Jax Music Hour (Hot Local Summer) Playlist | June 22

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Last week on the Jax Music Hour (Saturdays at 8PM on WJCT News 89.9 FM), we rang in the official start of summertime with an hour of summer songs by local artists.  Go ahead and get “Sandy” at the beach with Teal Peel, sip “Lemonade” with Coastal Creature, lace up your skates at the “Roller Rink” with Chalooby, and stop …

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Electro Lounge Playlist | June 22

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The Electro Lounge is back and rolling out weekly dreamscapes — it’s an eclectic hour of chillout, downtempo songs, curiosities and deep cuts every Saturday at 10 p.m. on WJCT News 89.9. Listen here. Here’s what we played on June 22. 1 Hess Is More – You and Me and ThemStream 2 Be Lanuit Jimenez & Kasper Tranberg – Hippie …

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MJ Lenderman Announces New Album ‘Manning Fireworks,’ Shares “She’s Leaving You”

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North Carolina indie-rock singer-songwriter MJ Lenderman hasn’t missed in recent memory, and he’s not about to start on “She’s Leaving You,” the lead single from his forthcoming Boat Songs follow-up Manning Fireworks (Sept. 6, ANTI- Records). Recorded at Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios in between tour dates and co-produced by Lenderman with his frequent collaborator Alex Farrar, the full-length is …

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7 Concerts to See this Week in Jacksonville

Leah Senior + Kairos Creature Club, Queer Fest at the Walrus, Jenny Lewis and more

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Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every week. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Want our concert picks delivered to your inbox every Tuesday? Sign up of the JME Live newsletter and never miss a show. Metal  The Convalescence – Tuesday, June 25 Jack Rabbits | San Marco  Metal band The Convalescence perform at Jack …


Atlanta’s Lunar Vacation “Set the Stage” for Second Album With Atmospheric First Single

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On Decatur, Georgia, “pool rock” quintet Lunar Vacation’s forthcoming sophomore album, Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire (Sept. 13, Keeled Scales). Our first taste of the LP is “Set the Stage,” released this week alongside a music video directed by musician, actor and friend of the band Finn Wolfhard. “Our last album was super produced, manicured,” vocalist/guitarist Maggie Geeslin said of Lunar …

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Jax Music Hour Playlist | June 15

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Last week on the Jax Music Hour (Saturdays at 8PM on WJCT News 89.9 FM), we wove local artists like country crooner Rambler Kane, power rock trio DigDog, and Jacksonville-native saxophonist DeAndre Lettsome with soon-to-be-in-Jax touring acts such as Two Door Cinema Club, My Morning Jacket, and The Aristocrats. Here’s what played on the Jax Music Hour this week. Catch …

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The Neighborhood Playlist | June 15

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Hey Neighbors! Hope each and everyone of you are in great spirits. On the last episode of The Neighborhood, I played some great tunes from the ‘Ville to worldwide. I might be biased but this show is one of my favorites to date. As always, I want to share music that I believe the neighbors would take with them and …

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7 Concerts to See this Week in Jacksonville

Ritz Chamber Players, Songwriter's Night at Blue Jay, No Fraud at Kona and more

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Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every week. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Want our concert picks delivered to your inbox every Tuesday? Sign up of the JME Live newsletter and never miss a show. Alt Rock/Electronic Violent Vira – Tuesday, June 18  Underbelly | Downtown Jacksonville Popular indie-rock and electronic artist Violent Vira …

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Shovels & Rope Announce New Album ‘Something Is Working Up Above My Head,’ Share 2 New Singles

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Charleston’s Shovels & Rope—that is, married couple Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent—have announced their sixth studio album, Something Is Working Up Above My Head (Sept. 6, Dualtone Records), and shared its first two singles, the story-forward “Colorado River” and “Love Song From a Dog.” The folk-punk duo have also unveiled a fall tour in support of their new record. …

