Chicago-based singer-songwriter Ella Williams recently announced her third album as Squirrel Flower, and ahead of the fall release of Tomorrow’s Fire (Oct. 13, Polyvinyl Record Co.), she’s shared a new single (and music video) from the LP, the Bruce Springsteen-inspired “Alley Light.” Though the light touch of Squirrel Flower’s 2020 full-length debut I Was Born Swimming earned her the “indie …
The Mountain Goats Announce Return to Intuition Ale Works in December
It’s a neat coincidence that Tuesday, August 22, was the day that The Mountain Goats announced their highly-anticipated return to Jacksonville, because that was also the 40th birthday of arguably their biggest fan: the late local musician and ace facilitator Dave Hargrove, the man largely responsible for spreading the Mountain Goats’ gospel to many people here in Northeast Florida, including myself. …
Multitalented Duval Artist Jordan Blackburn Steps out of the Digital Cumulus with First Full-Length Release, ‘Abnormal Hues’
Considering the semi-infinite roster of SoundCloud (with a bandwidth-buckling 30 million musicians currently featured on the DIY site), it’s easy for an artist to be lost or overlooked in that digital cumulus. “Shake” is the new single from Duval solo artist Jordan Blackburn and the closing track from his seven-song debut, Abnormal Hues. According to his EPK, Blackburn is a …
Live Session | Jacksonville Indie-Folk Band Bobby Kid Plays Songs from their Beloved New Record, ‘Babyface’
A few weeks back, the Jacksonville Music Experience conducted an in-no-way-scientific poll of our Instagram followers (a small-but-mighty bunch nearing 2K; follow here) based on the following prompt: Fave Local Release of 2023. Of the four-dozen or so respondents, nearly half said they either liked Bobby Kid‘s Babyface or a song from the band’s new full-length album. In some ways …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville this Week | Aug. 21-27
Metal, folk, punk, jazz and more
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For the comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Punk The Menzingers – Tuesday, August 22 Underbelly | Downtown Jacksonville From Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton, PA – also the fictional home of Dunder Mifflin – punk band the Menzingers visit Underbelly …
All Songs Considered | The best releases out on Aug. 18
After beating out Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and others for the 2022 album of the year Grammy — and after stepping down as the bandleader for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Jon Batiste is back with a new album this week called World Music Radio. As the name suggests, it’s a sprawling exploration of what global music can …
Teal Peel Singer and Guitarist Taylor Neal Battled Perfectionism While Writing and Producing His Song “Sandy”
Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to local songwriters about how they wrote one specific song. As frontman of Jacksonville based indie-rock band Teal Peel, songwriter Taylor Neal is the first to admit to his own perfectionism. He held onto some of the band’s songs for several years prior to releasing them. But when you hear the recordings, his …
Posthumous Jazz Is Dead Release Reinforces the Legacy of Influential Drummer, the Late, Great Tony Allen
When drummer Tony Allen passed away in April 2020, he left behind a musical legacy both pronounced and subtle. As the longtime main drummer for Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat ensemble, including a truly searing album where he played stick-to-stick with UK (ex-Cream) drummer Ginger Baker, Allen introduced a jazz-funk style of playing that pointed back to Africa while also directing contemporary …
Watch JME Live Sessions and Support the Jacksonville Music Experience
From the time we launched the Jacksonville Music Experience a couple years back, we’ve been covering the city’s music scene, cranking out hundreds of new-music reviews, interviews with emerging bands and longform features on the history of music in Jacksonville, all while keeping our readers up to speed on the latest music news from around the world. We’ve also been …
The Sunset of Sonic Youth | An oral history of the band’s final U.S. show
No one knew Sonic Youth was making its last stand — not even Sonic Youth itself. “It was a period of regrouping. But in spite of some personal problems, it was still business as normal: ‘We’re going out to do a summer show in our hometown,’ ” admits co-founder Lee Ranaldo from his New York apartment. This cycle was not …
Coastal Creature Kick Back and Sip “Lemonade” on Breezy New Single
Duval DIY indie-pop duo Coastal Creature are plotting the fall release of their debut EP, but in the meantime, they’ve shared a new tune to keep you cool through the summer swelter. Lead single “Lemonade” is out as of this week, with a music video to follow in early September. Erica Reese and Parker Dixon, then recent Florida transplants, met …
Under-the-Radar NYC Artist Farrah Hanna’s “TMILTM” is ROYL beabadoobee, Lomelda, Slow Pulp, etc
Brooklyn-based indie singer-songwriter Farrah Hanna serenades listeners with her latest single, “TMILTM,” a heartbreak ballad that asks a former lover the questions left unspoken. Originally from Virginia, Hannah’s making a mark on the Big Apple’s big indie scene, recently performing at the beloved Bushwick art-and-performance hub Rubulad with Jacksonville-bred artist Brianna Maclean (Primary School). “TMILTM,” is the first single released …
