As we spin the final grooves of 2022, JME Contributors are recapping their favorite music of the year. Just when I thought I had my list of favorite albums set in stone, SZA dropped perhaps the best record of the year with the release of her sobering sophomore effort in December. Don’t get me wrong, RENAISSANCE is by far my …
Rain Henderson’s Favorite Albums of 2022
As we spin the final grooves of 2022, JME Contributors are recapping their favorite music of the year. My listening habits tend to be littered with repetition. I’ll find one song or one album and let that sucker play over and over (and over) for days, sometimes weeks. If a sound clicks with me in a moment of time, it …
Daniel A. Brown’s Favorite Albums of 2022
As we spin the final grooves of 2022, JME Contributors are recapping their favorite music of the year. In 2002, the music world, like the overall planet, continued to dust off the feared-eschatological wipeout of the Covid pandemic. For millions, collective trauma and survivors’ relief were parlayed into music consumption. Bandcamp Friday continued to make the rest of the week …
Jax Singer-Songwriter rickoLus live from JME Studios
In a now famous — and, thanks to YouTube, now widely available — 1965 press conference, a young and insouciant Bob Dylan was asked if he considers himself more of a singer or a poet, among other earnest questions by a fawning San Francisco press corps. “Oh, I consider myself a song and dance man, y’know?” Dylan answers without skipping …
JWJ Hip-Hop Festival to Honor Late Jax Rapper-Producer Paten Locke
The James Weldon Johnson Hip-Hop Festival will return to JWJ Park in Downtown Jacksonville for its second iteration in February. This year’s fest once again includes a lineup of emcees, lyricists, visual artists and DJs. The 2023 JWJ Hip-Hop Festival will also honor Paten Locke, highlighting the life and work of the late, and unimpeachably great, Jacksonville rapper and producer …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week
Each week the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best live music in Jacksonville. 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. Rock Parks and Razz, Mommy’s Little Helpers, Tonal – Tuesday, December 20 …
A Guide to the Best Holiday Music Events in Jax
The Jacksonville (Holiday) Music Experience
The holidays are always fun and festive, especially for fans of local music. While we have plenty of national and international acts coming through this region, December is a time for putting the spotlight on local artists and organizations, many of whom have special programmes of music, custom-made for the season. Here’s our guide to the best holiday music events …
Yes, Local Artists are Still Making Music Videos. And They’re Worth Watching
It’s been several decades now since MTV’s programming consisted primarily of music videos (and occasionally imbecilic cartoon characters watching music videos). Though the art of — and money devoted to — music videos may have peaked long ago, artists continue to view visual representations of their work as both an extension of their creative pursuit and a worthwhile promotional vehicle …
Local Spotlight | 3 New Songs by Jax Artists Out Now
Majestic Mother, L.O.V.E. Culture and Lost Club
We’re all about music discovery here at the Jacksonville Music Experience. And as we unearth new tunes from artists around the globe, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got three great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. A reminder: You can hear the best …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week
Jake Blount, Toubab Krewe, Trick Daddy and more
Each week the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best live music in Jacksonville. 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. Jam Toubab Krewe – Wednesday, December 14 1904 Music Hall | Downtown …
Jake Blount’s ‘The New Faith’ is a Cautionary, Clarifying Afrofuturist Tale
Generations ago, gospel giants Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson each sang the rhetorical question, “Didn’t it rain, children?” and bent time with the emphatic answers they supplied. “Just listen how it’s rainin’,” they urged, adopting present tense, “all day, all night.” Their ebullient, imaginative readings of the scriptural event of the Great Flood testified to past divine judgment and …
Outlaw Country Legend Willie Nelson to Play St. Augustine Amphitheatre in February
Can you name another musician who has been road dogs with both Neil Young and Frank Sinatra? Or who boasts a fifth-degree black belt in Gong Kwon Yu Sul and owns a (wholly unsurprising) cannabis company? Maybe a “420”-lifestyle really is the key to longevity. Still going strong at age 89 and most assuredly smoking out his remaining peers both …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax This Week
Jazz Jam, Wood Brothers, Selwyn Birchwood and a showcase of locally-made music videos
