MONDAY: WOODSMAN
Brooklyn-via-Colorado three-piece Woodsman isn’t the kind of rock band that hires a publicist. Unlike most of the groups that have endured since the social media explosion of 2009/2010, they persist in self-releasing and self-promoting their own work (via guitarist Trevor Peterson’s own Fire Talk Records) […] Their sound—which is krauty and full of untethered jamming—hasn’t changed all that much over the years either; it’s just gotten deeper and more refined, grounded in that eternal, invariably highway friendly motorik pulse while also encompassing all the colorful artifacts that flit across your peripheral vision as you drive. [The Fader]
Recommended If You Like:
Valet, Prince Prama, Quilt, Daughters of the Sun, Wet Hair, Eternal Tapestry
WEDNESDAY: HOSPITALITY
Hospitality’s terrific second album, Trouble, is out now via Merge. It finds the Brooklyn band loosening up and confident taking their sound into new areas — most notably prominent use of keyboards. You can hear three songs from Trouble as part of the eighth installment of our BV Studio Sessions recorded at Butler Recording in Bushwick. […] This video will also give you a taste of Hospitality’s new live configuration which adds multi-instrumentalist David Christian to the line-up, allowing for some instrument-switching. [Brooklyn Vegan]
Recommended If You Like:
Imperial Teen, La Sera, Yellow Ostrich, Seapony, Eternal Summers, Tennis
THURSDAY: MOONRISE NATION EP Release Show
A young fresh ensemble drowning in pop sensibilities, the members of Moonrise Nation speak for an upcoming generation. As musicians and writers, they craft songs that are anchored in alternative folk with meaningful lyrics and deliver with compelling stage presence in their live shows. Each member has a distinctive, soulful voice that complements the other. Sisters Arden and Eva Bee intricately weave their voices into magical harmonies over their keyboard and cello, while Emma McCall adds grit with her textured licks on the guitar.
Recommended If You Like:
The Head and the Heart, Lorde, HAIM, Icona Pop, Cults
FRIDAY: QUILT
Boston’s Quilt checked into a Brooklyn studio to combine hipster flavour with dreamy psychedelia, and have come up with a record that brings a crisp newness to arrangements straight out of 1967. So there’s a lot of Love here – and Zombies and Buffalo Springfield too – but Held In Splendor also joins Tame Impala’s Lonerism and even Connan Mockasin’s Caramel at a strange place where psych-rock sounds pioneering and fresh. This is all helped by the virtuosity of tracks like ‘Mary Mountain’, where surf guitar meets motorik trance, and ‘A Mirror’, with its thrash-along fuzziness. Yet Quilt really shine when Anna Fox Rochinski, Shane Butler and John Andrews harmonise impeccably over the spooky melodies of ‘Saturday Bride’ and ‘Secondary Swan’. [NME 8/10]
Recommended If You Like:
Woodsman, MMOSS, Foxygen, Disappears, Magic Trick, Angel Olsen, Espers
SATURDAY: ANDREW RIPP
2014 is starting off well for Nashville singer/songwriter Andrew Ripp. He’s about to embark on a nationwide headlining tour and his song “Falling For The Beat” was recently featured on an episode of Showtime’s House of Lies. The track is off of his new album Simple, an acoustic, bare-bones version of his 2013 release Won’t Let Go. “This song is about falling in love and how those feelings completely take over,” Ripp tells us. “When I decided to do an acoustic album I knew this would be one of the songs that having it stripped down would really bring out all the emotion. I hope people can feel that when they listen to it. This might be my favorite song on the record.” [American Songwriter]
Recommended If You Like:
Ben Rector, Elenowen, David Ramirez, Andrew Belle, Green River Ordinance, Matt Duke
SUNDAY: JAMES DURBIN and KELLEY JAMES
The Santa Cruz, California-born and bred vocal powerhouse was raised by a single mother hooked on oldies and two older sisters hyped on New Kids on the Block. In the past two years alone, he has already placed fourth on American Idol in 2011, saw the release of his debut record which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and debuted Top 40 on The Billboard 200, was named one of Revolver’s 100 Greatest Living Rock Stars, and put forth a second album. Thematically, if Memories of a Beautiful Disaster was – as Durbin once said, built on “frustration, anxiety, and excitement” – then CELEBRATE was built from a stress-free place of gratitude, celebration, and positivity… and LOVE. “This record is more about a celebration of life and music because right now in my life I’m not worried about standing up for metal, or rock, or whatever anyone else has labeled me with,” he says. “I’m just stoked to be able to sing songs that I created, that I wrote. I don’t have to yell them. I don’t have to scream them. Because they’re already me.”
If there is one word to describe the music of Kelley James, it would be “mash-up.” Drawing from rock, pop, and the beachside vibes of his home state of California, James seamlessly combines acoustic guitar melodies with clever lyrics and freestyle vocal riffs to create a signature sound that fans and followers have grown to recognize and love. Most recently, James released his newest full-length album The Pattern Transcending. As the true progression of James’ sound, the tracks features the best aspects of both his live shows and his studio prowess. The album debuted in October of 2013 and reached the top 20 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts. With a career spanning five years, three albums, and multiple international tours, he has proven himself as an accomplished artist both in-studio and on-stage.
Recommended If You Like:
David Cook, Colton Dixon, Crystal Bowersox, Scotty McCreery, Landon Austin, Andrew Ripp