On ‘Low Cost Cobra,’ Jax Synthwave Duo Limo Scene Tap Into Feel-Good ’80s Revivalism
Rolling forward with their recently released full-length album, Low Cost Cobra, local synthwave duo Limo Scene continue with their celebratory obsession with ‘80s new wave sounds. The opening cut from the six-song collection, “Vocode” essentially sets the neon-lit stage for the remainder of the album. A four-on-the-floor beat and soft-funk guitar chord progression ballast the four-minute groove of “Vocode.” A …
Sufjan Stevens Is So Back with ‘Javelin,’ Lead Single “So You Are Tired”
Like a tireless explorer laying new eyes on familiar horizons, the great Sufjan Stevens has announced his first album “in full singer-songwriter mode” since 2015’s acclaimed Carrie & Lowell, detailing Javelin (Oct. 6, Asthmatic Kitty) and releasing its lead single “So You Are Tired” on Monday. After nearly a decade of collaboration and experimentation, with a particular focus on the …
Live Session | Watch pioneering Zamrock band WITCH perform “Waile” on the JME Soundstage
The months since WITCH visited Jacksonville to perform on the JME Soundstage inside WJCT Studios have been inarguably momentous. The pioneering Zamrock band released a new album Zango on Desert Daze Recordings via Partisan Records, a label whose increasingly eclectic roster now includes post-punk act Fontaines D.C., UK jazz-fusion outfit Ezra Collective and the catalog of Afrobeat maestro Fela Kuti. …
The Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Aug. 14-20
Blue Jay turns six, plus jazz, EDM, punk, new wave and more
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For the comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Jazz Taylor Roberts – Monday, August 14 Blue Jay Listening Room | Jacksonville Beach Duval jazz guitarist Taylor Roberts continues his once-a-month Monday night residency at Blue Jay. Read about Roberts’ new record …
On the Frolicsome “Before,” Experimental Trio Blonde Redhead Celebrate Youthful Intransigence
The death of Joan Didion in late 2021 spawned innumerable thinkpieces and essays seeking to both track the influence of Didion’s writing and style, and lionize the already-lionized American author. It was a predictable and totally appropriate exercise. “No one essay writer, except James Baldwin and George Orwell, has spawned more imitators,” Jay Caspian King wrote in the New York …
Little Dragon | Tiny Desk Concert
The last time Swedish band Little Dragon performed for Tiny Desk, the group wasn’t actually at the Desk. Like a number of Tiny Desk alum who played between 2020 and 2022, Little Dragon delivered its debut Tiny Desk as a (home) concert in the band’s Gothenburg studio. That performance provided a comforting balm to many during the early and confusing …
Neil Young’s “Powderfinger,” from the Newly Unveiled Lost Album ‘Chrome Dreams,’ Reveals a Singer-Songwriter at the Height of His Powers
In the ‘70s, while his peers Bob Dylan and Van Morrison exuded personae of mystery or moodiness, Neil Young was capricious to the point of possible self-immolation when it came to the arc of his career. At the end of the decade he was winding down from the deliberate “anti-popularity” of “The Ditch Trilogy.” In the liner notes of his …
All Songs Considered | The best releases out on Aug. 11
The Chicago rapper Noname returns this week with her first new album in five years. Like her earlier works, Sundial is filled with songs that stand at the nexus of slam poetry, literature, jazz and hip-hop. We give a listen to open this week’s show and talk about the ways Noname seeks to serve her community and speak truth to …
Jax Indie Rockers Faze Wave Share “Teenage Nightmare,” Plot Fall Tour
Remember Seinfeld’s “Summer of George”? Well, this is about to be the Fall of Faze Wave. The Jacksonville rock four-piece have shared a new single, the hard-charging “Teenage Nightmare,” and announced a fall tour, with eight East Coast shows set for October. Faze Wave are in fine form on “Teenage Nightmare,” a rollicking ode to youthful angst whose jangly rock …
Robbie Robertson, Guitarist for The Band and Bob Dylan, has Died at 80
Robbie Robertson, the lead guitarist and the primary songwriter for Canadian rock luminaries The Band, has died at age 80. Family member Dawn Robertson confirmed the news to NPR. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s songwriting credits include several touchstone songs that would go on to establish the blueprint of Americana music, including “The Weight,” “Up On Cripple Creek” …
DJ Casper, Creator of the Iconic and Ubiquitous ‘Cha Cha Slide,’ has Died at 58
The musical mind behind the “Cha Cha Slide” — the ubiquitous turn-of-the-millennium dance hit played at celebrations and in gyms across the world — has died. DJ Casper died Monday after a long battle with cancer, his wife told ABC7 in Chicago. He was 58. Born Willie Perry Jr., the Chicago native originally recorded a version of the “Cha Cha …
Georgia’s Pop Blossoms on Her Third Album, ‘Euphoric’
Amid an especially hot and heavy summer, who among us doesn’t long for an oasis? Enter London-born pop singer-songwriter and producer Georgia, who recently released her third album on Domino Records — from its title and its technicolor artwork to its bright 10 tracks and breezy 36 minutes, Euphoric offers just such an escape from the heat and the humdrum. …
