LIZ VICE RELEASES HER REIMAGINED VERSION OF “THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND ”

LIZ VICE RELEASES HER REIMAGINED VERSION OF 

“THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND ”
“Vice’s minor chord version rings with a spaciousness that opens it poignantly into a lament: a lament for the unjust killings of black men and women and indigenous peoples by police brutality and unjust systemic racism. “ - Folk Alley (on “This Land is Your Land”

“Chance the Rapper and Kanye West may use gospel elements to give their music a reverent lilt, but the genre hasn’t had many crossover evangelists since Kirk Franklin’s hip-hop bombast brought it to the pop charts in the 1990s. Enter Ms. Vice, whose version of gospel is more rootsy than radio. She has a rich voice that fits easily into her groovy yet understated arrangements; the result recalls the gentle revival of artists like Leon Bridges. “ - The New York Times

“Liz Vice walks the stony road to redemption, delivering tunes that celebrate the victory over the illusions that hold us down while acknowledging the heavyweight of self-doubt and missed opportunities for loving others that we bear.” - No Depression

“Liz Vice is unpretentious and uncomplicated on Save Me, a gospel album that aims straight for the spirit. Vice’s faith-based music, influenced by legends Mavis Staples and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, is lifting.”  

- Bitch Magazine

“The mindfulness she brings to the stories she tells on Save Me proves essential, and powerful.” - NPR

LISTEN TO “THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND”: HERE

In August of 2018  Liz Vice sat down with friends Paul Zach and Orlando Palmer just one day shy of the Unite the Right Rally 1 year anniversary, to re-work the Woody Guthrie classic “This Land is Your Land,” with the intention of writing lyrics that reflected the origin story of America. This powerful version of “This Land is Your Land,” performed by Liz Vice, is out today on all digital platforms, purposely released to coincide with the July 4th Holiday this weekend. “ There are a lot of reasons to celebrate being American,” Vice told Folk Alley, “but one thing that must first be talked about is the history. Healing can’t begin without first acknowledging the gaping wound created by the colonization, the mass genocide of the Indigenous people, and the enslavement of African slaves. There is still much work to be done.”

Liz Vice is somewhat of an accidental artist. "Artist" is a label the Los Angeles resident by way of Portland, Oregon has been pretty resistant to most of her career up until now. At age 19, Liz was put on hemodialysis due to failing health. Her life was saved by a kidney transplant she received in 2005. After college, Liz set out to pursue a career in film production, but when she joined up with a new church and began to sing with a worship team on Sundays, everything changed. She got the call, a call she knows was from God to share the gift of her voice with anyone who would listen. 

Liz Vice’s sound is a fusion of Gospel and R&B, with dynamic and soulful vocals, and lyrics, deeply rooted in spirituality, that give her work a  timeless feel. Her last full-length album, Save Me, her sophomore album, debuted in the top 25 on the Billboard Gospel charts, was featured in NPR’s  First Listen program, received praise from the New York Times, No Depression, American Songwriter, The Bluegrass Situation, Bitch Magazine and more.  Vice’s music and live performances have put her on the map as an artist to watch. She has shared the stage with artists such as Lake Street Dive, Rodriguez, Joss Stone, The Wood Brothers, Lecrae, Blind Boys of Alabama and performed at Mavis Staple’s 80th Birthday at the Apollo alongside Mike Taylor of His Golden Messenger, David Byrne, Norah Jones, Jon Batiste, Warren Haynes and more. 

