ZAYDE WOLF RELEASES HIS FIRST SINGLE OF 2021 “BACK AT IT”

ZAYDE WOLF RELEASES HIS FIRST SINGLE OF 2021

 “BACK AT IT”

+ ANNOUNCES HIS THIRD FULL LENGTH ALBUM DUE OUT THIS SPRING

“Here whispery intensity blossoms into a melodic and sonic tour de force as the song is triumphantly orchestrated.”   - Parade Magazine

“Perhaps the perfect description of ZAYDE is simply the dark rock child of Imagine Dragons and The Black Keys.” - Ones to Watch

“ZAYDE WØLF has slowly but surely started to take over the world.” - Alternative Addiction

 “Scrawling a poetic lyric on a massive pop-rock wall of sound--hinting at Imagine Dragons and Bastille influence--the creative (whose real name is Dustin Burnett) is owning this moment, with the release of his first full-length as a ferocious WØLF.” - Pop Dust

“a beautifully layered and theatrical slow-burn that builds with stirring harmonies and intense instrumentals. It has all the makings of a sci-fi or superhero blockbuster movie soundtrack.” –Forbes Magazine (on  “Oblivion: Reimagined” )

LISTEN TO “BACK AT IT” : HERE

Nashville based writer and producer Zayde Wølf is storming into 2021 with a tour de force and fist pumping powerful new song “Back At It.”  This powerhouse of a song sets the tone for what is bound to be a huge year for Dustin Burnett the mastermind behind Zayde Wølf. ”Back at It” is the first single from Wølf’s third full length album due out this spring. The album follows the 2018 release of Modern Alchemy, Wølf’s sophomore full length album, which charted in over 25 countries on the iTunes charts and debuted in the top ten on the iTunes Alternative chart in the U.S. within hours of it’s release. Unintimidated by his past successes, Burnett has always been solely focused on making music that helps listeners to push through and overcome life’s challenges, trust that broken hearts eventually heal, and to remember that music is one of our most powerful tools for connecting us to one another. Burnett has experienced the power of music firsthand, and he's made it his mission to share it with the rest of the world.  "These songs are helping me in all these different ways,” says Burnett.  “For a song to start in one place and then move all over the world to people who speak very little English is wild. These people reach out to me daily and say they are impacted by these songs in ways that turn their week around for better, or that the songs lead them to rethink a hard situation… and that’s powerful and humbling to me." 

This motivational mentality of transcending the past, and not allowing it to define who you will be, are not just concepts Burnett has embraced, but it’s how he has lived his life. Raised in Metropolis, a small town in Illinois best known for its fictional favorite son, Clark Kent, the level of success Burnett has achieved, both personally and professionally, is beyond anything he ever imagined or that was expected of him growing up. All of Burnett's accolades may seem to be the makings of an obvious solo success, but the Zayde Wolf project came somewhat accidentally.

"Towards the end of 2015, I was producing some new music as a concept. I had these new ideas, but when a couple of singers fell through, I just decided to sing on it myself," Burnett says. "I finished the songs, and rather than use my name, I listed, ‘Zayde Wolf,’ as the artist and sent it to a licensing company in Los Angeles called Lyric House. Pretty much immediately, one of the songs was licensed. Jessica Cole, Lyric House’s President responded, 'So who’s Zayde Wolf, anyway? We need more songs.’ That’s literally the accidental story of how I became Zayde Wolf."  

Five years later the Zayde Wølf  empire has grown to 236K YouTube subscribers, 82 million video views, over 1.2 Million monthly listeners on Spotify, with 300 million streams across all streaming platforms.  This is on top of the hundreds of films, TV shows, trailers, commercials, and video games that have featured his music. The list includes Shameless, Skyscraper movie, Love-Simon movie, the Jack Reacher 2, The Maze Runner 3, Pride Prejudice & Zombies, spots for UFC, MLB, NFL, Dodge, Jeep, WWE, Xbox, NBA, and more. In addition to syncs, Wølf has creatively expanded his reach by cultivating partnerships with brands such as Dude Perfect, one of the top YouTube sports channels with over 54 Million subscribers and 12 Billion views. Other creative partnerships include collaborations with Fortnite champion DrLupo, and extreme downhill racers Rémy Métailler and Matt Walker. Last year Burnett partnered with the NHL and  NBC sports for the Stanley Cup Finals  where they used the Zayde Wølf track  “Home” in a spot featuring Burnett performing the song  HERE, and most recently was the featured celebrity guest on the Gamer Hour where Burnett and Host Chris Puckett talked about their love for video games and went head to head live playing  Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War. “

KEEP UP WITH ZAYDE WØLF:

WEBSITE || FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || YOUTUBE || SOUNDCLOUD 

BLIND OWL RECORDS RELEASES “SATURDAY NIGHT SAGE” SINGLE FEAT. HOWLIN RAIN AND NOAH C. LEKAS

BLIND OWL RECORDS RELEASES

“SATURDAY NIGHT SAGE” SINGLE

FEAT. HOWLIN RAIN AND NOAH C. LEKAS

• ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF

SOUNDS FROM THE SHADOW FACTORY

A COLLABORATIVE SPOKEN WORD EP

"When you read 'Saturday Night Sage,' you can hear glimmers of the Doors’ mysticism, Bob Dylan’s street-corner truth-telling, and Patti Smith’s punk rhapsodies." - The San Diego Union-Tribune

“Saturday Night Sage is an incandescent book of poetry.” - Please Kill Me

“An absorbing and transporting exploration of mysticism and menial labor in contemporary America.” - The Big Takeover

ARTWORK BY ALAN FORBES

“Saturday Night Sage” : HERE // WATCH 

“At a time when society is beguiled by social media, and the veneer of perfection that it generates, writers such as Lekas who celebrate the imperfect and the overlooked offer a vital antidote to mainstream culture.” -Platen Review

"....a luminous book of poetry about the journey of the Sage from the back bone of the American Dream to the exaltation of enlightenment." - Listen SD

SAN DIEGO’s Blind Owl Records is continuing to innovate the art of rock n’ roll with the release of“Saturday Night Sage,” the lead single from the forthcoming EP Sounds from the Shadow Factory, due out February 19th, and available for pre-order via on Bandcamp and  the Blind Owl Records website. The EP was inspired by the book of poetry and narrative prose Saturday Night Sage by Noah Lekas, released last year on Record Store Day. The book of poetry and narrative prose has garnered comparisons to Dylan, Patti Smith, Jack Kerouac, Nick Cave and Bukowski  that  came highly recommended by Punk Noir Magazine who called it called, “A brutal and brilliant poetry collection crowded with losers and loners, laments and lullabies, and booze and blood-stained torch songs for the twilight hours.” 

The book is about a blue-collar mystic looking for God and his place in Modern Culture.  Navigating whiskey-soaked revelations with religion, folklore and dwindling opportunity, a spiritual journeyman wades through Eastern philosophy, Western theology and the American highways and factories of the Midwest in search of resolve. More than just bar room tales of flagrant dispossession, Saturday Night Sage emerges from the shadows of crumbling factory-life; it gives voice to an often-undervalued American story. Examining the repetitive yet unstable duality of Midwestern life, Saturday Night Sage bets-it-all that a Blue-Collar work ethic is all you need to get out of the factory and Saturday Night.

The book's title poem, Saturday Night Sage was adapted by bay-area psych legends, Howlin’ Rain into a heady audio meditation. An improvisational piece of music, the track captures the exploration inherent in the poem, launching listeners across “utopian plains” and into the “slums of the shadow factory.”  "The Howlin Rain music here was dug out of a rehearsal recording from one of our past jams. It was the kind of thing we play to warm up when we first reconvene, usually someone is still changing guitar strings or setting up an amp and whoever is ready begins an improv and everyone joins in eventually, says Howlin Rain’s Ethan Miller.  “Dan Cervantes took what probably never would have been revisited, heard the spirit in it and brilliantly edited and overdubbed a few subtle elements to really make it 'a thing' and create a piece that could thread into Noah's fantastic Neo-Beat poetry. In the end, that off the cuff, 'found' music source is a really cool vehicle for Noah's words. “ 

Growing up in a working-class household, Lekas was introduced to the mystic almost as early as the menial. Surrounded by Catholics, Buddhists, Hare Krishna’s, Pentecostals, and Hippies, his introduction to the sage’s life of seeking was early and in depth. In Racine, Wisconsin ”The menial always lurked like a long rusty shadow”  says Lekas. Eastern philosophy, Western religion, universal spirituality and blue-collar ethos became the inspiration for the sage character. “He’s sort of everything I dream of being, and everything I’m afraid of becoming” Lekas recounts. While the book isn’t autobiographical, it is rooted in a visceral experience that is so Midwestern and defiantly counterculture that it’s impossible to separate the story from the life of the writer.  

The pre-order for Sounds from the Shadow Factory features a number of formats including vinyl, CD and a number of  bundles, that include signed copies of the vinyl (by both Noah and  Howlin Rain), the book and the incredible EP art and poster were designed legendary  Alan Forbes (Faith No More, Queens of the Stone Age, The Melvins, Mudhoney etc.), who did the cover art for the book.

“Poetry plus music is not as easy a marriage as it seems like it would be,” says Miller,  “but Dan and Noah managed to create a piece where the band isn't just murmuring in the shadows behind the poem and the music works to lift the poet up and serve, sometimes as transportation, sometimes as firepower and sometimes in dialog. A most handsome marriage of mediums in this case, and an honor to be an extended part of the excellent 'Saturday Night Sage' release.”

CONNECT WITH BLIND OWL RECORDS

WEBSITE

CONNECT WITH NOAH C. LEKAS

WEBSITE || INSTAGRAM || TWITTER || MEDIUM

MORE ON NOAH

Noah C Lekas is a poet, essayist, and journalist. His first book, Saturday Night Sage (April 13, 2019) is a collection of narrative prose exploring mysticism and menial labor in contemporary America. It was The Exterminator by William Burroughs and Hot Water Music by Charles Bukowski. Noah found Burroughs through a recording of The ‘Priest’ They Called Him that he did with Kurt Cobain and Hank through the band, Hot Water Music. Since then, music and literature have been inseparable for Lekas.    After calling all four corners of the country home, his work is as uniquely American as his perspective. The first literary release for San Diego record label Blind Owl, the collection gives voice to an often overlooked and undervalued, working-class experience. Hailed as “A punk séance for the beat spirit,” Saturday Night Sage weaves the unwavering ethos of post-industrial Wisconsin with the poetic tradition of New York City and the eccentric Rock ‘n’ Roll soul of San Francisco. 

