Jacksonville-based indie singer-songwriter Erica Reese (Coastal Creature) is back with another new track, “Breakfast for Dinner,” the dream-pop sound of a vicious cycle—and, just maybe, an epiphany. Assisted by producer Patrick Taylor (Trash Panda, Lazuli Vane), Reese crafts a complex instrumental that’s closely attuned to the song’s rugged emotional landscape. Bouncy synth bass and drum machine rub elbows with a …
Beaches Psych-Rockers Killer Larry Serve Up a Bona Fide Marsh Stomper with Latest Release, “Swamp Rascal”
It’s a peculiar time for what is loosely codified and described as “psychedelic guitar music.” On one extreme, acoustic-framed artists attempt to emulate and propitiate the ‘60s excursions of unplugged pioneers like John Fahey, the Incredible String Band, Robbie Basho et al. Meanwhile, the electric hardliners are drinking from the same greasy and battered goblet of bands as disparate as …
Jacksonville Rockers Carmen Grab Onto Radio-Ready Hard Rock on New Single, “Tear My Arms Off”
With “Tear My Arms Off,” local band Carmen grab onto radio-ready hard rock and, over the course of the song’s four minutes, don’t let go. The song is the first single from Carmen’s forthcoming new EP, Oh Well. The band—vocalist Chad Villarroel, guitarist Grant Nielsen, bassist David Johns and drummer Jack Ringca—features some well-known players in the Jacksonville indie scene. …
Jacksonville Indie-Pop Singer Caitlin Mahoney Feels Free on New Single
There’s clear Adele influence in the warm, inviting delivery of Beaches-based indie pop singer-songwriter Caitlin Mahoney’s lyrics. The Jacksonville artist’s new single, “Feelin’ Free,” sounds more like if Adele allowed herself to just let loose and have a little fun. Bright synth tones and a poppy beat set the stage for this earwormy single, followed up by a healthy mix …
Jax Singer-Songwriter Chris Rudasill’s Solo Effort is Full of Deep, Ruminative Melancholy
Taken from Blood on Blood, the debut EP from local singer-songwriter Chris Rudasill, “Carver’s Gap” is a worthy and rolling ballad that sounds submerged in a deep pool of ruminative melancholy. That’s not to say there isn’t hope at play. Over parallel finger-picked acoustic guitars, Rudasill sings lyrics sketching out some bucolic, ethereal place “Where the wind and snow calls …
Jax Bands Souvineer & Light the Moon Long for Belonging on “Blank Page”
A pair of interconnected Jacksonville acts bring their creative bond to bear on “Blank Page,” the new track from folk-rock outfit Souvineer and indie-pop project Light the Moon. Since its inception in winter 2020 and the 2021 release of their debut Snowglobe EP, Souvineer has grown from singer-songwriter Alissa Leonard’s (formerly of Isabella Parole and Manatella) side project into a …
The Latest Collab from Dillon and Batsauce Serves Up High Quality Production with Kindred Spirit Kool Keith
The latest from Dillon and Batsauce is a call to arms with a guest turn from one of the more esoteric hip-hop artists of all time: Kool Keith. “Ready on the Left” is fueled by a magma-deep ostinato bass line anchoring swirling samples and chiming chords; peppered with blink-and-you’ll-miss-them processed-and-decaying tones and single percussive strikes. Savvy and mellow-boast rhymes abound …
Jax Post-Punk Trio Glass Chapel Let Love Consume Them on “Alive”
Lovers of synth-pop, post-punk, and waves new, dark and cold, lend us your ears: Jacksonville’s own Glass Chapel have released their first new music in more than a year, the darkly romantic “Alive.” The trio self-produced “Alive,” their first single since May 2023’s “Foreign Rain,” with mastering by Matthew Messore (Cathedral Bells, Midi Memory). Jake Phillips (vocals, guitar, synth, drum …
Jacksonville Garage Rockers Seagate Chew on Rabid Punk Rock on Snarling New Single “Dog Bite”
A toothy track from their new five-song release, Wannabe Rock N’ Roll, the tune “Dog Bite” by beaches-based rockers Seagate is a three-minute garage-rock grinder with just enough echo and fuzz guitar to nudge it into psychedelic shimmer. A grinding, lockstep riff of barre chords and minimalist drum wallop is stabbed and goaded by some sizzling guitar, as vocalist-guitarist Sam …
Jacksonville’s Coyboi Circumvents the Monotony on Groovy New Single, “Time Away”
“Spent some time away, looking for reasons to love myself again,” sings Coyboi frontperson Cortnie Frazier on the opening salvo of “Time Away,” the funk-R&B-and-smooth-jazz infused new single from the popular Jacksonville indie band. The song opens with a disco beat and some invocative interplay between two guitar motifs – reverb-drenched strums and a funky vamp – all of which …
Duval Singer Ebonique’s New Album ‘alterEBO’ is a Contemporary Spin on Millennium-Era R&B