KEEP UP WITH LIZ VICE

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OUT TODAY: KYSHONA RELEASES NEW LP "LISTEN"

“…she has that very real conviction that the act of listening and the feeling of being heard are fundamental human needs…there’s that sense of purpose in the language that she chooses, that sense of speaking in a collective way in the language that she chooses...It’s stately, noble language, and sometimes it’s optimistic, and sometimes it’s more confrontational…it’s always emphatic, but it’s also warm.” - NPR

"Listen highlights Kyshona’s descriptive songwriting and soulful vocals alongside a versatile blend of folk, rock and R&B influences. While Kyshona sings of fear, hope, community, love and understanding throughout the 10-track project, she also finds herself.” - Billboard

“…a soulful, Southern groove” - Rolling Stone

“This is protest music for a new generation, a musical treatment for social ills, a unique prescription that only works if you listen.” - No Depression

"Everyone is making political records. Everyone is making albums that speak to 'this moment.' Too few of them are making music that speaks to the people who inhabit this moment. Kyshona does." - The Bluegrass Situation

“With an ambition ‘to bring the light of music into places of darkness,’ it’s clear that ‘Fear’ and the other nine tracks from her upcoming LP unapologetically and convincingly do just that.” - American Songwriter

“Electrifying” - The Boot 

"Listen is refreshingly low-concept: a powerful, textured voice working its way through equally strong songs. But what's most striking about the album is how natural [Kyshona] sounds. The sincerity hits you hard…There’s a confidence, comfort, and catharsis in her vocals, effortless without sounding passive, warm without sounding too inviting. Listen feels therapeutic, not just providing enjoyable songs that range from soul to rhythm and blues to rock to pop, but maybe even providing a blueprint for how to be, as a human being.” - Albumism

"Kyshona...has a warm, rich voice that commands you to pay attention. On her new album Listen, however, she’s chosen to make a powerful statement about what we can learn when we close our mouths and truly take in what others have to say." - The Nashville Scene

"The melodies are catchy, but it’s the lyrics that really grab the attention on this album. [Kyshona] sings with the undeniable spirit and conviction that was more common in the tumultuous 60s. However, through all the turmoil of the times, the message is ultimately one of hope that leaves you believing things will get better." - Americana Highways

Today, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Kyshona has released her highly-acclaimed new album Listen. Co-produced with Andrija Tokic (St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Alabama Shakes, Hurray For The Riff Raff) and recorded mostly at his famed Nashville studio The Bomb Shelter, Kyshona’s album blends roots, rock, R&B, gospel, and folk with lyrical prowess to uplift the marginalized and bring awareness to the masses. 

STREAM: LISTEN

Kyshona, who has performed at Folk Alliance International, AmericanaFest-UK, 30A Songwriters Festival, and in an art installation at Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in the last two months, has made an indelible impression with her new LP. “The explorations on her brand new album, Listen — which are synopsized neatly on the title track — by many other artists could have easily and offhandedly devolved into a reactionary, ‘woke’ gasp into the void,” commented The Bluegrass Situation. “Kyshona (surname Armstrong), though, is a deft and empathetic songwriter, a storyteller with a penchant for shameless self expression and graceful introspection. Listen is not an admonishment. It’s not an imperative, or an oracle-given ultimatum. Kyshona does not implore her audience to hear her, but each other. Over ten original and co-written songs the album carries on this mission with empathy, connection, community, and spirituality (but not proselytizing.) It’s a remarkable feat that though society systemically attempts to render her and women like her invisible, assuming that they’ll stand aside or allow themselves to be tokenized, Kyshona compassionately defies those expectations and opts to design her selfhood — and thereby, her art — to interact with the world on her terms and not the world’s.” 

WATCH:  "LISTEN”

“Since completing this album, there has been a theme that keeps coming up: fear,” Kyshona told Billboard in their premiere of the album. “Fear of being ignored, fear of being seen. Fear of being misunderstood. Fear of being abandoned and alone. But every night I have walked on a stage or into a space and stood in that fear, I’ve been shown that I can not only conquer them, but that those fears allow me to connect with people. That’s what I have wanted this album to be: a reflection that allows connection.” 

WATCH:  "FALLEN PEOPLE”

“People feel permission. This allows them to feel they can have control, they can build a community through music,” Kyshona told The News & Advance of the connection she forges with her audiences. “Her new LP, Listen, released this month, asks the audience ‘are we even listening to each other?” continues The News & Advance. “Even when she’s writing about others, she said, their stories are also hers — ‘This is the gospel of the people.’ In a crowd of people, all with differing beliefs, political stances or conflicting ideals, it’s music, [Kyshona] said, that offers unity.”

