Though its April Fools Day announcement may have made fans think twice, Brooklyn’s Woods do, in fact, have a surprise new record out. The psych-folk-rock outfit released their Five More Flowers EP via their own Woodsist label this week ahead of a North American tour alongside Animal Collective’s Avey Tare. The roots of Five More Flowers touch much of Woods’ …
Saya Gray Uploads ‘QWERTY II’ EP, Announces International Tour
Following the release of her QWERTY II EP, Japanese-Canadian art-pop artist Saya Gray has announced an international tour in support of her new record, with shows in the U.K., E.U. and North America set for late spring. Gray released the seven-track QWERTY EP via Dirty Hit in May 2023, then delivered the seven-track follow-up last week—in a statement, the artist …
Musician and Gamble Rogers Folk Festival President Jim Carrick Reflects on the 2024 Fest and its Namesake’s Ongoing Influence
Consider it a low-key utopia. Held at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds, the 28th annual Gamble Rogers Folk Festival is a three-day micro-community of old and young musicians, music lovers of varied stripes, families, neo-hippies or just curious tourists savvy enough to get really local. From Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14, more than 100 performers are featured on …
Jax Music Hour Playlist | March 30
Last week on the Jax Music Hour, we were joined by JME contributor Carissa Marques, who shared several of her local favorites, including Siichaq, Kale That Raps, and Leo Sun. Carissa also shared her excitement for the Hozier, Earthgang, and George Clanton shows coming up in Jacksonville very soon. Here’s what played on the Jax Music Hour last week. Catch …
St. Vincent Shares a Sinister New ‘All Born Screaming’ Single,“Flea”
This spring, St. Vincent returns with her seventh—and first self-produced—studio album, All Born Screaming (April 26, Total Pleasure Records / Virgin Music Group), and our second preview of the LP is out now in the form of “Flea,” featuring Dave Grohl and Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Where 2021’s Grammy-winning Daddy’s Home found St. Vincent time-traveling to 1970s New York City, even recording …
On Jazz Beyond Tradition, Ulysses Owens Jr. & Keanna Faircloth Explore the Past, Present and Future of the True American Artform
In celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month, WJCT Public Media and the Jacksonville Music Experience will debut Jazz Beyond Tradition, a six-episode limited series that explores jazz voices from the past, present and future, beginning Sunday, April 21 on both WJCT News 89.9 and the Independent 89.9 HD4. Hosted by Jacksonville-bred, Grammy-Award-winning musician and educator Ulysses Owens Jr. and award-winning radio …
The Mercurial Musical World of John Lurie Is Illuminated Anew on ‘Music from the Series (Painting with John)’
The latest from Renaissance-man and quixotic rambler John Lurie is a 56-song collection of recent musical collaborations that will do much to satisfy fans of the musician-artist-actor-memoirist. Meanwhile, those who are indifferent, annoyed, or puzzled by the now-71-year-old Lurie’s almost-five decades long (and heavily hyphenated) body of work could very well still be intrigued this 56-song set, available in vinyl …
London’s Lava La Rue Announces ‘STARFACE,’ Shares Silky Lead Single “Push N Shuv”
West London-based psych-soul artist Lava La Rue has announced their full-length debut STARFACE, coming June 21 on Dirty Hit. Lead single “Push N Shuv” is out now with a self-co-directed music video. Our first preview of the much-anticipated album, “Push N Shuv” pays affectionate homage to iconic ‘80s new-wavers Tom Tom Club, with a bubbly funk groove that sounds like …
Watch Jacksonville Artists’ 2024 Tiny Desk Contest Videos
The Tiny Desk Contest is back for 2024, with a new (and stacked) panel of judges and another opportunity for unsigned artists to earn an invite to perform on the revered, improvised stage located in offices of NPR Music’s Washington, D.C. HQ. Over the past nine years, tens-of-thousands of musicians have submitted their videos to the Tiny Desk Contest (TDC) …