Though she’s already made a name for herself regionally with a slew of singles and an EP, Duval-based singer Ebonique recently released her much anticipated debut long player, alterEBO. Featuring the previously-released singles “B.O.B” and “Respectfully”–the latter of which has earned heavy rotation on JME’s Saturday evening music programs – the album is a shining, local example of the kind …
Jax Musician Kennie Mason on ‘My Dog Ate My Patriotism,’ her noisy debut album as Siichaq
Kennie Mason, lead singer and founder of Jacksonville band Siichaq (pronounced sea-check), always felt like a fish out of water in the community she grew up in. Her music career began early, checking off the rite of passage of many a beach kid: singing in a rock band with a bunch of surfers. After a few years of growth and …
Jacksonville Band Ducats Offers Worthy Psych-Rock Delights on New Single, “Uggo Druggo”
Springtime apparently activates febrile indie rock music. The latest track from locals Ducats, “Uggo Druggo” heralds the seasonal arc in the form of an unhurried post-punk planted in a field of reverb. Over the course of its four-and-a-half minutes, “Uggo Druggo” is carried along in a bramble of guitar stabs and textures, riffs closing and falling back into the echoes, …
Latest from Duval-to-NYC Musician Alexei Shishkin is a Quality Byrds-Style Flight Plan
Make no mistake: “Wind Picks Up Again,” the third track from Alexei Shishkin’s recent album dagger, is a fantastic rock song. From the start, it’s evident that the Jacksonvillian-turned-NYC-Brooklynite is adept at evoking the kind of lysergic 12-string-guitar shimmer that made 1966-era Byrds achieve stratospheric peaks, and the driving bass and drums accompaniment of Shishkin’s economical approach propels and enhances …
Annie Dukes Have a Hankering for “Cherry” on Hot-Blooded New Single
Femme-fronted Jacksonville rock outfit Annie Dukes are marking this International Women’s Day with a blistering new single, “Cherry.” Cassidy Lee (bass, vocals), Emma Moseley (guitar, vocals), Callie Johns (keys, vocals) and Mike Monahan (drums) describe their sound as “Black Sabbath meets Fleetwood Mac,” and on “Cherry,” the foursome hew to the heavier end of that spectrum. The dynamic track evokes …
Duval Indie-Pop Impresario HUAN Delivers an Anthemic Takedown with “Finer Things”
Operating in a creative realm parallel to bedroom dream-pop exists Duval-based musician HUAN, aka Juan Mallorca, who throws a little nuanced neon light and electronic-soul on his DIY domain. Mallorca’s garage-rock jollies are satisfied with his project Jawberry and he’s also the mastermind behind the latin-trap entity, Chico Honey. Over a breezy riff that is smooth to the point of …
Erica Reese Spirals Through Shoegaze on Hooky New Single “Pretty”
Ahead of her set at this weekend’s Winterland Six music festival, Jacksonville’s own Erica Reese has shared a shoegazing new single, “Pretty,” produced by her Coastal Creature collaborator Parker Dixon. Awash in oceanic guitar tones and unflinching vulnerability, “Pretty” finds Reese’s narrator seeking external validation in what she knows deep down is a futile effort to fill some internal emptiness. …
Here’s How Jax Indie-Rockers Seagate Use Analog & Digital Gear to Achieve their Garage-y Sound
As Seagate frontman Sam Baglino shared his influences with me—Osees and Ty Segall, to name a few—I couldn’t help but notice that this local musician-of-all-trades is drawn to prolific artists. Both acts he named have, respectively, released more than a dozen records, and when considering Seagate’s own output, this influence just makes sense. Last year alone, the band released a …
On New EP, Jacksonville Hip-Hop Artist Willie Evans Jr. Explores High-Level Concepts with Nuanced Cool
Prolificity, patience, and discernment are all evident in the mix-mind of Willie Evans Jr. The Duval-based hip-hop polymath has been creating music and cultivating the overall contemporary Southeastern rap scene for so long—25+ years and counting—that it seems as if he was always been present. Evans is woven tightly into the Full Plate label-scene, an imprint that has codified and …
New Compilation from Moon Cheese Babies is a Glimpse into the Radiant Murk of the Local Music Underground
From its deliberate misspelled name to overall aesthetic vision, since 2009 the local label Infintesmal Records is tantamount to an ongoing unreleased soundtrack to the 1967 documentary Titicut Follies. That still-affecting B&W-film chronicled the hellscape that was the Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. In this case, in lieu of the mental hospital Infintesmal Records label cohorts Jimmi Bayer …
Duval Jazz Collective Madre Vaca Share a Surprising, Stellar Coltrane-Meets-King Arthur Concept Album
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 …
A New Six-Song EP from Duval Soul/Hip-Hop Collective L.O.V.E. Culture Maintains Their Vibrational Pull
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 …
How Singer Cortnie Frazier Wrote Coyboi’s Stunning Love Song, “Violets”
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 …