BABY FUZZ RELEASES THE ENVIRONMENTAL GLAM ROCK ANTHEM “WELCOME TO THE FUTURE”

BABY FUZZ RELEASES THE  ENVIRONMENTAL 

GLAM ROCK ANTHEM 

“WELCOME TO THE FUTURE” 

TITLE TRACK  FROM HIS FORTHCOMING SOPHOMORE ALBUM 

“Fox has a beautiful way of pairing classic American iconography such as baseball with the bitter realities they conceal, such as the KKK and rampant consumerism.” -  Under the Radar

“Baby FuzZ'' is a true fusion of his past work; there are elements of Lambert and Madonna’s glitzy glam, Del Rey’s dramatic melancholy, and Charli’s on-point melodies. Take for example his latest Baby FuzZ song” - Consequence of Sound

“ ….incredibly addicting” - Indy Review

“.....wildly creative, and refreshingly relatable.” - FLAUNT

 Listen to “WELCOME TO THE FUTURE” : HERE 

Austin by way of Los Angeles artist Baby FuzZ releases  the  environmentalist arena rock anthem "Welcome To The Future., ”  the title track from his forthcoming full length album due out early next year.  “‘Welcome To The Future,’  is a glam rock environmentalist song, “ says Baby FuzZ. That sounds like a paradigm, but that's kind of the point. The lyrics comically inhabit the carefree lives of a Karen, a Kevin, and even an alcoholic orca to point out the fleetingness that is earth. I wrote it with Scott Harris (Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes) and Eric Nally (Foxy Shazam, Macklemore - "Downtown"), so it has this incredible arena rock energy that conveys the scale and importance taking care of the planet, but also hyper lowbrow lyrics that make the idea feel more like a dada indictment of our current outlook rather than a didactic ‘We Are The World" spinoff. ‘ I wanted it to set a more forceful tone for my newer music that raises the stakes and makes the things I'm pointing out feel more actionable." Weaving elements of 100 gecs, My Chemical Romance, and Queen, Baby FuzZ creates something wholly original that seems to set an important tone for his sophomore effort that's at once both apocalyptic and fun. 

This genre yo-yoing is becoming BabyFuzZ' s signature style. Unapologetically jumping all over the genre map, with songs ranging from folk ballads to punk anthems and everything in between. As diverse as the music is, the lyrics are a singular and hyper self-aware narrative with strong political and social undertones. This song which is one of four singles that has been released from the forthcoming album Welcome To The Future.... is about our current environmental crisis. This anthemic pop meets glam rock track is sonically miles away from previous single releases, including the acid-soaked “Acid Night”  the pop-punk tongue-in-cheek "We're All Gonna Die!!!," to the mariachi pop-influenced "Weekend Blues ``, to the raucous “Before Our Time,” that features LP.  This wild and eclectic  approach to the music is also reflected in the visuals Baby FuzZ presents of ths songs, included the eterhealy Area 51 inspired video for ““Acid Night” ,” to the warmly absurd video for   “Before Our Time,”  that tells the world's first rock band," through. spaghetti western filter to his fantastically freakish photos done by acclaimed  surrealist photographer Parker Day, known for capturing peacocking eccentrics.

 Last year Baby FuzZ, released his debut album Plastic Paradise independently and embarked on a 100 date DIY tour around the US. Last year was just the start for Baby FuzZ rising from the death rattle of a previous life of overthought pop demos that had finally eaten itself alive with a sense of ennui.  If Plastic Paradise was the first contact, this new album, Welcome To The Future, coming this fall, is sure to be Baby FuzZ’s full-blown alien invasion. It's a wild concept album amazingly relevant to a dystopian America currently in a pandemic, most of it having been written and recorded during quarantine with heavy doses of conservatism, disguised symbolism, and good old fashioned American absurdity. 

Baby FuzZ is the twisted brain child of renown songwriter and producer Sterling Fox, After producing Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games,” Fox was on his way to becoming one of the most in-demand and successful pop songwriters in the business having written chart-topping hits for artists such as Gym Class Heroes, Madonna, Max Martin, Elle King, Avicii, Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears and more (see the full list HERE). Upon the election of Donald Trump, and at the peak of Fox’s songwriting career he disappeared from music and split for Canada, spending a year in Montreal, reemerging as Baby FuzZ.

“With an already impressive musical pedigree under his belt before even stepping into the limelight, it came as no surprise when Baby FuzZ's debut album Plastic Paradise arrived as a collection of quietly powerful songs spanning an expanse of genres and inspirations.” 

  - Ones to Watch

 Coming off as a death rattle of a previous life of overthought pop demos that had finally eaten itself alive with a sense of ennui, Fox released Plastic Paradise, Baby FuzZ’s debut album. The album was a musical hopscotch  skipping from alt-rock to indie pop to EDM.  As diverse as the music is, the lyrics are singular and hyper self aware. Following the release FuzZ embarked on a 100 date diy tour around the US. With touring on hold for the time being,  the only certainty for the future  from Baby FuzZ is the release of Welcome to the Future,  which now, in Mr. FuzZ’s eyes is looking just a little bit brighter. 

KEEP UP WITH BABY FUZZ

WEBSITE || INSTAGRAM || FACEBOOK || YOUTUBE

DAVID COOK RELEASES NEW SINGLE “STRANGE WORLD” TODAY!

DAVID COOK RELEASES NEW SINGLE “STRANGE WORLD” TODAY!

SECOND TRACK FROM FORTHCOMING EP DUE IN FEBRUARY 2021

Pre-Orders For The EP Are Currently Available Online

Photo Credit: Jake Harsh Photography

SHARE/STREAM “STRANGE WORLD” ON SPOTIFY OR YOUTUBE

NASHVILLE, TENN. – Musician and actor David Cook released his second single “Strange World” today from his forthcoming EP due in February 2021 and available for pre-order along with other EP-centric exclusives at DavidCookOfficial.com.  

As David explains, “’Strange World’ is really my homage to this year. Staring out of the windows at the world outside, feeling disconnected from it, and trying to find those moments that would normally exist outside, inside.”

David spoke exclusively to Popculture.com, who premiered the single earlier this week, about the message which he hopes “fans will take [‘Strange World’] for something of their own amid this time of uncertainty.” Popculture.com is hosting an exclusive acoustic performance of the single today. 

It follows the first single “Reds Turn Blue”, released this summer,  a reference to the manic highs (reds) and lows (blues) of anxiety, something David has struggled to cover come since his Season Seven win on American Idol. As David explained to People.com: "This song became a therapeutic process for me, as a way to personify my anxiety and make it something other than me — which in an odd way has helped me navigate my relationship with it."

To capture that struggle, David worked with artist Justin A. Nixon to create a visual that was, “sci-fi and sinister” but left open-ended to represent “that constant battle between anxiety and myself.” The video premiered on Popwrapped.

“Reds Turn Blue” and “Strange World” are the first new music David has released since 2018’s EP Chromance. That same year, Cook made his Broadway debut in “Kinky Boots” as Charlie Price. “I’ve had conversations about finding creative outlets outside of being a musician, but the timing was never right. I love the collaborative aspect of theatre, the idea of being part of a creative team and working it out in front of an audience each night.”

KEEP UP WITH DAVID COOK

PR Materials | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |  YouTube | Spotify

NASHVILLE ARTIST DANIELLE CORMIER "EASES HOLIDAY HEARTACHE" (-AUDIOFEMME) WITH "THIS TIME LAST YEAR" Video Premieres Today On Popwrapped

NASHVILLE ARTIST DANIELLE CORMIER 

"EASES HOLIDAY HEARTACHE" (-AUDIOFEMME) 

WITH "THIS TIME LAST YEAR" 

Video Premieres Today On Popwrapped

WATCH "THIS TIME LAST YEAR" VIDEO: HERE

 “THIS TIME LAST YEAR” (OUT NOW) STREAM  HERE

Nashville, Tenn. - Nashville singer/songwriter Danielle Cormier has released a holiday-inspired piano ballad titled "This Time Last Year" produced by Adam Lester (Peter Frampton) and co-written with Karlie Bartholomew. Today, the video premieres at Popwrapped.

It's a very personal song as Danielle explains, "Karlie and I had talked about writing a holiday song earlier in the year and then we both suffered tragic losses; her grandfather passed away and then my father passes away about a month later. After that I knew the song had to be about how different the holidays would be without such important people in our lives."

Keeping with the intimate nature of the song, Danielle used personal home movies for the video: "They say that the firsts are always difficult after losing someone, especially the holidays. We wanted to write a holiday song about how everything changes after they are gone. The traditions you once knew are no longer the same. Unfortunately this year, a lot of people will be able to relate to that. This video compiles memories of Christmas’ past with footage from home videos and allows my father’s memory to live on.” 

"The single shares many typical elements of holiday songs: minimalistic piano and strings, lyrics about stockings and snow angels, and even sleigh bells. But unlike the cheery mood of your usual Christmas music, Cormier somberly sings about holidays that 'aren't the same' and 'presents wrapped without your name.' Perhaps the most poignant line is, 'I keep expecting you to walk through the door/Just like every winter before.'" - AudioFemme 

"While 'This Time Last Year' was written as an intimate reflection, it encompasses a larger and more universal tone... evokes that bereaved emotion and makes it palpable and tangible..." - American Songwriter

"This piano ballad track gives us all the feels... Holiday music is best when it is hopeful, while still bringing some melancholy with it to the party. Cormier realizes this and beautifully brings this relationship to life." - Ear To The Ground Music

About Danielle Cormier:

Danielle Cormier debuted with Fire and Ice (2018) an “extraordinary” (- Popmatters ) album produced by Adam Lester, a guitarist for Peter Frampton. Frampton played guitar on the track “Can’t Quit You.” She released her first holiday single, “Christmas Is You” in 2018 which gained more than 3 million listens on Spotify. The following year she released “Coming Home This Christmas”.

Danielle Cormier Gets Into The Holiday Spirit With “Coming Home This Christmas” - American Songwriter

“a pure and powerful voice for the new age” -Glide Magazine

 “THIS TIME LAST YEAR” (OUT NOW):  STREAM 

KEEP UP WITH DANIELLE CORMIER

Press Materials | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify

“L.A. : VIEWS” EXHIBITION TO OPEN AT MAKI GALLERY IN TOKYO DECEMBER 4 CURATED BY LOS ANGELES’ CHELSEA RANA

“L.A. : VIEWS”  EXHIBITION 

TO OPEN AT MAKI GALLERY IN TOKYO DECEMBER 4

CURATED BY LOS ANGELES’ CHELSEA RANA

EXCLUSIVELY  FEATURING  ALL  LOS ANGELES  BASED  ARTISTS

 [Left] Sayre Gomez, Untitled, 2020, courtesy of the Artist

[Right] Gabriella Sanchez WE REAP WHAT WE SEW (Past and Present Patterns), 2020, courtesy of the Artist

Chelsea Rana Art Advisory is thrilled to announce the opening of “L.A. : Views” at MAKI Gallery in Tokyo. The show, curated by Chelsea Petronko Rana, highlights the work of sixteen emerging and mid-career Los Angeles-based artists, and will be on on view from December 4 through January 16, 2021. Los Angeles is a city of multitudes – a thriving art scene at odds and in concert with the entertainment industries; indigenous land and frontier histories colliding with cutting-edge technology and architecture; a web of freeways connecting distinct beach, wetland, and mountain terrains. The artists included in the exhibition reflect this vigor, with works that express manifold interpretations of the region today. With this show, Rana is looking to spotlight the rich fabric of the Los Angeles artistic community and introduce the work by this exceptional group of artists on a global scale. “MAKI Gallery is a perfect fit for this show,” says Rana. “I have worked with the founders Masahiro Maki and Yoshimi Maki for quite some time, and they specifically have championed many LA-based artists. Japan has its own very rich art history, and there are many incredible collectors in Japan, but Japan still feels like it is distanced from the art world that we know here in Los Angeles. Art has always served as a great connector, breaking cultural and geographical barriers and I feel very fortunate that I am able to bring these two art world’s closer together, and thus making the world feel a little smaller.”

