How Faith And Tragedy Shaped Natalie Bergman’s New Solo LP

For the Los Angeles-based gospel singer-songwriter Natalie Bergman there is a crucial distinction between faith and religion. Bergman, who has endured almost unimaginable losses in her personal life, has worked diligently to transmute those moments into something she can stand on and believe in. She’s done so with the help of spirituality. Bergman, who lost her mother to brain cancer and her father and stepmother at the hands of a drunk driver, retreated to a monastery to find solace and peace to begin to attempt to sort out her ailing mind. In so doing, Bergman reaffirmed her relationship to her devout faith. As such, figures like Jesus continue to pop up in the breathy, organ-buoyed songs of her new LP, Mercy, due out May 7. But that doesn’t mean Bergman is trying to convert anyone. Instead, her songs are simply an expression of what it’s taken to remain upright in life given all that’s attempted to tear her down.

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Nancy Wilson on Her Long-Awaited Debut Solo LP, ‘You and Me’

Before she played electric guitar like a God, before she became known as one of the best ever to do it, Nancy Wilson played a rented acoustic. She started when she was nine years old. The action had about two inches between the strings and the neck. But she played it with passion and burgeoning prowess. Later, Wilson joined her sister, Ann, in the seminal rock ‘n’ roll band, Heart, and the rest is Hall of Fame history. Now, with multiple time-tested hits to their credit, the sisters have become legends. (And their story is rumored to be put to film in the not-too-too-distant future.)

But there are slices of the proverbial pie that come along with being infamous that aren’t always as appetizing as the peak of a solo on stage. There’s the grueling travel, constant attention and watchful eye of the press. There’s also the simple reality that to “be a member of Heart” means you might not always get to be yourself. While it may not be the worst problem on earth, it is something to navigate concertedly. Over the years, Wilson has done just that. Now though, she is doing something she’s never done: releasing her debut solo LP.

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Dodie Celebrates Feelings on New Album ’Build A Problem’

For London-based musician, Dodie (born Dorothy Miranda Clark), to be an artist today means to be bilingual. But that’s not to say that Dodie is fluent in Spanish or French (though she may well be). What it means is that Dodie, as a producer of her own original songs, must be able to navigate and speak to both the internet and analog interfaces to be successful. Dodie, who grew to prominence online via the social media platform, YouTube, has since crossed over into more traditional, mainstream recognition. But that, of course, doesn’t mean she will abandon her nearly two million YouTube subscribers. It means that she should continue to increase that audience while also acclimating to and growing a new in-person one, which the 25-year-old has been doing diligently for the past few years. On Friday (May 7), Dodie is set to release her new LP, Build A Problem, which will likely win over more fans while also showcasing Dodie’s signature sense for the theatrical.

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Hip-Hop Producer J. Period On DJ Jazzy Jeff, The Roots, and His “Story to Tell”

Famed hip-hop producer J. Period is as much a biographer as he is a musician. He has risen to fame through a love of hip-hop culture and by grinding day in and day out at his craft. But along the way, he discovered something special, a corner of the art form that he could call his own. That’s where memory and memoir helped J. Period to formulate his now-signature mixtapes.

J. Period came to music through his parents and, especially, his father. He learned from an early age to bridge song with story and he’s been hammering away at this technique ever since. To date, he has worked with The Roots, Lauryn Hill, Q-Tip, Dave Chappelle, and myriad other legendary names, all of whom respect the way J. Period blends melodies, rhythms, and recollections.

Now, the artist is beginning to tell his own story, with his release, Story to Tell, an album that J. Period is releasing in three parts. The first installment boasts tracks with Black Thought, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and writer Jemel Hill. But J. Period has plans for more releases in the coming months. We caught up with the artist to ask him about his love of music, his love of story, and his new album, which is out today.

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Dave Matthews Connects With Fans Through SiriusXM Show, ‘Dave Matthews Live from Home: By Request’

The world needs more Dave Matthews.

While it’s true that over the years the wildly successful songwriter has endured his fair share of critical derisions (largely over his “fratty” fan base), his skill and abilities as a musician have always been obvious. Even more than that, Dave Matthews has a supreme knack for connecting with millions of fans all over the world. When listening to his music and message, it’s clear why.

