Koe Wetzel's '9 Lives' Debuts at No. 5 Country Album, No. 15 All-Genre as 'Damn Near Normal World Tour' Begins

July 30, 2024

Texan renegade singer-songwriter Koe Wetzel continues his meteoric rise with his latest release, 9 Lives, debuting at No. 15 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart (No. 2 among new releases, behind only the “Twisters” soundtrack), marking Wetzel’s fourth Top 10 entry. With 36,200 in total consumption, 9 Lives surpasses the debut week of his previous album, Hell Paso, which entered at No. 3 with 25,000 units in October 2022.

“We’ve been honing and growing a certain sound, and we’re hitting it: it’s what the people have been expecting from me, but we hadn’t gotten there yet,” reflects Wetzel about the album that is resonating with fans in an unprecedented way. “This weekend we saw thousands of people singing the lyrics to every single song from the time we get onto that stage until we were done,” he marvels. “When you see that, you realize what you’re saying means something to people – and that’s more important than anything.”

9 Lives also arrives at No. 3 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart and features Wetzel’s first two Hot Country Songs Top 10 hits, “High Road” with Jessie Murph (currently No. 9, having peaked at No. 8) and “Sweet Dreams” (currently No. 19, having peaked at No. 10). Additionally, these tracks are making waves on the Billboard Country Streaming Songs chart, with “High Road” at No. 7 and “Sweet Dreams” at No. 25, having also debuted on at No. 29 and No. 47 respectively on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.

“When we made music together, it was all about his heart, being honest with his feelings, and giving it the backdrop of confidence that didn’t feel like he was only being vulnerable, [that he was] also being a badass,” adds producer Gabe Simon in a conversation with American Songwriter about the new album recorded both in Texas and Tennessee. “It needed to be honest but also bulletproof.”

That backdrop of confidence was also on full display as Wetzel kicked off his Damn Near Normal World Tour with a sold-out weekend in his home state. Joining Morgan Wallen in performing to more than 50,000 fans on Friday, July 26 at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, Wetzel then began his own headlining run in front of nearly 16,000 fans in Houston on Saturday, July 27. Photos from opening weekend of the tour that continues through mid-November are available HERE.

For more information and to purchase tickets to upcoming shows, visit KoeWetzelMusic.com and follow on Instagram and Facebook @KoeWetzelMusic, TikTok @Koe_Wetzel and Twitter/X @KoeWetzel.

About Koe Wetzel
Koe Wetzel never met a genre wall he couldn’t tear down: The Texas singer-songwriter has earned a rabid audience for his songs that mix country, rock, hip-hop, and even Nineties grunge. His 2016 album Noise Complaint endeared him to fans with its no- holds-barred lyrics about drunken nights, broken hearts and stints in jail, and included the Gold-certified hits “Love” (feat. Parker McCollum), “Something to Talk About” and the infamous “February 28, 2016.” Wetzel’s 2020 major label debut, Sellout, only furthered his legend with the Platinum-certified “Drunk Driving” and “Good Die Young” plus the Gold-certified “Kuntry & Wistern.” The 2022 follow-up, Hell Paso, hit No. 3 on Billboard’s Country Albums and spawned hits on both the country and rock charts, including the Gold-certified “Creeps” and “Cabo.” To date, Wetzel has 2.8 billion total streams and has created a genuine experience with his live concerts, which he describes as “total chaos.” In 2023 alone, he sold more than 275,000 tickets, and appeared for a third time on POLLSTAR’s Top Worldwide Tours. Wetzel has played prominent festival sets this summer and opened for Morgan Wallen on the superstar’s One Night at a Time Stadium Tour in Texas, while also headlining his own Damn Near Normal World Tour, currently underway. His new album, 9 Lives (Columbia), is available everywhere now as lead single “High Road” with Jessie Murph arrives as his debut Country radio single while also climbing both the Hot AC and Top 40 charts.

UK electro-goth iconoclasts HISTORY OF GUNS presents 'What's Buried (Will Rise)' from new 'Half Light' album

July 30, 2024

“Invisible hooks that will sink further in” ~ Auxiliary Magazine

“By far, the most inventive UK band to have got their hands caught in the Industrial threshing machine” ~ Mick Mercer

"Like Killing Joke and Nine Inch Nails, they’ve taken on new forms whilst remaining easily identifiable in their journey from goth rock to post-punk and darkwave to EDM and wider electro-goth hybrid territory. The tension of opposites that characterises much of their work propels it forth to an electronic beat, the vocals uncoiling, snake-like, atop a steady electronic catchment" ~ Amplify Music Magazine

“Polished, dramatic, full of poise and binding sentiment, and one of awesome sound and feeling” ~ Liverpool Sound and Vision

Hertfordshire-based industrial-postpunk legends History Of Guns. who were frontrunners of the UK's Wasp Factory / FuturePunk scene of the early 2000s, present 'What's Buried (Will Rise)' from their newly-released eighth album 'Half Light'.

On this album, founding members Del Alien (vocals) and Max Rael (keyboards, programming) are joined by guitarist Caden Clarkson (the newest member of History Of Guns) in exploring the human condition through various musical genres. Produced Max Rael, 'Half Light' was mixed by Max Rael and Caden Clarkson, and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Pixies, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, NIN).