Kyshona has always lent her voice and music to those that feel silenced or forgotten. She began her career as a music therapist, writing her first songs with her patients – the students and inmates under her care. She soon found the need to write independently and find her own voice, an endeavor that led her to the fertile ground of the Nashville creative community and its collaborative songwriting culture. Kyshona has successfully melded her music career with her passion to heal the hurting; audiences will find a common thread of empowerment, overcoming adversity, and finding hope in her work. It's for every silent scream, every heavy load, every fearful thought, and a simmering sense of anger that the repressed, the lost, and the forgotten try to hide from the world. "I’ve been thinking a lot about purpose," she says. "When I write and when I perform I am often thinking of what my point is. What is my purpose? What is my mission? At this particular moment in these particular times, my mission is to be a voice and a vessel for those who feel silenced and forgotten." After her powerful performances, concertgoers often ask, "What can I do?" Her response? “Listen."

TOUR DATES:

3/5 - 20 Front Street - Lake Orion, MI

3/6 - The Robin Theatre - Lansing, MI

⅜ - Hines Hill Conference Center - Peninsula, OH

3/13 - WMOT Finally Friday @ 3rd & Lindsley - Nashville, TN

3/13 - Gray’s On Main - Franklin. TN

3/22  - The Frog Pond at Blue Moon Farm - Silver Hill, AL

3/24 - Tin Pan South 2020 - Nashville, TN

3/26 - Agnes Scott College - Decatur, GA

3/27 - Hendershot’s - Athens, GA

3/28 - Music On Malphrus - Bluffton, SC

4/3 - South Bay House Concert - Los Altos, CA

4/4 - Fog House Concerts - San Francisco, CA

~

4/9 - National Folk Festival 2020 - Canberra, ACT, Australia

4/17 - 4/19 - Fairbridge Folk Fest 2020 - Perth, WA, Australia

~

4/24 - Gray’s On Main - Franklin. TN

4/29 - White Gull Inn - Fish Creek, WI

5/1 - Severson Dells Nature Center - Rockford, IL

⅚ - Purple House Concerts -Tallahassee, FL

5/7 - WUWF Radio Live - Pensacola, FL

⅝ - The Rep Theater - Santa Rosa Beach, FL

5/22 - Kerrville Folk Fest 2020 - Kerrville, TX

6/7 - NPR Mountain Stage - Charleston, WV

6/21 - Chestnut House Concerts - Lancaster, PA

6/25 - Iredell Arts Council - Statesville, NC

KYSHONA RELEASES NEW SINGLE "FEAR"

NEW SINGLE "FEAR" FROM KYSHONA PREMIERES AT THE BOOT

"FEAR" AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE NOVEMBER 8

NEW LP LISTEN OUT FEBRUARY 28

Wherever she plants her feet, she does so with righteous conviction and a strong sense of her own voice. - NPR Music

On Friday, November 8th, Kyshona released "Fear," a swampy new track from her forthcoming album Listen, out February 28, 2020. The song, written with her brother and fellow artist Kelvin Armstrong, premiered exclusively at The Boot. "In an age in which we all have a digital platform to express ourselves, we seldom feel heard. Kyshona, the electrifying Nashville-based singer-songwriter, knows that better than anyone," said The Boot. "Kyshona effortlessly grooves between roots, R&B and folk music. On 'Fear'...she digs deep into a swampy hook that dredges the depths of our subconscious. While the song explores all of the ways we tell ourselves what we can't do, Kyshona imbues it with the determination needed to free ourselves from our doubts.”