Noah Kahan, Eric Church, Norah Jones, Kevin Morby, The Breeders Among this Year’s Sing Out Loud Festival Headliners
The music celebration known as the Sing Out Loud Festival returns to St. Augustine this year with the Live Wildly Showcase on Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22 at Francis Field. Performers for this year’s festival include jazz-folk artist Norah Jones, country singer Eric Church, alt-country artist Ryan Bingham with The Texas Gentlemen, folk singer and radio standout Noah …
Jax Music Hour Playlist | March 9
Last week on the Jax Music Hour (Saturdays at 8PM on WJCT News 89.9 FM), we shined a spotlight on harpist Brandee Younger, who’ll be joining us on the WJCT Soundstage on Thursday, March 14. Get tickets to the show here. In addition to other artists coming through Northeast Florida soon, we played a mix of local jams from K.UTIE, …
Bad Madonna’s Alexis Rhode Goes Solo as ROADIE, Shares First Single “Ball of String”
Alexis Rhode of Jacksonville indie-rock act Bad Madonna has shared her first solo single as ROADIE, exploring a more delicate singer-songwriter sound on the pensive breakup song “Ball of String.” Rhode is backed by Danny Strickland, Milan Algood and Jordan Mixon on her new single, but you wouldn’t know it from the song’s opening moments. “I guess I got in …
The Neighborhood Playlist | March 9
Neighbors! I hope your month is moving well and you are doing great. We revisited a previous interview with the neighbor Myztroh who will be opening up for Brandee Younger on March 14. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. I hope to see my cool neighbors in attendance. We also visited Moonchild’s music, played Butcher Brown (they’ll be at Ponte …
Latest from Duval-to-NYC Musician Alexei Shishkin is a Quality Byrds-Style Flight Plan
Make no mistake: “Wind Picks Up Again,” the third track from Alexei Shishkin’s recent album dagger, is a fantastic rock song. From the start, it’s evident that the Jacksonvillian-turned-NYC-Brooklynite is adept at evoking the kind of lysergic 12-string-guitar shimmer that made 1966-era Byrds achieve stratospheric peaks, and the driving bass and drums accompaniment of Shishkin’s economical approach propels and enhances …
How Jacksonville Synth Wizard James Scott Rubia Spins Swamp-Pop Sounds as Animal Clinic
Gathering production influence from Brian Eno and songwriting inspiration from Leonard Cohen, solo synth act Animal Clinic aims for complexity in both sound and emotion. “I wanted to say something very personal,” says Animal Clinic’s sole musician James Scott Rubia. “I wanted to say it with detail, and I wanted listeners to be able to hopefully feel what I was …
Charley Crockett’s ‘$10 Cowboy’ Tour Comes to St. Augustine Amp This Summer
Rising Americana star Charley Crockett has extended his tour in support of his forthcoming album $10 Cowboy (April 26, Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers), adding a late-August stop in the Ancient City. Though he’s typically billed as a country artist, Crockett’s self-described “Gulf & Western” sound is far richer and more nuanced than that label may suggest. The Texas-born, New Orleans-influenced …
Indie-Folk Fave Jenny Lewis Extends Joy’All Ball Tour, Adds a Stop at Intuition Ale Works in Jacksonville
Local lovers of legit indie-folk and innovative Americana have hit the summer sweepstakes. Jenny Lewis and her Joy’All Ball Tour makes a stop at Intuition Ale Works on Saturday, June 29. Lewis will be joined in Jax by the great Seattle songsmith Dean Johnson. Lewis’ latest, 2023’s ten-song Joy’All, finds Lewis in peak form, traversing traditional singer-songwriter terrain and experimental …
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Share “Wild God,” a Worthy Addition to Their Canon of Blunt and Bluesy Theology
In the 2013 book, Faith, Hope and Carnage, Nick Cave admits: “I feel that instinctive, mysterious connection can have a deeper impact on the psyche of the listener. It feels as if it connects to the listener in a different way, as if we have stumbled upon the song and its implicit meaning together.” Culled from 40 hours of conversations …
