Powerhouse Chicago-based three-piece Dehd announced both a run of late-summer dates (many of which are in support of electronic-folk band Sylvan Esso) and a fall tour of North America, which includes a stop at Jack Rabbits in San Marco on October 13. The post-punk trio’s 2022 full-length album Blue Skies showcases the band’s knack for reverb-drenched garage rock and harmonious …
‘Fountain,’ Beloved Album By Duval Indie Rockers Common Thread Gets 30th Anniversary Reissue
Thirty years ago, the Northeast Florida independent music community was many things and, even devoid of nostalgia from any surviving participants, boasted its own kind of low magick. Like much of America, Jacksonville and the surrounding environs benefited from the 1970s punk rock scene that tore down the walls of popular music. Most crucially, in the 1980s, underground musicians made …
Jax-Based Country Artist Madison Hughes Picks Up Songwriting Smarts Directly From Nashville Legends
Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to local songwriters about how they wrote one specific song. Madison Hughes has been singing and playing guitar for most of her life, but her star-studded path into songwriting has been anything but ordinary. The Ponte Vedra native competed on NBC’s The Voice last year, which launched her right into a Nashville music …
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Preview Their Umpteenth New Album With “Theia / The Silver Cord / Set”
Anyone who tells you they know what’s next for Australian experimental-rock sextet King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is lying, with one exception: The hyper-prolific band is never not announcing a new album. This week, they unveiled The Silver Cord (Oct. 27, KGLW), previewing the synth-driven set with the lead single and video triumvirate of its album openers, “Theia / …
On New Live Release ‘Watch the Sun,’ Pianist and Songwriter PJ Morton Continues to Evolve
Evolution is the word I would use to describe PJ Morton’s career. Morton’s latest, Watch the Sun Live: The Mansion Sessions is simply masterful, and Morton expertly finds his rhythm in the live performance (FYI: his live band features Jacksonville native and Douglas Anderson alum TJ Norris on trombone). Morton excels as the remix king of his own music, in …
Alex Cuba | Tiny Desk Concert
This Latinx Heritage Month Tiny Desk is celebrating with an ‘El Tiny’ takeover, featuring a wide array of artists from all corners of Latinidad. Alex Cuba starts his turn behind the Tiny Desk with the barest of musical essentials: a percussive guitar rhythm, the soft scratch of a güiro and a miniature choir. “Ciudad Hembra (La Habana),” a lament for …
Jax Rockers Coyboi Dance Through a Dream on New Live Single “Violets”
Jacksonville indie-pop duo Coyboi deliver hopelessly romantic rock on “Violets,” their new track recorded live at Gainesville’s Heartwood Soundstage earlier this year and released late last week. The project of vocalist Cortnie Frazier and multi-instrumentalist Ihlan Magloire, Coyboi came together in August 2020, a pandemic project that has stood the test of tough times. Though Frazier and Magloire are actively …
New Max Roach Documentary on PBS Highlights the Music and Life of Pioneering Jazz Drummer
When Max Roach died in 2007 at age 83, the iconoclastic musician had truly lived a life that beat to the tune of a different drum. Roach seemed to move upstream, regardless of the tides. He was an early adherent to the DIY indie-ethos. While still in his twenties, in 1952 Roach and Charles Mingus founded Debut Records, after the …
The Split Over Merch Cuts | Live Nation is Waiving Some of Its Venues’ Takes of Merchandise Sales. Artists and Independent Venues Aren’t Satisfied
Is it a case of get your hand outta my pocket or get your pocket off my hand? The jury is still out, or yet properly informed, as the global conglomerate Live Nation launches the On The Road initiative, which allows touring acts to keep 100% of merchandise sales on show nights. The company has controlling interest in 338 venues …
Midwest Princess Chappell Roan is Spreading Queer Joy through Her Dazzling Pop Tour
Pop is glittery, girly and gay again thanks to Missouri-native Chappell Roan. She just released her first full-length album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, on September 22. Some of Roan’s popular tracks include “Pink Pony Club,” and this summer’s cheerleader inspired anthem “HOT TO GO!” The songs are thematic, dramatic and glamorous, with call-and-response hooks, sensational synths …
Cuban Percussion Icon Pedrito Martinez Lands at The Ritz Theatre on October 6
The paragon that is Pedrito Martinez has a rather mellow fall 2023 touring schedule, atypical for the normally busy Cuban percussionist. But he has been sure to include a stop in Jacksonville Last here in 2014 for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival and a subsequent pandemic-disrupted show in 2020 that never was, the Havana-born-and-bred talent will be at The Ritz Theatre …
Kelly Green, Jazz Pianist with Jacksonville Roots, Drops Third Single of the Season, “That Sunday, That Summer”
“That Sunday, That Summer,” the newest single by Florida’s own Kelly Green, is actually the third that she’s released since July. Written by Joe Sherman and George Weiss, it was originally recorded for Capitol Records by Nat King Cole in 1963, with his lush, lustrous vocals backed by a string orchestra and vocal chorus, a format that was extremely popular …