The city of Los Angeles provides inspiration and is the subject matter of a number of the pieces in the show. The work of Gabriella Sanchez, Amir H. Fallah, Shizo Saldamando, Jaime Munoz, and Greg Ito are inspired by rich immigrant culture and the variants of the immigrant experiences in Los Angeles. Amir H. Fallah brings together classical Western representational painting with the dense pattern-making of his Islamic heritage in bold colors and architectural canvases. Each holding an object like a talisman or sacred offering these contorted, anonymous figures shrouded in florals and other fantastic motifs speak to a personal narrative of belonging. Gabriella Sanchez takes a decidedly punk, militant approach. In her sculpture, “WE REAP WHAT WE SEW (Past and Present Patterns),” the eponymous text is emblazoned on a handmade flag alongside serape textile samples, bandanas, flannel and silkscreens of archival images documenting conflicts between Mexican immigrant communities and the American government. This aesthetic continues in canvas works which collage paint, neon graffiti and stencils with archival imagery. Painter Greg Ito’s flat, graphic compositions echo a mysterious landscape in transition, riddled with coded symbologies. A sky-blue butterfly flashes above a floating door, promising an alternative future timescape of a lush, wet, sun-basked paradise just beyond the threshold. Ito’s interest in narrative extends to his untraditional canvas choices, in this case a circle, in the past, a keyhole, a dome, each shape both devising and mirroring the corporeal world within his own illustrative universe. Shizo Saldamando portrays members of her own community with work rendered in paint and the ballpoint pen style of the paño tradition, first begun by incarcerated. Part homage, part documentation, the eyeline of each subject is witness to a changing city amidst accelerated gentrification and urban sprawl.

The diversity of Los Angeles is not only in the cultural make-up of the city but in the actual landscapes and geography. Sayre Gomez is known for his work of painting and interpreting scenes from the city. Gomez’s “Untitled” is painted to mimic a metal sign that reads SMILE, which is followed by a leering mouth. A chain extends from the middle of the object to the floor. 

An eerie and ambiguous reproduction, Gomez refrains the signage of the American West as manmade relics, evidence of a communal psychology all but disguised as banal. The Los Angeles Times said of his last show that “The vivid friction between his paintings’ flawless precision and their subjects’ utter disaster is the show’s bracing leitmotif. “ Lily Stockman dwells around the mystical with paintings of sumptuous geometries with centered simple, ambiguous, u-like shapes. Her paintings are abstracted versions of flora found around Los Angeles. Despite the hardness of these abstractions, Stockman’s hand is loose and intuitive. Her surfaces are ethereal coatings of diluted paint. Deeply concerned with color relationships, these linen canvases are intricate reflections on time and the physical body. 

“Contrary to the metropolitan melting pot, Los Angeles is a meeting point, an intersection of different attitudes, generations and cultural legacies, driven by desire and innovation as much as contrast and change, says Rana. “Making a left turn in this town is difficult, but as these visionaries can attest, if you want to get anywhere, just keep going forward, forward, forward.”

CONNECT WITH CHELSEA RANA

WEBSITE || MAKI GALLERY || INSTAGRAM

AWARD-WINNING FILM “ELECTRIC JESUS” CONTINUES TO CHARM AT FILM FESTIVALS WINS “BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE” AT 2020 ROME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

AWARD-WINNING FILM “ELECTRIC JESUS” CONTINUES TO CHARM AT FILM FESTIVALS 

WINS “BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE” 

AT 2020 ROME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 

VIDEO FOR “COMMANDO FOR CHRIST” HERE

VIDEO FOR “GIRL (I LOVE JESUS TOO”)  HERE

VIDEO FOR “BARABBAS” HERE

GREENVILLE, SC – Coming-of-age music-comedy “Electric Jesus” continues to charm audiences and critics across the country this fall with its latest win at the Rome International Film Festival 2020 for “Best Narrative Feature.”

“We were thrilled to be selected as Rome International Film Festival’s opening night film. RIFF is a well-curated, widely-respected, filmmaker-driven festival — certainly one of the best in the Southeast,” says writer/director Chris White. “Then, to be selected as RIFF’s Best Narrative Feature...we’re all so happy! It’s been a tough year for film festivals and indie filmmakers, so ending our fall festival tour on such a high note is a gift our entire team will cherish for years to come.”

“Electric Jesus” follows the ill-fated journey of a never-famous 80’s Christian hair metal band (316) who spends the summer of 1986 playing rock music meant to ‘make Jesus famous’.

Earlier in November, the film took home the awards for “Best Picture,” “Best Director” (Chris White) and “Best Supporting Performance” (Brian Baumgartner) at the 2020 Orlando Film Festival and “Best Narrative Feature” at the 2020 Fayetteville Film Festival.

Written and directed by Chris White, the film features Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club), Brian Baumgartner (The Office), new/emerging stars Wyatt Lenhart (singer/guitarist), Will Oliver (lead guitarist), Gunner Willis (bassist) and Caleb Hoffmann (drummer) as 316, Andrew Eakle (sound man) and Shannon Hutchinson (preacher’s daughter).

With an original score and music by Daniel Smith (Danielson Famile), fictitious band 316 plays an otherworldly mash-up of 80’s hair metal and vacation Bible school that wears its teenage protagonists’ hearts on its sleeve while rocking their socks off. The soundtrack will be released on Joyful Noise Recordings in early 2021.

“Electric Jesus doesn’t want to save you. But it does want to prove that Christian rock can have a soul.” – Document Journal

“Take a screenwriter who is also a music fan and bring him together with a songwriter who’s a movie fan and you have the main ingredients necessary to create the soundtrack for Electric Jesus…” – American Songwriter

“White understands that the best way to bring religious and non-religious people on the same plane is through music, and he gives Daniel Smith free rein to create some head-banging numbers. Since all of the song sequences are shot, edited, acted, and sung to perfection, you cannot help but enjoy it. That’s religious propaganda done well and despite being an atheist, I respect that.” – Mashable

"One of the best 'band' movies I’ve ever seen—one, because the film is a bit of a love letter to Stryper and the whole 80’s Christian rock scene, but also because it shows Christian characters in a way that doesn’t hate on them OR turn them into fanatical, Jesus superheroes. It’s just real, honest, true." – Michael Sweet (of Stryper)

KEEP UP WITH ELECTRIC JESUS

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

ELLE BELLE RELEASES HIS PROPHETIC POST EVERYTHING ALBUM OUT TODAY VIA LITTLE RECORD COMPANY

ELLE BELLE RELEASES HIS PROPHETIC 

POST EVERYTHING ALBUM

OUT TODAY VIA LITTLE RECORD COMPANY

“Christopher Pappas has a tough act to follow … himself.” - Buzzbands LA 

 “An experimental pop maverick. Thinly cloaked as his views may be, Pappas offers a fresh take on the nation's social climate while also expanding his sonic territory.” -  All Music  

LISTEN TO POST EVERYTHING : HERE | VISUAL LIVESTREAM 

After a year of “unprecedented” events and cultural shifts that will  have a lasting effect for years to come Los Angeles songwriter and composer Elle Belle has risen to the challenge to answer that question, “where do we go from here?,” with a careful examination of events,  thoughts and feelings that have been swirling in his head leading into, and wading through this dumpster fire of a year. 

“Through personal, political, and cultural grieving, these songs confront the hard truths of life while seeking whatever positivity can be found.” - V13

Post Everything is about reckonings. Christopher Pappas, who writes and records as Elle Belle, had reached a level of emotional fatigue of the last few years that filled his heart with a deep misanthropic nihilism. Through personal, political, and cultural grieving, these songs rake through the ashes of an era and ask - where do we go from here? Post Everything is a journey through this nihilistic wasteland, and that if we dig deep enough, we can still find droplets of hope. “The reward of putting out an album is all the more sweeter after the year we’ve had,” says Pappas. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I hope, Post Everything, despite its untidy bouts with nihilism, is a perfect soundtrack for this journey.”

“Pappas’ vocals take us through the form with a catchy indie-rock feel and palm-muted guitars chugging out a steady pulse.“ -  Staccatofy

Times of crisis and uncertainty have a tendency to make us nostalgic and yearn for the comforts of the past. Pappas lures the listener in from the get go with the very first song and  title track that generously tips its hat to the  90’s rock Pappas grew up on, and has garnered comparison to Dinosaur Jr./J. Mascis.  There are additional nuggets of comforting nostalgia in tracks like “Red Light Blues,” reminiscent of post-punk 80’s synths wrapped in the melancholy of the Smiths, “Holy Light” and “Standing Room Only,” that borrows from the early 60’s pop psychedelia of the Animals. 

“Elle Belle’s music remains characteristically elastic — it’s the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and beyond — and his outlook on the general state of things fluctuates accordingly.” - BuzzBands LA

“Elle Belle is a musical shape-shifter and phase shifter, his music ranging from synth-driven dance tunes to voracious garage rock songs and shiny pop anthems.” - Atwood Magazine

Pappas is artist’s artist, who in addition to writing all the songs, mixing a number of them, Pappas had a keen vision for  how to visually translate the music. The art work for the album, and singles,, “Post Everything” and “Everyone Knows (But They Won’t Tell You),” leading into the album release were all derived from photos Pappas took of his hometown.

“I had a recurring dream as a child where I would stumble upon a place in my hometown that I had never seen before, Pappas told Culture Collide. “This felt impossible in the small rural town of Auburn, New Hampshire, but there among the familiar geography, would be a road I had somehow missed. I’d wake up before I got the chance to explore, but the possibility that my hometown had places left to discover exhilarated me. So, I travelled back to my hometown in search of these hidden places. I’d retrace my steps to the edge of reality and dream and scan the landscape, looking for the street, or secret door that would lead me to that undiscovered place. There is a mishmash of influences—musical, political, personal—that were mixed into the pot when making Post Everything, and while recording the album I started to have that dream again.” Pappas describes   NH  as suffering from “urban fatigue,” which feels much aligned with unpolished rawness of Post Everything. In addition to the photos Pappas has crafted a wildly creative and visually stunning live stream that can viewed HERE. started at 10am PT.