Jax Music Hour Playlist | March 2
On the March 2 episode of the Jax Music Hour (Saturdays at 8PM on WJCT News 89.9 FM), we were joined by singer-songwriter Rick Colado, best known as rickoLus, whose album, These Things Happen, was released on March 1. The Jacksonville music veteran has been part of the local scene for decades and told us about the evolution of the …
Jazz Harpist Brandee Younger on ‘Brand New Life’ and Paying Homage to Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane
Brandee Younger is a trailblazer. Over the course of the last 15 years, the New York-bred musician, composer and educator has contributed to works by a range of contemporary artists, from Common and Lauryn Hill to John Legend and Moses Sumney, placing her among a peer group of classically trained musicians strengthening the connective tissue between jazz and hip-hop, R&B, …
Annie Dukes Have a Hankering for “Cherry” on Hot-Blooded New Single
Femme-fronted Jacksonville rock outfit Annie Dukes are marking this International Women’s Day with a blistering new single, “Cherry.” Cassidy Lee (bass, vocals), Emma Moseley (guitar, vocals), Callie Johns (keys, vocals) and Mike Monahan (drums) describe their sound as “Black Sabbath meets Fleetwood Mac,” and on “Cherry,” the foursome hew to the heavier end of that spectrum. The dynamic track evokes …
Faye Webster Adds Fall Florida Theatre Show Supporting ‘Underdressed at the Symphony’
Now with another acclaimed album under her belt, Atlanta alt-folk singer-songwriter Faye Webster has announced a dozen new September and October shows, including a stop at Jacksonville’s storied Florida Theatre. Webster’s new shows are an extension of her impending North American tour in support of her fifth studio album Underdressed at the Symphony, released last week via Secretly Canadian. The …
Nate Amos of Water From Your Eyes Announces New Solo Album as This Is Lorelei
New York’s Nate Amos is a man of many projects, from a pair of acclaimed indie-pop duos—Water From Your Eyes and My Idea, with Rachel Brown and Lily Konigsberg, respectively—to his longstanding solo project This Is Lorelei. On Monday, Amos announced what a press release calls his “first attempt at a traditional, intentionally written full-length album” as This Is Lorelei, …
Electronic Fusion Faves the Thievery Corporation Announce May Backyard Stage Show at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre
Groundbreaking electronic group the Thievery Corporation will bring their global-music sound to the Backyard Stage at St. Augustine Amphitheatre on Tuesday, May 23. Presented by Intuition Ale Works, tickets for the show go on sale this Friday, March 8 and are available online and at the Amp box office. Thievery Corporation was formed in Washington, D.C. in 1995 by Rob …
New Single from Shabaka is an Earnest and Moody Contemplation of the Gloomier Gradients of Spiritual Jazz
The latest from UK reeds-player Shabaka is a continuation of his low-key search for conveying a higher knowledge expressed through music. Categorizations are unavoidable, yet a cursory understanding of the cadre of musicians that the 40-year-old Shabaka Hutchings has aligned himself with—Sun Ra Arkestra, André 3000, Esperanza Spalding, Floating Points, Polar Bear, and Shabaka’s own outfits, Sons of Kemet and …
Jalen Ngonda Falls in Unrequited Love on “Illusions”
Just months after releasing his debut album on Daptone Records, London-via-D.C. soul singer-songwriter Jalen Ngonda is back with a brand new single, the bittersweet, Motown-inspired “Illusions.” A talented purveyor of time-warp soul a la Leon Bridges, Ngonda’s distinctive voice is his most valuable asset, a nimble falsetto that evokes explosive joy and eats high notes for breakfast. On “Illusions,” however, …
Tiny Desk Concert | Wednesday
“I learned how to play guitar watching Tiny Desk concerts,” Wednesday‘s lead singer Karly Hartzman says in the band’s performance. Specifically, she says, by way of Mitski‘s scream-filled 2015 set. “The chords to these songs are pretty easy, if you want to mirror ’em.” The Asheville, N.C., rock band is constantly on the road, supporting Rat Saw God, which made …