5 Songs to Blast on Mean Girls Day
“On October 3rd, he asked me what day it was.” The “he” in this equation is, of course, Aaron Samuels, heartthrob of the 2004 hit flick Mean Girls. And the “me” is Cady Heron, played by none other than the great Lindsay Lohan, whose crush on Aaron kept her from math class brilliance. On this day in Mean Girls history, …
Locals Chalk Tiger Serve Up Fierce Growling Rock That Breaks Out of the Punk-Rock Cage
Taken from their just-released full-length High Charity, the tune “Dange Close” from Chalk Tiger claws at all of the elements that arguably make punk rock a make-or-break affair. Thankfully, the volition of this Northeast Florida trio has more melodic quirks than rote ’77-style punk while also boasting a surfeit of grit that keeps them from succumbing to coy indie-twee that …
On “Boseman,” Duval Emcee Rab G Shakes the Tables
Many people claim that hip hop is a sport. And while contention and conflict, feuds and battles, are part of it, hip hop is an all-encompassing lifestyle where art meets life through pain and pleasure, struggle and triumph, and, yes, competition and boasting gestures that have the ability to shake the tables. Local emcee Rab G brings some heavy king …
Concert Picks | Best Live Music in Jacksonville, Oct. 2-8
Pedrito Martinez, Alice Cooper, Skynyrd and more
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Rock Alice Cooper – Wednesday, October 4 The Amp | St. Augustine The formerly shocking antics of classic-rock vet Alice Cooper may now seem quite quaint. But five decades into his career, at …
All Songs Considered | The best releases out Sept. 29
It’s been five years since singer Jorja Smith released her beloved and acclaimed debut album, Lost & Found. She returns this week with a long-awaited followup, Falling or Flying, a wide-reaching album of solitude and quiet confidence, as Smith explores new rhythms in both her music and life. We open this week’s show with a listen and talk about the …
Jax Songwriter Adam Cotton Goes Heavy on the Gentleness with Latest EP
Locals with a hankering for singer-songwriter action in the style of Dave Matthews, Keller Williams, late-era James Taylor, most assuredly the late Jimmy Buffet, will likely enjoy the latest from Northeast Florida musician Adam Cotton. Released in March the three-song EP All These Horizons is Cotton’s latest. The title track offers a canon-like motif, as Cotton’s finger-picked guitar and earnestness …
Five Crucial Salsa Albums from the Genre’s Golden Age
This Latinx Heritage Month, NPR Music member stations are celebrating the music of a wide array of artists from all corners of Latinidad. Salsa was not originally a genre, per se. Instead, it was a word used to describe when things got hot and saucy during a performance. The music is a collection of various Afro-Cuban and Caribbean rhythms, and …
On “Eggman,” West Coast Psych-Rock Gadfly Ty Segall Takes a Crack at More Bad Trips
Ty Segall continues to morph and mop up the competition of current psych-rock-what-have-you. “Eggman” arrives on the heels of his recent doom-dirge single, “Void.” Over a rumbling bed of drums, octaved-electric guitar and strumming acoustic, Segall serves up cryptic lyrics (“Hey / do you hear what I say? / Would you look at your face? Your mouth’s / agape and …
Public Radio’s Favorite New Musicians Of 2023
With autumn upon us, we decided it was time to poll NPR Music’s Member station partners to find out the new musicians who caught their hosts’ ears this year. We had one question: Identify your favorite artist who entered 2023 without a full-length album. We received 13 answers, and the results spanned rock, Americana, soul, jazz and electronic music. Enjoy …
Live Sessions | Susto Performs “Good Right Now” and “The Get Down” at Intuition Ale Works
Led by singer-songwriter Justin Osborne, the Charleston-bred indie-Americana band Susto visited Jacksonville in early 2023, performing at the Bier Hall inside Intuition Ale Works. The band broke out with the 2021’s Time in the Sun, which combined Osborne’s introspective songwriting with an energetic live-band feel. And with 2023’s My Entire Life — another suite of songs grounded in American roots, …
DJ Shadow Mines ‘80s R&B for Cinematic Synth-Funk on “You Played Me”
In the opening minutes of DJ Shadow’s 1996 debut album Endtroducing…, he samples the words of jazz drummer George Marsh: “I’m a student of the drums. And I’m also a teacher of the drums, too.” The veteran beatmaker’s next lesson is on its way, in the form of his new album Action Adventure (Oct. 27, Mass Appeal/Liquid Amber), but Friday’s …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Sept. 25-Oct. 1
Beethoven, Rein Sanction, Timothy Eerie, Circle Jerks
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Jazz Blue Jay Jazz Jam – Tuesday, September 26 Blue Jay Listening Room | Jacksonville Beach Every Tuesday, fun-size Jax Beach venue Blue Jay Listening Room hosts one of the city’s premier jazz …
Hip-Hop Legends Little Brother Share Two New Songs, “Wish Me Well and “Glory Glory”
