Amid chatter of a new album on the way from The xx — and a forever-feeling wait for the follow-up to his 2015 solo album In Colour — English DJ and producer Jamie xx has shared his first new single in nearly two years, the entrancing “It’s So Good.” Released this week via London’s Young (fka Young Turks), the song …
What at face value sounds like a potential theoretical misfire or needless farce—see: Northeast Florida jazz musicians creating a concept album celebrating the Arthurian legends—is a surprising, welcomed and well-executed addition to local music. The Jacksonville-based jazz collective Madre Vaca have just released their 10-song Knights of the Round Table album, available as download and also a quality CD package …
Indie-Americana powerhouse Waxahatchee, aka Alabama-born, Kansas City-based singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, has finally announced the follow-up to her 2020-best album Saint Cloud. Her ANTI- Records debut Tigers Blood is due out on March 22, and she announced it with a bang this week, sharing the lead single “Right Back To It,” featuring Wednesday (and solo) indie-rock star MJ Lenderman, and announcing …
Your favorite neighbor (that’s me: Mr. Al Pete) introduced The Neighborhood on January 6, 2024 on WJCT News 89.9, with a playlist of contemporary hip hop and R&B, classic soul and more. On my first walk through the neighborhood, I played Common (who’ll be playing at the Ft. Mose Jazz & Blues Series in February; full lineup announcement here), Emily …
Locals can enjoy a triple dose of Billy Strings this spring. The much-loved Grammy winner is confirmed to perform at the Amp on Friday, April 19; Saturday, April 20, and Sunday April 21. Pre-sale for tickets starts tomorrow (Wednesday, January 10) at 10 a.m. at the official Billy Strings site. Tickets at the Amp box office go on sale this …
Lucinda Williams will visit the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall on Wednesday, January 31. The songwriting legend, who turned 70 last year, suffered a stroke in 2020, leaving her unable to play guitar. But during her show here in Northeast Florida, Williams will be on the mic in a big way: in an interview last year, she told Vanity Fair, “I’ll …
Taken from the forthcoming full-length Novoa / Gress / Gray, Vol. 1, the track “Rocket Man” is an engaging read of the pulse of today’s jazz trio format. Over the course of the tune’s nine minutes, the Brooklyn-based combo of pianist Eva Novoa, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Devin Gray err on the side of mystery, throwing caution (even intention) …
Texas-born, New York-based singer-songwriter Katy Kirby has shared a fourth (and likely final) single ahead of her forthcoming album Blue Raspberry, coming Jan. 26 on her new label, ANTI- Records. After breaking out with her irresistible 2021 debut Cool Dry Place, Kirby now returns with a second effort press notes call “an exegesis of [her] first queer relationship” that “ …
Saturday, January 6 marked the premiere of the Jax Music Hour, a weekly radio show spotlighting Jacksonville musicians as well as touring artists coming through the area. As a lifelong Duval gal, I’ve been listening to WJCT News 89.9 since I was a kid—my dad always had it on in the car—and being part of my hometown public media station …
Since 2019’s Vol. 1, the first in a series of EP’s that culminated in the January 2024 release of Vol. 3, Duval hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture has made it evident that, while they were fully capable of creating dancefloor-ready songs, they were aiming for a higher aspect through lyricism, instrumentation and sonic production. While collectively the six-songs on Vol. 3 …
Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to musicians about how they write their songs. Emerging from a broad spectrum of musical influences and styles, Nashville-born singer, songwriter and guitarist Sunny War blends folk music traditions with punk rock. Her latest album, 2023’s Anarchist Gospel, earned wide critical praise — Rolling Stone, Spin and Mojo named it one of 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. Blues/Singer-Songwriter Paul Thorn – Tuesday, January 9 Intuition Ale Works | Downtown Jacksonville Widely-admired singer-songwriter Paul Thorn comes to the Bier Hall inside Intuition Ale Works on Tuesday night. More Acoustic Guitar Jesse Cook – Wednesday, January 10 WJCT …