The Neighborhood Playlist | February 24
Neighbors! We’re at the end of February. The time was short, but hopefully you enjoyed the playlists and the interviews. In this episode, I sat with visual artist Erin Kendrick at Jacksonville Arts and Music School (aka JAMS) and we talked about the music she listens to as well as what she’s currently creating. Enjoy the playlist below. #TOTHETOP Corinne …
Jax Music Hour Playlist | February 24
Last week on the Jax Music Hour (Saturdays at 8PM on WJCT News 89.9 FM), we spoke with Hiss Golden Messenger’s MC Taylor, who performed at the Bier Hall at Intuition Ale Works on Wednesday, February 28. The Durham singer-songwriter spoke about his songwriting and lyrics-gathering process. In addition to Hiss Golden Messenger and other artists coming through Northeast Florida …
DIIV Announce North American Tour, Share (Totally Real) ‘SNL’ Stage With Fred Durst
The fourth album from New York City shoegazers DIIV is on the way, and ahead of Frog in Boiling Water’s May 24 release via Fantasy Records, the band has unveiled a North American tour and a new music video, both with ties to the Sunshine State. After announcing their new album earlier this month, DIIV—Zachary Cole Smith, Andrew Bailey, Colin …
Duval Indie-Pop Impresario HUAN Delivers an Anthemic Takedown with “Finer Things”
Operating in a creative realm parallel to bedroom dream-pop exists Duval-based musician HUAN, aka Juan Mallorca, who throws a little nuanced neon light and electronic-soul on his DIY domain. Mallorca’s garage-rock jollies are satisfied with his project Jawberry and he’s also the mastermind behind the latin-trap entity, Chico Honey. Over a breezy riff that is smooth to the point of …
Tiny Desk | Butcher Brown
The “solar music” Butcher Brown brought to Tiny Desk was hot and funky from the count-in. What is solar music? It’s the term the band uses to describe the various musical inspirations that influence its sound — simply put, everything under the sun. And everyone who attended this Tiny Desk Concert was feeling it. There were stank faces aplenty. NPR …
Photo Recap | Winterland Six Music Festival
Jacksonville music fans turned out for Osees, Caroline Rose, Blonde Redhead, Isaiah Collier and More
Over the course of the last weekend of February, Jacksonville music fans turned out to see nearly three dozen local, regional and nationally touring bands during Winterland Six. Held in James Weldon Johnson Park in Downtown Jacksonville, the music festival was headlined by Blonde Redhead, Caroline Rose and Osees. Enjoy a photo recap from the lenses of Toni Smailagic and …
L.A. Siren Jessica Pratt Calls Listeners to the Orchestral Rocks with New Single, “Life Is”
The debut single from Jessica Pratt’s forthcoming fourth album Here in the Pitch, the song “Life Is” is an impressive mix of baroque pop-psychedelia. Underpinned by a symphonic albeit subdued production sheen, Pratt targets lovelorn listeners with a type of haunted and haunting lyricism (“Life is, it’s never what you think it’s for / and I can’t seem to set …
Progressive Rock Guitarist Steve Hackett and the Art of Moving Forward from Genesis Onward
Steve Hackett is many things: a pioneering progressive rock and jazz-fusion guitarist, an eager collaborator and tireless touring musician, and a classic-rock music survivor who remains refreshingly indifferent to pop-audience trends or attention. But one thing the 74-year-old Hackett certainly is not is idle. Whether it’s a matter of nervous energy or manic inspiration, along with being a core member …
Erica Reese Spirals Through Shoegaze on Hooky New Single “Pretty”
Ahead of her set at this weekend’s Winterland Six music festival, Jacksonville’s own Erica Reese has shared a shoegazing new single, “Pretty,” produced by her Coastal Creature collaborator Parker Dixon. Awash in oceanic guitar tones and unflinching vulnerability, “Pretty” finds Reese’s narrator seeking external validation in what she knows deep down is a futile effort to fill some internal emptiness. …