Little Brother, the beloved North Carolina hip-hop duo, have released “Wish Me Well” and “Glory Glory,” their first new music in four years. Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh remain the poster boys of grown-man rap. Seasoned, independent, well-respected; their rhymes serve as references for artists looking to follow suit. “Wish Me Well” finds Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh taking turns …
All Songs Considered | The best releases out Sept. 22
The music of Singaporean artist and producer yeule often sounds like it was made from turn-of-the-century home electronics — dial up modems, simple keypad tones or a broken VCR. But, in deceptively disarming moments, it’s also warm and beautifully organic, just before erupting in thunderous sheets of guitar noise and primal screaming. As we discuss on this week’s show, their …
Cue Up These 5 Breeders’ Songs in Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Band’s Breakthrough Album, ‘Last Splash’
When it comes to the confused emotions of ‘90s underground rock as it rose (or was pulled) up into the mainstream, never mind Nirvana: it was arguably The Breeders that truly expressed the confusion, joy, snark, resignation and expectations of a pre-internet Generation X. Thirty years have passed since The Breeders’ breakthrough release, Last Splash, and the album’s sound and …
JME DJ Sessions | New Music from Mitski, Tony Allen, Jalen Ngonda
Each week, WJCT Arts & Culture editor Matthew Shaw joins Al Letson on First Coast Connect to talk about three new songs added to rotation on the Independent 89.9 HD4, WJCT’s new-music discovery station. On this week’s JME DJ Sessions, they listen to cuts from Mitski’s new record, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We and discuss the late, …
On “Electric Like An Eel,” The Serfs Offer to Rock and Rule the Dystopian Age
Judging by the music of the Serfs, the band’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio is a destroyed, post-industrial wasteland. While they are retro to the point of the antediluvian, the trio of Dylan McCartney (vocals, percussion, guitar, bass, electronics), Dakota Carlyle (electronics, bass, guitar, vocals) and Andie Luman (vocals, synths) enshroud their latest single “Electric Like an Eel” into more of a post-punk …
Juan Rollan Quartet Shows Some Love for John Coltrane’s Iconic Spiritual-Jazz Masterpiece
In the mid-1960s, saxophonist John Coltrane was experiencing an undeniable evolution. Having the ability to perform slow-burn ballads and high-speed changes with equal agility, he had spent the previous decade establishing himself as a firebrand soloist with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. As Coltrane’s compositional skills increased, so did his prolificity as a bandleader. After signing with the label Impulse! …
Rawayana | Tiny Desk Concert
This Latinx Heritage Month Tiny Desk is celebrating with an ‘El Tiny’ takeover, featuring a wide array of artists from all corners of Latinidad. No Venezuelan party is complete without tequeños. Whether it’s a wedding or a baptism, the cheese-filled treats are a must-have at every snack table — so it makes sense Rawayana pulled up to “El Tiny” with …
Allison Russell Wants to Make Waves
2021 was not, technically, the first year Allison Russell played the Newport Folk Festival. Russell had previously taken the stage at what’s long been a venerated showcase of bearers and updaters of tradition with her bands Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters, but never before as a solo artist. And never with as bright a spotlight as the one …
Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA & Girl Talk “Eurostep” Back Into the Spotlight
After first teaming up for 2022’s Full Court Press, the low-key hip-hop supergroup featuring emcees Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA, and producer Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis) have returned with their first new music of the year, Tuesday’s effortless “Eurostep.” To a casual basketball viewer, the Euro step seems almost unfair, like the ball handler is getting away …
As Eureka Springs, Cory Driscoll Expands His Sonic Vision with New Single, “The Mirage”
Eureka Springs have released their second single, a downtempo, jangly meditation called “The Mirage.” Some housekeeping first: Eureka Springs is the full-band project of Jacksonville singer-songwriter Cory Driscoll, whose 2022 album is also called Eureka Springs. Driscoll also has a song called “Eureka Springs” from the album Eureka Springs which–what with the artist, song and album–approaches The-1975-levels of meta. In …
On “Hits,” Jacksonville’s BlissFund Utilizes a Reductionist Approach to Blend Folk and Rock
Jacksonville’s BlissFund was started in 2018 primarily as a writing project by G.A. Mallinson. “Hits,” the opening track from his new full-length release Revelator, finds Mallinson deploying a plain-spoken, talking-folk-blues approach. Simple chords strummed over abstract guitar swells, a drumbeat that is minimal and tentative, and the song’s narrator dealing out ambiguities in a love story that he considers “lighting …
Animal Collective Are of Two Minds on Hypnotic New Single “Gem & I”
The latest mind-bender from avant-pop veterans Animal Collective is nearly here, and our final preview of their new album Isn’t It Now? (Sept. 29, Domino) arrived last week in the form of “Gem & I,” a track the band has been performing live since 2019. The third single from Isn’t It Now? after this summer’s “Soul Capturer” and “Defeat,” “Gem …