Go | What to see and hear in Jax this week

Jam band Circles Around the Sun, bluesman Robert Cray and hip-hop beat-maker Blockhead top a week that has a little something for everyone.

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Each and every week the Jacksonville Music Experience team identifies the best concerts in Northeast Florida.  Here’s what’s on the JME team’s concert calendar this week.  Funk Monday Night Funk Jam – Monday, November 8 Headroom Coffee Bar | Downtown Jax Headroom Coffee Bar plays host to some of the area’s top talent, each and every Monday. Adam Kenneway, Shaun …

In this article: 1904 Music Hall, Blue Jay Listening Room, blues, Circles Around the Sun, concert calendar, jacksonville, Jam, jazz, Live music and Robert Cray

WJCT Public Media Presents Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive

Media Contact:Neily BrarenPromotion & Marketing Associate, WJCT904.318.2633 | nbraren@wjct.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Community is invited to donate lightly used sweaters beginning November 1, 2021 November 3, 2021 — Jacksonville, Fla. — WJCT Public Media is partnering with VyStar Credit Union, Suddath and the Tom Bush Family of Dealerships to present the 19th annual Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive to collect …

Local Spotlight | “Chamomile (Smoke Rings)” by Lazuli Vane

Beaches-based multi-instrumentalist steeps a funk-laced psychedelic brew

By Matthew Shaw
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Neptune Beach has treated Patrick Taylor well. Since arriving in the small ocean-adjacent enclave a year ago, the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who performs under Lazuli Vane has been productive, releasing the texturally rich and experimentally inclined full-length, 2020’s ambient The Orphic Rite of the Cult of Sedna. More importantly, perhaps, for the young creative, he’s embedded himself within an emotionally …

In this article: Chamomile, jacksonville, Lazuli Vane, Music, Neptune Beach, New music, Smoke Rings and The Orphic Rite of the Cult of Sedna

Surfer Blood drop back into Jacksonville with something old, something new

The West Palm Beach indie faves play the Bier Hall at Intuition Ale Works

By Daniel A. Brown
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While Surfer Blood’s latest album plays like a possible rumination on the past, the band is hardly caught in the undertow of a wave of nostalgia.  Released in May of 2020, Carefree Theatre is a solid offering from the West Palm Beach-born band that has enjoyed a decade-plus of critical acclaim and rabid fan adoration. The 11-song collection contains the certain …

In this article: Astro Coast, Carefree Theatre, Indie rock, Intuition Ale Works, jacksonville, John Paul Pitts, Surfer Blood and West Palm Beach

Watch | The War On Drugs play Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

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The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. In their Tiny Desk (home) concert, The War On Drugs gather in their packed studio in Burbank, …

In this article: Adam Granduciel, Indie rock, NPR, NPR Music, rock, The War On Drugs and Tiny Desk Concert

Join NPR Music’s film screening of ‘Karen Dalton: In My Own Time’

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Join us for an online screening of Karen Dalton: In My Own Time. Bob Boilen from All Songs Considered will be joined by director Robert Yapkowitz and singer-songwriter Margo Price in a live conversation about the film. The event will take place on Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. ET – you can RSVP via NPR Presents and watch via NPR …

In this article: All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen, documentary, In My Own Time, Karen Dalton, Margo Price, NPR Music and screening

Go | The best concerts in Jacksonville this week

Porchfest, Surfer Blood and a hip-hop showcase

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Each and every week the Jacksonville Music Experience team identifies the best concerts in Northeast Florida.  Here’s what the JME team wants to see and hear this week.  Jam Band Galactic – Thursday, November 4 Ponte Vedra Concert Hall | Ponte Vedra A mainstay at music festivals for decades, funky and progressive instrumental ensemble Galactic plays the Ponte Vedra Concert …

In this article: Bier Hall, concert calendar, Galactic, Intuition Ale Works, jacksonville, Mal Jones, Music, Porchfest and Surfer Blood

Listen | November’s Fresh Squeeze playlist

A juicy playlist of tunes handpicked by the JME team

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JME contributors pick the juiciest noise emanating from Northeast Florida and beyond for our monthly Fresh Squeeze playlist. Featuring a few dozen new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists, there are no rules or genre restrictions; just songs we thought were worth a share. Follow the Jacksonville Music Experience on Spotify and our Fresh Squeeze playlist to keep …

