Tiny Desk Concert | Wednesday

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“I learned how to play guitar watching Tiny Desk concerts,” Wednesday‘s lead singer Karly Hartzman says in the band’s performance. Specifically, she says, by way of Mitski‘s scream-filled 2015 set. “The chords to these songs are pretty easy, if you want to mirror ’em.” The Asheville, N.C., rock band is constantly on the road, supporting Rat Saw God, which made …

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Get to Know the Black Opry Revue | Coming to the WJCT Soundstage in February

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On Thursday, February 15, right in the middle of Black History Month, we’ll welcome a quartet of musicians from the Nashville-founded collective Black Opry. The traveling showcase, known as the Black Opry Revue aims to put Black country, folk, roots and Americana artists on stages across the country. Country music has always been both versatile and diverse. Country, blues, folk, …

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Duval Country-Rockers Dean Winter and the Heat Get Ready to Fire It Up at Their Upcoming Vinyl Release Party at Intuition Ale Works

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If you are lucky in country music, you will eventually run into hard luck.  Anyone can have gratitude on a sunny Friday pay day. It’s the broke-a** rainy Tuesdays that keep you on your feet or flat on your back. And while country music isn’t all ragged blues and boozy ruminations, arguably the best and most memorable music of that …

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The Rebuilt Heart of Jason Isbell

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Luck favors the prepared, as they say, and young Jason Isbell was ready. He had honed his skills as a songwriter and guitar player since he started playing the mandolin back when his hands were too small to wrap around a guitar neck. He would sit alone in his bedroom for days on end, isolated and insulated from his parents’ …

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Rachel Angel, Daddy, Folk Is People to Headline this Year’s Queer Country Disco in Jacksonville

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Queer Country Disco — the annual event celebrating the music of queer Americana and country artists — is back for another rodeo. Featuring performances by Asheville-by-way-of-Miami alt-country star Rachel Angel, Duval electro-pop artist Daddy and Jax Americana band Folk is People (with more acts to be announced soon), QCD 2023 will be held Saturday, August 12 at WJCT Studios. Founded …

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Wednesday’s ‘Rat Saw God’ is Fearlessly, Chaotically, Grimly American

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There was “a tear in every word,” is how longtime producer Billy Sherrill once described Tammy Wynette’s singing voice. It was the first lady of country music’s signature: a trembling, anguished voice that seemed to hold a teardrop in each note. Wynette had the ability to sell songs like “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” or “I Don’t Wanna Play House,” ’60s suburban melodramas as …

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On “On Your Line,” Jax’s Rambler Kane Dispenses Honky-Tonk Allegory Over a Country-Rock Stomp

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“On Your Line,” the latest from Jacksonville singer-songwriter Rambler Kane is a three-minute stomp of country-rock choogle that serves up facets of the form—a relentless rhythm section in two-four, rolling finger-picked acoustic, and some tasty Hank Garland-style electric soloing—and Kane’s winning lyrics that are a honky-tonk allegory about fishing in the neon bar lights, and getting caught up; hook, line, …

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Charley Crockett | Tiny Desk Concert

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Charley Crockett knew what he was doing when he stood behind the Tiny Desk and introduced himself by smoothly dropping three names: Charley Pride, Davy Crockett and Freddy Fender. With those references, the Texas troubadour framed his concert as a shrewd conversation with sturdy, old ways of singing, spinning yarns of folk heroism and drawing freely from the cultural melting …

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The Best Roots Music of 2022

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In 2022, artists working within the orbit of the unstable category “roots music” got personal even as they explored complex cultural lineages and continued to challenge the rules of established scenes and forms. Before any tradition is solidified, it travels from hand to hand, heart to heart. Whether pushing the boundaries of mainstream country, demanding an expanded vision of traditional …

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Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson Tell Their Truth Plainly

The duo embraces classic country sounds on 'I Walked With You A Ways'

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At the heart of I Walked With You A Ways, the debut album from Plains, there’s a sense of freedom. It’s the freedom of driving fast down an enormous, dusty road: “tak[ing] the quickest route on this 4-lane highway,” but also “crying on the highway with my windows down.” It’s the kind of liberation that comes from finding your own …