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Previously Unreleased Album by Alan Vega Initiates a Rightful Resurrection of the Suicide Frontman’s Certain Legacy

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Alan Vega lives well beyond Suicide. That 1970s NYC band were the prickliest of the protean US punk scene. Fueled by Martin Rev’s primitive synths and Vega’s unhinged vocals and assaultive stage antics, where audience participation might include Vega clocking members of the crowd, the duo originally coalesced in 1970 and used the term “punk music” before it was defined, …

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Soccer Mommy Finds Beauty in Grief on New Single, “Lost”

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Nashville indie-rock singer-songwriter Sophie Allison, who performs and records as Soccer Mommy, is back with her first new single since the 2022 release of her acclaimed third album Sometimes, Forever.  “Lost” shares its title with The Lost Shows, Allison’s recent run of sold-out, intimate solo performances in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Nashville, where she has been live-debuting new …

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8 Concerts to See this Week in Jacksonville

Sean Mason, Sheila E., Anthony Hamilton, Blvck Hippie and more

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Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every week. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Want our concert picks delivered to your inbox every Tuesday? Sign up of the JME Live newsletter and never miss a show. Country  Sunny Sweeney – Tuesday, June 11  Jack Rabbits | San Marco  Chart-topping country singer and songwriter Sunny Sweeney …

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Denzel Curry Drops a “Hot One” Ahead of His ‘King of the Mischievous South’ Sequel

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Don’t mistake this for a Denzel Curry episode of Hot Ones, though we’d gladly take that, too: The Carol City, Miami rapper has released “Hot One,” featuring A$AP Ferg and TiaCorine, the first single from the forthcoming follow-up to his 2012 mixtape King of the Mischievous South. With King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 (July 19, Loma Vista Recordings), …

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Song of the Day | “U Should Not Be Doing That” by Amyl and The Sniffers

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Melbourne, Australia punks Amyl and The Sniffers are back with a new stand-alone single, “U Should Not Be Doing That,” their first release since the raucous 2021 full-length album, Comfort to Me. On “U Should Not Be Doing That,” the group — Amy Taylor, Dec Martens, Gus Romer and Bryce Wilson — trade the roaring menace of their previous releases …

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6 Concerts to See this Week in Jacksonville

Jax Symphony season finale, Boogie wit da Hoodie and more

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Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every week. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Want our concert picks delivered to your inbox every Tuesday? Sign up of the JME Live newsletter and never miss a show. Rap Boogie Wit da Hoodie – Tuesday, June 4 Daily’s Place | Downtown Jacksonville Rap artist A Boogie Wit …

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Jane’s Addiction and Love and Rockets Join Forces Once Again for a Double-Billed Tour that Lands in Jacksonville

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Two groups that kickstarted the alt-rock revolution perform in downtown Jacksonville this summer. Jane’s Addiction and openers Love and Rockets play at Daily’s Place on Tuesday, August 27. Both bands feature their original line-ups and both bring decades of post-new-wave, pre-grunge rock history with them.  Formed in 1985, and featuring the instrumental backline of UK goth-rock demigods Bauhaus, the three-piece …

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Producer and L.O.V.E. Culture Artist Spiritxiii’s Gear Essentials

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An original member of Duval hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture, Spiritxiii feels just as at-home in a DAW as he does onstage. In addition to L.O.V.E. Culture’s own albums, Spirit’s most recent production credits include Jacksonville R&B songstress Ebonique’s latest album, alterEBO, and he’s currently overseeing production of a collaboration between Rab G, Kale That Raps, and Sir Mayes, not to …

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Latest Faith-Based Single from Duval’s Very Own Dejah Symone Hopes to Make a Believer Out of You

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“Lost Ones,” the latest single from Duval soul/R&B singer Dejah Symone is an unabashed Christian song, which can be a deterrent or an attracting factor depending on one’s beliefs and temperament. Joined by collaborators local indie hip-hop artist Fonzo and H.B. Charles Jr. (local pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, who makes appearance in a micro-sermon at song’s end), taken …

