Recently I was able to schedule a Zoom call with musician and actor, Huddy, to discuss his new single and video treatment for a key song called “Fragile.” In this interview, I asked Huddy about the difference in preparing for an acting role versus performing for a live concert, where he finds most of his inspiration for his art, and the plans for the future. If you’re enjoying the interview, please consider streaming Huddy’s music here.
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This past month I was able to schedule a Zoom call with Ross Shotland, the owner/founder of Enjoy The Ride Records, to discuss how he operates his company. In this interview, I asked Ross about what keeps him motivated to run his company, the most rewarding parts of his business, and much more. If you’re enjoying the interview, please consider ordering an item from Enjoy The Ride Records here.
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Today I’m thrilled to share with everyone the lush and vibrant new single from singer-songwriter, Kashena Sampson, called “Ghost Of Me.” This Nashville-based artist is storming onto the scene armed with a psychedelic-indie folk rock sound that is sure to leave you breathless. Sampson’s new album, which is also called Ghost of Me, arrives on October 3rd, and will be this ultra-talented songwriter’s third full-length record to date. Kashena Sampson shared, “Besides being a musician, I have also been a bartender at a music venue for the past 10 years to pay my bills. It’s a great job, but there are some nights that feel like my heart is breaking. Watching others live out the exact dream I’m still chasing, night after night. Having to put a smile on my face and serve industry people who’ve passed on me can be rough, and I can get real down on myself about it sometimes. ‘Ghost Of Me’ is about those moments. The times when I question my worth, and the internal struggle of not being where I would like to be in my music career. It’s about not giving up on my dreams even though at times it feels like it’s killing me.” If you’re enjoying the new single, please consider pre-ordering/pre-saving Ghost of Me here.
Read More “Kashena Sampson – “Ghost Of Me” (Song Premiere)”
Today is a great day to share the new single and video from Vilde Tuv, a talented Norwegian artist, who is gearing up for the release of her new LP called Truthbomb on September 19th. “Start/Stop” offers a cool look at what this artist is capable of creating when she’s firing on all creative cylinders. This marks Vilde Tuv’s first time releasing a single in English and is a great sign of what’s to come. If you’re enjoying the video, please consider pre-ordering Truthbomb here.
Read More “Vilde Tuv – “Start/Stop” (Video Premiere)”
It got warm early that spring. I remember that much vividly.
There’s a night from April 2012 that sticks in my head, where my college roommates and I got drunk off beer and long island iced teas and sat out on the deck of our apartment until the wee hours of the morning, so amped up by the alcohol and the unseasonable warmth of the night that we were almost howling at the moon. It felt like summer, and we were absolutely acting like it was, even though it was a Wednesday night and we all had early classes the next morning.
I hadn’t heard a note of The Gaslight Anthem’s Handwritten when that night happened, but for whatever reason, when I think of this album, that’s the night I remember. Maybe it’s because I was already anticipating Handwritten with as much fervor as I’d ever anticipated any album before. Or maybe it was just because that night felt like a Gaslight Anthem song: the friends, the instant nostalgia, the magic in the night. Whatever the reason, I’ve always thought it was funny that my most vivid memory of one of my favorite albums is from a night before that album even existed out in the world.
Read More “My Life In 35 Songs, Track 22: “Handwritten” by The Gaslight Anthem”
Today is a great day to share an early listen to the New Jersey 4-piece emo band, Banquets, new single called “Episodes.” The last we heard from Banquets, they announced their third and final LP, Spit at the Sun. The Jersey City quartet had decided to hang it up after years of shows and several releases with Black Numbers. They played their final show in February of 2016 and the members went their separate ways, parting on good terms but with the understanding that the realities of life made it difficult to carry the banner any further. Today marks a new chapter in Banquets story, as lead vocalist/guitarist Travis shared:
The song ‘Episodes’ takes the form of a letter to my former self. It acts as a reflection of how I’ve hurt and let others down. I’ve squandered some truly remarkable moments by not being fully present. Days and nights were more episodic. Like a malnourished Zack Morris, I’m trudging through a Belgian field looking for a chance to swipe some Jagermeister at Groezrock. Then I’m punishing random people with Nesquik Bunny references and making everyone stage-dive in between Lifetime songs. Cap off the episode by time-traveling during a Lagwagon set, and watching Rancid from behind my eyelids in a Sprinter. Sounds cool. Wish I was there.