Still crafting their unique meta-modernist Industrial sound 28 years since forming in Cheshunt, the new album (released via the Liquid Len Recording Company) was previewed by the singles 'No Longer Earthbound' and 'When You Don't Matter'. The new single explores the psychological repression experienced by non-conformists and the systematic amnesia that emerges from that, where only specific memories or groups of ideas are withdrawn from recollection.

"How well do we really know ourselves? The “introspection illusion" suggests that the way we view ourselves is probably inherently distorted. In terms of the conscious, the subconscious and the unconscious, how much of how we think and behave is driven by each aspect? Freud & Jung's theories of repression say that the more you try to bury something that happened, or some aspect of your self the more it will come back in some form or other as "the return of the repressed'," says Max Rael.

"As for the video, I've always been obsessed with that kind of high contrast black white look ever since I fell in love with Orson Welles. I was watching the recent adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's Talented Mr Ripley books on Netflix, and there's an episode where Tom and Dicky are out in this little two-man boat. Because the songs on 'Half Light' are aligned to the Greek Elements, I thought it'd be great to have this video in black and white, with shots of submerged objects floating to the surface. We had some help from ace director and VFX supremo Howard Gardner. I think the end result is intriguing, and a bit wrong, but hopefully wrong in a good way!"

The roots of 'Half Light' trace back to electronic tunes they had begun in 2008, surrounding the unpredictability of the future and elements of the novel that Max Rael is currently writing, exploring both inner and outer space. An album in three acts, the first four tracks make up Act One (opening a door), then 'Flashes of Light Pt. 5' walks through that door. Act Two closes with the album's most joyous point - 'Arcadia', with four tracks in the final act.

History Of Guns aims to create a strange alternative world where people can feel safe. This doesn’t mean the album is all joy. It has a lot of darkness in it, like life itself. History Of Guns embrace the dark as well as the light, bleakness and hope, as openly and unironically honestly as possible. Here you'll find songs about mental health, society, addiction, abandonment, different levels of reality and the struggle to keep going. Yet through this darkness, there remains underneath, a core of hope.

Del Alien - an original punk turned goth - is an anti-authority seeker of truth and the questions behind the questions. Max Rael is in love with the idea of using music to create a separate universe for creating stories and escaping into, was an autistic, music-obsessed child, absorbing a dozen genres before diving into trance after Britpop ruined the alternative scene.

History of Guns' 2004 single 'Your Obedient Servant' was championed by The Quietus and Mick Mercer among the “30 best goth singles of all time”. Taking hiatus in 2012, they released the album 'Forever Dying In Your Eyes' in 2022. Influenced by Killing Joke, PWEI, Bauhaus, Coil, Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy, Nine Inch Nails and Swans, History of Guns have played Whitby Gothic Weekend, as well as Futurepunkand Back to the Futurepunk events.

The 'Half Light' album is out now, available from fine music platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.

ALBUM CREDITS
Produced by Max Rael
Mixed by Max Rael and Caden Clarkson
Recorded at Apollo Audio (Hertford), Soul Studios (Bishops Stortford)
Mastered by Pete Maher
Del Alien - vocals
Max Rael - keyboards, programming, guitars
Caden Clarkson - guitar
Andy Webster & Marnie from SPUCKTUTE - vocals on 'Never Give it Up'
Amon Ásentir & Mark Eris from Xykogen - vocals on 'Arcadia'
Arcadia Choir (Emma Mills, Priyanka O’Neill, Sohm O’Neill and Ninotschka G.) - vocals on 'Arcadia'
Nykky Spectre - vocals on 'An Invitation'
Cover artwork by Amara O'Neill
Video by Howard Gardner
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

PIG (a.k.a. Raymond Watts) releases 'Red Room' album via Metropolis Records, announcing North American tour

July 30, 2024

Raymond Watts a.k.a. PIG has released his new album 'Red Room' on CD and digitally via Metropolis Records and on vinyl via Armalyte Industries, and will be bringing the album to life through the colossal ‘Heroin For The Damned’ tourwith Curse Mackey and Unitcode : Machine. The 40-date itinerary follows a headlining set at Cold Waves XII in Chicago on September 28.

Following the 2022 album ‘The Merciless Light’, ‘Red Room’ is the sound of Watts beating the hammer of hope on the anvil of despair. But, far from being the dying light of decay, this is a spark, an ember and a torch in transition, lighting up the house of PIG before Watts burns it up and blows it down, cutting through yhrscaly rind to PIG's tender heart and soft underbelly.

Earlier, PIG shared the thunderous intro track ‘Crumbs Chaos & Lies’ featuring Alexis Mincolla (3Teeth) with a riveting video by the elusive visionary Ibex, and the lead track ‘Dum Dum Bullet’ with a penetrating video by E Gabriel Edvy for Blackswitch Labs. This anthem features a choir of iconic guests that include Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks, Ministry), I Ya Toyah, En Esch (KMFDM), Emily Kavanaugh (Night Club), Chris Hall (Stabbing Westward), Burton C Bell (Fear Factory, Ascension of the Watchers) and Marc Heal (Cubanate).