In this article: Fresh Squeeze, Helado Negro, jacksonville, JME, local, music discovery, New music, NPR and Parquet Courts

Hot Off the (Re)Press | Joni Mitchell at Carnegie and R.E.M. at their peak

Two great re-pressings from iconic artists

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‘Hot Off the (Re)Press’ is a semi-regular column highlighting reissues of seminal, classic and groundbreaking works. The Jacksonville Music Experience team is made of vinyl enthusiasts. Read more about our love affair with the medium via JME’s Crate Diggin’ features. Live at Carnegie Hall-1969, Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell, one of the most-celebrated songwriters of her generation, has arguably been one of the …

In this article: Carnegie Hall, jacksonville, Joni Mitchell, Music, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, R.E.M., reissue and vinyl

Jax Photographer Leighton Hoey’s Immersive View of the City’s Music Scene

Hoey's Jax Today photo essay offers a unique look at music in Northeast Florida

By JME Staff
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In a recent photo essay for Jacksonville Today (the second in an ongoing series for the recently launched newsletter and website), Beaches-based lens-person Leighton Hoey captures the verve and enthusiasm surrounding the city’s burgeoning live music scene. At 23, Hoey’s already a season veteran documentarian of music in Northeast Florida. And, in contrast to the more posed or highly stylized …

In this article: jacksonville, Jax Today, Leighton Hoey, Music, Newsletter, photo essay and photography

Local Spotlight | “Love Burn” by 9E

Heavy Jax rock quartet expands its mastery of the dark arts

By Matthew Shaw
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On the strength of the riff-heavy and atmospheric noise found within 9E’s 2018 debut Desert Nights, the Jax Beach-based rock quartet was enjoying some forward momentum, its monochromatic ambience and mastery of soft-loud dynamism manifesting as a kind of dark art, casting spells on the rowdy crowds that gathered in small clubs around the beaches before the city’s pandemic slumber. For a …

In this article: 9E, Brent Knoechel, Don Nicol, jacksonville, Jason Hoey, Jax Beach, Love Burn, rock, stoner rock and Tony Prat

Watch | Tiny Desk winner Neffy

Neffy performs her contest winning song "Wait Up"

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It felt good to be home, if only for one night: home, in this case, being my Tiny Desk at NPR. We were about to film Neffy, our 2021 Tiny Desk Contest winner, at my desk at NPR headquarters. My corner of the NPR Music department looked just as I had left it almost 600 days ago; it’s eerie inside …

In this article: Bob Boilen, Neffy, NPR Music, Tiny Desk Concert and winner

Fresh Rotation | Four new songs handpicked by the JME team

New tracks from Parquet Courts, Feels, IDLES and Duval’s own Wes Harris

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Each and every week the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists to concoct the tasty, tall-glass-of-a-listening-experience that is our Fresh Squeeze playlist. Each song is chosen with intention. And so we often feel like they are worthy of a broader discussion (or at least a bit of context). Here’s four new songs (all …

In this article: Al Pete, FEELS, fresh rotation, Glenn MIchael Van Dyke, IDLES, JME, Music, New music, NPR, Parquet Courts and Rain Henderson

Go | Jacksonville PorchFest in Historic Springfield

Every neighborhood has its charms; only one has PorchFest

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Certainly every neighborhood scattered across the vast sprawl of Jacksonville––the largest city by land area in the continental U.S.––has its charms. But the Downtown Jax-adjacent neighborhood of Springfield––with its rich history, walkability and varied range of historic and architecturally interesting homes gleaming with classical columns, fireplaces, crown modeling, decorative banisters, et al––is in a league of its own. And Springfield …

In this article: downtown, Festival, jacksonville, LPT, Music, Porchfest, SPAR and springfield

Listen | Wilco covers The Beatles for ‘Let It Be’ reissue

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Alt-Americana icons Wilco have released two covers of songs from The Beatles twelfth and final studio release, 1970’s Let It Be. The band tackled the plaintive ballads “Dig A Pony” and “Don’t Let Me Down” as part of Amazon Music’s [RE]DISCOVER campaign, which is celebrating this month’s special edition reissue of Let It Be. Wilco’s October surprise foreshadows the release …

