Inside Soccer Mommy’s Widescreen World

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Clients of Nashville’s historic Sound Emporium studios are reminded right away that they’re in elite company. Plaques commemorating the commercial success of Kenny Chesney, Kacey Musgraves and other past patrons line the hallways, and across from the reception desk is a wall of framed snapshots, taken when the likes of Vince Gill, Little Big Town, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant …

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Luna Luna | Live on the JME Soundstage

Watch Austin indie-pop band Luna Luna perform at WJCT

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Attempting to label Austin, Texas band Luna Luna using any contemporary sonic descriptor — say: indie, dream pop, fusion, retro dance pop, etc. — is a reductive exercise. The band draws on such a wide array of influences to craft their sound, that striking a bullseye with an apt characterization can feel like trying to hit a moving target from …

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Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this week

Each week, the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best shows in Jacksonville. Our weekly Go recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. Here’s the rundown of what JME contributors want to see and hear in and around Jacksonville this week. Reggae/Rap  Iration & Atmosphere – Thursday, July 21 St. …

The 22 Best Albums of 2022 So Far

The JME team picks the records that have made our year

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We’ve written about a lot of music this year. More songs and records than we can count. We’ve listened to even more.  Just a touch past the halfway point of 2022, the JME team decided to take stock of what we’ve heard so far. The resulting list — The 22 Best Albums of 2022 (So Far) — just scratches the …

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Internships at WJCT Public Media

WJCT Public Media provides internship opportunities during which students are provided a learning environment with “real life” work experience in support of their educational and personal goals.

Go | The best concerts in Jax this week

Electric Kif, Brian McKnight, Whiskey Myers y El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico

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Each week, the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best shows in Jacksonville. Our weekly Go recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. Here’s the rundown of what JME contributors want to see and hear in and around Jacksonville this week. Fusion  Electric Kif – Wednesday, July 13 1904 Music …

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One-of-a-kind recording of “Blowin’ in the Wind” sells for $1.7 million at auction

Bob Dylan re-recorded the song for the first time since 1962

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Sixty years since his debut album, Bob Dylan remains as relevant as ever. In 2020, months after releasing his 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan sold his songbook for a reported $500 million, setting a new industry standard for the acquisition of artists’ song catalogs. And now Dylan’s leading the charge on a unique physical music format. The …

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Dean Winter and The Heat | Live on the JME Soundstage

Watch genuine Jax country outfit perform live at WJCT

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“I can’t escape the rain, lord it’s driving me insane,” Dean Winter intones, backed by his crack country band — Jeremy Blanton (bass, vox), Jack Mock (pedal steel), Ty Sullivan (drums, vox) — at the outset of “Can’t Escape the Rain,” a single from the group’s new record Wheel of Bliss. “I’m running on empty in the Sunshine State.” Winter’s …

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25 years on, Lilith Fair is a reminder of how one woman’s radical idea changed music

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It was July 5th 1997: Opening night of the groundbreaking all-female music festival Lilith Fair. The lineup featured a who’s who of female alternative musicians of the moment: Sheryl Crow, Jewel, The Indigo Girls, Lisa Loeb, Fiona Apple, Shawn Colvin, Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant and more. Lilith Fair was the culmination of a year of work by its founder, a …

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Playlist | The Best New Music Out Right Now

The freshest new tracks for July

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Each month, JME contributors pick the juiciest noise emanating from Northeast Florida and beyond for our 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. This month we’ve got a ton of great new music in rotation, including tracks …

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Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week

Blackberry Smoke, NKOTB, Dean Winter and The Heat, Annie Dukes and more

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Each week, the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best shows in Jacksonville. Our weekly Go recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. Here’s the rundown of what JME contributors want to see and hear in and around Jacksonville this week. Jazz Blue Jay Jazz Jam – Tuesday, July 5 …

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Usher | Tiny Desk Concert

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This year, NPR Music is celebrating Black Music Month with an array of brand new Tiny Desk concerts — both from home and from behind our beloved Desk. Together, these artists represent the past, present and future of Black music. This month of carefully curated shows is a celebration of Black artists expressing themselves in ways we’ve never seen before, …

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Liner Notes | Bebe Deluxe is Not Asking for Your Respect

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Bebe Deluxe has been cranking out distinctive electropop for a few years now. And she’s one of several Jacksonville artists who seemed to come out of the pandemic with a sense of urgency and a renewed creative drive. Deluxe has been performing at a heavy clip recently, and was even invited to play this year’s SXSW back in March.  And …

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Black Origins of Punk Music

Black artists have played a prominent role in punk rock from its beginnings to today