Watts co-wrote much of ‘Red Room’ with Jim Davies of Pitchshifter, best known for his acidic and acerbic guitar lines on many chart hits by The Prodigy. Other guests include Chris Hall (Stabbing Westward), who delivers a soaring vocal performance on ‘The Sick Man's Prayer’, Watts' old KMFDM bandmate Günther Schulz (a.k.a. 'The Czar of Guitar'), who appears on the anthemic ‘Dirty Mercy’, and the great jazz trumpeter Enrico Tomasso (who has worked on and off with Watts for three decades), who brings his deft and delicate touch to ‘PIG Is At The Window’.

'Red Room' album order  https://pigindustries.bandcamp.com/album/red-room
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/0sQy98y0v0ApSR8MnzaMeW
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/ca/album/red-room/1743960219
'Dum Dum Bullet'  https://youtu.be/eA5y9tiF0Fs
'Crumbs, Chaos & Lies' feat. Alexis Mincolla (3Teeth)  https://youtu.be/HDpuAq9ONKU

Watts has had a stellar career since cutting his teeth in the mid-1980s industrial rock scene as a member of KMFDM. Apart from releasing 14 albums as PIG, he has toured with Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM and Einstürzende Neubauten, written music for fashion and film (Chloe, Marios Schwab, Halston, The Row), and even did sound design for the exhibition 'Punk: Chaos to Couture' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Watts also collaborated with the late fashion icon Alexander McQueen, who commissioned him (with John Gosling) to embellish the serene instrumental track ‘Inside’ (from PIG's 1999 album ‘Genuine American Monster’) for the soundtrack to ‘Plato’s Atlantis’. The show was reprised after McQueen’s untimely death in as the finale of ‘Savage Beauty', a posthumous retrospective that broke all records at both The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

'Red Room' is out now, available on CD and digitally from fine online platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp. On August 23, PIG will also re-release the seminal album 'Sinsation (Remastered)', originally released in the mid-1990s on Trent Reznor's label Nothing Records.

ALBUM CREDITS
Raymond Watts
Jim Davies
With: En Esch, Michelle Martinez, Günter Schulz, Chris Hall, Alexis Mincolla, Mike Watts, Enrico Tomasso, Anita Kyoda
The PIG choir: Emily Kavanaugh, Burton C Bell, Chris Connelly, Marc Heal, En Esch, Kanga, Susannah Doyle, Anita Kyoda, Chris Hall, I Ya Toyah, Jim Davies, Mark Alan Griffiths, Mike Watts, Jimmy Livingstone
All songs written by Raymond Watts / Jim Davies, except Tracks 8, 9, 10 (Raymond Watts) and Track 11 (Raymond Watts / Michael Watts)
Produced & mixed by Raymond Watts
Additional production by Jim Davies
Recorded & mixed at Ranch Apocalypse and Otherwise Studios
Additional recordings made in Sydney, Vancouver, Berlin, Los Angeles
Mastering by Tom Hall at Abbey Road
Artwork - Vlad McNeally
Photography – E Gabriel Edvy / Blackswitch Labs
Audio visual consultant - Mark Alan Griffiths
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon at Shameless Promotion PR

TOUR DATES (with Curse Mackey and Unitcode : Machine)
9/28/24: Chicago, IL, @ Metro
9/ 29/24: Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze
9/30/24: Des Moines, IA @ Lefty’s Live Music
10/2/24: Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade
10/3/24: Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
10/4/24: Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
10/5/24: Denver, CO Kulture Music Hall
10/6/24: SLC, UT @ Quarters
10/7/24: Boise, ID @ Visual Arts Collective
10/9/24: Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s
10/10/24: Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
10/13/24: Portland, OR @ Dante’s
10/15/24: Sacramento, CA @ Starlit Room
10/16/24: SF, CA @ DNA
10/17/24: San Diego, CA @ Whistle Stop
10/18/24: Las Vegas, NV @ Sinwave
10/19/24: Los Angeles, CA @ Catch One
10/20/24: Scottsdale, AZ @ Pub Rock
10/21/24: Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
10/23/24: OK City @ Beer City
10/24/24: Dallas, TX @ Three Links
10/26/24: Austin, TX @ Elysium
10/27/24: New Orleans, LA @ Santos
10/29/24: Pensacola, FL @ Handlebar
10/30/24: Orlando, Fl @ Handlebar
11/1/24: West Palm Beach, FL @ Respectable Street
11/2/24: Jacksonville, FL @ Underbelly
11/3/24: Greenville, SC @ Radio Room
11/5/24: Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar
11/6/24: Richmond, VA @ Fallout
11/7/24: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Baltimore
11/8/24: New York, NY @ STIMULATE
11/10/24: Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power
11/12/24: Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
11/13/24: Quebec City, QC @ L’anti Bar
11/14/24: Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Fous
11/15/24: Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
11/16/24: Detroit, MI @ Smalls
11/17/24: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern

RYAN AND RORY’S SELF-TITLED DEBUT EP, AVAILABLE NOW

July 29, 2024

SiriusXM The Highway’s latest “Highway Find,” Ryan and Rory today release their highly anticipated self-titled debut EP. Joining the ranks of previous “Highway Finds” such as Luke Combs, Gabby Barrett, Parker McCollum, among others, Ryan and Rory’s debut features their buzzy party starter and a nod to the universal heartache band-aid “Pour Decisions.” Released earlier this year, Country Now declared the lively smash a “catchy, post-heartbreak summertime anthem.” Country Swag applauded that “the singer-songwriters are bursting onto the scene with a prime summer-ready song” and are “an act to pay attention to,” while MusicRow boasted that “Ryan and Rory are set to make major waves on the country music scene.” Listen to Ryan and Rory’s self-titled EP HERE.

