Urban".
MT is a prolific songwriter and captivating storyteller. Inspired by true-life experiences, the songs on the newly released 'Promise' CD are passionate and unpretentious. MT's music moves listeners with an emotional force, like timeless classics.
His live performances are charismatic and full of energy, and has visually been compared to Beck, Iggy Pop and Steven Tyler, entertaining and engaging the audience, as he sweeps them away on a mystical, musical journey.....
www.mtrobisonmusic.com
www.myspace.com/mtrobisonmusic
Mundy
“Mundy come's from a very long historical line of great Irish performers, singers and song writers, its a list of awesome musical royalty he sits amongst and he rightly and gently wears his crown equally with them all.” – Richard Hawley
If you thought this boy from Birr, Co Offaly was just about big, bug-eyed pop songs such as 'July', 'Mexico', or indeed, the most downloaded song of 2007 & 2008 'Galway Girl' (and it’s worth repeating that he didn’t write it - Steve Earle did!) then his latest collection boasts fourteen great songs to make you throw all your preconceptions out the window.
This is 'Strawberry Blood', Mundy’s fourth studio album and most accomplished to date. Recorded in Grouse Lodge, Co Westmeath, and the Cauldron, Dublin, by Joe Chester, 'Strawberry Blood' features an intriguing cast of contributors including Shane McGowan ('Love Is A Casino'), Gemma Hayes ('Fever') and Interference man Fergus O’Farrell ('Pepper In My Dreams').
'Strawberry Blood' is the long-awaited follow up to the number one album 'Raining Down Arrows' (2004). The subsequent tour was documented on 'Live & Confusion', a stopgap live album and DVD that impressively notched up double platinum sales and delayed Mundy’s return to the studio due to the unexpected success of the live versions of ‘July’ and ‘Galway Girl’.
A chance run-in with Joe Chester at an airport led to a long discussion about recording and mutual favourite music and then to some casual recordings. “Joe’s work was so good,” Mundy remembers. “We tried out a few demos but they sounded like keepers. There was no need to hire a big name name producer.”
The result is a beautiful and uplfiting album that’s a true tonic for the times. “With what’s going on with the country and the world, it’s very easy to be negative and it’s very easy to write negative songs,” Mundy muses. “It’s more challenging to be positive. This album is thought provoking and reflective but fun and upbeat. It’s about taking on a challenge… and God loves a trier.”
www.mundy.ie
www.youtube.com/mundyirl
www.myspace.com/mundyirl
