The members of experimental rock group All Them Witches met in Nashville in the early 2010s. That may seem like a curious locale for a band whose music has more in common with the sonic experimentation of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” than it does the country garb of denim and rhinestones. “Nashville has always had a really excellent …
Asheville’s Wednesday Announce New Documentary and 2024 Shows, Including Jacksonville Stop
It’s been a breakout year for Asheville indie-rock quintet Wednesday, and the momentum generated by the band’s latest and greatest album Rat Saw God is poised to carry them right into 2024: Karly Hartzman and company have announced the expansion of their current tour with new U.S. dates, including a February stop at Jack Rabbits, and a documentary on their …
Jacksonville’s Jeremy Marshall Blanton Delivers the Goods with “Strange Cargo”
The title track from Duval singer-songwriter Jeremy Marshall Blanton‘s Strange Cargo EP dropped in mid-October and it’s a certain gem for anyone seeking local musical treasure. While Blanton has worked with estimable area acts including Robert Lester Folsom, Dean Winter and the Heat and Strangerwolf, the flavors Blanton serves up on his debut EP are surely his own. The intro …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Oct. 16-22
The Head and the Heart, Buddy Guy, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, All Them Witches and more
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. Folk/Pop The Head and the Heart – Wednesday, October 18 The Amp | St. Augustine Seattle indie-folk-pop act the Head and the Heart return to the St. Augustine Amphitheatre on Wednesday. Singer-songwriter Amanda Shires opens the show. More Rock/Psych …
Durham Folk Singer Jake Xerxes Fussell Prefers Research and Interpretation to Songwriting
Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to songwriters about the craft of songwriting. Jake Xerxes Fussell is a folk music treasure and something of a treasure hunter as well. In addition to singing and playing guitar, the Durham-based musician is regarded for his research methods. He finds Southern songs of yesteryear in archives and old field recordings. And after …
On “Paradise,” Jax Band Souvineer Give Listeners a Take-Home Version of Somber and Engaging Balladry
What began as a side project in 2020 for Jacksonville singer-songwriter Alissa Leonard (Isabella Parole, Manatella), Souvineer is now fleshed out as a four piece. The deceptively titled “Paradise” is surely not a jam for the Indian summer. Instead, we get a five-minute minor-key contemplation on the arrival of an imminent storm, amends and a paradise “that never ends.” Souvineer …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Oct. 9-15
Scott Yoder, Dehd, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Benise and more
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Guitar Virtuosity Benise – Tuesday, October 10 WJCT Soundstage | Downtown Jacksonville Guitar phenom and “nouveau flamenco” pioneer Roni Benise – or simply: Benise – returns to Jacksonville, hitting the WJCT Soundstage on …
Chicago Post-Punk Powerhouse Dehd to Play Jacksonville in October
Powerhouse Chicago-based three-piece Dehd announced both a run of late-summer dates (many of which are in support of electronic-folk band Sylvan Esso) and a fall tour of North America, which includes a stop at Jack Rabbits in San Marco on October 13. The post-punk trio’s 2022 full-length album Blue Skies showcases the band’s knack for reverb-drenched garage rock and harmonious …
‘Fountain,’ Beloved Album By Duval Indie Rockers Common Thread Gets 30th Anniversary Reissue
Thirty years ago, the Northeast Florida independent music community was many things and, even devoid of nostalgia from any surviving participants, boasted its own kind of low magick. Like much of America, Jacksonville and the surrounding environs benefited from the 1970s punk rock scene that tore down the walls of popular music. Most crucially, in the 1980s, underground musicians made …
Jax Rockers Coyboi Dance Through a Dream on New Live Single “Violets”
Jacksonville indie-pop duo Coyboi deliver hopelessly romantic rock on “Violets,” their new track recorded live at Gainesville’s Heartwood Soundstage earlier this year and released late last week. The project of vocalist Cortnie Frazier and multi-instrumentalist Ihlan Magloire, Coyboi came together in August 2020, a pandemic project that has stood the test of tough times. Though Frazier and Magloire are actively …
Cuban Percussion Icon Pedrito Martinez Lands at The Ritz Theatre on October 6
The paragon that is Pedrito Martinez has a rather mellow fall 2023 touring schedule, atypical for the normally busy Cuban percussionist. But he has been sure to include a stop in Jacksonville Last here in 2014 for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival and a subsequent pandemic-disrupted show in 2020 that never was, the Havana-born-and-bred talent will be at The Ritz Theatre …
Kelly Green, Jazz Pianist with Jacksonville Roots, Drops Third Single of the Season, “That Sunday, That Summer”
“That Sunday, That Summer,” the newest single by Florida’s own Kelly Green, is actually the third that she’s released since July. Written by Joe Sherman and George Weiss, it was originally recorded for Capitol Records by Nat King Cole in 1963, with his lush, lustrous vocals backed by a string orchestra and vocal chorus, a format that was extremely popular …
