Usually, I go through these spurts where I get really into an artist. Then I go and try to find everything I can of theirs and listen to it. I thought I’d let you know about my most recent 5 artists and bands with which I have done this. Here we go!
1. Pretty Lights – It’s really easy with Pretty Lights because his entire discography is online for free! I’d say it’s electronic music with hip-hop and dubstep tendencies. I think the guy performs live as a DJ and then has a drummer with him for shows. Again, his whole catalog is online at his website! That’s great!
2. Blue Sky Black Death – I found these guys while listening to my Pandora station. I love it. Listen to all those samples. All of those sounds. I think they are playing live instruments in there too! I can’t tell what is sampled and what is real-live. That’s what I’m talking about. Hard to find a lot of their stuff online. But I did see their myspace page.
3. Emancipator – I got lucky on this one. He was recently on tour and came here to Nashville. I didn’t have anything going on; I decided to check him out online first to decide if I wanted to go out. I was blown away! It’s such amazing music! He’s a DJ/producer. He also plays guitar. I saw him do it live. I don’t know if he plays any other instruments. Can’t wait to check it out again though! Listen to everything on his bandcamp page!
4. Pigeon John – I’ve been a Pigeon John fan for a long time. He’s got a pretty extensive discography and it would take a while to listen to everything he’s got. Also, he does a LOT of guest features on other people’s records. But anyway, he’s really unique and different in the world of hip-hop but really really GOOD. I lucked out and saw him live a year or so ago play in some art gallery. I’d love to see him play live in front of a lot of hip-hop fans in a bar or something; just to see how it would go!
5. This Will Destroy You – I found these guys on Pandora. At first, I didn’t really listen much to them. However, I was telling someone about Saxon Shore (another band I found on Pandora); and they started telling me about This Will Destroy You. I went back and gave them another listen. Wow! I like ambient post-rock a lot. So this was an easy fit for me.
Well? Who are you listening to these days? Let me know in the comments.
I’m in a strange, never-experienced-before predicament. I’ve spent some time promoting an upcoming show with some friends here in town, KNAPSACKHEROES! (Yeah, you’re supposed to type it with all Caps and an exclamation point at the end, but I’ll refrain from here on out.) They are a mix of new wave pop with rock and hip-hop. When I moved to Nashville, I first heard about them at a house party I went to. I met a couple of guys, one from this band, and the other from this other band. And they said that I would probably really be into Knapsackheroes because I like hip-hop and I like electronic music.
Well I never got to see them until about a year later. I was doing synth and samples for a band; we ended up opening for them. Immediately, I noticed that they had a really energetic live show. The girl I was dating at the time said that the drummer scared her by how he was playing. Well, that’s a good sign. Knapsackheroes was dangerous.
We did a couple of shows together over the years. I’ve gotten to know them a little bit and they’re a great group of guys. They are actually deep students of pop culture as a whole; and between the 5 of them, they have a wide variety of musical taste. Well, we like a lot of the same bands. So I’ve been excited to get to do another show with them on March 17th at Mercy Lounge along with Details Details (a Postal Service meets Owl City electro-pop artist) and Eyes Around (rock band from Alabama).
On Monday, Vinyl Jones, the rapper in Knapsackheroes, had a stroke. He’s been in the hospital for the past couple of days. I don’t know all the specifics. I’m getting updated with the rest of the world on the Knapsackheroes facebook page. I don’t know if he’ll be okay for the upcoming show. I don’t care about a show. I just hope he’ll be alright and can recover. He’s got a loving family (complete with 8 kids) so I know he has some support. But please pray for him. Pray for his family. Pray for his band.
EDIT: He’s home from the hospital; doing physical therapy and the show will go on! Keep praying. But wow!
And check out the Knapsackheroes! EP
It’s been a while since the first ever Blogworthy show. I was thinking about all of the great music I’ve gotten to see. All of the fun I’ve had and relationships formed through booking these shows. It’s been a unique growing experience and an experiment in trying a different side of music performance. While a lot of people didn’t participate in the original Blogworthy concept, I did see a lot of great live music in Nashville.
