Springtime apparently activates febrile indie rock music. The latest track from locals Ducats, “Uggo Druggo” heralds the seasonal arc in the form of an unhurried post-punk planted in a field of reverb. Over the course of its four-and-a-half minutes, “Uggo Druggo” is carried along in a bramble of guitar stabs and textures, riffs closing and falling back into the echoes, …
Throughout an emotional, soul-stirring set, the multitudes of Yaya Bey‘s music and artistry are on full display in her Tiny Desk concert. The New York-bred singer-songwriter opens the show by paying homage to her Barbados roots: reggae-tinged grooves of “meet me in brooklyn” from her powerful 2022 album, Remember Your North Star, that flow seamlessly into “on the pisces moon” …
On the heels of the February release of her latest album Weird Faith, Nashville singer-songwriter Madi Diaz has posed “One Less Question,” a gorgeous new collaboration with Lennon Stella that the duo debuted on Tuesday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Co-produced by Diaz and Weird Faith’s Konrad Snyder, and co-written by Diaz, Stella and Kate York, “One Less Question” …
Happy April, Neighbors! Springtime is here and I am here to give you some music to make those flowers look beautiful and the beaches feel great for you! We visited a new song from the legendary group Arrested Development. We played a new jam from DJ Harrison, a member of the soul-jazz-funk-hip-hop group Butcher Brown. Lastly, we played some hometown …
A staple of the Jacksonville music scene for over a decade, Folk is People breathes new life into old country and bluegrass traditions. Singer and guitarist Stacey Bennett started writing songs for the band in 2011, releasing the first Folk is People EP the following year. “When we started,” Bennett says, “it was all acoustic instruments. I was playing mandolin, …
This Memorial Day weekend, the Jacksonville Jazz Festival is held in the downtown district, with performances at Metropolitan Park and Daily’s Place. A staple of city-run cultural events for four decades, each year jazz legends and emerging artists perform at multiple on-site venues. Last year’s festival attracted an estimated 75,000 attendees, creating an estimable, positive economic impact on the city. …
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Rock/Glam Scott Yoder – Tuesday, April 9 Sarbez | St. Augustine Seattle glam-folkie Scott Yoder puts on a theatrical, one-of-a-kind show. And his latest full length, Scooter Pie, channels the twee-ist and rocking-est of the Marc Bolan/T. Rex …
Though its April Fools Day announcement may have made fans think twice, Brooklyn’s Woods do, in fact, have a surprise new record out. The psych-folk-rock outfit released their Five More Flowers EP via their own Woodsist label this week ahead of a North American tour alongside Animal Collective’s Avey Tare. The roots of Five More Flowers touch much of Woods’ …
Following the release of her QWERTY II EP, Japanese-Canadian art-pop artist Saya Gray has announced an international tour in support of her new record, with shows in the U.K., E.U. and North America set for late spring. Gray released the seven-track QWERTY EP via Dirty Hit in May 2023, then delivered the seven-track follow-up last week—in a statement, the artist …
Consider it a low-key utopia. Held at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds, the 28th annual Gamble Rogers Folk Festival is a three-day micro-community of old and young musicians, music lovers of varied stripes, families, neo-hippies or just curious tourists savvy enough to get really local. From Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14, more than 100 performers are featured on …
Last week on the Jax Music Hour, we were joined by JME contributor Carissa Marques, who shared several of her local favorites, including Siichaq, Kale That Raps, and Leo Sun. Carissa also shared her excitement for the Hozier, Earthgang, and George Clanton shows coming up in Jacksonville very soon. Here’s what played on the Jax Music Hour last week. Catch …
This spring, St. Vincent returns with her seventh—and first self-produced—studio album, All Born Screaming (April 26, Total Pleasure Records / Virgin Music Group), and our second preview of the LP is out now in the form of “Flea,” featuring Dave Grohl and Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Where 2021’s Grammy-winning Daddy’s Home found St. Vincent time-traveling to 1970s New York City, even recording …
