Musician and Gamble Rogers Folk Festival President Jim Carrick Reflects on the 2024 Fest and its Namesake’s Ongoing Influence

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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 …

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Midwest Princess Chappell Roan is Spreading Queer Joy through Her Dazzling Pop Tour

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Pop is glittery, girly and gay again thanks to Missouri-native Chappell Roan. She just released her first full-length album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, on September 22.  Some of Roan’s popular tracks include “Pink Pony Club,” and this summer’s cheerleader inspired anthem “HOT TO GO!” The songs are thematic, dramatic and glamorous, with call-and-response hooks, sensational synths …

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Coastal Creature Kick Back and Sip “Lemonade” on Breezy New Single

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Duval DIY indie-pop duo Coastal Creature are plotting the fall release of their debut EP, but in the meantime, they’ve shared a new tune to keep you cool through the summer swelter. Lead single “Lemonade” is out as of this week, with a music video to follow in early September. Erica Reese and Parker Dixon, then recent Florida transplants, met …

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Backed by an All-Star Band of Florida Players, Jax Singer-Songwriter rickoLus Swings Through the Sunshine State 

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In August, Jacksonville singer-songwriter rickoLus will embark on a tour of the Sunshine State with Orlando indie-rock band The Pauses. rickoLus is the longtime project of the multi-talented Richard Colado, who, beginning with the power-pop band The Julius Airwave in the early-aughts, has been an integral member of the Northeast Florida music scene for two decades now. For the upcoming …

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On ‘Sunburn,’ Multi-Talented Florida-Bred Superstar Dominic Fike Shines Bright

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Over the last few years, Naples-native Dominic Fike has found himself in rarified air: A bonafide, Florida-bred superstar. Perhaps more widely recognized for his role as Elliot on the HBO original Euphoria, before Fike was acting, he was making music here in the Sunshine State. In July, Fike released his third full-length album, Sunburn. Over the course of the record’s 15 …

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Jazz Returns to the Jacksonville Symphony

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The Jacksonville Symphony has long specialized in offering their music in contexts designed to appeal to people who aren’t necessarily hardcore classical fans, and that has proven key to their success in an era that has been challenging, at best, for the symphony business overall. They’ve dabbled extensively in jazz in the past, but June’s Jazz at the Jacksonville Symphony …

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Jax Indie-Folk Faves Bobby Kid Return Just In Time with the Tearjerking “Ten Minutes Late”

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Get the tissue box ready before listening to Bobby Kid’s newest single. On “Ten Minutes Late,” the popular local indie-folk band — made up of Anna Lester (vocals and guitar), Brian Lester (drums), Phillip Hess (lead guitar), Daniel Hubert Jr. (bass) and Caleb Hollan (pianist) — tells a story of familial loss, love that was once shared and the reminiscence …

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The Best Live Music in Jacksonville this Week

Loggins, Reba and Jill Scott, plus Fruition at Intuition and psych and indie rock at The Walrus.

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Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For the comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Neo-Soul Jill Scott – Tuesday, March 7  Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts | Downtown Jacksonville Singer-songwriter Jill Scott blends jazz, R&B, spoken word and hip-hop in a style all her own.. Scott …

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Tuareg Guitar Hero Mdou Moctar to Play Intuition Ale Works in May

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Formidable Tuareg guitarist and songwriter Mdou Moctar has announced a spring tour with a stop at the Bier Hall inside Intuition Ale Works Downtown Jacksonville taproom in May. The Niger-bred Moctar is widely praised as a torchbearer for Saharan rock, melding ear-turning modern fret work on his electric guitar with traditional polyrhythms, field recordings and ruminations on love, religion, women’s …

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The Best Live Music in Jacksonville this Week

Thelma and the Sleaze, Joan Jett, Sam Grisman Project, PW5K and more

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Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For the comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Funk Tower of Power – Tuesday, February 28  Florida Theatre | Downtown Jacksonville Bay Area legends Tower of Power celebrate 55-years of ear-turning funk at the Florida Theatre on Tuesday.  Watch | Tickets …

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Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week

Keith Sweat, The Head And The Heart, Jim Lauderdale and more

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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. There’s a handful of legends (Jim Lauderdale, Keith Sweat) on this week’s calendar and more than a few artists you should know about. Here’s the rundown of …

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Playlist | The Best New Music Out Now

September's Fresh Squeeze is here!

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Each month JME contributors pick the juiciest noise emanating from Northeast Florida and beyond for our Fresh Squeeze playlist. Featuring a few 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. This month we’ve got a ton of great new music in rotation, including tracks …

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Liner Notes | Bebe Deluxe is Not Asking for Your Respect

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Bebe Deluxe has been cranking out distinctive electropop for a few years now. And she’s one of several Jacksonville artists who seemed to come out of the pandemic with a sense of urgency and a renewed creative drive. Deluxe has been performing at a heavy clip recently, and was even invited to play this year’s SXSW back in March.  And …

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On ‘Eureka Springs’ Cory Driscoll Chronicles a Physical and Emotional Journey

Jax singer-songwriter on how a road trip to America's heartland inspired his latest concept album

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In an era in which music streaming services seem to encourage consumption of singles, Jax-based singer-songwriter Cory Driscoll writes tunes based around a theme in order to create an entire body of work –– it’s called an album, kids.  Driscoll’s been in several musical projects over the years, but his first record under his given name, 2018’s Tropical Depression, was …

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On ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future,’ Denzel Curry’s ambitions get the best of him

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Let’s be honest about South Florida’s rap scene: The region is full of creative talent, most of it unheralded. The Haitian hairstyles, Trick Daddy’s dirty grimaces, Miami Hurricanes jackets and “The U” hand symbol that dominates Miami’s hot blocks are pillars of the South. And yet, the melodic stylings of Atlanta and Louisiana draw most of the region’s attention, even …

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New 2,000-Capacity Music Venue Coming to Jax’s Rail Yard District

National venue management group Marathon Live hopes to fill a void in the city's music scene

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Adding to the growing number of concert venues in Northeast Florida, Marathon Live –– a music venue management company that operates concert halls and event spaces in five US cities –– is planning to build a venue in the Downtown Jax-adjacent Rail Yard District. Part of Dennis + Ives, a new mixed-use development spanning seven acres that’s currently underway, construction …

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Go | Innings Festival brings Green Day, The Lumineers, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and more to Tampa

This Tampa-based music and baseball festival is worth a swing

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Raymond James Stadium is the home of the defending NFL champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won the Super Bowl game in that facility just about a year ago. It was the third Super Bowl held there, but with a capacity running upwards of 70,000, the facility is good for much more than just football. For example, one of the …

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Local Spotlight | “Waiting to Lose” by Faze Wave

Popular indie rock kids continue to grow, expand their infectious dissonance

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Faze Wave is nothing if not durable. Since the release of their well-received debut, 2016’s earnest and reverb-drenched collection Melt, the Jax-based quartet has not only sustained that initial buzz. Over a half-dozen singles, EPs and another full-length (2018’s broad-yet-refined collection, Lethologica), the band has persisted––no small feat considering the group’s core members have spent the twilight of their youth, …

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Tampa quartet Glove brings more modern-dystopian bliss with new single and video for “Behaviour”

The band's new song blends darkwave with a splash of color

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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, …

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