Concert Picks | Best Live Music in Jacksonville, Oct. 2-8
Pedrito Martinez, Alice Cooper, Skynyrd and more
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Rock Alice Cooper – Wednesday, October 4 The Amp | St. Augustine The formerly shocking antics of classic-rock vet Alice Cooper may now seem quite quaint. But five decades into his career, at …
Jax Songwriter Adam Cotton Goes Heavy on the Gentleness with Latest EP
Locals with a hankering for singer-songwriter action in the style of Dave Matthews, Keller Williams, late-era James Taylor, most assuredly the late Jimmy Buffet, will likely enjoy the latest from Northeast Florida musician Adam Cotton. Released in March the three-song EP All These Horizons is Cotton’s latest. The title track offers a canon-like motif, as Cotton’s finger-picked guitar and earnestness …
Live Sessions | Susto Performs “Good Right Now” and “The Get Down” at Intuition Ale Works
Led by singer-songwriter Justin Osborne, the Charleston-bred indie-Americana band Susto visited Jacksonville in early 2023, performing at the Bier Hall inside Intuition Ale Works. The band broke out with the 2021’s Time in the Sun, which combined Osborne’s introspective songwriting with an energetic live-band feel. And with 2023’s My Entire Life — another suite of songs grounded in American roots, …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Sept. 25-Oct. 1
Beethoven, Rein Sanction, Timothy Eerie, Circle Jerks
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Jazz Blue Jay Jazz Jam – Tuesday, September 26 Blue Jay Listening Room | Jacksonville Beach Every Tuesday, fun-size Jax Beach venue Blue Jay Listening Room hosts one of the city’s premier jazz …
Juan Rollan Quartet Shows Some Love for John Coltrane’s Iconic Spiritual-Jazz Masterpiece
In the mid-1960s, saxophonist John Coltrane was experiencing an undeniable evolution. Having the ability to perform slow-burn ballads and high-speed changes with equal agility, he had spent the previous decade establishing himself as a firebrand soloist with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. As Coltrane’s compositional skills increased, so did his prolificity as a bandleader. After signing with the label Impulse! …
As Eureka Springs, Cory Driscoll Expands His Sonic Vision with New Single, “The Mirage”
Eureka Springs have released their second single, a downtempo, jangly meditation called “The Mirage.” Some housekeeping first: Eureka Springs is the full-band project of Jacksonville singer-songwriter Cory Driscoll, whose 2022 album is also called Eureka Springs. Driscoll also has a song called “Eureka Springs” from the album Eureka Springs which–what with the artist, song and album–approaches The-1975-levels of meta. In …
On “Hits,” Jacksonville’s BlissFund Utilizes a Reductionist Approach to Blend Folk and Rock
Jacksonville’s BlissFund was started in 2018 primarily as a writing project by G.A. Mallinson. “Hits,” the opening track from his new full-length release Revelator, finds Mallinson deploying a plain-spoken, talking-folk-blues approach. Simple chords strummed over abstract guitar swells, a drumbeat that is minimal and tentative, and the song’s narrator dealing out ambiguities in a love story that he considers “lighting …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Sept. 18-24
Black Keys, Mumford & Sons and more play Sing Out Loud; Nas and Wu-Tang Clan in Jax
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Reggae The Original Wailers feat. Al Anderson – Wednesday, September 20 Underbelly | Downtown Jacksonville Formed by guitarists Junior Marvin and Al Anderson – who backed up Bob Marley – the Original Wailers …
Bold City Circuit Brings Intimate Concert Experiences to Jacksonville Residents’ Places of Residence
On a recent Sunday, renowned Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Deidre McCalla settled in for a Bold City Circuit performance. Born and raised in New York City, McCalla cut her teeth in the highly competitive busking scene around Macdougal Street, which later produced legends like Suzanne Vega, Patti Smith and Tracy Chapman, among many others. McCalla’s album Don’t Doubt It (Olivia Records, 1985), …
Live Session | Watch Frankie and the Witch Fingers Melt Faces on the JME Soundstage
Nearly a decade of constant touring is paying dividends for the L.A.-based psychedelic-rock outfit Frankie and the Witch Fingers. The group cranks out energetic, riff-heavy earworms befitting of a band that has shown incredible stamina. And their seventh-studio record, Data Doom (out now via Greenway Records) is poised to make the band’s extraneous nom de plume (there are no Frankies …
Steep Canyon Rangers Bring Their Deep Take on Bluegrass to the Florida Theatre
The Steep Canyon Rangers will return to the Florida Theatre on Saturday, November 4. Over the course of two decades, the group has collaborated with banjo-playing comedy legend Steve Martin, singer-songwriter Edie Brickell and a whole host of others on their way to be being heralded as one of the finest bluegrass outfits working today. And while the Rangers have …
Erika Wennerstrom of the Heartless Bastards on the Letting Go and Going Within