Post Everything follows up the sprawling 20 track opus Wacko Gumbo that featured Lucius and Misty Boyce (Lord Huron, Sarah Bareilles) and his most recent release No Signal, that received rave reviews for its social commentary and his brilliant mixing of genres from dark pop, to post-punk, synth rock and a hint experimental.

Mixed with a variety of genres; psych-rock, prog, electronic, Elle Belle continues Pappas’ knack for rich, intricate songwriting. He has written music for NASA, composing the soundtracks for the Juno and Rosetta mission official docu-series. He also composed an award-winning musical (“Pope! An Epic Musical”) with the Wall Street Journal praising it, proclaiming “[Pope!] is proof that the musical [genre] isn’t dead!” He is also a prolific writer, churning out 2 T.V. pilots and a new full-length horror feature that are currently in development. His dense and eclectic catalog is why many consider Pappas as one of America’s most prolific and captivating under-the-radar artists.

KEEP UP WITH ELLE BELLE

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Soundcloud | Spotify

COMING-OF-AGE MUSIC-COMEDY FILM “ELECTRIC JESUS” WINS THREE AWARDS AT ORLANDO FILM FESTIVAL INCLUDING “BEST PICTURE”

COMING-OF-AGE MUSIC-COMEDY FILM “ELECTRIC JESUS” 

WINS THREE AWARDS AT ORLANDO FILM FESTIVAL

INCLUDING “BEST PICTURE”

Original Score by Daniel Smith (Danielson Famile) and Original Songs by Smith and

Director Chris White – Soundtrack Available on Joyful Noise Recordings in 2021

Listen To Chris White and Daniel Smith on The Blacksheep Podcast on 11/10

VIDEO FOR “COMMANDO FOR CHRIST” HERE

VIDEO FOR “GIRL (I LOVE JESUS TOO”)  HERE

VIDEO FOR “BARABBAS” HERE

GREENVILLE, SC – “Electric Jesus” - the coming-of-age music-comedy that follows the ill-fated journey of a never-famous 80’s Christian hair metal band (316) who spends the summer of 1986 playing rock music meant to ‘make Jesus famous’ – has won “Best Picture,” “Best Director” (Chris White) and “Best Supporting Performance” (Brian Baumgartner) at the Orlando Film Festival. The film is currently screening at film festivals across the United States.

Written and directed by Chris White, the film features Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club), Brian Baumgartner (The Office), new/emerging stars Wyatt Lenhart (singer/guitarist), Will Oliver (lead guitarist), Gunner Willis (bassist) and Caleb Hoffmann (drummer) as 316, Andrew Eakle (sound man) and Shannon Hutchinson (preacher’s daughter).

With an original score and music by Daniel Smith (Danielson Famile), fictitious band 316 plays an otherworldly mash-up of 80’s hair metal and vacation Bible school that wears its teenage protagonists’ hearts on its sleeve while rocking their socks off. The soundtrack will be released on Joyful Noise Recordings in early 2021.

“Electric Jesus doesn’t want to save you. But it does want to prove that Christian rock can have a soul.” – Document Journal

“Take a screenwriter who is also a music fan and bring him together with a songwriter who’s a movie fan and you have the main ingredients necessary to create the soundtrack for Electric Jesus…” – American Songwriter

“White understands that the best way to bring religious and non-religious people on the same plane is through music, and he gives Daniel Smith free rein to create some head-banging numbers. Since all of the song sequences are shot, edited, acted, and sung to perfection, you cannot help but enjoy it. That’s religious propaganda done well and despite being an atheist, I respect that.” – Mashable

"One of the best 'band' movies I’ve ever seen—one, because the film is a bit of a love letter to Stryper and the whole 80’s Christian rock scene, but also because it shows Christian characters in a way that doesn’t hate on them OR turn them into fanatical, Jesus superheroes. It’s just real, honest, true." – Michael Sweet (of Stryper)

FILM FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

11/5-14 \ Fayetteville, AR

Fayetteville Film Festival

11/12-22 \ Rome, GA

Rome International Film Festival 

11/14 \ St. George, UT

RFM Cinema Conference

11/20-29 \ Carrboro, NC

Carrboro Film Festival

KEEP UP WITH ELECTRIC JESUS

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify

MONIQUE DEBOSE EMPOWERS WOMEN TO ASK FOR “MORE” NEW SINGLE OUT TODAY

MONIQUE DEBOSE EMPOWERS WOMEN TO ASK FOR 

“MORE” NEW SINGLE OUT TODAY

“Trained in jazz and skilled at vocal improvisation, DeBose hits high notes and executes runs with percussion and palpable passion. “ - American Songwriter
Monique’s message and expression comes in multiple forms – as a singer, songwriter, actor, poet and playwright – making her a boundless artist that can’t be categorized.  - Joy Sounds Music
“Speaking with DeBose, it's clear why she gets invited to TED Talks: Her energy can fill up a room and leave you wanting more.” -  SONG FACTS

WATCH AND LISTEN TO “MORE”: HERE 

“The video for “MORE” explores the ways in which Monique, like most women, embodies all the roles she plays in her life – the mom, the businesswoman, the homemaker, the voice of reason, and the rockstar. We also see her move from a place of choosing doubt, fear, rage, to choosing STRENGTH and, essentially, MORE for herself.” -  Black Girl Nerds

Los Angeles based artist and activist Monique DeBose is inspiring women to choose  “MORE,” with her powerful new single released today. “MORE has always been my personal anthem that I quietly kept in the back of my head for years,” Monique told Black Girl Nerds on her IG Live conversation  with the publication this week  “and now I hope it can be an anthem for  everyone who identifies as female . It’s so important to consciously decide as women what we are choosing MORE of for ourselves so we can band together and support each other to make it happen!”

The packs a punch with lyrics that state “It’s time for us all to take our ovaries off the shelf and choose MORE!”  The song has inspired  DeBose’s community who  have begun posting on social media in response to the message of MORE, and DeBose couldn’t be more thrilled: “The cool thing is that when we write down and declare to the world what we are choosing MORE of, we uphold each other and encourage our sister community to do the same,” says Debose“The world is challenging right now for all of us and we are all facing moments in which we feel that we don’t have a choice.  I sing this song to help women, myself included, to remember that they can always choose MORE.”

“MORE,”   is the follow up to the equally powerful song “Rally Call.” “Rally Call” was released on August 28th, a pivotal date in history in the fight for civil rights. It was the day Emmett Till was abducted in 1955, the day Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, and in 2008 it was the day that Barack Obama became the first black man to accept the Democratic nomination for President, going on to be the first black President in U.S. history.   DeBose wrote “Rally Call” with Isaac and Thorald Koren as a call to action for the oppressed and those who have lived under the heavy weight of systemic racism for hundreds of years. The performance footage in the video was shot during the height of the George Floyd protests at the Great Wall of Crenshaw, a Los Angeles landmark depicting pivotal figures from African American history. The video garnered over 150K views upon its release striking a chord with people all over the world, including the United Nations, who invited DeBose to perform the song at their SDG Action Zone Conference last month. Learn more about her “Rally Call” initiatives HERE. 

“‘Rally Call,’ which serves as a clarion call for an unequivocal embrace of all facets of one’s identity, with the goal of living freely.  - Cliché Magazine

DeBose is not being coy about being an artist with a mission to empower the powerless and inspire change.  “MORE” is  a personal anthem that Monique wrote for herself years ago when she was a young college graduate taking a leap of faith and abandoning the corporate world to chase her dream of becoming a jazz singer. It had stayed in her head and made an appearance in the odd live set- until now. “Today, at this crazy time in the world, I felt compelled to bring this song to life- to get into the studio and record it and to shoot a video that speaks to women everywhere reminding them that they always have the ability to choose MORE for themselves.” 

The video for "MORE" explores the ways in which Monique, like most women, embodies just a few of the roles she plays life - the mom, the business woman, the homemaker, the voice of reason and the rockstar. The song and accompanying video is a call to action for women  to consciously choose “MORE” for themselves and declare it to the world  When we write it down, we are more  likely to commit to it for ourselves, so DeBose is not  asking women to want and hope for “MORE,” but to take action by writing down and sharing what they are choosing “MORE” of for themselves. The video has started a movement on social media that began with Monique’s inner circle of women, inspired by the song, started creating and sharing videos of what they are choosing more of and has gone on to inspire women around the world to join in the movement for “MORE.” You can see some of the videos the song has inspired via DeBose’s Instagram HERE. 

DeBose holds a master's degree in Spiritual Psychology and a BA in Mathematics from UC Berkeley.  Monique calls Los Angeles home, is married to a Brit, and is raising two compassionate, culturally intelligent boys. Her life and upbringing, being raised by an African American father from the segregated South and Irish American mother from upstate New York, is the inspiration for her work, pushing people to step out of seeing themselves and the world,  as black or white, but to embrace all of who they are and to live life in full color.

DeBose honed her craft at Billy Higgin’s famous World Stage jazz club in Leimert Park, as well as in various jazz bands.  She is a trained jazz vocal improviser, and once led a community of over 500 improv singers across the world.  In 2005 and 2007, she released two albums – Choose the Experience (featuring Kamasi Washington) and Choose the Experience 2 – and performed internationally, in India, China, London, and Amsterdam. This idea of “Living Life in Full Color” is the driving force behind her artistic output. DeBose received rave reviews for her one-woman show “Mulatto Math: Summing up the Race Equation in America” winning the  Producer’s Encore Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival before being transformed into a workshop which she has performed at UCLA and MindValley. DeBose was also a featured artist and performer at TEDx where she performed “Rally Call” live. 

KEEP UP WITH MONIQUE

Website || Facebook || Instagram || YouTube || Spotify

BABY FUZZ RELEASES THE ETHEREAL APOCALYPSE INSPIRED “ACID NIGHT”

BABY FUZZ RELEASES THE ETHEREAL APOCALYPSE INSPIRED 

“ACID NIGHT”

FROM HIS FORTHCOMING SOPHOMORE ALBUM 

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

“.....wildly creative, and refreshingly relatable.” - FLAUNT

 “ ….incredibly addicting” - Indy Review
“Imagine a kind of surreal Jungle or The Go! Team re-imagined by an American melody guru and you'd be close, with Baby FuzZ matching addictive songwriting to some other-worldly tendencies.” - Clash

 Listen to “Acid Night!” : WACTH // LISTEN

“ The track feels like a warm come down from the caffeinated high of the previous tracks, bringing together psych pop elements from Tame Impala or MGMT with the dreamy aesthetics of Beach House. With whispered vocals, swirling ambient washes of synths, and gorgeous saxophone, the track both is a far cry from Baby FuzZ’s previous singles, and yet feels all his own as well.” - Under the Radar

Austin Texas by way of Los Angeles Baby FuzZ has released his ethereal and psychedelic new single “Acid Night.”  Baby FuzZ is the audiovisual glam rock and “normcore"  brainchild of producer and songwriter Sterling Fox. After producing Lan Del Rey’s “Video Games,” Fox was on his way to becoming one of the most in-demand and successful pop songwriters in the business having written chart-topping hits for artists such as Gym Class Heroes, Madonna, Max Martin, Elle King, Avicii, Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears and more (see the full list HERE). Upon the election of Donald Trump, and at the peak of Fox’s songwriting career he disappeared from music and split for Canada, spending a year in Montreal, reemerging as Baby FuzZ.