In this article: Beatles documentary, Dig A Pony, Don't Let Me Down, Get Back, Let It Be, Peter Jackson, The Beatles and Wilco

Lawmakers are considering awarding Prince a Congressional Gold Medal

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Minnesota’s Congressional delegation wants to award an iconic hometown hero with one of the highest of awards given to U.S. civilians. The bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation Monday calling for Prince to posthumously receive the Congressional Gold Medal. The bill honors Prince for his “legacy of musical achievement and… indelible mark on Minnesota and American culture.” The measure is …

In this article: Congressional Gold medal, Minnesota, Music, NPR, pop, Prince, Purple Rain and Rep. Ilhan Omar

Just Announced | Bon Iver @ the St. Augustine Amphitheatre

Grammy Award-winning musical polymath Bon Iver to play the Sunshine State

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Grammy Award-Winning act Bon Iver recently announced a 23-date U.S. tour with a stop at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre in April. The critically acclaimed project of singer-songwriter and producer Justin Vernon, Bon Iver emerged as one of the most successful indie-folk acts to emerge of the early 2000s. The sparse yet dynamic For Emma, Forever Ago––Vernon’s debut as Bon Iver––was …

In this article: Bon Iver, For Emma Forever Ago, Justin Vernon, St. Augustine Amphitheatre, The Amp, tickets and U.S. Tour

Go | These are the best concerts in Jax this week

Indie rock, bedroom hip-hop, spooky stoner metal and legendary blues for your Halloween weekend

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If you slept on Thundercat’s visit to Northeast Florida, you’ll surely be disappointed to find out that the incomparable bassist’s Ponte Vedra Concert Hall show this Tuesday is sold out. Don’t be disheartened, though. A sold-out show is a good sign that Northeast Florida’s live music scene is alive and well.  And during a week in which we celebrate the …

In this article: All Them Witches, Buddy Guy, concerts, halloween, jacksonville and THundercat

On ‘Weight of the World,’ Maxo Kream’s world expands amid personal tragedy

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Against convention for new album releases, Houston rapper Maxo Kream released his third album on a Monday, due to the date’s personal significance. Weight of the World‘s Oct. 18 release coincides with his niece Jalae’s birthday, as well as the anniversary of his cousin Andrew’s death. Maxo even remembers Oct. 18 as the date that his younger brother — Jalae’s …

In this article: hip-hop, Houston, Local Joker, Maxo Kream, New music, rap, Tyler the creator and Weight of the World

JME DJ Sessions | The beautiful noise of Northeast Florida on First Coast Connect

Listen to three new songs out of Jacksonville

By JME Staff
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As temperatures are cooling here in Northeast Florida, local artists are heating up––setting streaming services ablaze with brand new tunes.  On October’s edition of JME DJ Sessions on First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, we listened to three songs from some of the region’s most buzzed-about artists.  You can read reviews for each song on jaxmusic.org and listen to them …

In this article: DeAndre Lettsome, Faze Wave, First Coast Connect, JME, JME DJ Sessions, LANNDS, Melissa Ross, Music and northeast florida

Local Spotlight | “Stay in L.A.” by Howdy

Jacksonville indie-folk cowboy says "Aloha" to the West Coast

By Matthew Shaw
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California retains a mythical quality in the hearts and minds of East Coasters. Los Angeles, too––despite its labyrinths of on- and off-ramps, fire hazards and (now) mosquito problems––can weigh heavy on the imagination of a right-coast romantic. A West Coast pilgrammage, then, is a must; if only to realize the grass is always greener. On “Stay in L.A.” Jax Beach-based …

In this article: aloha, folk, Howdy, Indie, jacksonville, Landon Gay, Los Angeles, Music, New and Stay In LA

Go | The best concerts in Jax this week

A good week for fans of college radio

By JME Staff
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There was a time when the term college radio was used to describe any rock music that was just outside the mainstream. Bands like R.E.M. and the B-52’s wore it like a badge of honor. The Replacements glorified such “Left of the Dial” music in song.  Today, the term is used to describe a much broader array of artists working …

In this article: concert calendar, Frankie and the witch fingers, Hotel Fiction, Indie, jacksonville, Live music and Sheer Mag