Each week the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best live music in Jacksonville. 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 Blue Jay Jazz Jam – Tuesday, December 6 Blue Jay Listening …
In Jacksonville, Synthesizers are Connecting Artists Across Mediums in a Flourishing Underground Community
A couple months back, I went to Synth Nite at Murray Hill bar/restaurant/venue The Walrus. To be honest, it was the first time I attended a concert that catered to experimental and atmospheric music. For Synth Nite, Jax’s Noah Schleifer, founder of new-and-used-synth online retailer and event promotion company Modular Noise, works with visual designers David Enicks, Mike Kennedy and …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week
Each week the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best live music in Jacksonville. 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. Rock Allman Family Revival – Wednesday, November 30 Florida Theatre | Downtown …
Here’s Where to Shop for Vinyl in Jax on Black Friday
Black Friday, the annual glut of retail deals that traditionally follows the annual glut of holiday feasting, is upon us. And while you’re no doubt inundated with targeted advertisements for minimalist Le Creuset knockoffs, expensive-yet-precariously-easy-to-lose earbuds, Pelotons, et al. across all your social media feeds, we at the Jacksonville Music Experience encourage two things: Shop Local Buy Music If you’re …
Jacksonville Concert Promoter Tib Miller had an Insatiable Need to Share Music
Jacksonville’s creative community lost an integral, if not low-key, impresario this week. If you’ve been to a concert in Northeast Florida and seen a band that surprised you, or if you bought tickets to a show and thought, “Wow, I can’t believe this artist is coming to Jacksonville,” it’s likely that Tib Miller booked it. For nearly 25 years, working under …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week
The Hip Abduction, Folk is People with rickoLus, Jazz on the River in Palatka
Each week the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best live music in Jacksonville. 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. Jam The Hip Abduction – Friday, November 25 Intuition Ale Works | …
The Dandy Warhols, Os Mutantes, Sudan Archives and more to headline Winterland V in Jacksonville
Locally founded and independently run nonprofit music festival Winterland will return to Downtown Jacksonville’s Riverfront Plaza in February, according to a press release. And if the headliners for this year’s event are any indication, Winterland V is set to be the biggest independent music festival in recent memory. And, like last year, it’s free to attend. Portland’s perennial purveyors of …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week
Paramore, Kirk Franklin, Randall Bramblett and more visit Jax this week
Each week the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best live music in Jacksonville. 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. Rock Paramore – Wednesday, November 16 The Amp | St. Augustine While …
Local Spotlight | 4 New Tracks by Jax Artists Out Now
New music from LANNDS, Eddy Braveaux, Racewall Mosquitoes and The Dewars
We’re all about music discovery here at the Jacksonville Music Experience. As we unearth new tunes from artists around the globe almost daily, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got four great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. Let’s dig in. “Suburban Legends” by …
Go | Best Concerts in Jax this Week
Reggae star Kabaka Pyramid, guitar wizard Joe Satriani and more visit Jax this week
Each week the JME team looks long and hard at the concert calendar to identify the best live music in Jacksonville. 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. Country/Rock Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers – Tuesday, November 8 Jack Rabbits …
Go | Best Concerts in Jax this Week
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. For the comprehensive list of this week’s shows, go to our calendar page. Bedroom Pop Beabadoobee – Tuesday, November 1 Underbelly | Downtown Jacksonville The singer and guitarist, …
Watch | Bad Madonna on the JME Soundstage
Back in September, singer and guitarist Alexis Rhode released Iron Fist, her second EP of 2022 as Bad Madonna. On Fist, Rhode traded the rootsy acoustics of her first five-song collection, Velvet Glove, for grit and distortion, teaming with guitarist Dylan Young and a crack rhythm section — Storm Bauer (bass), Joey French (drums) — to pack Fist with ample …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week
The Chats, Amos Lee, JD Pinkus and more
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. For the comprehensive list of this week’s shows, go to our calendar page. Singer-Songwriter Amos Lee – Tuesday, October 25 Florida Theatre | Downtown Jacksonville Fresh off the …
Go | Australian punks The Chats at Underbelly
Even Dave Grohl is a fan!
