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London-based singer-songwriter and producer, Dave Bayley, front man for the electronic group, Glass Animals, remembers spending formative years in a small Texas town, huddled at night around a radio that offered just a few channels. Luckily, for Bayley, one of the stations played classic Hip-Hop songs from artists like Missy Elliot, Dr. Dre, Eminem and, perhaps most importantly, the producer, Timbaland. These songs opened Bayley’s mind to new musical sounds and possibilities. Raised on groups like Talking Heads, The Beatles, Nina Simone and Bob Marley from his parents, Bayley says he became consumed by all of it. And each of these influences appears on the forthcoming Glass Animals record, Dreamland, slated for release August 7th.

Eric Rachmany, front man for the wildly popular reggae-rock group, Rebelution, remembers being in school as a young person and feeling terrified. The songwriter, who plays in front of multiple thousands of people at any given gig today, says he would get nervous when he had to speak in front of the class. So much so that he’d try and memorize his reports word-for-word. Now, years later, Rachmany is comfortable in front of a crowd. He’s embraced the space that’s his within any Rebelution show. As a result, his group has garnered hundreds of thousands of fans from all over the world. Rebelution will surely grow in followers given the release of its latest LP, Dub Collection, which hit stands and streams last Friday.

“I learned through performing to get into the art,” Rachmany says. “When you do that, you can really put on a show. People can tell when you’re into it and when you’re not. That’s the beauty of art and of expressing yourself. It’s such a great feeling to let go and give it your all.”

We’ve all experienced it at least once. Looking at a vase or bouquet of old, dried flowers that were once lovely and knowing they must go. Often, it comes with a moment of sad reflection. The flowers were once – recently! – so tremendously beautiful. Their bloom, perfume. But now, without roots, they’ve gone brittle and died out. For Nashville-based singer-songwriter, Courtney Marie Andrews, this experience is also a metaphor for lost romantic love, which is why the musician titled her forthcoming album, Old Flowers (set for release July 24th, read our review), and why she sings of them forlornly on the album’s title track.

“Old Flowers is a relationship album,” Andrews says, “a breakup record. It’s telling the tale of a relationship and letting it go – or, trying to, at least. Old flowers signify love, for me. They were once in full bloom, beautiful at one time. Now they’ve wilted. But that doesn’t make the past any less magical. They can still be memories to keep between the pages of your favorite book.”

Musician and writer, Mickey Leigh, is a walking library. Leigh, who is the younger brother of famed Ramones front man, Joey Ramone, grew up steeped in music. Rock ‘n’ roll would play on the radio during breakfast. Leigh and his brother bonded over the Beatles and other prominent bands during their childhood together in the 1960s. Later, though, Leigh, living in New York City, would undergo a wild drug bust and see firsthand the oddities that come when dealing with the FBI and DEA. Most importantly, though, Leigh saw that there are two systems of justice, one for those who have money and one for those who don’t. And this is the subject of the artist’s recent single (and music vide), “Two Kinds Of Law.”

New Orleans standout group, Tank and the Bangas, famously won the NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2017. The band, picked from some 6,000-plus applicants, celebrated the victory with a rousing and emotional performance at the media hub’s New York City offices. Ever since, Tank and the Bangas has been on a roll, both in the recording studio and on the road, which culminated with a 2020 Best New Artist Grammy nomination. But, says frontwoman, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, the group doesn’t much sweat the highs of the wins or the lows of the losses. Instead, Ball says, she’s confident that what comes for the group is what’s meant for the group, what’s necessary for both their creative sustenance and evolution.

“We were picked out of all those people,” Ball says. “So, it made me feel like whatever’s for us is really for us.”

Five-time Grammy-winging songwriter, Keb Mo (born Kevin Moore), remembers being 12- or 13-years-old on the porch. He’d sit there with friends. One person had a drum, someone else had a can. Amongst a small group of kids, they’d have whatever they could find and bring to this rudimentary drum circle. But the instrument didn’t matter – not at first, anyway. What mattered was the group and the combination of sounds to make something new. Today, for Mo, that same musical philosophy holds. For him, it’s less about any one particular thing and more about the relationship between the elements. And the results are stellar – or, constellational. Evidenced by his latest award-winning effort, 2019’s Oklahoma.

“Back then,” Mo says, “it was really about the ensemble, being part of something.”