Both immersed in music from a young age, Ryan Follesé is a Nashville native, 2X PLATINUM #1 hit singer-songwriter and American Music Award winner. Rory John Zak, from Raleigh, North Carolina, is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter who has played over 300 shows per year since he was 17.

“We are so excited for everyone to hear these songs,” says Rory. “Each one was inspired by real-life people and situations we’ve experienced over the last few years. The songs speak to the lives we live, and we hope that they do the same for everyone who loves country music like we do.”

“We see this first batch of songs as our musical mission statement,” says Ryan. “Great country songs are what we are about, and we could not be prouder to start our journey with these six. They are for true country music fans - the greatest fans in the world."

Son of #1 songwriters Adrienne and Keith Follesé (Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride), Ryan co-wrote all six tracks on the debut, including five with his hitmaker family, while Rory added his masterful instrumentals and expertly smooth harmonies to Ryan’s robust lead vocals.

Kickstarting their catalog with a vivacious “Pour Decisions,” the EP exemplifies that vibrant, wide-open spirit with songs like “Drunk and Lonely,” a two-step singalong featuring dirt-floor dancehall vibes and Rory’s honky-tonk piano that would make Brooks & Dunn proud, “This Town,” a celebration of small-town dreams and freedom, and “State I’m In,” a rockin’ tale of regret that comes from chasing a lover across the country, only to find out that the entire passion-led journey was a dead end.

Rounding out the debut, the duo dial in on soul-stirring ballads like “Cowboy Cry,” a woeful she-done-him-wrong classic, and “Thanks Mama,” a song Ryan co-wrote with his dad, brother and sister as a surprise for his mom, whose wise advice narrates the touching track.

Up next, Ryan and Rory will open for Sam Hunt on Friday, August 23 in Memphis, Tenn. at Radians Amphitheater and on Saturday, August 24 in Gary, Indiana at Hard Rock Live. For tickets and tour updates, visit ryanandrorymusic.com.

Produced by Kevin Bard and Nick Zinnanti

*Produced by Dann Huff

Tigirlily Gold’s Debut Album ‘Blonde’ is Available Everywhere Now

July 29, 2024

“Tigirlily Gold spins everything true of the duo’s story and artistry into an album of sassy anthems.” – American Songwriter

“‘Blonde’ is charming and confident with fun 90s touches” – Entertainment Focus

“Tigirlily Gold has not only delivered an album that reflects their most authentic selves but also one that redefines girl group energy in country music.” – Country Now

Current Single “I Tried A Ring On” Hits Top 40 at Country Radio and Climbing

Reigning ACM New Duo of the Year Tigirlily Gold arrive today with their debut album, Blonde, via Monument Records. In many ways, the project is a culmination of the sister duo’s perseverance in chasing their dreams – showcasing a collection of songs both reminiscent of their five years spent entertaining the rowdy crowds on Nashville’s Lower Broadway, as well as the growth they’ve experienced while navigating love and loss in the mix. Listen to Blonde HERE.

“Our debut album is finally out in the world! We’ve spent the past 11 years working towards this moment, and to have this collection of music out feels amazing,” sisters Kendra and Krista share. “We truly feel like we’ve entered a new chapter of our career, kicking it off with the ‘Blonde’ era! Seeing fans reacting and choosing their favorites already is by far the best part.

“Blonde is all about embracing your inner confidence, being bold, wearing your heart on your sleeve, and having the ability to poke fun at yourself when life doesn't go your way. We hope after people listen to these 10 songs they feel like they’ve gained two more sisters in this world,” they add.

The debut hits as current single “I Tried A Ring On” becomes their second to reach Top 40 at country radio, and Krista and Kendra Slaubaugh are just getting started. Adding to a blockbuster year for the sisters, Country Now notes the album “reflects their most authentic selves” while American Songwriter opines the project “spins everything true of the duo’s story and artistry into an album of sassy anthems.”

The album follows the pair’s 2021 self-titled EP and 2023 Blonde EP and features a cover of the Leona Lewis hit “Bleeding Love,” a favorite in the girls live show, as well as original tracks like the seductive “Move On” which Country Now lauded as “sexy… bold… forward” as it celebrates making the first move. While “Hometown Song” highlights the more serious side of the sisters, describing the push and pull of both loving and hating where you come from.

To the sister duo, “Blonde” is a state of mind. “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy hair like this/ It’s a Dolly Parton state of mind,” they sing on the song’s chorus.

Blonde embodies this infectious energy while introducing a new chapter for the North Dakota natives, showcasing their mesmerizing harmonies and adept songwriting alongside relatable stories. The women knew they wanted to create a bold and fearless album. In doing so, they also leave a part of themselves in every song.

For the latest information visit, tigirlily.com and follow along on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @tigirlily and on TikTok @TigirlilyGold.