NPR Music hosts live listening party for ‘A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle’

Mythical John Coltrane recording to be released on October 22

By JME Staff
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In October of 1965, John Coltrane and an ensemble that featured drummer Elvin Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner, as well as bassist Donald Rafael Garrett and a second tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, finished out a week-long residency at the Penthouse jazz club in Seattle, performing Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, the heralded saxophonist’s masterwork released earlier that year. Until just a …

In this article: A Love Supreme, Brandee Younger, Branford Marsalis, John Coltrane, Live in Seattle, NPR Music and rare vinyl

Fresh Rotation | New tunes JME contributors can’t stop listening to

New tunes from Michael Hurley, BeMyFiasco, Rodrigo Amarante and a fresh dedication to Pops

By JME Staff
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Each and every month the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists and concocts the tasty, tall-glass-of-a-listening-experience that is our Fresh Squeeze playlist. Each song is chosen with intention. And so we often feel like they are worthy of a broader discussion (or at least a bit of context). Here’s four new songs (all …

In this article: BeMyFiasco, fresh rotation, Louis Armstrong, Michael Hurley, New music and Rodrigo Amarante

Local Spotlight | The best releases by Jax artists out right now

New singles from Faze Wave and Niki Dawson; albums by LPT and DeAndre Lettsome

By JME Staff
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The JME team was busy last week, as new music flooded in from across Northeast Florida. New tracks from indie rock quartet Faze Wave and singular vocalist Niki Dawson perked our ears. And meditative and complex new full-lengths from jazz-scene standout DeAndre Lettsome and ten-piece Afro-Cuban salsa orchestra LPT gave us much to chew on.  Here are the best new …

In this article: DeAndre Lettsome, Faze Wave, jacksonville, Local Spotlight, LPT, Music, New music, Niki Dawson and northeast florida

Giveaway | Win tickets to see Sheer Mag at Intuition Ale Works

Free tickets to see potent Philly power-pop quartet

By JME Staff
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The team over at Intuition Ale Works had big plans for the Bier Hall, a mid-sized music venue inside their Downtown taproom and production facility. While the pandemic may have stalled those initial ambitions (a Ty Segall show was put on ice), the Bier Hall is ready to come alive, rolling out a fall lineup featuring some big-time indie acts …

In this article: Bier Hall, free tickets, giveaway, Indie rock, Intuition Ale Works, jacksonville and Sheer Mag

Defining T. Rex Album Came Out The Same Year NPR Debuted Original Programming

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This story originally aired on Sept. 24, 2021. In 1971, Joe Elliott was 12 years old, and he was going to his first rock show. The band was T. Rex, touring their latest album, Electric Warrior. Pushing through the venue’s swing doors with porthole windows, Elliott found himself in a rollicking, ecstatic crowd that screamed itself into his memory. Fifty …

In this article: 1971, Bang a Gong (Get It On), Electric Warrior, glam rock, Hot Love, Marc Bolan and T. Rex

Local Journalism Initiative At WJCT Public Media Receives $500k Grant From Arthur Vining Davis Foundations

Media Contact:Neily BrarenPromotion & Marketing Associate, WJCT904.318.2633 | nbraren@wjct.org Local Journalism Initiative At WJCT Public Media Receives $500k Grant From Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Jacksonville Today newsletter to launch today as first new online product Randy Roguski, Pulitzer Prize-winning metro editor of South Florida Sun-Sentinel, joins WJCT News team Jacksonville, Fla. – October 18, 2021 – WJCT Public Media announced …

Local Spotlight | ‘Se Quema El Mundo’ by LPT

New full-length by popular Jax-based Afro-Cuban Salsa ensemble is designed to move you

By Daniel A. Brown
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Since forming 2015, LPT have been vigilant in bringing their personal brand of salsa music to both the stage and studio. The 10-piece Afro-Cuban ensemble have released a handful of singles, a full-length and live releases on labels Winterland Records, Bold City Records and their own LPT Salsa imprint.  In concert, LPT is a veritable juggernaut, setting stages ablaze (figuratively) …

In this article: Afro-cuban, Josue Cruz, LPT, new album, Salsa, Se Quema El Mundo and The World Is Burning