Cory Driscoll and Tianna DiSalvo Duet on Eureka Springs’ Upbeat Ode to Friendship
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 …
The Latest from St. Augustine’s King Peach is a Tasty Throttling of Anthemic Postcore Rock
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 …
St. Augustine’s Kevin PM Shares Idyllic Debut Album ‘burning’
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 …
23 Local Songs We Loved in ‘23
JME contributors pick their favorite songs made by Jacksonville-area artists this year
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 …
Jax Indie Band Teal Peel Shares Debut Album Ahead of Vinyl Release Show on WJCT Soundstage
Popular Jacksonville-based indie-rock band Teal Peel has shared Country River, the group’s debut long player, ahead of a vinyl release show on the WJCT Soundstage next week. In addition to the four songs from the band’s 2023 Sandy EP – the dynamic soft-loud slacker-rock single “Smello Coffee”; the pensive insect odes “How Many Bugs” and “Fruit Flies”; the laid-back, surf-inflected …
How RickoLus Wrote His New Heartfelt, Cinematic Single, “New York”
Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to songwriters about how they wrote one song. Singer-songwriter Rick Colado, better known as rickoLus, has a new album coming out in March. His first single from that album, “New York,” may sound like it’s about New York City, but in a lot of ways, rickoLus really wrote it about his hometown: Jacksonville, …
‘Tapes Volume 1,’ New Release from Jax Indie-Rock Band Seagate, is a Fine and Furious Collection
From the not-yet-fully developed prefrontal cortex of guitarist and songwriter Sam Baglino (kid is 21-years young), Jacksonville indie-rock band Seagate‘s Tapes Volume I is a six-song release of lo-fi, careening electro-shock-punk jollies. Opening track “Mind Control” hits hard, with a crushing groove and hyper guitar hook that is, whether through accident or intention, straight-up 1970s protean punk that is tasty …
Jax Band Rosewilder Unveils their Swan Song with Final Single, “Cherry Leaves and Razor Blades”
“Cherry Leaves and Razor Blades,” the just-released track from Duval indie rockers Rose Wilder is also apparently their swan song and final release, and that reality can surely influence that experience of hearing the song. In some ways the song is a less-gory transfusion of prime-era My Bloody Valentine, especially with the swirl of lead vocals, but with a decidedly …
New Collab from Jax’s Bright Purpel and Culture School Brings a Positive Gradient to Their Soulful Palettes
A collaboration between Duval new-soul and hip-hop artists Bright Purpel and multi-instrumentalist and producer Culture School offers up a radiant glow. The second track from Culture School’s new release Nail Salon, the three-and-a-half minutes of “Purpel” moves along courtesy of an unhurried chromatic keyboard riff, with Culture School (Quinn Spencer) and Bright Purpel (K.UTIE and Jeremy Ryan) trading off lyrics …
Local Psych-Heads Yaupon Holly Double Down and Break the Bank with their Latest Pummeling Single
Heading at you with rolled-up sleeves and tube amps a-blazin’, local garage-fiends Yaupon Holly are the apparent chimera of Motörhead and Mudhoney and their recent single “No Aces” is intent on banging your head via generous skull-crackery. Kicking off with an impressive jazzy intro by drummer Michael Glime, “No Aces” shows its hand immediately with guitarists Marcelo Celi and Bryson …
Sun Child Stick to the Shadows on First Full-Band Single “Ghost”
Jacksonville Beach-via-Charleston’s Sun Child, the folk-pop outfit formed earlier this year as the solo project of singer-songwriter Brooke Garwood, have shared their first single as a full band. Released last week, “Ghost” is a downcast, atmospheric breakup ballad in which Garwood sifts through the fallout of a fractured relationship, equally unsure of what it truly meant and of what comes …
Bad Madonna Fight for Their Right to Party on “Vicious Party Girl”
Local indie-rock act Bad Madonna have shared their first new material as a four-piece, the spiky anti-judgment anthem “Vicious Party Girl,” ahead of a single release show on October 20, at The Block Skate Supply in Springfield, with an accompanying music video due out Friday, October 27. On “Vicious Party Girl,” singer-songwriter Alexis Rhode, guitarist Dylan Young and bassist Storm …
“Trance,” the Latest from Jacksonville’s K.UTIE is a Winning Dance-Floor Reverie
The latest from K.UTIE is a genre-shifter for the changing of seasons, with enough high-gloss soul to usher in the cooler weather. Produced by Mantra, “Trance” serves up three strong minutes of hypnotizing sliding synths, switched-up percussion to keep things in motion, propelled by jabs of bass, as K.UTIE sings about being both mesmerized by—and questioning of—the daze of love: …
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