About Tigirlily Gold:
ACM New Duo of the Year Tigirlily Gold has been playing music together since they could walk, and officially formed their band in high school. Growing up, they crisscrossed the mid-west, growing a fierce fan base and selling out amphitheaters across their home-state of North Dakota. After moving to Nashville, they landed a weekly residence at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row on Nashville’s famed lower Broadway. Playing four-hour sets, three to four nights a week, the sisters developed a performance style that’s not only captivating and fun but shows just how entertaining is in their blood. After releasing their original song “Somebody Does,” in 2021, the track topped the iTunes chart and Tigirlily Gold was signed to Monument Records. They released their self-titled, debut EP in July 2021, working with multi-Grammy Award Winner Shane McAnally, and hit the road with artists like Walker Hayes and Ashley McBryde. Now, the powerhouse duo has embarked on a new musical chapter with their debut album, Blonde –a deeply personal project that includes tales of love and loss alongside powerful anthems and songs of female empowerment – available now. Their debut single at country radio, “Shoot Tequila,” reached the Top 40 and found viral success with millions of views across social media, and millions of streams across platforms, as well as two CMT Award nominations earlier this year for Breakthrough Female Video and Duo/Group Video of the Year. Their much anticipated follow up single “I Tried A Ring On” is at Country radio now. After making their Grand Ole Opry debut and performing to a national audience on the “TODAY Show,” Tigirlily Gold is ready to bring girl group energy back to country.

Beasto Blanco Releases First New Album In 5 Years, KINETICA, Available Now;

July 29, 2024

Beasto Blanco’s brand-new album KINETICA, their first since 2019, is released now via COP International Records and available now through Bandcamp. In celebration of the new record, Beasto Blanco also releases a new single/video for “Diamond in the Dirt,” their most explosive and apocalyptic yet.

See the video for “Diamond in the Dirt” BELOW

Order vinyl and CD formats of KINETICA HERE

Beasto Blanco features the electrifying collaboration of Nashville-based shock rockers Chuck Garric (Alice Cooper) and high priestess Calico Cooper, delivering an instant knockout blow. KINETICA aspires to capture the visuals, energy, love, sex, sweat, robots, and raw animalistic essence that defines the band.

With an explosive sound and captivating visuals, the first two new singles “Run For Your Life” and “Lowlands” are the perfect balance of raw power and infectious melodies that showcases Beasto Blanco’s refreshing authenticity as a beacon of genuine, unapologetic rock ‘n’ roll. Both tracks were produced by Chris Harms / Lord of the Lost.

Beasto Blanco will also head out on a North American tour this September, supporting Lord of the Lost, where the new tunes can be heard live. Tickets and VIP packages are on sale now HERE.

As well, Beasto Blanco has been confirmed for appearances at several European festivals this summer, including Wacken Open Air, and the band will tour Europe in November with Dead Daisies – find all tour dates below.

BEASTO BLANCO 2024 TOUR DATES

Supporting Lord of the Lost

September 20 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues

September 22 Minneapolis, MN @ Amsterdam Hall

September 24 Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall

September 26 Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren Music Hall

September 27 Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy

September 28 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent

Summer Festival Appearances

July 29 Köln, Germany @Lofi

July 31 Munich, Germany @ Free & Easy Festival

August 1 Oberhausen, Germany @ Euro Summer Tour

August 3 Wacken, Germany @ Wacken Open Air

Tour with Dead Daisies

November 1 Hengelo, Netherlands @ Metropool

November 2 Sint-Niklaas, Belgium @ De Casino

November 3 Hamburg, Germany @ Grünspan

November 5 Cologne, Germany @ Essigfabrik

November 6 Munich, Germany @ Technikum

November 8 Dordrecht, Netherlands @ Bibelot

November 9 Bochum, Germany @ Ruhr Congress

November 10 Pratteln, Switzerland @ Z7

November 11 Paris, France @ Élysée Montmarte

November 13 Prague, Czech Republic @ Palac Akropolis

November 15 Budapest, Hungary @ Barba Negra

November 16 Vienna, Austria @ Simm City

November 17 Frankfurt, Germany @ Gibson

About Beasto Blanco

Rock and Roll born in the Mountain Mud and the Desert Sun ... Beasto Blanco was formed by Chuck Garric and Chris Latham. They set out to create a raw, powerful, rock ‘n’ roll band with a searing, theatrical live experience. Enter Calico Cooper, rock vixen and the spawn of Garric’s boss, legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper and a renegade German rhythm section and Beasto Blanco’s inimitable sound and image emerged. Blood, sweat, and gasoline are fueling Beasto Blanco’s explosive rock sound and captivating visuals. A band and an audience united in one inseparable union of musical thunder and sensational spectacle. Welcome to the world of Beasto Blanco. Whether illuminated in the spotlights of cavernous arenas or headlining packed theaters and clubs, the band’s mission is unwavering: To create an immersive experience where everyone is welcome to join an extended family whose support is unconditional and authentic.