For those looking for a sensitive spirit, nimble guitar playing and a unique voice, look no further than Matthews. We have the exclusive videos to prove it.

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Acantha Lang Finds Her Purpose in New Single ”Whatever Happened to Our Love”

It’s rare that a musician has to move away from New Orleans to find her place in music, but such was the case for the now-London-based (via The Big Easy and New York City) soul singer, Acantha Lang. Unlike many big-voiced performers, Lang didn’t grow up in church and/or a particularly musical household. Her older sister would share records like Sade and Anita Baker, but songs, melodies and rhythms weren’t particularly prioritized.

Lang’s career began to click when she left The Crescent City for The Big Apple. Upon landing in New York, Lang says she quickly realized it was “sink or swim,” so to supplement her new music passion, she modeled. But when she found a regular residency at a new club in Harlem, her career began to progress. Today, Lang is poised to premiere her latest single, “Whatever Happened to Our Love,” which showcases her vocal prowess and signals a new record release later in 2021.

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Enumclaw is Tacoma’s Hit Working-Class Band

The members of the Tacoma-based band, Enumclaw, consider themselves a working-class group. They have slogged in minimum wage jobs, rehearsed in basements and enjoyed their fair share of “tall boy” cans of beer belly-up at a dive bar. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with any of this. But the band members also dream bigger. Part of their identity entails a grind, a push for more, to make for higher ground when the time is right.

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Manchester Orchestra Turns Tragedy To Triumph On New LP

To listen to the new album, The Million Masks of God, from the Atlanta-based rock group, Manchester Orchestra, is to inhabit a cathedral-like building and let your ears take in each swell, each ring and each echo as the vibrations subsume and the medicine of music takes hold. The forthcoming record (out April 30) is spacious. It’s like wind and chimes but if they occupied a symphony. But these qualities make sense when you consider the earliest memories the band’s frontman and principle songwriter, Andy Hull, has when it comes to music. As a kid, Hull’s mother would play classical music at night to help him fall asleep. He’d drift toward slumber as the compositions of Chopin or Bach unfurled. Now, the music Hull makes is similarly epic-yet-tasteful. It’s a fine line to walk but one he and the band’s co-founder and guitarist, Robert McDowell, traverse expertly.

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Girl in Red Delivers Emotion and Energy on New Album ‘if i could make it go quiet’

As an artist, Marie Ulven (a.k.a. the popular musician, girl in red), lives a dichotomous life. In one sense, she has a rather uneventful day-to-day in her home country of Norway. She grew up in a small Norwegian town, she really likes fingerboarding and she walks her dog regularly. But in another sense, Ulven lives a very engaged life with music and fame at her fingertips. Today, she has millions of fans and even more video and song streams. Since releasing her smash 2018 hit, “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend,” Ulven’s career has continued to take off thanks to her devastating honesty, eclectic sonic sensibilities and knack for saying just the phrase to perk and ear or raise an eyebrow. This week, Ulven will release her debut LP, if I could make it go quiet. The album, which begins with brash statements and keen personal insights, should continue to garner Ulven a large following while still continuing to allow her to live the life she’s always dreamed.

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K.Flay on her prized gear, music as liberation and how Tom Morello ended up on new EP, Inside Voices

Illinois-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter and performer, K.Flay (born Kristine Meredith Flaherty) has never been afraid to show a little teeth. Whether listening to her snarling, Grammy-nominated hit, Blood in the Cut, or the boisterous tracks off her forthcoming five-track EP, Inside Voices – out June 11 via BMG – K.Flay’s music bites with a force bolstered by sharp, scathing lyrics and often riff-heavy production.

With Inside Voices, the Billboard chart-topping artist will release her second record in about a year. She released her EP, Don’t Judge A Song By Its Cover, in 2020. But her new collection is some of her best work to date.

The album includes the acerbic tracks, Four Letter Words and Good Girl, along with powerful and percolating TGIF, which boasts Rage Against The Machine guitarist, Tom Morello. Also featured on the album is Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker on the song, Dating My Dad.

We caught up with K.Flay to ask her about her entrance into music while attending Stanford University, how her late father influenced her love of guitar, the instruments and pedals she can’t live without and what it was like to work with Morello on the new EP.