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June is Black Music Appreciation month. This month we’ll be celebrating the musical contributions of Black artists, including those from Jacksonville. And, with the help of our friends at FairPlay, we’re offering readers a deeper look into the Black origins of various popular music genres, from country to shoegaze, punk, reggaeton and more. From proto-punk pioneers Death to seminal feminist frontwoman Poly Styrene …

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MUNA’s New Album Features Growth and An ‘Astral Projection Anthem’

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A new album by MUNA, out today, has it all: personal growth, influences from pop prophet Robyn and a song the band calls an “astral projection anthem.” Singer-songwriter Katie Gavin and bandmates Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson met in college, and have been making music together for nearly a decade. But it hasn’t been easy lately – after releasing their …

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Local Spotlight | 3 New Songs by Jax Artists Out Now

Dean Winter and The Heat, Mecca thA Marvelous and Pilar

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We’re always keeping our ear to the ground in order to put the spotlight on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, Jacksonville Music Experience contributors share three new songs by local artists that we think you’ll dig. Let’s dive in. “3AM in Wynwood” by Mecca thA Marvelous  Jax producer and rapper Mecca thA Marvelous’ “3AM in Wynwood” …

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Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week

“Zungguzungguguzungguzeng!”

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Each week, the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best shows in Jacksonville. Our weekly Go recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. Here’s the rundown of what JME contributors want to see and hear in and around Jacksonville this week. Dancehall Yellowman – Tuesday, June 28  Jack Rabbits | …

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L.O.V.E. Culture | Live on the JME Soundstage

The popular Jacksonville group performs songs from their catalog of progressive hip-hop on the JME Soundstage

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On the heels of a promotional campaign with big-time beverage brand Sprite, Duval hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture released perhaps the most talked about local record of 2021: 1827 N Pearl. Featuring five artists, each with his or her own distinctive skill sets — Che Forreign, Rob Mari, Spiritxiii, Flash the Samurai and Easyin2d — the group finds strength in numbers, …

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The Jacksonville Music Experience Debuts New Live Music Calendar and Launches “Summer of Sharing” Campaign

Media Contact:Neily BrarenPromotion & Marketing Associate, WJCT904.318.2633 | nbraren@wjct.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Local giveaways include concert tickets, vinyl records and more  JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – June 23, 2022 – WJCT Public Media’s Jacksonville Music Experience (JME) today announced the launch of a new and interactive live music calendar on their website (wjct.org/jaxmusic) that provides a unique way for Northeast Florida music …

Summer of Sharing | Who Wants Free Music?

Vinyl, concert tickets, swag and more!

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The Jacksonville Music Experience is all about sharing — It’s what we do all day long on The Independent 89.9 HD4 when we share the latest from new and inventive artists. And what we do on jaxmusic.org when we dive even deeper to share the latest music news, reviews, profiles, and live music events.  But this summer we’re sharing even …

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Fresh Rotation | 3 Songs We Can’t Stop Listening To

Avant-pop from Dummy, folk punk from Pigeon Pit and a mythic free-jazz reissue

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Each and every week the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists to add to the rotation on The Independent 89.9 HD4 (and to our tasty, tall-glass-of-a-listening-experience that is our monthly 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 …

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Just Announced | Jack White at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre

Multifarious artist, producer and ambassador of cool music brings his Supply Issues tour to The Amp

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Multi-instrumentalist, producer and White Stripes’ founder Jack White has announced additional dates to his ongoing Supply Chain Issues tour, with a stop at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre in September. Since emerging from the Detroit music scene fronting one of the pre-eminent acts of the early-aughts garage-rock revival, The White Stripes, White has established himself not only as a distinctive voice …

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The Black Origins of Country Music

Black artists have played a prominent role in country music from its beginnings to today

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June is Black Music Appreciation month. This month we’ll be celebrating the musical contributions of Black artists, including those from Jacksonville. And, with the help of our friends at FairPlay, we’re offering readers a deeper look into the Black origins of various popular music genres, from country to shoegaze, punk, reggaeton and more. From the African origins of the banjo — an …

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Go | The Best Concerts in Jax This Week

American Aquarium, Nathanial Rateliff, Afrobeta, Tedeschi Trucks Band and more

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Each week, the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best shows in Jacksonville. Our weekly Go recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. Here’s the rundown of what JME contributors want to see and hear in and around Jacksonville this week. Alt-Country  American Aquarium – Monday, June 20 Ponte Vedra …

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The enduring, expanding legacy of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”

From LaVilla to Coachella, "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" continues to resonate

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In observance of Black Music Appreciation Month, we’re celebrating the musical contributions of Black artists, including those from Jacksonville. This article was originally published in July of 2021. It was 1919 when the NAACP first declared that “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” was the official Negro National Anthem; that status has never been challenged. Indeed, the passage of time has only burnished …

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Just Announced | Tampa post-punk band Glove returns to Jax in August