Lineup:

Chuck Garric (long time Alice Cooper bassist) on guitars and vocals

Calico Cooper on vocals

Brother Latham on guitars

Jan LeGrow on bass

Sean Sellers on drums

About COP International

Now in its 32nd year, COP International’s expanding roster of artists includes Stabbing Westward, Azam Ali, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, The Cassandra Complex, Blackcarburning, and Beasto Blanco. The label reached a turning point in 2019, teaming up with legendary producer John Fryer to form a production company under the COP International umbrella. Fryer is producing and engineering the majority of the forthcoming COP catalog and also working as A&R in helping to select appropriate acts. “The level of craftsmanship, artistic talent and meticulous attention to detail is what sets John’s work a world apart,” says COP International founder Christian Petke. "Our philosophy is quite simple: Find exceptional talent, don’t limit ourselves or the artists, and build a tribe based on the excellence of the releases. We have signed a couple bands that have major chart potential based on previous entries, and we are very excited about our projects for this year. Another thing that is rather important to us is a certain level of closeness and mutual appreciation we have as label and artist. It is our responsibility to provide a nurturing environment that allows the artist to focus on their craft. We support and shield them and provide the business machinery that will develop their full potential."

https://www.copint.com/

Find Beasto Blanco online:

Website: https://www.beastoblanco.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeastoBlanco/?pnref=lhc

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beastoblanco/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeastoBlanco

BEAUTY IN CHAOS releases fourth album 'Dancing With Angels' - Watch the video for 'Holy Ground' feat. Patrik Mata (Kommunity FK)

July 25, 2024

"Stunning musical and, in particular, six-string intricacy... layers of lush, ringing, occasionally grimy and often heavily effected guitars" ~ Guitar World

"Guitarist Michael Ciravolo assembled an all-star cast for his moody hard-hitting album... Intense" ~ Rolling Stone

"Hauntingly heavy and beautiful" – LA Weekly

"A dream team of musicians, taking us on a sonic journey that blends haunting melodies with crushing riffs. Catchy hooks, superb melodicism" ~ The Spill Magazine

LA-based collective Beauty In Chaos has released their fourth album 'Dancing With Angels' via 33.3 Music Collective, cementing their legacy for crafting captivating and imagination-stirring music with eight diverse, riveting tracks on offer. BIC has also just unveiled the video for 'Holy Ground', a lush offering, featuring Patrik Mata of seminal darkwave band Kommunity FK, that marks a thrilling departure from BIC's signature goth rock / postpunk sound.

Beauty In Chaos was formed in 2018 by guitarist Michael Ciravolo (formerly of Human Drama and Gene Loves Jezebel and currently President of Schecter Guitars) with Grammy nominated producer Michael Rozon (Ministry) as a revolving evolving sonic entity. To date, BIC has involved numerous luminaries from The Cure, Ministry, Cheap Trick, The Offspring, Gene Loves Jezebel, Marilyn Manson, Human Drama, Bauhaus, Nine Inch Nails, Van Halen, A Flock of Seagulls, dUg Pinnick (Kings X), ICE-T, guitar icon Zakk Wylde, Rolan Bolan, among others.

"The title was inspired by a painting from a talented German artist Maren Platzhoff, which also became the album’s cover. As Michael Rozon and I began writing the music for this release, I knew I wanted to blend artists from our first two releases with some amazing new members to our BIC family," says Michael Ciravolo.

This eight song release features BIC alumni Ashton Nyte, Holy Wars firecracker Kat Leon, and both Wayne and Cinthya Hussey. Ciravolo shares “I love bringing in ‘less famous’ but certainly no less talented artists to the fold, and I think this album does just that”. Leo Luganskiy (Strangelove), Julian Shah-Tayler (The Singularity), former Silence In The Snow frontwoman Cynthia Isabella, The Bellwether Syndicate’s William and Sarah Faith, and Patrik Mata (Kommunity FK) bring immense and diverse talents to 'Dancing With Angels'.

Ciravolo describes this album as sort of a "sonic regression and a sonic progression", noting “I meant this as a positive thing, taking some of the post-rock elements of our debut album, the stark dark bits that run through ‘The Storm Before The Calm' and the gothy dreamy-gaze of 'Behind The Veil’. It was definitely going a bit backwards to take a few steps forward!”

For its CD format, Ciravolo did something he has long wanted to do... joining songs together with musical interludes, which he's dubbed ‘Halos’. He explains, “These are unique soundscape interludes that sonically tie each song together, along with the album’s coda. I do have this… probably unrealistic romantic idea that the listener will give this album at least one top-to-bottom uninterrupted listen”.

The album's lead track 'Diving For Pearls' features The Mission's Wayne Hussey and Cinthya Hussey, his wife and partner in Archeometre. The ‘single version’ was mixed by legendary producer Tim Palmer (The Cure, U2, David Bowie, Robert Plant, HIM, The Mission) with a fab video created by Vicente Cordero / Industrialism Films. About Hussey's fourth collaboration with Beauty In Chaos, Ciravolo says this “may just be the best we’ve written together”.

As of July 24, 'Dancing With Angels' is available on limited edition multi-color vinyl and CD from the Beauty In Chaos store, where the ‘Diving For Pearls' limited edition CD single is also available. Digitally, the album can be found on Bandcamp, Apple Musicand Spotify. The first 100 vinyl copies come with two posters signed by the artists. Vinyl and CD purchases also include the full digital version of the album (with Halos and two bonus tracks).

