As a singer, songwriter, and actor, Tyler Hilton has established himself as a serious triple threat. Though known to many fans as an actor for his roles as “Chris Keller” on the hit CW show One Tree Hill, and as Elvis Presley in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line, Hilton, 24, has been writing songs since he was 14 and was a regular fixture on the open mic night circuit is his hometown of Palm Springs, CA. He uses his husky, engaging voice, which critics have compared to Elton John and Howie Day, to full effect on his 2004 major-label debut for Maverick Records, The Tracks Of — an appealing slice of strummy pop Americana that included the breakout track “When It Comes,” which was used extensively in on-air promotions for One Tree Hill.
Hilton has been camped out in Nashville writing his second album, which is slated for release by Warner Bros. Records early next year. In September, Hilton treated the locals to live versions of his new songs during a four-week residency at Nashville club The Basement. He has also recently completed work on the film Charlie Bartlett, a comedy that also stars Robert Downey Jr. and Hope Davis, due in theaters in February 2008.
The dynamic duo of Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel, KaiserCartel formed when the two Brooklyn based musicians joined forces to tour the country the summer of 2004. They have been touring nationally to a growing audience ever since as well as opened up for national touring acts in NYC such as Joe Pernice, Martha Wainwright, and Morris Tepper of Captain Beefheart. "Eclectic, infectious music" are the words Benjamin uses to describe their low-tech, song driven style. "We want people to feel like a fly on the wall in our living room." says Courtney. KaiserCartel's earthy blend of folk-rock and pop will make you laugh, cry, sing along, and want to hold hands with the stranger next to you. Warm up by the fire with KaiserCartel.
Lucinda Black Bear is the new project led by Christian Gibbs (aka C.Gibbs) and fleshed out with instrumentalists from the Brooklyn melodic folk scene. The band released ‘Capo my Heart’ and other Bear Songs in November of 2007 with a show at Joe’s Pub in New York City… Gibbs has received rave reviews for his solo work in Rolling Stone, Spin, NBC News, Billboard, Alternative Press, No Depression, Harp, Guitar World Magazine, and many other notable publications. Songs like ‘Capo My Heart’ and ‘Fought the Bear’ with their plaintive, understated Elliott Smith meets Radiohead meets Chet Baker ruminations, are attracting new music lovers the world over.
Tony Dekker, the singer/songwriter behind the musical project Great Lake Swimmers, will release his third full-length album "Ongiara" in Canada on March 27, 2007. weewerk will release the vinyl version of the album, containing a special gatefold jacket, and the CD will be released by Nettwerk Records. Like the first two critically acclaimed albums ("Great Lake Swimmers" in 2003, and "Bodies and Minds" in 2005), "Ongiara" continues to explore the worlds of indie folk, roots music and alt-country pop, with a focus on lyrics and the craft of songwriting. The new record is permeated with a rich natural reverb, courtesy of London, Ontario's Aeolian Hall, which creates the magical background on which the songs are painted. [Read More...]
"I was born in Brooklyn, eventually went to music school in Boston and now I live in the trendy desert known as Los Angeles. I spend most of the year traveling, playing shows, meeting people, avoiding people, driving, eating and trying to get my music out to as many music-lovers as possible.
I’ve
had some LUCK- I’ve traveled through JAPAN and the UK several times
with my music and some friends, had some placements in movies like
WAITRESS and on TV networks like BRAVO and HBO, been played on a bunch
of radio stations, had some great reviews in magazines like BILLBOARD
and the LA WEEKLY, been part of the Hotel Café scene since it’s
inception, found a booking agent, played my local indy station KCRW,
and met a bunch of fantastic musicians who have become my good friends.
which reminds me of a quote my guitar player Kenny once overheard:
“..the life of a musician, not much of a future, but a helluva past.”" [Read More...]
Garrison Starr invites listeners into her visceral world by constructing an intimate portrait of contemporary life as experienced by a soul longing for meaning and connection and as a person dealing with love in many forms- physical and spiritual, lost and gained. A fearless performer, her audience always leaves reluctantly after getting a taste of her humor and humility. A native of Hernando, Mississippi, Garrison's southern background subtly peeks through her songs as she blends a pop/rock/alternative sound with her country vocal curl. First time listeners fall hard for her voice.