Rising Dublin rockers SPRINTS have released a fourth and final single ahead of their debut album Letter To Self, out this Friday, Jan. 5, on City Slang Records, with a U.S. tour to follow in March. The four-piece — singer, songwriter and guitarist Karla Chubb, guitarist Colm O’Reilly, bassist Sam McCann and drummer Jack Callan — have been building buzz …
The Jacksonville Music Experience will launch a new evening of music programming beginning Saturday, January 6 on WJCT News 89.9. Drawing on JME‘s roster of music contributors, and the music currently in rotation on WJCT’s new-music discovery station the Independent 89.9 HD4, JME Saturday Nights includes three new music shows. Beginning at 8 p.m., the Jax Music Hour puts the …
Fans of both Outkast and André 3000 have been begging for new music from the duo’s idiosyncratic cofounder. And in late November with New Blue Sun – his first album of new music in 17 years – André 3000 delivered. Sort of. Though it’s probably not exactly what we’d all been pining for, André 3000’s flute-forward, ambient, instrumental album is …
Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to local songwriters about how they wrote one song. Coyboi is a collaborative songwriting effort between Cortnie Frazier and Ihlan Magloire, two musicians whose friendship traces back all the way to elementary school in Green Cove Springs. Frazier’s lyric-writing style is as confident as her singing voice. Here’s our conversation with her about …
Ask any musician, and they’ll tell you: they always have a wish list. There’s always a new sound with which to tamper and a new toy with which to play. Looking ahead into 2024, here’s what local musicians dream of adding to their gear arsenals. Angela Sitzler, synths for Glass Chapel Death by Audio SE-1 Space Ensemble Almost endless possibilities …
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. Cold Wave/Synth LOVATARAXX – Wednesday, January 3 The Walrus | Murray Hill Lyon, France-based minimalist duo LOVETARAXX brings their cold-wave sound to the Walrus in Murray Hill. Orlando’s Earth Fault, locals Severed+Said and Limo Scene open the show. More …
Duval-based hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture have announced a new six-song EP called Vol. 3, a follow-up to the 2021 full-length album 1827 N. Pearl and the third in a series of EP’s that began with 2019’s Vol. 1. The new album will debut on streaming platforms on January 8, and the group has planned a listening party at Murray Hill’s …
New Year’s Eve represents your last opportunity to squeeze in some live music. Below you’ll find our best bets for NYE. 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. Salsa LPT – Sunday, December 31 Underbelly | Downtown Jacksonville Duval’s mighty salsa orchestra returns to Underbelly to ring …
Media Contact: Neily Braren, Promotion & Marketing Associate 904.318.2633 • nbraren@wjct.org WJCT Public Media Announces the 2024 TEACH Conference TEACH is a day-long conference created to engage, empower, and inspire educators December 20, 2023 — Jacksonville, Fla. — WJCT Public Media will host its annual TEACH Conference, in partnership with VyStar Credit Union, on Saturday, February 10, 2024. This day-long …
Taken from their new single Two Duets, Eureka Springs‘ “Great Friends” is a three-minute, light-and-breezy ride through the joys of companionship. The brainchild of Cory Driscoll, this latest iteration of Eureka Springs finds the Jacksonville singer-songwriter accompanied by several local musicians, including Tianna DiSalvo (of Patsy’s Daydream) on guest vocals, trumpeter Robert Bidwell and guitarist Danny Strickland. The rolling, gentle …
Jam-band kings Widespread Panic return to the St. Augustine Amphitheatre on March 22, 23 and 24. Formed more than 30 years ago in Athens, Georgia, the band were spearheads of the now-legendary 1992 H.O.R.D.E. tour—a patchouli-scented and red-eyed sibling to Lollapalooza. Along with tourmates Blues Traveler, Phish and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, that tour was a success and helped create …
Thirty years ago, a friend who had played in bands in NYC in the mid-1980s told me of an interesting phenomenon. At that time, Sonic Youth were rapidly ascending from the herd of underground, post-hardcore bands. Especially on these shores, Sonic Youth were a quixotic and enigmatic band: using alternative guitar tunings and songs that could shift from dreamlike to …