Banquets fit somewhere within the artistic realm of Jimmy Eat World, Hot Rod Circuit, and The Menzingers, and they’re quickly re-cementing themselves as a key artist to watch as this year unfolds. If you’re enjoying the new single, please consider pre-ordering Banquets’ new record, Petty Relics, that will be released via Black Numbers on October 17th here.
Read More “Banquets – “Episodes” (Song Premiere)”
Recently I was able to schedule a Zoom call with rock band, Alien Ant Farm, to discuss their ongoing touring plans, the legacy and memories surrounding their music, and much more. Alien Ant Farm most recently released mANTras last year, and you can stay connected with the band here.
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Today is a great day to share the latest single and video from Mappe Of, called “Terraforming Moons.” On this vibrant new single, Mappe Of showcases crisp songwriting in the same narrative of a sci-fi future where human society has collapsed. The final single from Mappe Of’s forthcoming LP, Afterglades, keeps interest high in the new record that will be released on September 19th via Paper Bag Records.
Read More “Mappe Of – “Terraforming Moons” (Video Premiere)” If you want a cheat code for making every piece of art you see or hear suddenly seem incredibly moving and profound, might I suggest suffering the most crushing failure of your life?
Justin Vernon knows a thing or two about heartbreak and failure. For years and years, the singer-songwriter behind the Bon Iver project was perhaps the person in the indie rock world most synonymous with sadness. Bon Iver’s debut, 2007’s For Emma, Forever Ago, was famously the outcome of Vernon retreating to a remote Wisconsin cabin to nurse a broken heart. The follow-up, 2011’s Bon Iver, Bon Iver, was far more sonically audacious, but often circled back to the same kind of tender pain as its predecessor – especially on “Holocene,” my favorite Bon Iver song, and one of those songs that will always, always put a lump in my throat.
For Emma, Forever Ago is one of my go-to wintertime albums. I fell in love with it during the December of my senior year of high school, listening to those delicate, beautiful songs over and over while driving to school on cold, snowy mornings. A choir kid in high school, I loved how Bon Iver songs felt almost choral in their composition, with Vernon frequently layering his falsetto vocals on top of one another in songs like “Lump Sum.”
Bon Iver, Bon Iver felt different. A summertime release that I listened to for the first time in the midst of a mighty northern Michigan rainstorm, that album came to evoke for me, so clearly, the feel of muggy summer nights. Where For Emma, Forever Ago had essentially become Christmas music to my ears, the follow-up was a go-to driving soundtrack for late, late nights that summer. I especially loved how the closer, the ‘80s-washed power ballad “Beth/Rest,” sounded against the backdrop of pitch-dark roads.
Read More “My Life In 35 Songs, Track 21: “Holocene” by Bon Iver”
Recently, I was able to schedule a Zoom call with Christine Goodwyne (vocals/guitar) and Andy Anaya (guitars) of Pool Kids, ahead of the release of their great new album called Easier Said Than Done, out digitally via Epitaph on August 15th. In this interview, I asked Pool Kids about the unique artwork behind their new LP, what they did differently during their creative songwriting process, and which songs were the trickiest to pen on Easier Said Than Done. Pre-orders are up for the vinyl here.
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This past month I was able to connect with lead vocalist/guitarist, Christo Bowman, of the indie rock band, Bad Suns, to discuss what went into the band’s excellent fifth studio album, called Accelerator. In this interview, I asked Christo about his new foray into fatherhood and the affect it may influence in his future songwriting, plus Christo provided a detailed walkthrough of Bad Suns’ discography, and we also dove deep into the personal lyrical material found on Bad Suns’ latest album. Accelerator releases this Friday, August 8th via Epitaph Records and you can purchase the record here.
