Regular readers of JME are surely familiar by now with multi-instrumentalist Nick Garcia’s project Lost Club. Garcia’s been slowly releasing singles, each one seemingly more refined than the next. Same can be said for Duval hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture, who, after a smattering of EPs and singles, dropped its debut full-length to much fanfare last week. We’ve got new tracks …
Those attending the Jonas Brothers performance at Daily’s Place Amphitheater in Downtown Jacksonville on October 15 will be required to show printed proof of a negative COVID test, according to the venue’s website. The pop megastars announced on Monday via their Instagram page that they would be making proof of a negative test or proof of vaccination a requirement for …
His colleagues called him El judío maravilloso (“The Marvelous Jew”). His parents named him Lawrence. To fans worldwide he was “Harlow!” On Friday, August 20, 2021, famed salsa pianist, arranger and producer Larry Harlow passed away at age 82 from heart failure due to renal complications. Music fans worldwide mourned the loss of not just a legend, but also of …
Post-hardcore/emo group Hawthorne Heights is set to play Underbelly on Friday. And if you feel like that sentence reads as though it was copied-and-pasted from a different year, you’re not alone. To clear things up: yes, emo is thriving in 2021. And, yes, Underbelly, the much-beloved but short-lived Downtown Jacksonville music venue is back. Along with Burro Bar and Club …
The cover for Nevermind, a 1991 Nirvana album that is said to have helped redefine rock music, features a naked 4-month-old baby in a pool, appearing to swim after a dollar bill that’s pierced with a fish hook. That baby — the now 30-year-old Spencer Elden — is suing Nirvana for child exploitation and pornography, saying the band knowingly distributed …
Charlie Watts, the unshakeable drummer for The Rolling Stones, died this morning. According to a publicist, he died in a hospital in London, surrounded by family. No cause of death was given. He was 80 years old. Where most rock bands take their cues from the drummer, Watts was the type to hang back. He told NPR in 2012 that …
A performance by Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Yola at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre has been postponed, according to the venue’s website. The English musician was scheduled to perform with special guest Patty Griffin on September 12 as part of the month-long Sing Out Loud Festival in St. Johns County. A statement on The Amp’s website reads: Due to circumstances beyond anyone’s …
Don Everly, half of one of rock and roll’s pioneering groups, The Everly Brothers, has died. The musician, known for singing close harmonies with his brother, was 84. With hits like, “All I Have To Do Is Dream,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Bye Bye Love” and “Cathy’s Clown,” The Everly Brothers were a sensation in the late 1950s and early …
Ella Yelich-O’Connor, known to the world as Lorde, is embracing a sunnier and more analog sound, full of plucked acoustic guitars and brushed snares. Since releasing her breakout single, “Royals,” in 2013, she’s made the most of hook-heavy pop songs constructed from a palette of overcast electronic sounds. “In the past,” she says, “I’d hear an acoustic guitar and I’d …
For many the return of live music was a signpost on the way out of the new normal. In late June, Bruce Springsteen opened the curtain on Broadway’s reopening while The Foo Fighters’ Madison Square Garden set counted off the return of arena rock. Across Northeast Florida, venues large and small returned to full-capacity shows; no masks required. Thanks to …
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. Before the Isley Brothers played “That Lady” during this Tiny Desk (at Home) concert, lead singer and …
There was a time, say 2012, when Downtown Jacksonville was the center of Northeast Florida’s live music universe. If one were to wander along Bay Street from Liberty to Main, and went to the right on Ocean toward Adams Street, one would’ve likely heard (within that six-block radius) live music pouring out of no less than four mid-sized venues––Burro Bar, …
The delta variant has already caused live music to pump the brakes. While venues around the country are beginning to require proof of vaccination, some larger festivals, like the popular New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, are calling the whole thing off. Meanwhile, many nationally touring artists are postponing shows in areas struggling under the weight of the outbreak. Still, …
Sound & Vision is a semi-regular feature that examines how music influences Northeast Florida artists. Accompanying playlists for each Sound & Vision feature can be found on JME’s spotify channel. Overstreet Ducasse taps into the realm of signifiers and symbols to create paintings that merge the political with the cryptic. Mixed-media works feature the human body suspended over shooting range …
Just when we thought it was safe to get back out there, the delta variant once again threatens the viability of live music. On that note, JME contributors dug through their vinyl collections to pull out their favorite live recordings of all time. We made it through more than a year without shows. And the music kept playing. We’ll keep …
Some of the most recognizable music venues across the country will soon require proof of vaccination to enter. The new rules will take full effect by Oct. 1. Until then audience and staff will be able to show a negative COVID test to enter. AEG Presents, the world’s second-largest live music company, announced today that it will start implementing a …
In recent weeks, concert attendees have been forced to reckon with an uninvited interloper: the delta variant. While some shows have been cancelled, festivals postponed, etc., many venues across the country are responding with vaccine or negative-COVID-test mandates. Many of the new edicts won’t go into effect for another month. In the meantime, artists and venues alike are encouraging masking …
Intuition Ale Works downtown taproom was just getting a head of steam when the pandemic put the brakes on its renovated live music space, the Bier Hall. Of particular disappointment to Jacksonville-based fans of indie rock, was the postponement, then cancellation of a scheduled performance by multifaceted, extremely talented indie darling Ty Segall. Despite the setbacks, Intuition is pushing forward …