LISTEN TO "FEAR"

"Fear is that boogieman that sits quietly in the corner of our minds that can paralyze us the moment confidence enters the picture,” Kyshona told The Boot. “Rather than listen to that voice that’s telling you why change isn’t possible, call it out. Recognize the fear and move past it. It’s just another wall to be knocked down. We can’t let fear rule our every move. Fear is what has kept us so divided." "Fear" follows the release of "Fallen People," a reflection on finding commonality in the fact that we all struggle and that we all fight something on a daily basis, and lead single "Too Much," a Mavis-Staples-style organ-laced gospel-tinged groove about finding hope in the midst of overwhelming circumstances.

LISTEN TO "FALLEN PEOPLE" 

LISTEN TO "TOO MUCH" 

Kyshona has always lent her voice and music to those that feel silenced or forgotten. She began her career as a music therapist, writing her first songs with her patients--the students and inmates under her care. She soon found the need to write independently and find her own voice, an endeavor that led her to the fertile ground of the Nashville creative community and its collaborative songwriting culture. 

Since then, she has learned how to balance her music career with her passion to heal the hurting--writing, recording, and touring while remaining active with organizations like Music For Seniors, for which she was recently highlighted at PBS NewsHour Live (click HERE to watch the interview).  Audiences will find a common thread of empowerment, overcoming adversity, and finding hope in her work. In February, Kyshona will release her new LP Listen, co-produced with Andrija Tokic (St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Alabama Shakes, Hurray For The Riff Raff) and recorded mostly at his famed Nashville studio The Bomb Shelter. 

In each of the album's 10 tracks, Kyshona blends roots, rock, R&B, gospel, and folk with lyrical prowess to uplift the marginalized and bring awareness to the masses. It's for every silent scream, every heavy load, every fearful thought, and a simmering sense of anger that the repressed, the lost, and the forgotten try to hide from the world. "I’ve been thinking a lot about purpose," she says. "When I write and when I perform I am often thinking of what my point is. What is my purpose? What is my mission? At this particular moment in these particular times, my mission is to be a voice and a vessel for those who feel silenced and forgotten." After her powerful performances, concertgoers often ask, "What can I do?" Her response? "Listen."

TOUR DATES:

11/16 - Square In The Circle - Takoma Park, MD

11/17 - Sevaried House Concerts - Alexandria, VA

11/21 - The Olde Glory Theatre - Seward, NE

11/22 - Rehmsworld Concert Series - Holdrege, NE

11/23 - Progressive Voices Concert @ First Unitarian Church - Des Moines, IA

11/24 - Dyck Arboretum of the Plains - Hesston, KS

12/16 - Club Jaeb at the Straz Center - Tampa, FL

1/28-1/30/2020 - AmericanaFest UK [Official Showcasing Artist] - London, UK

CONNECT WITH KYSHONA:

Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || YouTube || Spotify || SoundCloud || Bandcamp

KEZAR RELEASES "BORN"

KEZAR RELEASES “BORN”

Indie pop band Kezar has released their latest single “Born” out everywhere today. Big vocal harmonies, string samples and 808s are all present in the song, making it a sultry, slow-burning homage to ‘90s R&B. “You’ll hear in this song all the elements that made me fall in love with Blackstreet, Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys and Aaliyah. But you’ll also hear modern electro-pop elements that really make Kezar’s sound,” says the band’s frontman Jack Mosbacher. 

“Punchy bass-heavy beats head up the charge on the track. A rumble of techno presence, rumbles intermittently, crackling like a neon flare shooting up into the sky. By far the biggest achievement, Jack Mosbacher gives us with this track is that it is a triple threat, being something catchy on the ear, memorable on the mind and a splash of hotness for the dance floor.” –EQ Music

The band’s previous single “Don’t Touch the Queen” is an incredible display of the ferocity of women and its video (now at over 1 million views) acts as a vehicle to celebrate the lives and stories of seven amazing queens. Directed by Sarah Wilson Thacker, the video features women from all walks of life, including the Director of the Multicultural Engagement and Inclusion Initiative at Google, a plus-size fashion model and designer, film director, cancer survivor, stay-at-home mother, sexual assault survivor, and a transgender activist. Alongside Thacker’s stunning visuals, each of these stories beautifully captures the essence of the song, painting a striking portrait of women and their superhuman capabilities.