Manchester's THE SPEED OF SOUND present Underground' single & release 'A Cornucopia: Victory' from trilogy marking their 35-year anniversary

July 24, 2024

"Buzzing fuzz guitar lines emerge from a delicate acoustic introduction to intersect with the crashing chords and the ‘bulbous pulsing’ rhythm section" ~ Record Collector Magazine

"it’s clear that the sonic kaleidoscope presented on The Speed of Sound’s new album is worth the wait - a musical compass in a direction we should all explore" ~ The Spill Magazine

“Unmistakeable sound a winning formula” ~ The Big Takeover

“A triumph of industry, imagination and talent, coolly novel and damned addictive” ~ Louder Than War

‘Unique and other worldly” ~ Vive Le Rock

“A form of Art-Pop that is wry, incisive, yet a deeply listenable examination of post industrial culture” ~ Rock At Night

"A riotous maelstrom of musical mayhem” ~ The Manc Review

Manchester indie rock / power pop outfit The Speed Of Sound present their new single 'Underground', the first stunning glimpse of the album 'A Cornucopia: Victory', the second disc in their three-album set 'A Cornucopia: Minerva, Victory, Bounty'. This trilogy makes for the band's second release via California's Big Stir Records.

Full of ambition, energy and melodic brilliance, the band is offering this new three-album collection as a deluxe edition on vinyl and CD. Earlier, they shared four singles from 'Minerva' - the hauntingly spacious 'Trickledown', the stratospherically vast 'The Great Acceleration', the uplifting 'Mind Palace', and 'West Wind', where a recklessly fast rhythm merges with a Wagnerian horn section.

Following 2021's critically acclaimed album 'Museum Of Tomorrow', the band returns triumphant, defiant and redemptive with this trilogy, marking their 35th anniversary. The first disc 'Minerva' displays joyous belligerence in the face of a dominant mainstream music machine. In contrast, 'Victory' is more laid back and relaxed while retaining an optimistic upbeat and lively feel.

Most music is never even recorded, and most recorded music remains unheard. 'Victory' is a celebration of this unheard underground music and the counterculture itself - music made for the pleasure of making it (rather than for artless corporate entities). This is music that sees the mere act of existence as both rebellion and also success.

The Speed Of Sound creates music laden with optimism and lyrical bite, tapping the DIY ethos of punk and the restless lust for experimentation of psychedelia. Formed in 1989 with a pre-history dating back to the day Andy Warhol died in 1987, their music has always been idiosyncratic, counter-intuitive and perpetually looking for something new. Today The Speed of Sound is made up of father and son John Armstrong (guitars and vocals) and Henry Armstrong (keyboards), Ann-Marie Crowley (vocals and guitar), Kevin Roache (bass guitar) and John Broadhurst (drums).

"Can you hear the unheard music? This is subterranean dance-rock with an insatiable groove in celebration of independent music. The theme of non-mainstream creativity is present throughout the three linked albums of A Cornucopia; 'Underground' is where it is all explicitly pulled together. Immunity from the toxic tentacles of major labels and ‘the music business’ gives a freedom of expression simply not possible from within the machine," says frontman John Armstrong.

"The ‘We’ stated in ‘We are the underground’ is a collective ‘We’ - not just The Speed Of Sound - instead the ‘We’ is made up of every single independent artist across the planet. Together ‘We’ are all the Underground and ‘We' are defiantly proud of our existence beyond the exclusive major label 'club’. ‘We’ have the power to just do our thing and get on with it!"

The 'Victory' album includes 14 wide-ranging pieces of unheard and highly contagious fresh and unexpectedly shape-shifting grooves. From the supremely danceable 'Underground' through the unabashed sensuality of 'Monsoon' to the gothic lounge jazz of 'Permafrost' and the strangely linked pairing of 'Apocalypse Acropolis' and 'Apocalypse Metropolis', they offer something special here.

From the hypnotic orange-and-sandalwood scented wisps of masala rock in 'Rock Paper Scissors', acoustic powered spaceflight 'in From The Cradle To The Stars' and the reckless garage punk punch of 'Go For It', it becomes clear. There is the data scraping warning of 'X-Y Axis', the post-nostalgia of 'The Same River',and swaggering rock with a pinch of Brazilian sway in 'A Walk By The Sea', while 'E to F' displays glam rock tendencies and a pinball metaphor before the soaring harmonies of 'Empathic Reaction' and ending with the triumphant shimmering elegance of 'Tranquility Falls'.

With their genre-defying style, The Speed Of Sound expand from their foundation of 1960s, punk and new wave influences, encompassing wide dynamic and stylistic variation, crossing borders and pushing boundaries at every opportunity. Their music bursts with experimentation whilst retaining hooks and melodic sensibility, plus sharp barbed wit, lyrical depth and all-pervading sense of joy.

As of July 23, 'Underground' isavailable everywhere digitally, including Apple Music,Spotify and Bandcamp, where 'Minerva' and the full trilogy 'A Cornucopia: Minerva, Victory, Bounty' can also be obtainedon CD or vinyl. The 'Victory' album will be released on September 20 and the'Bounty' album shall be released later this year.