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Jazz-Chart Topping, Grammy-Winning Singer Samara Joy Returns to Jax, Makes Florida Theatre Debut

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All four of Samara Joy’s albums came out in the last three years. Two of them won Grammy awards. Joy’s Florida Theatre debut on Tuesday, October 22 will be her second visit to Jacksonville. She was featured at the jazz festival in 2023, dazzling the crowd in a Sunday set mere blocks away from where she’ll perform this October. Having …

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Song of the Day | “The Hardest Part” by Washed Out

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On “The Hardest Part,” a new single from a forthcoming full length, multi-disciplinary artist Ernest Greene, AKA Washed Out, displays his knack for whimsical soundscapes. With a bubbly bassline and a rigid lead melody, it’s more pop-y and perhaps less ethereal than the music that made Washed Out ubiquitous in the mid-aughts (“Feel It All Around,” if you recall, was …

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Acoustic Alt-Rock Legends Violent Femmes Return to Northeast Florida

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Before “Black Hole Sun,” there was “Blister in the Sun.” No offense to the 1994 Soundgarden grunge classic, but prior to the Seattle rock explosion and subsequent alternative rock shrapnel of the ‘90s, an all-acoustic band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin had a 1983 college-radio hit with “Blister in the Sun,” an evergreen favorite that seems to only grow in popularity due …

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6 Concerts to See this Week in Jacksonville

Walter Parks, Dave Matthews Band, Cardiel, Amplified Avondale and More

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Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every week. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Want our concert picks delivered to your inbox every Tuesday? Sign up of the JME Live newsletter and never miss a show. Jam/Rock Dave Matthews Band – Tuesday & Wednesday, May 28 & 29 Daily’s Place | Downtown Jacksonville  Thirty-three years …

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The 75th Season of the Jacksonville Symphony Celebrates Classical, Pop Music and the Silver Screen

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The Jacksonville Symphony closes out its 2023/2024 season on June 7 and 8. But the local institution is already gearing up for their 2024/2025 season. This year’s programming includes the symphony performing classical favorites, featured guest vocalists, exclusive world premieres, holiday pops, matinee and coffee performances and family-geared films. As part of the 2024/2025 Pop Series, the Symphony will also celebrate …

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Jax Music Hour Playlist | May 18

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Last week on the Jax Music Hour (Saturdays at 8PM on WJCT News 89.9 FM), we spun an hour’s worth of artists we’ll be hearing at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival next weekend, May 24-26, at Metropolitan Park and Daily’s Place in Downtown Jacksonville. It’s free to attend but you can get VIP tickets and learn more about the festival here. …

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Song of the Day | “Sexy to Someone” by Clairo

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While there may be a strong candidate for song of the summer among the 12 pop bops on Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, indie-pop luminary Clairo also has a song for your consideration. The first from a new album, Charm (out July 12), “Sexy to Someone” a winkingly lusty ditty about the power of being desired and seeing …


The Neighborhood Playlist | May 18

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How’s it going, Neighbors? I hope you enjoyed last weekend’s show. If you missed it, below is the list of jams I played, with links to stream at your convenience. I shared a snippet of a conversation I had with pianist, producer, and regal gentleman Bruce V. Allen. We had lunch at Celestia’s Coastal Cuisine (which was tasty) and reflected …

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8 Concerts to See this Week in Jacksonville

Jazz Fest, Lionel Richie, Blackwater Sol Revue, Thievery Corporation & More

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Jazz Blue Jay Jazz Jam – Tuesday, May 21 Blue Jay Listening Room | Jacksonville Beach Blue Jay’s popular weekly jazz jam is a great way to kick off what is to be a jazz-heavy week. Every Tuesday, local standouts from the city’s vibrant jazz scene take the stage at the intimate, fun-size Blue Jay Listening Room in Jax Beach. …