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Still basking in the buzz generated by their 2022 full-length album, Boom Nights, and their newly minted status as festival-main-stage mainstays, synthy post-punk Tampa band Glove will return to Jacksonville in August, performing at Jack Rabbits in San Marco. Never Miss A Show. Checkout our comprehensive community live music calendar. Before teaming with Cage The Elephant’s Brad Schultz (production credit …

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Here’s What You Need To Know About Saturday’s Record Store Day

An RSD bonus round comes to the 904

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Record Store Day — the traditionally once-a-year infusion of vinyl rarities and reissues into independently owned record stores around the country — is back for a 2022-bonus round. While April 23 was the official RSD of 2022, a fair amount of the most-anticipated drops didn’t make it to independent music sellers, owing largely to an unprecedented logjam at vinyl manufacturers …

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Robby Krieger of the Doors Returns to Jacksonville for a Night of Legendary Music

The iconic guitarist on the band's early influences, writing his memoir and more

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The Doors are many things for many people: mythical ‘60s band fronted by a singer mired in even greater mystery; a soundtrack for baby boomer history; a potent merger of inventive poetry and sophisticated music, even a cautionary tale of excess pushed to saturation.  Guitarist Robby Krieger has remained a viable force since the Doors disbanded decades ago. In the …

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FKA twigs | Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

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This year, NPR Music is celebrating Black Music Month with an array of brand new Tiny Desk concerts — both from home and from behind our beloved Desk. Together, these artists represent the past, present and future of Black music. This month of carefully curated shows is a celebration of Black artists expressing themselves in ways we’ve never seen before, …

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Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week

Pop star Machine Gun Kelly, hip-hop standout Rod Wave, The Doors' Robby Krieger, jangle-pop icons The Connells

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Each week, the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best shows in Jacksonville. Our weekly Go recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. Here’s the rundown of what JME contributors want to see and hear in and around Jacksonville this week. Pop Machine Gun Kelly – Tuesday, July 14 VyStar …

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French artist, and Art Camp host, Lucas Beaufort Shares the Music that Fuels his Practice

A playlist of peace, love, understanding and Radiohead

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Sound & Vision is a semi-regular feature that examines how music fuels and inspires creativity. Accompanying playlists for each Sound & Vision feature can be found on JME’s spotify channel.  Birds loom large in popular music. From The Trashmen’s puerile “Surfin’ Bird” to Leonard Cohen’s fortifying “Bird on a Wire” to the inventive R&B of Prince’s “When Doves Cry” to Skynyrd’s anthemic …

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The Black Origins of Shoegaze

The ethereal mix of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback and overwhelming volume traces much of its sound to the influence of Black musicians

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June is Black Music Appreciation month. This month we’ll be celebrating the musical contributions of Black artists, including those from Jacksonville. And, with the help of our friends at FairPlay, we’re offering readers a deeper look into the Black origins of various popular music genres, from country to shoegaze, punk, reggaeton and more. Though widely associated with artists like My …

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Julee Cruise, otherworldly crooner on ‘Twin Peaks,’ dies at 65

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Julee Cruise, the singer best known for her collaborations with director David Lynch and The B-52s, died Thursday. Her husband, author Edward Grinnan, confirmed to NPR that Cruise died by suicide, and had struggled with “lupus, depression and alcohol and drug addiction” in the past. She was 65. “She left this realm on her own terms,” Grinnan wrote of Cruise …

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The Train to Fame Travels at 132 BPM

In the early '90s, a string of hits produced by Jacksonville artists carried Southern hip-hop to the masses

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In observance of Black Music Appreciation Month, we’re celebrating the musical contributions of Black artists, including those from Jacksonville. This article was originally published in June of 2021. Boom. Bottom. Slump. Knock. Quake. Drop. All aliases for the mover and shaker: Bass. The syrupy low end of countless hip-hop albums serves as the sonic signature of an entire genre: Bass …

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Fresh Rotation | 4 New Songs We Really Dig

New tracks from keyboard maestro Brandon Coleman, campy Californians The Garden, indie-R&B singer SiR and classical-folky Andrew Bird

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Each and every week the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists to add to the rotation on The Independent 89.9 HD4 (and to our tasty, tall-glass-of-a-listening-experience that is our monthly 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 …

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Just Announced | DMAB Jazz Fest Returns to Woodstock Park in July

Free event in west Jacksonville turns up the heat with a diverse day of jazz to benefit area youths

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Founded by celebrated Jacksonville jazz drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and his family in 2008, the nonprofit organization Don’t Miss a Beat (DMAB) has helped more than 20,000 local youths find a positive groove in life through music and arts programs throughout the Brooklyn, Riverside, and Woodstock neighborhoods.  DMAB is presenting a jazz event from 1-11 p.m. on Saturday, July 23 …

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