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Classic Rock REO Speedwagon – Wednesday, April 3 The Amp | St. Augustine Two of the most commercially successful bands of the classic-rock era, REO Speedwagon (“Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Keep on Loving You,” “Take it on the …
In celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month, WJCT Public Media and the Jacksonville Music Experience will debut Jazz Beyond Tradition, a six-episode limited series that explores jazz voices from the past, present and future, beginning Sunday, April 21 on both WJCT News 89.9 and the Independent 89.9 HD4. Hosted by Jacksonville-bred, Grammy-Award-winning musician and educator Ulysses Owens Jr. and award-winning radio …
The latest from Renaissance-man and quixotic rambler John Lurie is a 56-song collection of recent musical collaborations that will do much to satisfy fans of the musician-artist-actor-memoirist. Meanwhile, those who are indifferent, annoyed, or puzzled by the now-71-year-old Lurie’s almost-five decades long (and heavily hyphenated) body of work could very well still be intrigued this 56-song set, available in vinyl …
West London-based psych-soul artist Lava La Rue has announced their full-length debut STARFACE, coming June 21 on Dirty Hit. Lead single “Push N Shuv” is out now with a self-co-directed music video. Our first preview of the much-anticipated album, “Push N Shuv” pays affectionate homage to iconic ‘80s new-wavers Tom Tom Club, with a bubbly funk groove that sounds like …
The Tiny Desk Contest is back for 2024, with a new (and stacked) panel of judges and another opportunity for unsigned artists to earn an invite to perform on the revered, improvised stage located in offices of NPR Music’s Washington, D.C. HQ. Over the past nine years, tens-of-thousands of musicians have submitted their videos to the Tiny Desk Contest (TDC) …
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Guitar Lords Joe Satriani & Steve Vai – Tuesday, March 26 Florida Theatre | Downtown Jacksonville A duo of legendary shredders, the 15-time Grammy winner Joe Satriani and three-time winner (15-time nominee) Steve Vai trade licks at the …
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Jazz Blue Jay Jazz Jam – Tuesday, March 19 Blue Jay Listening Room | Jacksonville Beach Every Tuesday, standouts from the region’s jazz scene descend upon fun-size Jax Beach music venue Blue Jay for the Blue Jay Jazz …
The music celebration known as the Sing Out Loud Festival returns to St. Augustine this year with the Live Wildly Showcase on Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22 at Francis Field. Performers for this year’s festival include jazz-folk artist Norah Jones, country singer Eric Church, alt-country artist Ryan Bingham with The Texas Gentlemen, folk singer and radio standout Noah …
Last week on the Jax Music Hour (Saturdays at 8PM on WJCT News 89.9 FM), we shined a spotlight on harpist Brandee Younger, who’ll be joining us on the WJCT Soundstage on Thursday, March 14. Get tickets to the show here. In addition to other artists coming through Northeast Florida soon, we played a mix of local jams from K.UTIE, …
Alexis Rhode of Jacksonville indie-rock act Bad Madonna has shared her first solo single as ROADIE, exploring a more delicate singer-songwriter sound on the pensive breakup song “Ball of String.” Rhode is backed by Danny Strickland, Milan Algood and Jordan Mixon on her new single, but you wouldn’t know it from the song’s opening moments. “I guess I got in …
Neighbors! I hope your month is moving well and you are doing great. We revisited a previous interview with the neighbor Myztroh who will be opening up for Brandee Younger on March 14. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. I hope to see my cool neighbors in attendance. We also visited Moonchild’s music, played Butcher Brown (they’ll be at Ponte …
Make no mistake: “Wind Picks Up Again,” the third track from Alexei Shishkin’s recent album dagger, is a fantastic rock song. From the start, it’s evident that the Jacksonvillian-turned-NYC-Brooklynite is adept at evoking the kind of lysergic 12-string-guitar shimmer that made 1966-era Byrds achieve stratospheric peaks, and the driving bass and drums accompaniment of Shishkin’s economical approach propels and enhances …