“ Acid Night”  is the fourth single from, Baby FuzZ’s forthcoming sophomore full-length album Welcome To The Future, that explores living in 2020.  "Acid Night” is a song about the idea of living in dystopia. Fox wrote the song during an acid trip at a baseball game. It was written through a hazy lens of a looming dark vision of America that Fox had at the time, which ended up being very prophetic. Sonically this acid-soaked song is miles away from his previous eclectic single releases, the pop-punk tongue-in-cheek "We're All Gonna Die!!!," to the mariachi and pop-influenced "Weekend Blues" and his most recent release the anthemic pop meets glam rock track "Before Our Time" featuring LP.

“....with the single “Weekend Blues,” Baby FuzZ presents an uninhibited mariachi and pop-influenced single that gives the listener a taste of what’s to come from the wild concept album. “ - V13

 “ “Similar to The Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died,” the multi-talented musician, who has worked with the likes of Madonna, Max Martin, Elle King, Avicii, Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears and more, has put his own quirky spin on the topic of dying with his latest track “We’re All Gonna Die!!!” - Bring the Noise 

This genre yo-yoing is becoming BabyFuzZ' s signature style. Unapologetically jumping all over the genre map, with songs ranging from folk ballads to punk anthems and everything in between. As diverse as the music is, the lyrics are a singular and hyper self-aware narrative with strong political and social undertones. Last year Baby FuzZ, released his debut album Plastic Paradise independently and embarked on a 100 date DIY tour around the US. Last year was just the start for Baby FuzZ rising from the death rattle of a previous life of overthought pop demos hat had finally eaten itself alive with a sense of ennui.  If Plastic Paradise was the first contact, this new album, Welcome To The Future is sure to be Baby FuzZ’s full-blown alien invasion. It's a wild concept album amazingly relevant to a dystopian America currently in a pandemic, most of it having been written and recorded during quarantine with heavy doses of conservationism, disguised symbolism, and good old fashioned American absurdity. 

KEEP UP WITH BABY FUZZ

WEBSITE || FACEBOOK || INSTAGRAM || YOUTUBE || SPOTIFY

GIRLS WRITE NASHVILLE ANNOUNCES SING THROUGH THE QUARANTINE

GIRLS WRITE NASHVILLE ANNOUNCES 

SING THROUGH THE QUARANTINE  

A FOUR-PART VIRTUAL ALBUM RELEASE CELEBRATION  

 & FUNDRAISER 

CONNECT WITH GIRLS WRITE NASHVILLE: 

Website || Facebook || Instagram || Twitter || Bandcamp || SoundCloud 

Nashville-based, nationally-acclaimed 501c(3) Girls Write Nashville* is thrilled to announce Sing Through The Quarantine, the program’s newest student-written and produced album, set for release in early 2021. Each season, students enrolled in the program work with professional female artist mentors, learn to write and produce original music in a supportive community of peers, and are guided through the vulnerable process of releasing that work into the world. 

Due to the onset of COVID-19, the program, like countless others, was forced to adapt as Safer-At-Home initiatives began when the students were preparing to record. Girls Write Nashville pivoted and arranged a remote-recording project, created a full suite of low-cost virtual classes for K-12 students, and coordinated a Teen Takeover edition of Nashville’s social justice street newspaper The Contributor. 

“So much of the value of Girls Write Nashville is in learning leadership skills: becoming artistically resilient, speaking authentically, advocating for your voice, and overcoming self-doubt and fear of rejection,” says program co-founder Jen Starsinic. “Not making a record this year really wasn’t an option to us. It just didn’t seem within our mission or what we try to teach and model for our participants.” 

Students each wrote a “song from quarantine,” then worked, for the first time in program history, on recording their own songs at home, using a cloud-based recording app. Songs were then sent to local female studio musicians to help complete the tracks. The result is an inspiring, entirely remotely-recorded album of youth-written songs about life in 2020 that ranged from rap and spoken word pieces about racial justice to a cheeky trance-pop take on toxic relationships and social distancing, a screamo-metal catharsis about the pandemic, and bittersweet, beautiful embraces of the full emotional range of loneliness and isolation.  

Girls Write Nashville also transferred its programming to an original distance learning model which includes a new gender-neutral wing of programming called Loudmouth Community Music. Through Loudmouth, the Girls Write Nashville was able to offer free online songwriting classes to all Nashville students during the month of May and will continue programming in the spring semester. 

“Being in this program brought so much excitement to my day,” commented one young participant. “I really looked forward to this safe space where I could be creative and have a good time. I learned more about music and how much effort it really takes. I really appreciate music more now. I have had the opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings in my melodies and verses. Girls Write Nashville is the best program yet! Thank you to all the loving and amazing people involved.” 

Sing Through The Quarantine kicked off on October 14th with the launch of a crowdfunding fundraiser and the opening of free registration for a four-part virtual release celebration that will take place on November 8th, 15th, and 22nd with the last virtual event occurring after Giving Tuesday on Sunday, December 6th.    

Click HERE to reserve free tickets to the virtual events. Supporters can make direct donations HERE .  

Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit Girls Write Nashville’s scholarship fund which allows the organization to provide free, equity-based programming to Nashville students. Supporters will receive an advance copy of the album, merchandise, perks, and access to additional virtual concerts and workshops.  

Registration is now open for programming starting in January 2021. Girls Write Nashville and their co-ed wing Loudmouth Community Music currently offer free Girls Write Nashville programs to certain MNPS schools, their Girls Write Nashville All-City Mentorship program open to all students in Davidson County, and low-cost ($20-40/month) co-ed Loudmouth Community Music K-2nd, 3rd-5th grade, and middle and high school classes. All programs are taught by the organization’s trained trauma-informed teachers using original modernized music education curriculum focusing on songwriting and production and guided by the values of equity and empowerment. Interested students should go to www.girlswritenashville.com to complete a basic registration information form and will be contacted by a staff member to coordinate enrollment.    

*ABOUT GIRLS WRITE NASHVILLE:  

Girls Write Nashville is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to empower expression and build a creative music community and mentorship for girls. Started in 2016 as a community arts project on a $2,800 Metro Arts THRIVE grant, it has since grown into a vibrant small nonprofit start-up serving over 200 students and has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, USA Today, The Tennessean, The Nashville Scene, and American Songwriter Magazine, amongst others. It is proud to be one of the only music education organizations nation-wide designed from the ground up to ensure the values of equity and empowerment in its program structure and curriculum.  

By focusing on community-building, authenticity, and the vulnerability of creative risk-taking, Girls Write Nashville participants not only receive a world-class music and songwriting education, but they find their voice: building the confidence, leadership, self-advocacy, and social-emotional skills needed to truly thrive as human beings in any arena.    

The organization is honored for support from partners such as Morris Light & Sound, USA Today Network/Gannett Foundation, Hattie B’s, Predators Foundation, Bart Durham Injury Law, Fanny’s House of Music, Green Iris Records, BMI Foundation, D’addario Foundation, and Alphagraphics.  

OUT TODAY: NATALIE SCHLABS’ NEW LP DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE

OUT TODAY:   NATALIE SCHLABS’ NEW LP  

DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE   

Rare is the album in which each song contained therein constitutes must-listen material, but with Don’t Look Too Close, Schlabs pulls off the feat, imbuing each of its nine standout compositions with a radiant glow, refreshing clarity and revelatory grace.  - Albumism 

 Schlabs’ voice possesses an audible kindness to it that allows her to carry her performance with the calmness and sincerity necessary to portray a song crafted on the kind of love that overreaches any one type of relationship. - American Songwriter  

Throughout the course of Don’t Look Too Close, Schlabs establishes her position as a link between the past and future, memory and imagination, child and parent. Her music plays with opposites throughout the project...Schlabs’ new project is, from start to finish, a meditation on the often surprising and seemingly self-contradictory counterparts of life’s biggest changes and challenges. - No Depression 

Natalie Schlabs not only writes what she knows but conveys the meaning of an emotionally charged experience with such tender-hearted expression that it's so easy to fall in love with her songs - PopMatters 

Delicate harmonies and swaying effects feel like a fresh breeze blowing through a field of flowers - Ones To Watch  

 Lyrical sincerity with gorgeous melodies...Natalie Schlabs delivers gilded, Americana-infused sweetness in a song that feels immediately timeless" - Atwood Magazine  

If your life feels like an endless struggle right now...Natalie Schlabs has a message of hope for you. - Audiofemme    

Natalie has kept herself busy this year, and we are all reaping the benefits - Underground Music Collective 

Brings to mind the timeless and melodic pop of the ’70s (plus some crisp Rilo Kiley-esque guitar hooks) with sweet lyrics about someone coming into your life” - Spectral Nights 

Mellow, yet upbeat, and it fills the heart and mind with thoughts and feelings about those that you hold dear. - The Indy Review 

LISTEN: DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE  

Nashville-based, Texas-bred singer/songwriter Natalie Schlabs has released her new album Don’t Look Too Close. The songs, written while Schlabs was pregnant with her first child, sparked much introspection and reflection, and allowed her to process her fears about motherhood. Each of the album’s nine shimmering tracks live in the tension between the beauty and heartbreak surrounding our closest relationships.   

“‘Don’t Look Too Close’ capitalizes on the duality of the past and the future,” No Depression said of the album’s opener and title track. “In the same breath as she reflects on the struggles she didn’t see her parents having as a kid, Schlabs thinks ahead to her own child’s life, hoping he won’t notice the things that are difficult for her.” In it, Schlabs confronts the inevitability of making mistakes, a cycle that seems nearly impossible to avoid. The song’s accompanying video is about being able to take an honest look at who we really are - the good and the bad. Change can come simply from that awareness. “That Early Love, which PopMatters called “a song made for these desperate times,” celebrates the beauty of enduring love while “Go Outside,” which Ones To Watch called “the perfect indie soundtrack to a summer afternoon,” encourages us to put down our screens and enjoy the beauty us. Schlabs provides encouragement in “See What I See,” giving hope to others who are struggling, and lead single “Home Is You,” the accompanying video of which features fellow artists and friends like Robby Hecht, the members of Oliver the Crow, Betsy Phillips, and gospel/soul powerhouse Liz Vice, celebrates finding your “person.” Bringing the album full-circle is album closer “Ophelia,” written for a friend who lost her daughter, “reaches into the most extreme dichotomy there is, that of life and death,” commented No Depression.  