Quotable Australian punk sensation The Chats are on tour in support of their latest album Get F*cked and are set to stop in Jacksonville on Wednesday, October 26 at Downtown’s Underbelly. Surfacing first from the Sunshine Coast, the band has repurposed their deranged sound in Brisbane, going completely rogue with vicious rebellion by means of gruff vocals and blitzkrieged guitar …
Staff Picks | PorchFest 2022
What to see and hear at Springfield's annual porch party
Springfield residents love their porches. More than augmentations of their home’s living and entertaining space, the porch is an extension of Springfielders’ personalities. Which is why no event better captures the character and charm of this distinctive Downtown Jacksonville-adjacent neighborhood than the annual Jacksonville PorchFest. Taking place across four square blocks east of N. Main St. between E. 4th St. …
Go | Kevin Morby at Intuition Ale Works
With a critically acclaimed new album, the popular singer-songwriter makes a stop in Jacksonville
Singer-songwriter Kevin Morby is currently on tour in support of his critically acclaimed new record, This Is A Photograph (out now on Dead Oceans), and will make a pitstop in Jacksonville at the Bier Hall inside Intuition Ale Works’ Downtown taproom on Tuesday, October 18. Before 2014’s critically acclaimed Singing Saw, Morby was already a veteran of the indie music scene. …
Local Spotlight | New Tracks by Jax Artists Out Now
Animal Clinic, Visitation, Crescent and Jay Myztroh
We’re all about music discovery here at the Jacksonville Music Experience. As we unearth new tunes from artists around the globe almost daily, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got four great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. Let’s dig in. “Heart Beats You …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week
Keith Sweat, The Head And The Heart, Jim Lauderdale and more
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 …
Watch | Ebony Payne-English at Blue Jay Listening Room
Jax multi-disciplinary artist performs “Kuongoza”
I could think of no better venue to feature the music of Ebony Payne-English, than the intimate Blue Jay Listening Room. The depth of the Jax-based rapper-poet-author’s music, after all, requires intentional listening. Stream Ebony Payne-English’s music on your preferred platform Payne-English, fresh off the release of her 2021 full length, Kuongoza, and just months away from releasing another album, …
Local Spotlight | 4 New Songs by Jax Artists Out Now
Tai Boujie is "So Florida." And so are the rest of these Duval artists.
We’re all about music discovery here at the Jacksonville Music Experience. As we unearth new tunes from artists around the globe almost daily, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got four great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. Let’s dig in. “Nature Boy” by …
Go | The Best Concerts in Jax this Week
Victor Wooten, The War On Drugs, Zac Brown Band, Melvins and more
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 are a ton of household-name acts visiting the First Coast this week. Here’s the rundown of what JME contributors want to see and hear in and …
Watch | Howdy live in the Studio 4 at WJCT
Beaches-based singer-songwriter performs a couple Gulf-and-Western style ballads
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 …
Go | The Best Concerts of the Week in and Around Jax
Jax Symphony returns, Lucius on the Backyard Stage and more
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. Of note: Sing Out Loud, the month-long St. Augustine-based music festival continues this week. To dig in deeper on this year’s festival, consult our interactive guide to this year’s …
Another Side of Bad Madonna
Jax singer and guitarist Alexis Rhode goes electric on her new EP
As Bad Madonna, singer-songwriter Alexis Rhode encapsulates what it means to be genre-bending, something so many artists tag on to the back of their bios but rarely succeed in achieving. Earlier this year, the Jax-based Rhode released the debut Bad Madonna EP, Velvet Glove, a collection of five songs that sound like country-twanged journal entries. Less than six months later, …