How does one rock and roll the ineffable? Starting in 2003, Erika Wennerstrom has been the founder and forge of the Heartless Bastards. While the band was formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, since 2007 Wennerstrom has called Austin, Texas home. Since their inception, and despite some lineup changes, Heartless Bastards have garnered a devoted audience and critical raves due to their …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | September 11-17
Lil Baby, Tank and the Bangas, Heartless Bastards and more
Our weekly Go concert recommendations are updated every Monday morning and are always available on jaxmusic.org. For a comprehensive list of this week’s concerts, go to our live music calendar page. Rock 3 Doors Down – Wednesday, September 13 Daily’s Place | Downtown Jacksonville Nineties rock-radio faves 3 Doors Down performs at Daily’s Place with support from grunge-era standouts Candlebox on Wednesday. More Various …
The Gear That Gave Jax’s Ducats the Grungy Sound They Needed to Record Their Latest Single, “Painless”
“Our songs are pretty pop/melody driven,” says Trent Holton, leader of the Jacksonville-based lo-fi garage act Ducats. “But we like to make noise and sound ugly sometimes in practice. We just drone and wail. The essence of music-making, for me, is represented in those loose moments: creation, destruction, spontaneity, grit, grime, happy, sad, pure energy.” That playful, throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall approach shines …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Sept. 4-10
904 Soul Showcase, Johnnyswim, Kind Hearted Strangers and more
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. Singer/Songwriter Johnnyswim – Wednesday, September 6 PV Concert Hall | Ponte Vedra Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter duo Johnnyswim, which features Jacksonville-bred multi-instrumentalist and producer Jonathan Berlin on guitar, perform at the PV Concert Hall …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Aug. 28 – Sept. 3
Taco & Tequila Festival, Jemere Morgan, Slightly Stoopid and more
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. Reggae Jemere Morgan – Wednesday, August 30 Jack Rabbits | San Marco Grandson of reggae legend Denroy Morgan and son of Morgan Heritage member Gramps Morgan, Jemere Morgan brings his fusion of contemporary …
Multitalented Duval Artist Jordan Blackburn Steps out of the Digital Cumulus with First Full-Length Release, ‘Abnormal Hues’
Considering the semi-infinite roster of SoundCloud (with a bandwidth-buckling 30 million musicians currently featured on the DIY site), it’s easy for an artist to be lost or overlooked in that digital cumulus. “Shake” is the new single from Duval solo artist Jordan Blackburn and the closing track from his seven-song debut, Abnormal Hues. According to his EPK, Blackburn is a …
Live Session | Jacksonville Indie-Folk Band Bobby Kid Plays Songs from their Beloved New Record, ‘Babyface’
A few weeks back, the Jacksonville Music Experience conducted an in-no-way-scientific poll of our Instagram followers (a small-but-mighty bunch nearing 2K; follow here) based on the following prompt: Fave Local Release of 2023. Of the four-dozen or so respondents, nearly half said they either liked Bobby Kid‘s Babyface or a song from the band’s new full-length album. In some ways …
Teal Peel Singer and Guitarist Taylor Neal Battled Perfectionism While Writing and Producing His Song “Sandy”
Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to local songwriters about how they wrote one specific song. As frontman of Jacksonville based indie-rock band Teal Peel, songwriter Taylor Neal is the first to admit to his own perfectionism. He held onto some of the band’s songs for several years prior to releasing them. But when you hear the recordings, his …
Coastal Creature Kick Back and Sip “Lemonade” on Breezy New Single
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 …
On ‘Low Cost Cobra,’ Jax Synthwave Duo Limo Scene Tap Into Feel-Good ’80s Revivalism
Rolling forward with their recently released full-length album, Low Cost Cobra, local synthwave duo Limo Scene continue with their celebratory obsession with ‘80s new wave sounds. The opening cut from the six-song collection, “Vocode” essentially sets the neon-lit stage for the remainder of the album. A four-on-the-floor beat and soft-funk guitar chord progression ballast the four-minute groove of “Vocode.” A …
The Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Aug. 14-20
Blue Jay turns six, plus jazz, EDM, punk, new wave and more
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. Jazz Taylor Roberts – Monday, August 14 Blue Jay Listening Room | Jacksonville Beach Duval jazz guitarist Taylor Roberts continues his once-a-month Monday night residency at Blue Jay. Read about Roberts’ new record …
Jax Indie Rockers Faze Wave Share “Teenage Nightmare,” Plot Fall Tour
Remember Seinfeld’s “Summer of George”? Well, this is about to be the Fall of Faze Wave. The Jacksonville rock four-piece have shared a new single, the hard-charging “Teenage Nightmare,” and announced a fall tour, with eight East Coast shows set for October. Faze Wave are in fine form on “Teenage Nightmare,” a rollicking ode to youthful angst whose jangly rock …
Best Concerts in Jacksonville | Aug. 7-13
Jason Isbell, Queer Country Disco, Stephen Marley and more
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. A cappella Pentatonix – Wednesday, August 9 Daily’s Place | Downtown Jacksonville Inarguably talented, unmistakably twee a cappella pop group Pentatonix performs at Daily’s Place Amphitheater on Wednesday. More Reggae Stephen Marley – …