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Watch | Howdy live in the Studio 4 at WJCT

Beaches-based singer-songwriter performs a couple Gulf-and-Western style ballads

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Jacksonville Beach-based singer and guitarist Landon Gay is a true saltwater cowboy. And therein may lie secret to the unique Americana sauce he’s injected into the four singles he’s released under the moniker Howdy, which have collectively racked up more than three-quarters-of-a-million plays on Spotify. Indeed, embedded in Howdy’s lofi, minimalist ballads is a palpable authenticity — in the pace …

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How Charley Crockett Makes New Music Sound Old (and Old Music Sound Brand New)

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Charley Crockett knows his story seems far-fetched. “People always tell me, ‘Man, you didn’t ride trains — that’s not possible, no one does that anymore,’” he says, sitting at his tour bus’s small table. Crockett is clearly frustrated – the fact that he’s traded train cars for tour buses and street corners for venerable stages that he shares with even …

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Local Spotlight | 4 Great New Tracks by Jax Artists Out Now

Introducing The Jax, plus three more local tunes

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We’re always keeping our ear to the ground in order to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on Jacksonville regional artists. This week, Jacksonville Music Experience contributors share four new songs by local artists that we think you’ll dig. Let’s dive in. “The Seven” by The Jax What does one do when a Jacksonville super-group forms a …

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Go | Best Concerts in Jax this Week

'90s nostalgia, topnotch country, primo hip-hop and traditional bluegrass

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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-Rock Incubus, Sublime with Rome – Tuesday, July 26 …

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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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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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For Angel Olsen, the Shortest Distance Between Loss and Love is a Country Song

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Angel Olsen picks musical genres for her records the way other artists pick instruments. “I want that vaulted-ceiling feeling,” another musician might say. “I want classic, I want sweeping. Piano it is.” Olsen’s previous releases have leaned on folk, rock, pop and psychedelia. For her sixth album, Big Time, the selection process could have sounded something like this: I want …

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Just Announced | Alt-country band American Aquarium at PV Concert Hall

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Purveyors of anthemic alt-country, North Carolina-bred American Aquarium has announced a summer tour of the East Coast with a stop at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, returning to Northeast Florida for the first time since their November 2021 performance at Jack Rabbits. The brainchild of bandleader BJ Barham, the group’s latest iteration is touring 2020’s critically lauded, Shooter-Jennings-produced Lamentations. In 2021, …

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Fresh Rotation | 3 songs you need to hear right now

New tunes from Chicago's Dehd, Austin's Carson McHone and obscure garage-psych from the UK

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Each and every week the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists to concoct the tasty, tall-glass-of-a-listening-experience that is our 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 a bit of context). Here are three new songs …

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Go | This week’s live music picks

Reggae-rock fusion, Jedi vibes and a country crossover artist

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There’s lots of great live music on this week’s concert calendar. Here’s what JME contributors want to see and hear in and around Jacksonville this week. NOTE: The CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission even if you are fully vaccinated, to maximize protection from the Delta and Omicron variants …

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Just Announced | Country singer-songwriter Koe Wetzel at The Amp

The Texas native brings his irreverent brand of country to The Amp

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Wildly popular country singer-songwriter Koe Wetzel will embark on a 32-date spring tour, with a pitstop at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre on May 6. After inking a deal with Columbia, the Texas-bred crooner had a message for those who thought major-label syndication might cramp his irreverent style. The then 27 year old, who was a rising a star in country …

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How Black women reclaimed country and Americana music in 2021

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If 2020 was the kickstart of a reckoning—of country/Americana music (and, really, all of America) being forced to come to terms with its history of racism and exclusion—2021 was the year of reclamation. Even as sustainable, systemic change remains elusive, Black women, in particular, have leveraged the power of streaming platforms and social media to bridge the chasms previously carved …

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Go | This Week’s Live Music Recommendations

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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.  …

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