I decided to make a list of my Top 6 favorite bands I’ve booked for BlogWorthy shows. This is pretty much a subjective list based on my own personal taste of the music and of the particular performance at the BW show. A lot of bands are being overlooked. That’s unfortunate. Most everyone I booked was actually BlogWorthy. Again, lots of great memories and highlights.
6. James Fate – He played at the first Blogworthy show; He played at the last one. He played at some in between too. He’s been kind of my go-to guy for shows. He’s just really good. He has great written material; but also, he can freestyle rap. He’s a hybrid pop-singer/hip-hop artist. His dominant strength is with the hip-hop. He’s obviously spent a lot of time learning how to interact with the crowd AND stay on point with the emcee flow. You almost have to see it to believe it. Check him out on myspace or youtube.
http://www.myspace.com/jamesfate
5. Molly Jewell – I have a girlfriend who is not Molly. And I love my girlfriend. So I mean no disrespect. but Molly is “da bomb.’ She’s like…two bombs. I first saw her perform at Starbucks. She was incredible. Whether she is just by herself or if she has a full band, she can really connect with the crowd. I think that is the key. I really don’t know if she is really that shy and awkward for real, but the way she plays it is very endearing. And so, when this girl gets up there and then decides to be amazing; you don’t know how to take it. She has a really funny song about being felt up by a doctor? Ok. Well, check her stuff out.
http://www.myspace.com/mollyjewell
4. The Billy Goats – 247, Iller, & DJ Eticut have been talked about and blogged about a lot around town. It was a no-brainer to bring them onto a BW show. The show they played for me was not well attended. I blame myself. Two months prior, we played a show together in the same venue and had 120 people there. Maybe it was too soon? Anyway, they are really good. Sadly, I didn’t get all 3 of them at my show. Wick-It the Instigator was their DJ instead of DJ Eticut. They just released their debut record. Check them out.
http://www.myspace.com/ilovethebillygoats
3. Get Got – Ray, Gary, & Skyler are three of the nicest guys you’ll meet. They performed at the last BW show ever held at Cafe Coco. They are a blend of funk, hip-hop, & electronica; the kind of genre (con)fusion that I always hope to bring to any Nashville show. They brought a lot of people to the show and those people were dancing! In Nashville, that’s a big deal for an indie show. This is kind of how it was anytime I saw them play. So I loved to book them. Check out their online demo; and go see them perform live!
http://soundcloud.com/origthedj/sets/get-got-demo
2. Derrek Phillips’ Manufactory – This has got to be the most skilled band I’ve ever booked. I couldn’t believe that they agreed to do the show! I was so excited. This was another genre fusion band: rock, hip-hop, jazz, electronica, r&b, all that. It wouldn’t be uncommon for Derrek, Paul, & Adam to write a new song as they were performing live. But it never sounded like they were writing. Up until they played the BW show, I felt like I knew this really great secret. Even though Paul wasn’t able to make the BW show, they are the band that I personally have received the most feedback about afterward. I would rank them #1 if not for the next band’s story. But Manufactory is wonderful and you should absolutely listen to them immediately and DEFINITELY see them live!
http://www.reverbnation.com/dpmanufactory
1. Tallest Trees – I just love this band. It’s strange because I think a lot of their influences are bands that I don’t listen to. However when you see them live, you immediately can deduce that this is an ambitious musical effort. I had seen them play a lot before, but by the time they played the BW show (the last one I’ve been able to do at Mercy Lounge); they were a two piece band officially (Thomas & Dabney), plus their drummer (Art). The reasons I put them at number one: They’re probably my favorite local band (note: I don’t consider Paper Route local anymore because they live on the road and haven’t played here in forever). Their BW performance specifically was absolutely brilliant. And what happened after they played was exactly what I had hoped would happen. I started seeing a lot of blogs and tweets pop up about them and the show. That’s really what I’ve hoped for each time I booked one of these shows! Check out Tallest Trees:
http://www.humantrees.com/tallesttrees/
So much great talent in Nashville performs to empty rooms or to indifferent crowds. These Blogworthy shows have just been a way for me to give another platform to a lot of great music that I see live. Plus it always ensured that I’d get to see some of these great bands! BlogWorthy is not dead; I don’t think. I haven’t gotten to do one in a while though. Keep your eyes open for more Blogworthy shows and for more Blogworthy artists and bands!