Jacksonville singer-songwriter rickoLus, born Rick Colado, has shared the mesmerizing music video for his latest single “New York,” the first preview of his forthcoming album These Things Happen. Released in early December, “New York” is a poignant, piano-forward first taste of the new record from rickoLus, coming March 1, 2024, on Colado’s own Vitamin Circus Records. Though named after the …
Indie folk favorites Hiss Golden Messenger bring their celebrated alt-country sound to Intuition Ale Works on the band’s forthcoming winter tour. Formed in 2007 in Durham, North Carolina by Michael Carrington “M.C.” Taylor and Scott Hirsch, the band issued a handful of DIY self-released albums that garnered immediate critical praise, as well as attracting a loyal fanbase. Along with their …
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. Hip Hop Rod Wave – Monday, December 18 VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena | Downtown Jacksonville St. Pete, FL-born rapper Rodarius Marcell Green, known professionally as Rod Wave, performs at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Monday night, More Jazz …
As the arts and culture editor for WJCT Public Media, I make lists. A lotta lists. On a weekly basis, alone, I send out two e-blasts for the Jacksonville Music Experience – a roundup of concert picks and a new music playlist – and compile recommendations of arts picks for Jacksonville Today. Some conservative, back-of-the-envelope math: that’s roughly 150 lists …
King Peach has shared a new single, “I Know.” The St. Augustine indie-rock four piece’s debut full-length Found Dead was one pleasant surprise of 2023 (a year that wasn’t exactly bursting with pleasantness). Amongst other worthy delights, the crispy-crunch of “Let Us Not,” with its ungodly guitar hook that evoked J. Mascis blowing up display amps at Guitar Center, and …
It’s been an excellent year in music writing. Here are our top recommendations for new books about music, ranging from history texts to personal memoirs to novels that emphasize music culture. 60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s by Rob Harvilla “I have nothing against The Beatles,” author and podcast host Rob Harvilla told CBS, “but the Beatles got nothing on …
Of the many formidable talents of 1960s jazz, Bill Evans embodied the ability to find clandestine ideas in a handful of chords, and perform them through raw emotion. Along with his creative twin Miles Davis, the pianist-composer was a pioneer in developing modal jazz. In short, the modal approach guided players through scales and melodies rather than chords. This freed …
Oklahoma City space cadets the Flaming Lips return to Northeast Florida for a live performance of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots at the Florida Theatre on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Released in July of 2002 and taking its name as a tribute to Yoshimi P-We (Boredoms, OOIOO), the 22 tracks of the original release built off the success the band …
Kevin PM, aka Ancient City singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, visual artist and educator Kevin Mahoney, has released his first full-length album, burning. Out now on Jacksonville’s own Long Jump Records, the LP is the artist’s third release on the label after a pair of EPs, 2020’s Fondly* and 2021’s And Then Forever. Mahoney wrote the 10 tracks that would become burning between …
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. Southern Rock The Allman Betts Family Revival – Wednesday, December 13 Florida Theatre | Downtown Jacksonville Featuring scions of (Gregg) Allman and (Dickey) Betts – Devon Allman and Duane Betts – plus extended family and friends, including Anders Osborne, …
This year, the Jacksonville Music Experience team reviewed more than 70 songs made by Jacksonville-area artists as part of our Local Spotlight series, and breathlessly covered the local scene with features like Songwriting School, Gearheads and more. For our marquee year-end list, we decided – somewhat arbitrarily – to share 23 local songs made in 2023. Of course, this being …
Winterland, the annual indie- and local-music-focussed Jacksonville-based music festival is returning for its sixth year in February – this time to James Weldon Johnson Park in the middle of Downtown Jacksonville. Headliners for this year’s three-day festival include the legendary Brooklyn experimental trio Blonde Redhead, inimitable singer-songwriter Caroline Rose and San Francisco psych-rock lords Osees (formerly known as Thee Oh …