The start of the popular month-long St. Johns County-based music festival, Sing Out Loud, is less than a month away. And the festival runners over at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre continue to add unique (and free!) performances and big-name headliners to the mix. And now they’ve appended the schedule once again, announcing that trance-fusion pioneers Disco Biscuits will play the …
You might’ve heard of the concept of a “bridge” in music. Well, guitarist Nate Mercereau is taking that term literally. In July, he released a new album in collaboration with San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge — yes, you read that right — titled Duets / Golden Gate Bridge, which features droning guitar improvisations over the eerie hum of the Bay …
As wild fires rage out west and the Delta Variant burns through the Southeast, the world certainly appears to be in peril. And the local releases that came across the JME desk this week find Jacksonville artists responding to the current (and horrifying) milieu in unique ways. While multi-instrumentalist Reggie Froom waxed existential, singer-songwriter Stacey Bennett gathered her friends to, …
The six-part docuseries Icon: Music Through The Lens is a visually-thrilling deep dive into the rich history of music photography, an artform that emerged simultaneously with and followed a parallel path to the medium it captures. Featuring in-depth and often irreverent interviews with the world’s best-known music photographers, musicians, gallerists, music journalists and social commentators, the series premiered in July …
As much as we love to spread the love when we support the scene, this week presented us with two truly-can’t-miss shows at the same venue: Jax Beach’s Blue Jay Listening Room. Here’s where JME contributors will be spending their free time this week. R&B | Jazz Monique Denise – Thursday, August 12 Jazzy’s Restaurant and Lounge | Riverside Apollo-winning …
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. Melbourne alt-soul collective Hiatus Kaiyote tricked out its avant-garde recording studio, The Villa, and lathered it with …
Abstract Mindstate might be the greatest rap duo you’ve never heard of. MCs Olskool Ice-Gre and E.P Da Hellcat got their start in Chicago in the late ’90s and were about to make an album with features from Kanye West, Common, John Legend and more. But the deal fell through, E.P and Olskool fell on hard times and the two eventually stopped making music altogether. …
Shortly into the band’s main-stage set, as guitarist Wes Borland propped his foot on the monitor and dove into a chugging metal riff, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst addressed a raging crowd of a hundred thousand or so. “Let me make this clear,” he said. “This is not Woodstock ‘99.” The band then unleashed their 1999 hit “Break Stuff,” an …
Though he spent his formative years building his catalog and amassing a following in New York City, St. Augustine-based singer-songwriter David Tashjian (AKA DL is OK) is so Florida, man. Tashjian’s sonic approach has drawn comparisons to the likes of Mark Knopfler and the War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel; singular songwriters who deftly reign in a breadth of influences to …
Glove, Tampa’s stylish and magnetic contemporary indie rock mainstay, has been busy making noise that’s reverberating among some of the most iconic modern music makers. A pre-pandemic tour with indie darlings The Nude Party and gritty guitar pop lords BRONCHO earned them the attention of Brad Shultz (Cage the Elephant), who then produced the band’s forthcoming debut full-length Boom Nights, …
The big announcements just keep coming from The Amp. Just a couple of weeks ago, they unleashed a torrent of announcements for the fall, including Thievery Corporation on the Backyard Stage, Galactic at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and Leon Bridges on The Amp stage, proper. And this week, the folks behind the scenes at the beloved St. Johns County …
Each month, JME Contributors pick the juiciest noise emanating from Northeast Florida and beyond for our monthly Fresh Squeeze playlist. Featuring a several 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. Playlist Highlights: “Behaviour” by Glove “Damn” by Ada Lea “Uh Huh Okay” …
Jacksonville artists continue to swing for the fences. This week brought us new tunes from multi-instrumentalist and producer Shane Malone, Afro-cuban salsa orchestra LPT, and hip-hop artist Jahny Steel. Whether working within the strictures of hip-hop, indie rock or salsa, the artists featured herein are expanding the scope of their preferred genre, while simultaneously redefining what music from Northeast Florida …
Big name bands are beginning to return to Northeast Florida, providing opportunities for the region’s standout acts to lend support while getting in front of a larger audience. This week, local indie rock youngsters Faze Wave will open for Cold War Kids at The Amp’s backyard stage. It’s one of the three shows JME contributors recommend checking out this week. …
“Ladies and gentlemen, rock ‘n’ roll.” Those were the words spoken by Warner Cable executive John Lack on Aug. 1, 1981, at 12:01 am when MTV––Music Television––went on air for the very first time. It was accompanied by the image of an astronaut, modeled after Neil Armstrong, and an MTV flag planted on the moon’s surface. Comparing the station to …
Singer-songwriter Kevin Morby will play a free show at the Lightner Museum as part of 2021’s Sing Out Loud Festival. The announcement comes just weeks after the initial lineup announcement for the popular, multi-venue St. Johns County festival. With NYC garage rockers Parquet Courts already on the docket, Sing Out Loud is slated to be a hot ticket for fans …
What is LPT––Jacksonville’s mighty 10-piece Afro-Cuban salsa orchestra––without a dance floor? It’s a question that the band, which began its world-beating run performing in dank clubs in and around Northeast Florida, enticing revelrous, full-capacity crowds onto the dance floor (and all but daring the fire marshal to shut them down), was forced to reckon with in the face of an …
Less than six months ago, Duval hip-hop artist/poly-auteur Jahny Steel released the single “Stick Up Kid.” In less than three minutes, he delivered a tale of a marauder with uncertain intentions, embedded in a production of basscore wobble and 420-schizo rhythmic clack. Arguably the underheard 2021 spring jam, “Stick Up Kid” only benefitted from Steel’s self-produced video clip that is …