San Francisco-based Kezar is the project of seasoned musician Jack Mosbacher. He comes from a strong soul background, and the more you listen to each cleverly crafted beat and infectious hook, the more you recognize it as the backbone of his signature pop style. When choosing a name for this project, Mosbacher wanted to stay true to his hometown by naming it after Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, the original home of the 49ers and a music venue that played host to legends like Led Zeppelin, Santana, Bob Dylan, and The Grateful Dead. It was a name that captured this phase in Mosbacher’s musical trajectory: a new chapter, but true to his roots. The band’s debut single “(Tell Me) It’s Not Love,” was produced by K-Kov (Keith Urban, Justin Timberlake), has been streamed over 845K times and was included in Spotify’s official Love Pop and Young & Free playlists. The track’s video was inspired by the beautiful aesthetic of the classic tale Pride & Prejudice and has been received 1.1 million views. The band also released a five song EP this summer that has received over 635K streams.

“If you’re looking for new pop with the nostalgia of early 2000s Justin Timberlake, lend your ears to Kezar. Jack Mosbacher, the head of the project, blends his influences with high energy pop music to craft empowering anthems.”  –The Young Folks

KEEP UP WITH KEZAR:

PR Materials | https://smarturl.it/KezarPR 

Twitter | https://twitter.com/kezarofficial 

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/kezarofficial/ 

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/kezarofficial/ 

Soundcloud | https://soundcloud.com/kezarofficial 

Website | https://www.kezarofficial.com/ 

LIZ VICE RELEASES "IT WAS GOOD"

LIZ VICE RELEASES “IT WAS GOOD” SINGLE

“Chance the Rapper and Kanye West may use gospel elements to give their music a reverent lilt, but the genre hasn’t had many crossover evangelists since Kirk Franklin’s hip-hop bombast brought it to the pop charts in the 1990s. Enter Ms. Vice, whose version of gospel is more rootsy than radio. She has a rich voice that fits easily into her groovy yet understated arrangements; the result recalls the gentle revival of artists like Leon Bridges. “ - The New York Time

Brooklyn by way of Portland, Oregon artist Liz Vice has released a new single “It Was Good.”  This song is the follow up to her sophomore album Save Me, released last year,  that debuted in the top 25 on the Billboard Gospel charts

The song was co-written with Glenn Lavender and Leslie Jordan and is based on the poem “Creation,” by James Weldon Johnson, who also wrote “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Johnson became the national organizer for the NAACP in 1920 and edited the Book of American Negro Poetry, a major contribution to the history of African American literature. The song, like the poem, simply focuses on the beauty in the world, and what a gift it is to be alive and living on this planet.

Liz Vice is a storyteller at heart. The Portland native started her career working behind the scenes in the world of film and video, only to accidentally find herself behind the mic. Liz Vice’s sound is a fusion of Gospel and R&B, with dynamic and soulful vocals, and lyrics, deeply rooted in spirituality, that gives her work a  timeless feel. For the past four years, Vice’s music and live performances have put her on the map as an artist to watch. She has been praised and featured by Oregon Public Broadcasts’ One Song, NPR’s World Cafe and Weekend Edition, Mountain Stage, eTown, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Relevant Magazine, and more. She has shared the stage with artists such as Lake Street Dive, Rodriguez, Joss Stone, The Wood Brothers, Lecrae, Blind Boys of Alabama and performed at Mavis Staple’s 80th Birthday at the Apollo alongside David Byrne, Norah Jones, Jon Batiste, Warren Haynes and more.