WATCH: “ENDLESS LOVE” 

WATCH: “DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE” 

WATCH: “THAT EARLY LOVE” 

  WATCH: “HOME IS YOU” 

Don’t Look Too Close, co-produced by Juan Solorzano and Zachary Dyke, allowed Schlabs to step into indie territory with a compelling mix of instrumentation laced with solo vocals that bloom into easy, delicate harmonies. While her lyrics and arrangements are poignant and compelling, the true magic is in the timbre of Schlabs’ crystalline vocals. “There’s something about the way her voice rises and falls, like the crest of the wave in an ocean of slide guitars and strings,“ said Rockmommy, and added that Schlabs radiates “serious Stevie Nicks vibes.” “Even the most cursory of listens to the inspired assemblage of songs that comprise Don’t Look Too Close validates that she deserves all of the plaudits sure to come her way,” said Albumism. “And if there’s any justice in this world, her career trajectory will surely find her scaling even loftier heights in the years to come.” 

DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE TRACK LIST: 

THAT EARLY LOVE 

DON’T LOOK TOO CLOSE 

EYE OF THE STORM 

SEE WHAT I SEE 

GO OUTSIDE 

ENDLESS LOVE 

HOME IS YOU 

SEE IN THE DARK 

OPHELIA 

CONNECT WITH NATALIE SCHLABS:  

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

LIZZIE WEBER ANNOUNCES NEW EP SET FOR RELEASE JANUARY 22ND TITLE TRACK “HOW DOES IT FEEL” OUT TODAY

LIZZIE WEBER ANNOUNCES NEW EP  

SET FOR RELEASE JANUARY 22ND   

TITLE TRACK “HOW DOES IT FEEL”  

OUT TODAY 

Achingly beautiful songs - LADYGUNN 

Poetic folk...and she delivers it beautifully - Culture Collide 

A very intimate sound, as if Weber is simply sitting a few feet away and strumming these songs just for…well…you - Seattle Weekly 

We look forward to what Lizzie Weber does next - No Depression 

A songwriter who can effortless cross genres and marry folk, pop, classical, jazz, and indie rock. - Glide Magazine 

It takes a brave artist to wear her scars out in public for all the world to see…Lizzie Weber gives us the opportunity to examine our own relationships, not to judge how we fare in comparison to her, but rather to gain insight from her experiences - For Folk’s Sake  

LISTEN: “HOW DOES IT FEEL”   

St. Louis-bred, Seattle-based singer/songwriter Lizzie Weber has announced her forthcoming EP How Does It Feel, due out on January 22nd, with the release of the title track, available everywhere today.  

"I wrote these three songs in isolation back in April,” Weber explains of the EP. “The nation had just begun to shut down due to COVID and these pieces sort of poured out of me in an unusual way. All of them were written in a single day which is not my typical songwriting process. I wrote 'How Does It Feel' when I was so focused on the meaning of feeling 'safe.' Am I safe to feel? Safe in my own skin and body? Safe to touch? And what was my personal experience was when confronting the emotions that left me feeling anything other than safe? It is an anthem of gratitude for having someone in your life that keeps you grounded in strength and resilience."  

“‘How Does It Feel’ features her breathtaking vocals paired with lyrics that everyone can relate to, especially at this time,” says Stage Right Secrets in the song’s premiere. "I’m quite proud of this song and hope it resonates with listeners,” Weber says. “In a time where so many are suffering, emotionally or physically, or both, I wanted to express my own vulnerability and make art that highlights how that openness calls for empathy from our closest loved ones and strangers alike." 

Weber credits her St. Louis roots for providing her a grounded foundation, strong values, and a sense of self - a self-awareness that enables her to write emotionally-charged music from a very vulnerable, personal place. Following the success of her 2014 eponymous full-length debut, Weber appeared on the cover of the Riverfront Times as one of “six artists to watch in 2015.” From there, she composed the music for the title track (“Vida Cafeinada”) of the documentary feature film Caffeinated.  

In the fall of 2015, she produced and self-released her rendition of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box,” and worked with Grammy-award winning producer Sheldon Gomberg (Ben Harper, Ryan Adams, Rickie Lee Jones). After spending the last two years both in Seattle and on the island of Fidalgo, Weber traveled to Iceland in March 2018 to collaborate with Academy Award-winning artist Markéta Irglová (The Swell Season/Once). Together, they produced and recorded and released two songs - "River" and "Free Floating.”  

Now, Weber is preparing to release her new three-song EP How Does It Feel in January 2021; the title track, an anthem of gratitude, explores the meaning behind feeling ‘safe’ and finding strength in yourself with the support of loved ones. All three songs were written in isolation accordingly, this theme is explored throughout all three songs and focuses on what can truly unite us all: empathy, and love. 

Be sure to tune in to Lizzie Weber’s single release show tonight at 7pm PT/10pm ET, click HERE for details.  

HOW DOES IT FEEL TRACK LIST 

HOW DOES IT FEEL 

LAY DOWN YOUR LOVE 

BLUE WAVE BLOOM   

CONNECT WITH LIZZIE WEBER: 

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

ELLE BELLE RELEASES “EVERYONE KNOWS (BUT THEY WON’T TELL YOU)” SINGLE

ELLE BELLE RELEASES

“EVERYONE KNOWS (BUT THEY WON’T TELL YOU)” SINGLE  

FROM POST EVERYTHING OUT ON NOVEMBER 13

“.... innovative yet infectious, enticing and engaging. It is only a matter time before Pappas becomes a household name…..” - THE REVUE

 “Thinly cloaked as his views may be, Pappas offers a fresh take on the nation's social climate while also expanding his sonic territory.” -  All Music 

LISTEN TO “EVERYONE KNOWS (BUT THEY WON’T TELL YOU)” : HERE

Los Angeles based songwriter and composer Elle Belle has released “Everyone Knows...” the second single from his third full-length album Post Everything due out on November 13th via Little Record Company.  "Everyone Knows..." was written about the impossible feat of trying to be everything to everyone and not excelling at any of it. There is so much time spent switching lanes that we end up in the middle of the road and Elle Belle is asking how many of us feel this way? Elle Belle's lyrics are straightforward statements such as .I’m too strange to follow, But not desperate enough to fold I’m too scared to let go, But so miserable in control....and Everybody Knows but they won't tell you." This is a refreshingly honest song in a world where we are consuming life's highlight reels on social media ...instead of the truth. But don't we all feel like this? 

“Everyone Knows”  is the follow up to the release of the title track, “Post Everything,”  a fight song about the internal fight against the dark nihilism that has grown inside us, that x Ghettoblaster Magazine said “Right from the start, the track bursts with thrashing guitar and punching drums, almost reminiscent of the 90s era garage rock staples that we come to know to cherish. “  The song posits that fascism in America came by farce, not by force, and blood is on our keyboards and T.V. remotes.  

“The work of Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist Christopher Pappas (AKA Elle Belle) mixes the heartland earnestness of The War on Drugs with the bright synth rhythms of M83. The resulting mashup of aesthetics and production would seem to produce a sound that struggles against its own tendencies, but Pappas corrals these various bits of sound into a cohesive whole. It's fascinating to hear and difficult to accurately describe. “ - Nooga

The album Post Everything is about reckonings. Pappas had reached a level of emotional fatigue of the last few years that filled his heart with a deep misanthropic nihilism. Through personal, political, and cultural grieving, these songs rake through the ashes of an era and ask - where do we go from here? Post Everything is a journey through this nihilistic wasteland, and that if we dig deep enough, we can still find droplets of hope.

This album will follow up his debut opus, the sprawling 20 track album Wacko Gumbo that featured Lucius and Misty Boyce (Lord Huron, Sarah Bareilles) and his most release No Signal that received rave reviews for its social commentary and his brilliant mixing of genres from dark pop, to post-punk, synth rock and a hint experimental.

Mixed with a variety of genres; psych-rock, prog, electronic, Elle Belle continues Pappas’ knack for rich, intricate songwriting. He has written music for NASA, composing the soundtracks for the Juno and Rosetta mission official docu-series. He also composed an award-winning musical (“Pope! An Epic Musical”) with the Wall Street Journal praising it, proclaiming “[Pope!] is proof that the musical [genre] isn’t dead!” He is also a prolific writer, churning out 2 T.V. pilots and a new full-length horror feature that are currently in development. His dense and eclectic catalog is why many consider Pappas as one of America’s most prolific and captivating under-the-radar artists.

TRACK LISTING

1. Post Everything

2. Everyone Knows (But They Won’t Tell You)

3. Red Light Blues

4. Holy Light

5. Didn’t I

6. The Western Wall

7. Lighting Myself on Fire

8. Standing Room Only

9. Sailor Eyes

10. Dust and Flowers

11. Crawling Up the Walls

CONNECT WITH ELLE BELLE:

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD

ZAYDE WØLF RELEASES “BORN READY (REIMAGINED)”

ZAYDE WØLF RELEASES “BORN READY (REIMAGINED)” 

“ ‘Born Ready,’ a track that comes fiercely roaring out of the play button, all horsepower.”  - All Things Go 

“[Born Ready] is an explosive motivational anthem filled with powerful vocals and a strong call to action.” - Highlight Magazine 

“Scrawling a poetic lyric on a massive pop-rock wall of sound--hinting at Imagine Dragons and Bastille influence--the creative (whose real name is Dustin Burnett) is owning this moment, with the release of his first full-length as a ferocious WØLF.” - Pop Dust

LISTEN TO “BORN READY (REIMAGINED)”: HERE

“ The song, “Born Ready,” was written as a sonic motivator.” - East of 8th

““….Born Ready” that is primed to hit you right in the gut. The track roars to life with stomping percussion, an adrenaline-packed chorus, and a take-no-prisoners swagger.”

 - No Country for New Nashville

Nashville’s Zayde Wølf has released “Born Ready (Reimagined)” a reinterpretation of one of Wølf’s most beloved songs “Born Ready,” from his debut full length album Golden Age. “Born Ready (Reimagined)” is part of a series that sees Zayde Wølf mastermind Dustin Burnett reinterpreting some of his most popular songs. “Last year I hit one of those songwriting walls,” says Burnett on how the concept of the series started. “I couldn’t get over it. No new idea seemed compelling. I was listening to alot of soundtracks and started writing mini orchestral type themes and song ideas and mixing those with my older songs. The best news is that these reimagined songs have helped me break out of the creativity slump.” Wølf will be releasing an EP of these “Reimagined” songs on October 30th. 