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Asiahn Pushes The Tactile Boundaries Of Songwriting

Los Angeles-based R&B singer-songwriter, Asiahn (born Asiahn Bryant), remembers the many Greyhound bus rides she took from her then-hometown in South Carolina to the creative hotspot of Atlanta, Georgia. From nine years old, Asiahn knew she wanted to sing and perform for people. So, by 15 she was taking the 300-mile often-overnight Greyhound bus trips every other weekend to A-Town to learn the ropes, to write and record. When not in transit, however, Asiahn would continue to work. At home, she’d film herself singing in-performance with her family’s handheld video camera, critiquing a high note or watching how she moved with a microphone in her hand. It’s not that she was obsessive, exactly. It was more than that. She was determined to be better. These days, Asiahn is working even harder, inspired by a session with the famed singer, Jennifer Lopez.

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A Musician’s Guide to Getting Your Work Out There, Part 2

As described in Part 1 of this two-part series, being a musician today often means you’re also a small business owner, requiring that you undertake hours of promotion, marketing and administrative work to get a leg up.

In Part 1, we provided tips for getting your music played on the radio, placed in TV spots, featured online and in livestreams, as well as offering some common-sense approaches for getting publicity and finding a manager.

In this installment, we’ll talk about how to distribute your music (including getting it pressed on vinyl) and land it on prestigious playlists, along with getting exposure on social media. Last, but by no means least, we’ll discuss how you can protect your work and advance your career by finding a qualified entertainment attorney.

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Comedian Erica Rhodes on Acting Normal, Her New Special, and Car Audiences

Comedian, Erica Rhodes, cares about the things she says. Growing up, her mother cared obsessively about grammar. Her father was witty, sharp, and made people laugh. Early on, Rhodes realized the power communication can have between people—whether that meant bursts of laughter or depth of a conversation. Today, Rhodes, who has appeared in shows like New Girl and Modern Family, brings that same level of care to her standup comedy. Sometimes she even takes it directly to sentence parsing and grammatical choices with jokes that dig into the difference between “lay” and “lie,” for instance.

Rhodes, whose new special, La Vie en Rhodes, premiered on Amazon Prime and other outlets this past Tuesday, brings this deep care and consideration for communication to her work. The funny thing about the new special, though, aside from the multitude of Rhodes’ jokes, is that her audience is in their cars, socially distanced. Removed are the sweeping claps, replaced with honking cars. We caught up with the comedian to ask her about her first great laugh, who in her family is funny, what she loves about language, and much more.

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Jesse Markin Premieres New Single “Exodus” From Upcoming Album ‘Noir’

If you were to examine the record collection of Finnish musician, Jesse Markin, you’d inevitably encounter a veritable library. The artist digs it all, from progressive rock to pop to hip-hop, jazz, funk, soul and trap music. Indeed, the vast assortment that is Markin’s albums is an indication both of his eclectic tastes as a listener and of his creative music-making philosophy. When listening to Markin’s songs, you hear a wide swath of genres—There’s 808s & Heartbreak-era Kanye West, there’s Gorillaz, Arcade Fire and the Fugees. In a way, to listen to Markin is to put on a blindfold and walk through a neon midnight blue cavern, lit and warmed by the various songs and sounds you hear along the way. Markin takes pleasure in providing you this journey and on his forthcoming LP, NOIR, the artist is sure to attract many interested in signing up for his signature adventures.

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Sharon Van Etten, “epic Ten”

When an artist represents both the nostalgic and the brand new, she has something that makes a home in memory. When she can imbue the numinous and demand immediate recognition, she is assuredly of some special stuff. The music of Sharon Van Etten offers this strangely familiar ethic and aesthetic. She is Patti Smith finishing a pint of Pilsner as the pool cue cracks in the back of the dive bar. She is the next star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Van Etten’s newest release, epic Ten, is unlike any other. In one sense, it’s a reissue of her 2010 sophomore record, Epic. But it’s also much more. The reissue includes covers of each song from the original release from such heavyweights as IDLES, Lucinda Williams, Courtney Barnett, and Fiona Apple. In this way, epic Ten is two albums at once in a compact 14 tracks, ranging in creative impact from Van Etten’s ghostly harmonies to IDLES’ industrial wallop.

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