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Song of the Day | “Lorelei” by Mrcy

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London-based soul duo Mrcy’s debut on Dead Oceans, the eight-track Volume 1, is full of enjoyable updates on retro sounds. Made up of producer Barney Lister and vocalist Kojo Degraft-Johnson, Mrcy (pronounced Mercy) combines a full spectrum of atmospheric samples with tight grooves and Degraft-Johnson’s mighty, world-class vocals. Volume 1‘s lead single, “Lorelei,” is a prime example of the duo’s …

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Meet the 2024 Tiny Desk Contest winner

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Nearly 7,000 independent artists entered this year’s Tiny Desk Contest, NPR Music’s annual search for the next great undiscovered artist. Earlier today, Morning Edition revealed the winner: a Sacramento producer, singer, rapper and multi-instrumentalist who performs as The Philharmonik. As he soaks in his big win and prepares to travel to NPR’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to perform a Tiny …

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Song of the Day | “One Last Dance” by Baby Rose with BADBADNOTGOOD

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Baby Rose has the kind of voice that stops you in your tracks. The Washington, D.C.-bred singer and musician has collaborated with a wide range of artists, standing out on projects by Robert Glasper, Max Martian, and Big K.R.I.T., among others. On “One Last Dance” – the lead single from a Rose’s new EP, Slow Burn, (out now on unimpeachably …

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Song of the Day | “Dog Days” by Dehd

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Just about two years since the release of their Fat Possum records debut, the well-received Blue Skies (which got heavy airplay on our music discovery station), the energetic Chicago trio is back with Poetry (out now), 14 melodious and rhythmically primal ditties. Accompanied by a raucous honky-tonk-set music video by frequent collaborator Glam Hag, Poetry’s opening cut, “Dog Days,” is …

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Black Kids and Visitation Keyboardist and Singer Ali Youngblood’s Gear Essentials

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For decades, Jacksonville’s own Ali Youngblood has been making synth-pop magic happen in bands like Black Kids. “I come from the old time of little cutesy indie rock where people just used toy keyboards and Fisher Price items to make songs,” says the keyboardist and singer. (Has there ever been a more apt description of 2008 indie rock? We think …

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With New Memoir and Music, Jacksonville Artist Jennifer Chase Makes Sense Out of a Lifetime of Artistic Serenity and Insanity 

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Judging by the early-21st-century proliferation of the memoir, there is a deficiency of connectedness in this world. Social media is a certain culprit, with its fertile platforms that allow us to offer curated life-narratives while internally some are dying on the vine. Combined with the proliferation of wellness podcasts and attendant merchandising, the early 21st-century is apparently a place to …

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Steve Albini, Iconoclastic Rock Musician and Engineer, Dies at 61

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Updated May 8, 2024 at 5:26 PM ET Steve Albini, renowned for decades as a distinctive musician and recording engineer, died Tuesday night of a heart attack. Staff at his Chicago recording studio, Electrical Audio, confirmed news of his death with NPR. Albini was 61 years old. As a performer, he fronted Shellac and Big Black, two indie-rock bands that …

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8 Concerts to See this Week in Jax

Black Joe Lewis, Cryogeyser, Peter Rowan, Circles Around the Sun and more

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Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every week. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Want our concert picks delivered to your inbox every Tuesday? Sign up of the JME Live newsletter and never miss a show. Indie Rock  Woolbright – Tuesday, May 14 The Walrus | Murray Hill  Florida indie-rock band Woolbright, who just released …

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JME Staff Picks | The Jazz at the 2024 Jacksonville Jazz Festival

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A jazz festival is a curious proposition in 2024. This summer, for example, the admats for some of the country’s most notable jazz festivals give top billing to artists and bands that would seem to have little or nothing to do with America’s original artform. Celebrating its 70th year, Rhode Island’s Newport Jazz Festival, lists British new wave singer-songwriter Elvis …

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