“Oblivion’ is a beautifully layered and theatrical slow-burn that builds with stirring harmonies and intense instrumentals. It has all the makings of a sci-fi or superhero blockbuster movie soundtrack.” –Forbes Magazine (on the last reimagined track “Oblivion”) 

“Born Ready” is about  overcoming obstacles which in the original version is expressed with this real heavy and strong type of song. But there is a lot of power in subtlety giving this new version a whole different feeling. “Nick Box, the co-producer on all of these songs, really brings something special to the production,” says Burnett. “Sometimes Nick will start an idea for the song before I even see it or sing on it and he composes these very interesting and sometimes very elegant and very bold types of string arrangements and orchestral type things. So his sophistication brings a very new feeling to the music as well. 'Born Ready' was also one of the songs that was first requested in the Reimagined series and so I’m thankful that everyone wanted to hear that song and I hope that they love this new take of it in just a new way. Reimagined songs are not made to be in competition with the old one, it’s not like this one is better than this one, it’s just a different viewpoint on the song, composition and lyrics.”

With ZAYDE WØLF, the Burnett has built a reputation for music that inspires, motivates and most importantly connects. "I get all these emails, sometimes one a week,” Burnett told Billboard, “with all these stories about how the music has moved people in some way. I wanted to continue to make music for people to be inspired by." The Zayde Wølf online empire has grown to 229K YouTube subscribers, 76 million video views, over 1.2 Million monthly listeners on Spotify, with 300 million streams across all streaming platforms.  This is on top of the hundreds of films, TV shows, trailers, commercials, and video games that have featured his music. The list includes Shameless, Skyscraper movie, Love-Simon movie, the Jack Reacher 2, The Maze Runner 3, Pride Prejudice & Zombies, spots for UFC, MLB, NFL, Dodge, Jeep, WWE, Xbox, NBA, and more. In addition to syncs, Wølf has creatively expanded his reach by cultivating partnerships with brands such as Dude Perfect, one of the top YouTube sports channels with over 55 Million subscribers and 7 Billion views. Other creative partnerships include collaborations with Fortnite champion DrLupo, and extreme downhill racers Rémy Métailler and Matt Walker. Most recently Burnett partnered with the NHL and  NBC sports for the Stanley Cup Finals  where they used the Zayde Wølf track  “Home” in a spot featuring Burnett performing the song, see if HERE.

KEEP UP WITH ZAYDE WØLF:

WEBSITE || FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || YOUTUBE || SOUNDCLOUD 

OUT TODAY: IZZY HELTAI RELEASES DEBUT LP FATHER

   IZZY HELTAI RELEASES DEBUT LP FATHER

It’s a slow burn, a nuanced build. Yet, the harmonies create a cascading whisper of beauty - American Songwriter   

Through 10 tracks of honest, contemplative perspective and welcoming songwriting, Father elevates Heltai’s voice to a level of maturity that suits the stories he tells, with every detail complemented by the hearty strum of warm Americana. - WBUR   

Izzy Heltai has a talent for demonstrating nostalgia and incentivizing reflection - The Wild Honey Pie 

Heltai's powerful voice, which at times recalls Jeff Buckley, goes a long way in giving his songs the necessary passion to convey their messages to listeners - Bay Area Reporter   

Heltai’s timbre is Villagers meets Neil Young. He knows that a steady percussion and light guitar are enough to placate, and allow the listener to reminisce...There is an irrefutable cleverness and touching way in which he weaves years of relational trauma and pain into only one stanza. - Atwood Magazine   

Izzy Heltai has the contemporary indie folk vibe nailed down perfectly.  With a song that has both widespread appeal on the pop edge and layers of musicality...one not to be missed - Americana Highways   

The track leans towards lighthearted Americana; 'Songbird' trades the dull moments of tour life for an optimistic view of open highways and spirits as high as Heltai’s vocals at the tail end of the chorus. It’s a tried-and-true take about living on the road that’s nearly too rosy to be real. Nearly. - Vanyaland   

A precocious songwriter developing informed, heartfelt Americana - For Folk’s Sake   

Delivering messages of empathy and accountability to the masses — at a time when they are, perhaps, more important than ever - Underground Music Collective 

Izzy Heltai…is fast becoming one of our most played artists. Determined, striking and lyrically intelligent, this is top stuff - The Yorkshire Times   

There’s an undeniable emotional connection between artist and song…Heltai sings with an emotional maturity that we all need and can all learn from. Empathy, absolution, and acceptance are sought and expected in return - Mother Church Pew   

His writing style straddles the line between the pillars of Americana and the underbelly of gothic folk music. He has the emotional brutality of David Bazan or Simon Joyner and lacks none of their lyrical power - Country Queer  

Photo: Joanna Chattman

LISTEN: FATHER   

Today, Massachusetts-based singer/songwriter Izzy Heltai releases his debut full-length LP Father. “The songs on this album were all written between the ages of 19 and 23, a coming-of-age paralleled in the arcs and narratives encompassed by a lot of the tracks on this record. These songs, simply put, reflect my transition from childhood into adulthood,” Heltai explains of the nine-song effort. “Finding myself as an adult has largely been about how the people who have always been there for me can fit into my life in a new way.”   

With brutal honesty towards himself and forgiveness for those around him, Izzy Heltai’s music walks the elusive line between confessional and relatable. On Father, Heltai dives deep into his fascination with human relationships, and specifically the way that those relationships change and reorganize themselves over time. Throughout the record, Heltai braves the exploration of not only interpersonal and societal relationships but also his own relationship to himself; as a trans person, Heltai offers unique insight into the process of becoming and accepting who you’re meant to be. 

“As a transgender person I have always lived in a world where self-affirmation was necessary for my well being,” Heltai told Atwood Magazine in their premiere of the album’s title track and its accompanying video, which features footage of Heltai as a child, carefree and unencumbered by the hardships of the world.   

WATCH : “FATHER”   

 “As a young trans person, I was forced to know myself more than some people ever will. A world that always told me I shouldn’t and couldn’t exist demanded that I have confidence enough in my own identity that I could go out and prove that I knew exactly who I was. Due to my experiences, I was armed with the tools to radically reflect and affirm my identity from a young age. This instilled in me an obsession with knowing myself to the fullest, in any given moment. I am made up of moments. I live in the constant wake of what was,” he continued. “This song is about the people I see myself in. Seeing the roots of where, and who, I come from. The process of sifting through these home videos was a concrete and visual form of processing the amalgamation of all the moments I am made up of.” 

The production is raw and full, with subtle harmonies and guitar lines weaving their way unexpectedly through the mix almost as if they were grown in the song. There is no sign of musical overthought, allowing Heltai’s emotional vocals to shine organically.    

Whether he’s commenting on betrayal and discovering that things aren’t always as they seem (“The Stranger You’ve Become”), lamenting the effects of anxiety and depression on those you love (“Marching Song”), offering insight on the non-glamorous side of a troubadour’s life (“Songbird”), or realizing the world isn’t black and white, but rather a full spectrum of color (“Father”), Heltai approaches life’s questions with maturity and introspection. With his overwhelming empathy for humanity and willingness to search for personal responsibility, Heltai’s Father will not leave your heart or your ears unchanged. 

Father is available for purchase at iTunes, Bandcamp, and Google Play. Be sure to watch Izzy Heltai’s full-band performance on Bandsintown’s The Outskirts series on October 26th at 4pm ET. 

FATHER TRACK LIST:   

TO TALK ABOUT YOURSELF 

THE STRANGER YOU’VE BECOME 

MARCHING SONG 

HUMAN 

SONGBIRD 

WHAT YOUR APPETITE 

ANYONE TO ANYBODY 

CATACOMB 

FATHER 

CONNECT WITH IZZY HELTAI: 

Website || Facebook || Instagram ||  Spotify || YouTube 

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Announces Hardly Strictly Music Relief Bay Area Funding + Donation Outcome from Let the Music Play On Live Broadcast Fundraising

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Announces 

Hardly Strictly Music Relief Bay Area Funding + 

Donation Outcome from Let the Music Play On 

Live Broadcast Fundraising 

October 7, San Francisco, CA  - Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is thrilled to share the outcome of the first fundraising efforts ever associated with the festival.  Let the Music Play On, the broadcast which aired Saturday online and on Circle TV featuring new performances and interviews from over 35 artists, resulted in more than $3 million in relief for the music community in the Bay Area and across the U.S. With the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis ongoing, this funding will meet some of the most immediate and critical needs. 

The three-hour telecast, viewed by over 600,000 fans, raised more than $500,000 for Artist Relief, a coalition of national arts grant-makers who have disbursed over $13 million to artists across the U.S. The money raised during Let the Music Play On, along with the initial $1 million donation Hardly Strictly Bluegrass made to Artist Relief, helps to extend their grant program to musicians through the end of the year. Additionally, sales of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass merchandise have generated $25,000 for the Sweet Relief Rex Roadie Fund to help music crew-members facing economic hardship. 

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is also proud to announce the results of its Hardly Strictly Music Relief Fund, which aims to provide a financial lifeline to Bay Area musicians and venues during a time when other resources are scarce. Launched in August, this effort has provided more than $1.6 million to the local community. 

The Fund dedicated $1 million to fifteen venues, all of which have demonstrated a deep commitment to roots music and serve as beloved gathering places in the Bay Area.  Grant recipients are: Ashkenaz, The Back Room, Bottom of the Hill, The Chapel, El Rio, Eli’s Mile High Club, Felton Music Hall, Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, The Ivy Room, The Lost Church, Mystic Theatre, The Monkey House, La Peña, Red Poppy Art House, and The Starry Plough. The grants range from $15,000 to $150,000 and will support continued operations during the pandemic, including rent, staff salaries, upgrades related to reopening, and musical performances as each county permits.  

“It is critical to support independent music venues at this time because they remain the heart of our local music ecosystem,” says Frances Hellman, one of the directors of the Hellman Foundation, which works to build equity and opportunity, advance knowledge, and foster health, science, the arts, innovation, and creativity while engaging in strategic public-private partnerships such as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. “Small and mid-size venues like these serve as a critical pipeline for up-and-coming musicians, for staff to learn the business, and also as keepers of our cultural heritage. Every one of these venues holds a special place in their community, and we are glad to be able to pay back their dedication by supporting them now.” 

In addition, Bay Area musicians received over $600,000 through Hardly Strictly Bluegrass’ partnership with the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and the Center for Cultural Innovation. Three-hundred and thirty financially vulnerable musicians each received $2,000 for their most urgent needs. Outreach prioritized populations that have suffered historically from economic disadvantages, and therefore have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 -  62% of funding recipients are Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or other communities of color, 25% are immigrants, and 16% are disabled.   

“Participating in this philanthropic partnership has been an opportunity for the Alliance for California Traditional Arts to extend a critical resource to a vital segment of the roots-based artist communities we exist to serve,” says Amy Kitchener, Founding Executive Director, Alliance for California Traditional Arts. “It has also confirmed how vulnerable musicians are at this time.  We recognize how supporting individual roots musicians is essential to buoy cultural communities towards a post-pandemic future.” 

While Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has taken action to fund local establishments, independent music venues across the U.S. face an increasingly dire situation, and continue to struggle through the pandemic with significant overhead and no revenue from concerts. They were the first businesses to close, and will be the last to open, making them one of the sectors hit the hardest by COVID-19, and at the same time federal government relief is not anticipated any time soon. Venues are critical to our local economies as employers, tourist destinations, and revenue generators for neighboring businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and retail. NIVA, the National Independent Venue Association, has been championing national solutions by advocating for music venues to be included in any new COVID-19 relief bills passed by Congress.  

“Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and its charitable efforts have shown exactly how much communities value the economic and creative contributions of performing arts,” comments Rev. Moose, Executive Director and Co-Founder of NIVA.  “When bands don't have a stage to perform on, it removes the vast majority of their income. Currently artists and the businesses that host them are in dire situations. NIVA members are locally-owned independent venues and promoters that give artists their first chance to perform, and they help them develop their careers. Without support for the artists that perform at independent venues and with promoters, we risk losing a vital and treasured component of Bay Area neighborhoods, something that can't be replicated. NIVA, an organization that preserves and nurtures the ecosystem of independent venues and promoters, realizes that without the artists our entire world would be worse off.” 

 For more information on music relief and how you can donate visit https://www.artistrelief.org/hsb  

KEEP UP WITH HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS:

WEBSITE || FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || SPOTIFY

ABOUT ACTA 

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts is a nonprofit organization that promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future by providing advocacy, resources, and connections for traditional artists and their communities. As a statewide and national leader dedicated to supporting cultural practitioners, our programs, services, and funding opportunities are weaving a more integrated, just, and empathetic social fabric across California, and around the country. ACTA works in partnership with communities, learning from their own articulation of assets, needs, and aspirations in order to craft responsive programs and services. Founded in 1997, ACTA proudly serves as the California Arts Council’s official partner in serving the state’s traditional arts field. 

ABOUT CCI 

The Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) was founded in 2001 as a California 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Its mission is to promote knowledge sharing, networking, and financial independence for individuals in the arts by providing business training, grants, and incubating innovative projects that create new program knowledge, tools and practices for artists in the field, and conditions that contribute to realizing financial self-determination. In addition, by acting as a cross-sector incubator with an informed point of view, CCI advances efforts to improve conditions for artists and all those who share artists’ conditions of low wages, high debt, and too-few assets. 

ABOUT ARTIST RELIEF 

A national, multidisciplinary partnership between Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists, Artist Relief is an emergency relief fund  that provides  $5,000 grants to artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19.  Since launching in April, the fund has disbursed over $13 million to artists across the nation with $2.3 million to musicians directly.  

ABOUT HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS  

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a one-of-a-kind free music festival that takes place in the iconic Golden Gate Park and attracts over half a million fans annually. Founded by Warren and Chris Hellman in 2001, the festival is the single largest activity of the Hellman Foundation, whose focus is supporting organizations and initiatives primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area emphasizing social inclusion, education, youth development, and health and basic needs programs. Unlike any other major festival, it is offered free to the public with zero corporate sponsors or advertising. The three-day, multi-stage event features an array of eclectic bands each year from roots and Americana, to funk, rock, soul, and more. This year through Let the Music Play On, the spirit of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was brought to living rooms and backyards across the globe featuring new performances from the expansive range of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass artists that included first-time performers to legends of American Roots music, along with archival footage from the festival’s past two decades and memories from fans, performers, and staff, and priceless gems from the festival’s rich history.  

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass’ Let the Music Play On… To Air This Week + Livestream Fundraising for Musicians through Artist Relief

  Hardly Strictly Bluegrass’

 Let the Music Play On… To Air This Week 

+ Livestream Fundraising for Musicians

through Artist Relief

Cr: Michael Wilson

WATCH THE TRAILER: HERE

October 1 - San Francisco, CA  Hardly Strictly Bluegrass celebrates their 20th Anniversary this year with  Let The Music Play On …. airing Saturday, October 3rd at 

2 pm PT / 5 pm ET on Circle TV, HardlyStrictlyBluegrass.com, Facebook, YouTube,  Nugs.TV and LuckReunion.com. The broadcast will feature new performances from HSB veterans including Boz Scaggs, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Bonnie Raitt, Steve Earle and the Halfgrass Dukes feat. Tim O’Brien & Dennis Crouch, Jim Lauderdale, first-time performers Ashley Monroe, Shakey Graves, Sierra Ferrell, Black Banjo Reclamation Project, returning artists Fantastic Negrito,  Aaron Lee Tasjan, The War and Treaty, Yola, Rhiannon Giddens, and many more. See the full lineup at https://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com. 

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has become an annual pilgrimage for music fans from all over the world. This year Hardly Strictly Bluegrass enlisted fans and staff to share memories from past years and is encouraging them to share their at-home set-ups for creating Let the Music Play On viewing space. The submissions have ranged from houses to dorm rooms, to backyards and living rooms.   “One of the great powers of this music [bluegrass] is the ability to bring people together,” says long time HSB performer Alison Brown.”Not just people who are alike, but people who are different and who are from all different generations. It’s a really wonderful common denominator. I think, maybe, Warren understood that... but it’s no doubt that it’s just one of the best gifts that anyone ever gave anybody, is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. “ 

As part of the Let the Music Play On initiative, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass announced a charitable partnership with Artist Relief, a fund created by a coalition of national arts grantmakers, to support musicians affected by the COVID-19 crisis. In this partnership, the festival has donated $1 million in immediate relief for musicians across the country. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and Artist Relief are working to raise awareness and funds for musicians affected by the COVID-19 crisis leading up to and during this year’s festival. The livestream will include interactive fundraising features to engage the audience, share real-time donation information, and highlight the amount raised by the HSB community. Tax-deductible donations can be made at artistrelief.org/hsb; 100 percent of donations made through this link will be applied directly to aid for musicians.   

For more information on the broadcast visit www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com. To stay up-to-date, be sure to sign up for the newsletter, and follow HSB on social media.

Keep Up With Hardly Strictly Bluegrass:

WEBSITE || FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || SPOTIFY

IZZY HELTAI RELEASES NEW SINGLE & VIDEO “FATHER” VIA ATWOOD MAGAZINE

IZZY HELTAI RELEASES NEW SINGLE & VIDEO 

“FATHER” VIA ATWOOD MAGAZINE 

 DEBUT LP FATHER 

SET FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 9TH 

Through 10 tracks of honest, contemplative perspective and welcoming songwriting, Father elevates Heltai’s voice to a level of maturity that suits the stories he tells, with every detail complemented by the hearty strum of warm Americana. - WBUR 

Izzy Heltai has a talent for demonstrating nostalgia and incentivizing reflection - The Wild Honey Pie 

Izzy Heltai has the contemporary indie folk vibe nailed down perfectly.  With a song that has both widespread appeal on the pop edge and layers of musicality...one not to be missed - Americana Highways  

The track leans towards lighthearted Americana; 'Songbird' trades the dull moments of tour life for an optimistic view of open highways and spirits as high as Heltai’s vocals at the tail end of the chorus. It’s a tried-and-true take about living on the road that’s nearly too rosy to be real. Nearly. - Vanyaland 

A precocious songwriter developing informed, heartfelt Americana - For Folk’s Sake 

Delivering messages of empathy and accountability to the masses — at a time when they are, perhaps, more important than ever - Underground Music Collective 

Izzy Heltai…is fast becoming one of our most played artists. Determined, striking and lyrically intelligent, this is top stuff - The Yorkshire Times 

There’s an undeniable emotional connection between artist and song…Heltai sings with an emotional maturity that we all need and can all learn from. Empathy, absolution, and acceptance are sought and expected in return - Mother Church Pew 

His writing style straddles the line between the pillars of Americana and the underbelly of gothic folk music. He has the emotional brutality of David Bazan or Simon Joyner and lacks none of their lyrical power - Country Queer 

Photo: Joanna Chattman

WATCH  // LISTEN: “FATHER” 

Massachusetts-based singer/songwriter Izzy Heltai has unveiled “Father,” the title track and its accompanying video from his forthcoming debut full-length album, due out October 9th. The video features footage of Heltai as a child - innocent, carefree, and unburdened by the hardships of the world. "Coming of age, as it stands, is one of the most sought after and widely discussed phenomena of life,” said Atwood Magazine in their premiere. “As we get older…we all become subject to the notion that we must humanize our parents. Our parents are the people that have not only given us life, but also nurtured it – and it’s hard, objectively, not to revere that. From day one we look up to our parents and all they have taught us. However, a shifting tide presents itself in the form of singer/songwriter Izzy Heltai’s newest single, ‘Father’…Heltai ushers in the idea that at the end of the day, our parents are people – important people – but people who are nonetheless far from perfect.”  

“As a transgender person I have always lived in a world where self-affirmation was necessary for my well being,” Heltai explains. “As a young trans person, I was forced to know myself more than some people ever will. A world that always told me I shouldn’t and couldn’t exist demanded that I have confidence enough in my own identity that I could go out and prove that I knew exactly who I was. Due to my experiences, I was armed with the tools to radically reflect and affirm my identity from a young age. This instilled in me an obsession with knowing myself to the fullest, in any given moment. I am made up of moments. I live in the constant wake of what was,” he continues. “This song is about the people I see myself in. Seeing the roots of where, and who, I come from. The process of sifting through these home videos was a concrete and visual form of processing the amalgamation of all the moments I am made up of." 

“Father” follows the release of album track “Songbird,” inspired by life as a troubadour and car-sleeping in Walmart parking lots, and lead single “The Stranger You’ve Become,” a compelling track about betrayal.  

LISTEN: “SONGBIRD” 

LISTEN: “THE STRANGER YOU’VE BECOME” 

With brutal honesty towards himself and forgiveness for those around him, Izzy Heltai’s music walks the elusive line between confessional and relatable. On his debut album Father, Heltai dives deep into his fascination with human relationships, and specifically the way that those relationships change and reorganize themselves over time.    

Heltai sees his own coming of age reflected in the album, which includes songs written over the past four years. “Finding myself as an adult has largely been about how the people who have always been there for me can fit into my life in a new way,” he explains. 

Throughout the record, Heltai braves the exploration of not only interpersonal and societal relationships but also his own relationship to himself, and reckons with the ways that periods of depression have caused him to abandon those he loves.  The production is raw and full, with subtle harmonies and guitar lines weaving their way unexpectedly through the mix almost as if they were grown in the song. There is no sign of musical overthought, allowing Heltai’s emotional vocals to shine organically.    

At a time when any conversation with a stranger can quickly become a sociopolitical battle, Heltai’s introspective and thought out songs are a breath of fresh air. With an overwhelming empathy for humanity, and willingness to search for personal responsibility, Heltai’s Father will not leave your heart or your ears unchanged.  

CONNECT WITH IZZY HELTAI: 

Website || Facebook || Instagram ||  Spotify || YouTube