With ‘Found Dead,’ St. Augustine Rockers King Peach Deliver a Sweet and Loud Debut
These are weird and wooly times for indie musicians. The record-label industry that was hip checked by alternative rock in the early ‘90s, then flipped by file sharing, has been either expanded or reduced to a-still inscrutable streaming-based existence. Bands that hit platinum plays on Spotify celebrate their million-stream payout with a whopping $300. Musings aside, this wobbly egalitarianism allows …
Action Bronson | Tiny Desk Concert
There are times during Action Bronson‘s Tiny Desk when his vocals momentarily drift. We instruct our guests to face the directional microphones so that our recorders clearly pick up the voices. Action warned us of the improbability of that happening before we started filming and sure enough, the Flushing, Queens emcee strolled off mic a couple of times, did an …
SPELLLING Reworks “Hard to Please (Reprise)” in Grand, Gorgeous Fashion
Those unfamiliar with Chrystia Cabral’s SPELLLING are being gifted the ideal entry point: The Bay Area art-pop pathfinder is breathing new life into her output to this point on her forthcoming fourth album, the self-produced SPELLLING & The Mystery School, coming Aug. 25 on Sacred Bones. Our latest preview of the career-spanning LP is “Hard to Please (Reprise),” a revitalized …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Aug. 7-13
Jason Isbell, Queer Country Disco, Stephen Marley and more
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For the comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. A cappella Pentatonix – Wednesday, August 9 Daily’s Place | Downtown Jacksonville Inarguably talented, unmistakably twee a cappella pop group Pentatonix performs at Daily’s Place Amphitheater on Wednesday. More Reggae Stephen Marley – …
Le Tigre’s Feminist Rage has Always been Fun
When Bikini Kill reunited in 2017, later embarking on a tour that united feminist punks across generations, it introduced a clawing, almost desperate question in the back of my brain: Would Le Tigre ever reunite? The art punk, electronic, “whatever-you-wanna-call-it” group, fronted by Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna alongside Johanna Fateman and JD Samson, last toured in 2005, promoting its only …
D.C. Rapper Sa-Roc Commands Respect on “Talk To Me Nice”
Ahead of her fall Talk To Me Nice tour, D.C.-born emcee Sa-Roc has shared a new single and video of the same name, our first preview of the as-yet-untitled follow-up to her 2020 Rhymesayers Entertainment debut, The Sharecropper’s Daughter. Produced by resident Rhymesayers studio-wizard Sol Messiah, “Talk To Me Nice” uses both its lyrics and instrumental to send one unmistakable …
Obongjayar | Tiny Desk Concert
When I got downstairs to greet Obongjayar and his bandmates at NPR headquarters, they had already found their way over to some stationary bikes near the lobby to get the adrenaline pumping. OB and crew seemed shy but ready for this moment. During the show, I witnessed my colleagues go from wiping away tears to bouncing and clapping within a …
On “Eat Paper,” Experimental UK Combo Food People Serve Up Tasty Psych
The Nottingham, U.K. trio Food People stay true to the DIY loose-ethos freedoms of what is considered lo-fi without being unfaithful to the band’s own hazy, cryptic romanticism. A track from their new full-length release, Many Glorious Petals, the four-and-a-half minutes of “Eat Paper” rolls forward as a placid soundtrack for travelers on the road with the vaguest of directions …
New Book from Alan Paul Tells the Epic Story of the Allman Brothers Band’s 1970s Era
Fifty years ago to the day, a few rock fans were arguably still coming down, reeling, rocking and neurologically smoldering, from attending the Watkins Glen Summer Jam. Held on Saturday, July 28, 1973 at the Watkins Glen International grand prix race track in central New York, the one-day festival featured performances from three of the biggest names in rock: The …
Wilco Drop “Evicted,” the First Single from a New Album Produced by Cate Le Bon
Through the years, I’ve developed a ritual for every new Wilco release. Before I press play, I ask myself: which Wilco do I want to hear? Am I hoping that their alt-country roots will come through the soil, or would I rather hear electronica reminiscent of their 2002 hit record Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? Am I craving something with complex piano …
Playlist | Best new music of August
New tracks from Big Thief, Wilco, Mitski, Animal Collective and more
Featuring a few dozen new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists, our Fresh Squeeze playlist includes the best new music emanating from Northeast Florida and beyond. Handpicked by our team of contributors, there are no rules or genre restrictions; just songs we thought were worth a share. Our latest Fresh Squeeze playlist includes new singles from the most-band-iest band …
On ‘Flutters,’ Duval Soul and R&B Artist Kearsten Monielle Shares “All I Want” and More
Taken from her new Flutters EP, the latest from Duval soul and R&B artist Kearsten Monielle is a slow-burn ballad polished to a high sheen. Behind the major-key glimmer of producer Ian Williams, on “All I Want” Monielle serves up a song about letting go of negative energy, supplanted with positive vibrations, navigating what Monielle tells JME was born from …