Meeting Tracy Chapman In The Spaces Between

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Tracy is wearing a plain, worn, black T-shirt, no pockets, no sly sayings, and I imagine her waking up in it, in just that T-shirt, and walking around my small basement bedroom in the Oakland split-ranch that I am sharing with 5 other grad students for $200 dollars a month each, so cold we can see our breath. Tracy is …

In this article: 1988, Fast Car, LGBTQ, NPR and Tracy Chapman

Fresh Rotation | 3 new songs we can’t stop listening to

New music from Wet Leg, serpentwithfeet and Shannon Lay

By JME Staff
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Each and every month the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists and creates the tasty listening experience that is our Fresh Squeeze playlist. Each song is chosen with intention. And so we often feel like they are worthy of a broader discussion (or at least a bit of context). Here’s three new …

In this article: fresh rotation, Fresh Squeeze, Indie, listen, New music, NPR, serpentwithfeet, Shannon Lay and Wet Leg

Local Spotlight | ‘Impetus’ by DeAndre Lettsome

Jax-based alto saxophonist struts across standards and original compositions

By Matthew Shaw
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Astute followers of Jacksonville’s red hot jazz scene are surely familiar with DeAndre Lettsome. A founding member of Jax-based purveyors of New-Orleans-style jazz, Let’s Ride Brass Band, the 26-year-old alto saxophonist is an in-demand player. And, as evidenced by the new nine-song collection Impetus (Lettsome’s first solo release on Bold City Music Productions), he’s also a formidable composer and topnotch …

In this article: Bold City Music Productions, DeAndre Lettsome, Impetus, jacksonville, jazz, John Lumpkin, Joshua Bowlus, New music and saxophone

Go | Todd Haynes’ ‘The Velvet Underground’ documentary @ Sun-Ray Cinema

The revered avant-garde rockers finally get the rock-doc treatment

By Matthew Shaw
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You don’t have to be a mystic, or even religious, to understand that coincidences don’t really exist. Indeed, any student of rock n’ roll knows that the history of the canon is littered with chance encounters and ripe scenes made up of unusually heterogeneous mixtures of characters.  In 1957, a 15-year-old Paul McCartney paid threepence to watch a popular Liverpool …

In this article: Andy Warhol, documentary, John Cale, Lou Reed, New York City, Nico, Sun-Ray Cinema, The Velvet Underground and Todd Haynes

Go | The best concerts in Northeast Florida this week

Funk jams, Pitbull, Thievery Corporation and LPT

By JME Staff
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If you haven’t yet heard Jax-based afro-cuban salsa orchestra LPT, this week represents perhaps one of the best opportunities, as the ten-piece owns a headline spot at Viva La Fiesta in James Weldon Johnson Park Downtown. Not only will the band closeout the two day celebration of the contemporary vibrancy of the city’s Hispanic culture. The event doubles as a …

In this article: concerts, Downtown Jacksonville, live music calendar, LPT, Pitbull, St. Augustine Amphitheatre, Thievery Corporation and Viva La Fiesta

Local Spotlight | “Feelings” by Niki Dawson

Jax singer flexes her singular vocal talent on new single

By Matthew Shaw
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Certainly there are countless singers who can emote a broad spectrum of sentiments despite a limited vocal range. (Bob Dylan comes to mind, though, many––myself included––find his vocal prowess to be somewhat underrated.) But when it comes to Niki Dawson, there are seemingly few, if any, limitations on what the Jacksonville singer can express.  On a new single appropriately titled …

In this article: Feelings, Friends of Friends Recording, jacksonville, Niki Dawson, Singer, single and vocalist

GO | Pitbull @ Daily’s Place Amphitheater

Mr. 305 to perform in the 904

By Heather Schatz
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Ok so technically, he’s now Mr. Worldwide. But once upon a time, he was simply Mr. 305. And before that, he was simply Pitbull.  The Miami-born rapper and producer, who’s real name is Armando Christian Pérez, is bringing his “I Feel Good” tour to Daily’s Place Amphitheater on Tuesday, October 12, 2021. The tour is named after his latest single, …

In this article: Daily's Place, Heather Schatz, I Feel Good tour, Mr. 305, Mr. Worldwide, Pitbull, pop, rap and reggaeton