Gathering production influence from Brian Eno and songwriting inspiration from Leonard Cohen, solo synth act Animal Clinic aims for complexity in both sound and emotion. “I wanted to say something very personal,” says Animal Clinic’s sole musician James Scott Rubia. “I wanted to say it with detail, and I wanted listeners to be able to hopefully feel what I was …
Rising Americana star Charley Crockett has extended his tour in support of his forthcoming album $10 Cowboy (April 26, Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers), adding a late-August stop in the Ancient City. Though he’s typically billed as a country artist, Crockett’s self-described “Gulf & Western” sound is far richer and more nuanced than that label may suggest. The Texas-born, New Orleans-influenced …
Local lovers of legit indie-folk and innovative Americana have hit the summer sweepstakes. Jenny Lewis and her Joy’All Ball Tour makes a stop at Intuition Ale Works on Saturday, June 29. Lewis will be joined in Jax by the great Seattle songsmith Dean Johnson. Lewis’ latest, 2023’s ten-song Joy’All, finds Lewis in peak form, traversing traditional singer-songwriter terrain and experimental …
In the 2013 book, Faith, Hope and Carnage, Nick Cave admits: “I feel that instinctive, mysterious connection can have a deeper impact on the psyche of the listener. It feels as if it connects to the listener in a different way, as if we have stumbled upon the song and its implicit meaning together.” Culled from 40 hours of conversations …
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Singer-Songwriter/Classic Rock Bob Dylan – Tuesday, March 12 Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts | Downtown Jacksonville An extension of his so-called “Never Ending Tour” (1988-?), the legendary Bob Dylan is in the midst of a three-year run …
On the March 2 episode of the Jax Music Hour (Saturdays at 8PM on WJCT News 89.9 FM), we were joined by singer-songwriter Rick Colado, best known as rickoLus, whose album, These Things Happen, was released on March 1. The Jacksonville music veteran has been part of the local scene for decades and told us about the evolution of the …
Brandee Younger is a trailblazer. Over the course of the last 15 years, the New York-bred musician, composer and educator has contributed to works by a range of contemporary artists, from Common and Lauryn Hill to John Legend and Moses Sumney, placing her among a peer group of classically trained musicians strengthening the connective tissue between jazz and hip-hop, R&B, …
Femme-fronted Jacksonville rock outfit Annie Dukes are marking this International Women’s Day with a blistering new single, “Cherry.” Cassidy Lee (bass, vocals), Emma Moseley (guitar, vocals), Callie Johns (keys, vocals) and Mike Monahan (drums) describe their sound as “Black Sabbath meets Fleetwood Mac,” and on “Cherry,” the foursome hew to the heavier end of that spectrum. The dynamic track evokes …
Now with another acclaimed album under her belt, Atlanta alt-folk singer-songwriter Faye Webster has announced a dozen new September and October shows, including a stop at Jacksonville’s storied Florida Theatre. Webster’s new shows are an extension of her impending North American tour in support of her fifth studio album Underdressed at the Symphony, released last week via Secretly Canadian. The …
New York’s Nate Amos is a man of many projects, from a pair of acclaimed indie-pop duos—Water From Your Eyes and My Idea, with Rachel Brown and Lily Konigsberg, respectively—to his longstanding solo project This Is Lorelei. On Monday, Amos announced what a press release calls his “first attempt at a traditional, intentionally written full-length album” as This Is Lorelei, …
Groundbreaking electronic group the Thievery Corporation will bring their global-music sound to the Backyard Stage at St. Augustine Amphitheatre on Tuesday, May 23. Presented by Intuition Ale Works, tickets for the show go on sale this Friday, March 8 and are available online and at the Amp box office. Thievery Corporation was formed in Washington, D.C. in 1995 by Rob …
The latest from UK reeds-player Shabaka is a continuation of his low-key search for conveying a higher knowledge expressed through music. Categorizations are unavoidable, yet a cursory understanding of the cadre of musicians that the 40-year-old Shabaka Hutchings has aligned himself with—Sun Ra Arkestra, André 3000, Esperanza Spalding, Floating Points, Polar Bear, and Shabaka’s own outfits, Sons of Kemet and …