Upon its release  Save Me was warmly received by fans and media alike. NPR said, “The mindfulness she brings to the stories she tells on Save Me proves essential and powerful.”  No Depression said, “Liz Vice walks the stony road to redemption, delivering tunes that celebrate the victory over the illusions that hold us down while acknowledging the heavyweight of self-doubt and missed opportunities for loving others that we bear,” and Bitch Magazine commented that “Liz Vice is unpretentious and uncomplicated on Save Me, a gospel album that aims straight for the spirit. Vice’s faith-based music, influenced by legends Mavis Staples and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, is lifting.”

Vice is currently working on her third full-length album which will come out next year.

KEEP UP WITH LIZ VICE

Bio, Photos etc.: http://smarturl.it/LizVicePR

https://www.lizvice.com/

https://www.instagram.com/lizvice/

https://www.facebook.com/LizViceMusic/

https://twitter.com/LizViceOFFICIAL

MODA SPIRA RELEASES "BANG" SINGLE + ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM 'DIVORCE'

MODA SPIRA ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF HER SINGLE “BANG” + NEW ALBUM DIVORCE COMING OCTOBER 26TH

“Bang” marks one of many pivotal internal moments for Alattas, where she asks questions in the hopes of finding a valid reason for her suffering. With the track’s downtempo jazz influences, and of course Alattas’ pained vocals, the track has a palpable weariness. She’s dwelling upon emotions that hit as quick as a gunshot, aware that the reverberations will last much longer. “ - The 405

Nashville by way of Denver artist Moda Spira has released “Bang,” the first single off of her sophomore album due out on October 26th. Moda Spira is the creation of songwriter, artist and producer Latifah Alattas. Alattas began writing under this moniker with the goal of exploring intimacy in all of it’s beauty and madness. In latin Moda Spira translates into “the continual act of breathing,” so like loving, breathing is something essential to our daily existence.

This new Moda Spira album is simply called, Divorce. The album is sonic documentation of the  deterioration of Alattas’s marriage. Instead of burying, self-medicating or avoiding her pain - Alattas decided the only way around it was to walk through it and writing the songs on the album served as her guide through the dark and treacherous path of reliving and trekking through pain.

The single, “Bang” is a jazzy, orchestral track that showcases the soul and emotion of Alattas’ most powerful instrument, her voice. “Bang” is the reaction to discovering the infidelity in her marriage.

The album includes a haunting cover of “Ring of Fire,” and showcases the breadth of Alattas talent with her emotive vocals on the R&B tinged track “Four Letter Word,”  to the evocative and intricate production on “Regret.”  The album is available for pre-order  - both digitally and on 180 gram white vinyl HERE, and will be released with an accompanying podcast series that goes into the making of the record. The podcast season is 13 episodes. Each episode is dedicated to a song on the record, in addition to a prologue and epilogue. On the podcast Alattas, who is also a producer and co-produced the record with Dave Wilton, goes into the making of each song along with the story and feelings that inspired it.

Alattas’ songs have been featured on One Tree Hill, The Gates, Lifetime Films and the film The House at the End of the Street. As a producer and composer she has crafted incidental music for networks such as  MTV and E!, and has produced albums for a number of artists, including A Boy & His Kite, whose song “Cover Your Tracks”  she had a hand in placing on the soundtrack for Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part II. In addition to Moda Spira, Alattas has a long resume that includes time as a solo artist and work with Page CXVI, a band that reinterprets traditional hymns, the indie rock band Autumn Film and Sola-Mi, an experimental trio.

To support the album, Alattas will be headed out on tour with Liz Vice supporting her West Coast tour.

TOUR DATES w/ Liz Vice

10/25 The Crocodile Seattle, WA

10/26 The Bartlett Spokane, WA

10/27 Aladdin Theatre Portland, OR

10/28 HiFi Music Hall Eugene, OR

11/1 Bootleg Theater Los Angeles, CA

KEEP UP WITH MODA SPIRA:

Press Materials (photos, bio etc.): http://smarturl.it/ModaSpiraPR

http://www.modaspira.com/

https://twitter.com/ModaSpira

https://www.instagram.com/modaspira/

http://www.facebook.com/ModaSpiraMusic