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Today is a great day to share the new music video from Origami Ghosts, called “Counter Counterculture.” The band, which fits in the same artistic vein as The Decemberists and Car Seat Headrest, makes their mark on the indie rock scene on this latest single. Band member JP Scesniak shared:
I was listening to a lot of Dead Milkmen at the time I wrote this song…and somehow — I recently realized — this tune was also influenced by the Frosted Flakes jingle (“Show ‘em you’re a Tiger…”). I watched too much TV as a kid. Too many commercials. We recorded this album at the end of a long tour, so we were pretty tight and into playing things fast. Maybe too fast. It’s spazzy. The inspiration behind this song is wordplay, trying to celebrate being square (counter counterculture) and being honest with yourself (counter counterfeit). When I sing, ‘I inhale only what I need / speaking to the hierarchy of light / of love and all that could be me,’ the hierarchy of light is the angels. This song is punk in that it’s a rebellion to typical punk themes. My friend Andie used to smoke a lot of pot during the time that I wasn’t smoking or drinking at all. I still don’t drink a whole lot anymore, and I’ll sometimes take cannabis recreationally. At the time of writing this song I was completely sober. Counter culture in 2025 is speaking up for your beliefs: voting for fair leaders that want things for people and not corporations.
If you’re enjoying the new single and video, please consider purchasing the new album this Friday here.
Read More “Origami Ghosts – “Counter Counterculture” (Video Premiere)”
Today I’m thrilled to share with everyone the heartfelt new single and music video from punk songwriter Sam Russo, called “The Muckleshoot Casino.” This great new single comes from Russo’s new LP, Hold You Hard, that releases everywhere music is sold this Friday, August 8th. Russo shared:
“The Muckleshoot Casino” is a very honest dive into loneliness, how it can hit you like a wave in the strangest moments, and the hope it takes to keep going. It’s a song of longing, written journal style after I got lost walking around a casino in Washington State. We shot the video in my local laundrette because it’s like a time capsule visually, but it’s also a place you go to sit and think and make things clean and new again, and that felt appropriate somehow.
If you’re enjoying the new single and are craving more Sam Russo, please consider purchasing his new record here.
Read More “Sam Russo – “The Muckleshoot Casino” (Video Premiere)” I felt like I was escaping from prison.
In the car, fleeing campus at the end of my sophomore year of college, I got a legitimate adrenaline jolt, because a part of me couldn’t believe that this long, arduous year was finally drawing to a close. 12 months earlier, I’d pulled away from my freshman dorm feeling positive about college and extremely hopeful about the summer to come. Now, I wondered in the back of my mind whether I’d ever come back to this school again. Why had that one year made such a difference?
Fortunately, I still had a lot of hope for the summertime. For months, I’d had this day circled on the calendar, a mental “finish line” where everything that had been out of whack in my life would click back into place. I’d go back home; my girlfriend Jillian and I would be reunited; I’d go back to the summer job I loved, performing at the local dinner theater; winter would finally lose its oppressive hold on Michigan and I’d get to roll down the car windows and feel the wind blow back my hair as I blasted summertime songs on the stereo.
I even already had a summertime soundtrack picked out. On March 22, 2011, Yellowcard, one of the preeminent “summer soundtrack” bands of my youth, had released their first new album in four years. Called When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes, the album was packed with big anthems that were begging for precisely the type of windows-down car rides I mentioned above. There’s even a song on that album, called “With You Around,” where the chorus goes “All I can think about is you and me driving with a Saves the Day record on/We were singing ’til our voices were gone.” I listened to that album on repeat during my final month of sophomore year, trying to will summertime to get here a little faster, because I’d never needed it more.
Read More “My Life In 35 Songs, Track 20: “The Sound of You and Me” by Yellowcard”
Today I’m so excited to bring everyone the video premiere of one of my favorite songs to come out this year, in The EXOHs incredible anthem of “Soarin’.” The band is Chris Canberg & Michael Perdichizzi and they have a sound similar to The Fray, Snow Patrol and The Ataris. The band shared, “This is our new video for our song ‘Soarin’’. Our music videos are a labor of love; we put a lot of work into them; we plan, write, and edit our videos ourselves, and ‘Soarin” is the latest in this line. It’s a breezy summer vibe, hopefully how the song also makes you feel. We hope you enjoy it!” The EXOHs are doing incredible work, and I hope they’re here to stay. If you’re enjoying the video/song, please consider streaming the single here.
Read More “The EXOHs – “Soarin’” (Video Premiere)”