RECENT ARTICLES

Lilting songwriter, William Fitzsimmons, remembers following his mother around the house and mimicking her voice. She sang soprano and Fitzsimmons picked up on the high register affectation. Around their house, his mother and father would also play folk musicians on the stereo, artists like Jim Croce, Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel and John Denver. So, when Fitzsimmons began to sing his own songs later as an adult, the vocal sounds didn’t come from his chest voice. Rather, a softer, more delicate tone emerged. It’s a mood for which he’s become well known and it’s one prevalent on his glinting forthcoming record, Ready The Astronaut, set for release this summer.

“I think I thought that’s just how you’re supposed to sing,” Fitzsimmons says. “I thought you were supposed to sing high. Like when John Denver sings ‘Annie’s Song,’ you don’t really want to belt it out. It’s supposed to be this very pretty, smooth delivery.”

Read More

Mitch Galbraith, guitarist for the Northern Beaches, Sydney, Australia-based rock ‘n’ roll band, Ocean Alley, remembers the group’s early days. High school best friends, the six-piece would get together in its formative years in backyard toolsheds or family garages to play and write music after school before dinnertime. Galbraith remembers “a lot of sand” in the makeshift rehearsal spaces, which were a mere five-minute walk from the nearby beaches. He also remembers, in one garage, having to move the car out before setting up the gear and doing that again in reverse after practice. Those stories now, though, seem quaint when considering the success Ocean Alley has achieved, which will again be punctuated by the release of the band’s forthcoming LP, Lonely Diamond, out June 19th (pre-order).

“As you can imagine,” Galbraith says, “the garages and sheds out back were not very acoustically sound. It was interesting learning in such a dingy environment.”

Read More

When singer-songwriter, Olivia Rox, was 9-years-old, she played the lead role in Annie at Boulder, Colorado’s Dinner Theater. Rox, who’d already toured the country with her professional musician father, saxophonist Warren Hill, was ready for the assignment. At just two-and-a-half years old, Rox had sung to hundreds, performing, “Someday My Prince Will Come,” at one of her father’s gigs. For Annie, Rox performed 75 nights. At such a young age, she learned the rigors of getting ready and the reward of reading and performing to the room. In other words, she’d quickly become a pro. Now, just over a decade later, Rox has released her own solo record, POPROX, and she’s ready for a great deal more.

“For one,” Rox says, “I’m a perfectionist. Everything I do, I try to do the best I can. Whenever I’m writing a song, I try to make it great. I find myself constantly inspired by the world around me, no matter where I am or whether I’m on tour or sitting at home with my dogs on my lap.”

Read More

For many during the pandemic, writing new music has been difficult. Social distancing and the shut down of businesses have caused a type of isolation that has hurt the creative process for some (including Ben Gibbard). But for Shana Cleveland, founder and principle songwriter for the Los Angeles-based harmony-centered rock ‘n’ roll band, La Luz, quarantine hasn’t derailed her songwriting efforts. In fact, Cleveland is working on two albums at this time – a new La Luz record and a new solo album. Writing, for the artist, is just about all there is to do professionally now that recording and touring have been halted. So, that’s what she’s doing on her 9-acre stretch of land in Northern California.

“My partner, Will, and I are both touring musicians,” Cleveland says. “We spend a lot of time in cities as it is. So, we thought, we don’t have to live in a city. I’ve always gone out into nature and isolation to write, that’s always felt like the place where I could let my mind wander the easiest. So, living in this place is where I can be most creative.”

Read More

When listening to the Seattle-based instrumental soul group, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, you might hear the chorus of your favorite song played eloquently on a nimble organ. The thing is, however, that chorus might be wrapped in the body of another song or even a song within a third. That’s the nature of DLO3. The band’s music often resembles a Russian Doll where the hook from a hit like “Move On Up” is tucked into a cover of another like “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Organist and front man, Delvon Lamarr, is a sonic encyclopedia. Fans can enjoy his vast acumen via the group’s latest single (a cover of “Inner City Blues”) or forthcoming live streams on the group’s Facebook page June 1st and 3rd.

“I’m my own Spotify,” jokes Lamarr. “Everything I hear stays in my head.”

Read More

Each year, Pete Bernhard, front man for the Santa Cruz-born Americana group, The Devil Makes Three, likes to celebrate the unofficial national cannabis holiday – April 20th– with his band. Often, the trio likes to release limited edition merchandise to commemorate the occasion. But this year, Bernhard went above and beyond the annual call of duty. Since much of his music life has been put on hold due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Bernhard decided to devote his resources to releasing a new solo record on the holiday, Harmony Ascension Division, an album that sits very much in the tradition of timeless American blues and folks LPs.

“It’s been one of the only real positive things about the forced time of unemployment,” Bernhard says. “The record was a project that I’d had on the back burner for a while, not because it didn’t feel important but because I wasn’t able to find the time to put it out.”

Read More

Elizabeth McCullough, also known as the New York City-based rock and roll artist, Alpha Cat, knew the moment she had to give up drinking. She was at a diner and had ordered a greasy cheddar cheese omelet. But as she waited there on the counter, she shook. Her body wanted a drink so badly that she could hardly sit in her chair. That’s it, McCullough thought, enough. And she hasn’t had a drink since. McCullough’s personal history is full of episodes like this: difficulties she’s had to navigate to find herself in safer waters. As such, the concept of freedom is central to the music of Alpha Cat, which is most evident in the latest music video for the single, “Thatched Roof Glass House,” from the 2019 album of the same name.

“I decided way back when I was in graduate school,” says McCullough, “that basically everything that occurs in life that you witness is a metaphor for what’s going on inside of your head. And with this song, that’s definitely the case.”

Read More

When examining the life and career of the notorious musician, Saul Hudson, better known, of course, as the Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist, Slash, one uncovers a great many gems. For example, the UK-born musician was high school classmates with the handsome rocker, Lenny Kravitz. Slash’s parents were also well-respected celebrity artists. His mother, Ola, was a costume designer for artists like David Bowie and Janis Joplin and his father, Anthony, created album covers for musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. In fact, says Slash, seeing Mitchell strumming the guitar in the studio at an early age is one of his fondest memories.

“I always liked Joni Mitchell when I was a kid,” Slash says. “I was around her a lot. I remember going to a couple Joni sessions at A&M Studios in L.A. and I was very intrigued by that whole environment. It was her and her acoustic guitar. She was just sitting in the studio by herself, singing and playing. It was really beautiful. Just to watch somebody basically produce those sounds so perfectly in the studio by themselves is impressive. I didn’t know that much about the technicality of it all but to watch that raw, human talent was very impressive.”

Read More