Boat's history is a long and illustrious journey. One that is not
easily described here. It began with a young man and a dream. Then this
dream became a reality. And this reality became so very real that Boat
decided to leave their homes and play all kinds of shows.
Tara Jane ONeil is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, engineer, and painter. Over the last decade her art has taken many forms, all of them lavished with the rich attention to detail that signals an artist with true vision. Since her first solo record in 2000, Tara has collaborated with a diverse community of friends and advisors, scoring theater productions and short films, playing improvised shows, and working with dancers and painters. She's worked with the likes of Papa M, Ida, and Jackie O MF. Her music has allowed her to travel far, touring all parts of the northern hemisphere. [Read More...]
This is the final show of Ezra Furman & the Harpoons’ celebrated August residency, and they will be pulling out all the stops. Everything they’ve been waiting all month to do they will do tonight. They will perform the entirety of their just-finished second album, INSIDE THE HUMAN BODY. And they will have the first-ever copies of it available for sale, weeks before the album’s release in stores! Hot damn! Come if you are clever enough to have your eye on the next best Chicago rocknroll band, or if you just want to hear good honest wild jittery rocknroll music. The Harpoons will be performing with the aid of renowned Redwalls guitarist, Andrew Langer. The great J. Roddy will also perform not to mention the debonair – Dan Smart & Friends featuring an all-star lineup of members from Propbably Vampires, The Redwalls and a cast too great to mention. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?! Come to this great final show for an electrifying night of songs.
After recently taking home two local music awards for Best Live Performance and Best New Artist (and making a few 'Best of 2007' lists) Snowsera is hard at work recording their follow up EP to last year's self-titled debut. Working with acclaimed Chicago producer Brian Zieske (Sars Flannery, The Hush Sound, The Academy Is...) at his Gallery of Carpet recording studio, the band has big plans for the project and should see things wrap up aroud the end of June. Snowsera will no doubt continue to surprise new fans who have been falling in love with the band's unique blend of genre bending music, explosive live performances and talented songwriting.
Arlington, TX (Jana's hometown) is a depressing place, and Hunter took that sentiment to New York (1996) and eventually Houston (1998), writing dark, severe and beautiful songs that more and more reflected a paranoiac view of the world. These were shared for the most part with a few friends, occasionally in the guise of rock songs in her now-defunct band, Matty & Mossy, and eventually, at a few shows in Houston, opening up for touring bands.
Since her initial release, Hunter has repeatedly toured North America and Europe, joined forces with Castanets as their sometimes touring bass player and vocalist, guested on albums by CocoRosie and Metallic Falcons, played at the Banhart-curated All Tomorrow's Parties, recorded a soon-to-be-released album with a new band, Jracula, and prepared a split release with her fellow Houstonians, Indian Jewelry.
Death Vessel is the name of Joel Thibodeau's new work as both a solo artist and band leader. His music, captured on the resplendent new record Stay Close, is an eloquent distillation of a life's tales. Born in Berlin, Germany before The Wall fell... raised in Kennebunkport, Maine before the senior Bush's presidency... this musician lived a childhood where the ghosts of Cold War casualties and seaport tragedies haunted the alleyways and beaches. Leaving Maine as a teenager, Thibodeau moved to Boston, Providence and New York. In Providence he was a founding member, songwriter and performer of the group String Builder. Now as then, Thibodeau captures the surreal and the sublime in wondrous song.[Read More...]
The Delta Spirit have more in common with the dirty haired, dirty fingernailed folk groups of the nascent years than they do any of their contemporaries. They're suited for reminiscent hopefulness and the gracefully youthful fusion of hostility and all-encompassing passion for all things that can set a smile ablaze or turn the hairs on arms and backs of necks into little beds of nails at the flick of a switch. They make lists of things they like, including all of the people they love, their home, pretty girls, desserts, bodies of water, justice and America. They believe there's still hope for it and in all of the rooms contained within the hallways of the band's newest offering, "Ode To Sunshine," they make you understand that, when it's all boiled down, what we all ultimately live for is catharsis and a fulfillment of body meeting land, air and sea harmoniously. They're about bodies meeting bodies, pressing skins to skins. They're about reminding you to listen more than you talk. They're about urging you to put stock in the happiness of others, not just your own. They make it obvious that we have to go somewhere to be somewhere. We have to feel something to really live. They sing of the soul searchers. They sing for the soul searchers. They are the soul searchers. – Sean Moeller