CREDITS
All songs written by John Armstrong
John Armstrong - guitars and vocals
Ann-Marie Crowley - vocals and guitars
Kevin Roache - bass guitar
John Broadhurst - drums
Henry Armstrong - keyboards
Bob Dinn - trumpet and flugelhorn
Chris Guest - harmonium, vibraphone, organ, shakers, tambourine
Alex Armstrong - typewriter on 'Yet Another Tuesday'
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Vibratone Sound Studio in Manchester by Chris Guest, Adam Crossley and The Speed of Sound.
Main sleeve image: Purple Spaceman © Lina Landers 2022
Artist photographs by Shay Rowan
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

Get the single https://thespeedofsoundundunderground.hearnow.com
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/3auoVWzSnxGeive85kpZ1H
‘Victory’ album order https://thespeedofsound.bandcamp.com/album/a-cornucopia-pt-2-victory

Chicago's Evidence of a Struggle presents 'Keep It' - in defiance of harm, discomfort and damage

July 22, 2024

"Wonderfully cinematic, forward-thinking, open-minded, genre-hopping, rule-breaking... a symphony of sonics, subtlety and suppleness, and of the subverting of expectations" ~ Big Takeover Magazine

"'Keep It' is a relentless prowl of low rumbling concrete scattered with the glass shards of guitar and keyboards. The controlled chaos of the instrumentation is in slow motion... an epic feel, as well as the queasy sense of being drunk and disorientated in an dystopian landscape" ~ Joyzine

"Fascinating... This melodic journey expertly fuses the innovative textures of art rock with the insurgent spirit of alternative music... a complex and immersive auditory universe" ~ Post-Punk.com

"'The coolness of electric jazz, Krautrock-inspired post-rock and atmospheric art rock... a gripping and upbeat refined sound & thoughtful arrangement with sonic prowess"~ Amplify Music Magazine

"Chaotic and lovely" ~ Punk Rock Beat

Chicago-based artist Evidence of a Struggle presents the frustration-laden single 'Keep It', featuring vocals in a truly powerful spoken-word meets post-rock clash. The accompanying animated video was created by fellow Chicago visual artist John Airo.

Centred around the musings of multi-instrumentalist Rev. Billy Simmons, Evidence of a Struggle creates lush, cinematic, beautiful and sometimes chaotic compositions, having released his 13-track debut album 'Evidence of a Struggle' in 2023.

"I decided to sing or rather read and yell on 'Keep It' because life has recently brought many subtle and not-so-subtle signs to my attention. It was showing me that it isn’t this perfect, beautiful dream and that many of us have stopped listening and seeing. We’re taking and not giving, and like I, many have stopped talking, and it’s become murderous," says Rev. Billy.

"I’ve been acutely aware for a long time that we’re not really listening, not seeing... Most of us don’t see or hear each other, nature or our bodies. We employ so many outside elements to help us ignore all those things right in front of us that are harmful, uncomfortable, and damaging."

Launched in 2020 with Rev. Billy playing every instrument and recording from The Glue Factory studio, he joined forces with renowned sound engineer Sanford Parker (Voivod, Russian Circles, Yob, Eyehategod, Wovenhand, Darkthrone) for additional production, recording and mastering. The resulting album is a worthwhile journey, blending numerous sub-genres of the alternative music realm.

"This music was inspired by what was going through my mind during the pandemic. It's all a declaration of solidarity. Some heavy stuff happened right at the beginning of lockdown - with the world, with family, friends, and personally - that affected my outlook on life and how finite and fleeting it is. I realized how fortunate I was to do every little thing that I could do and that it wouldn’t last forever. I was creating music to show people that, even though everyone was going through a tough time, we could still create, share and communicate musically with people and work things out," says Rev. Billy.

"At that time, everyone was telling everyone else what was right and what was wrong, trying to tell people what to do, and not just for their safety, but because they didn’t conform to their way of thinking. There was so much chatter. It was like a bad dream and I didn’t want to become a part of that. I wanted to let the music paint a mental picture as an act of support for whoever listened - in whatever voice spoke to them personally. But then I felt like I also needed to start to use my voice to say the things that I think needed to be said (and let my music with my voice speak to the people it needs to speak to)."

Transforming into a musical chameleon at night, Rev. Billy's day to day entails running Rev. Billy's Chop Shop, a salon with a creative space that regularly showcases artists' work (declared by Chicago Reader as the city's best gallery). Earlier in his journey, Rev. Billy collaborated with RCA artist Ké and artists (like Urge Overkill) on Touch and Go, and other majors like BMG and Universal.

Evidence of a Struggle's next album involves numerous notable artists, including drummer Matt Walker (Smashing Pumpkins, Morrissey, of1000faces, Garbage, Filter) and bassist Alan Berliant (Chris Connelly, Mavis Staples, Saint Asonia), in addition to Solomon Walker (Liz Phair, Bryan Adams, Morrissey, Eastern Shadows, Year of the Rabbit).

'Keep It' is out now as a standalone single via Bandcamp. The 'Evidence of a Struggle' album is also available via Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.

CREDITS
All music written by William P C Simmons V (aka Rev. Billy)
Performed by William P C Simmons V (aka Rev. Billy)
Produced by Sanford Parker
Loveless Publishing ASCAP
Videos by John Airo
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

Keep up with Evidence of a Struggle
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Spotify | Apple Music | Press contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Press contact

Cocteau Twins vanguard Robin Guthrie unveils 'Atlas', a new EP of luminous soundscapes

July 22, 2024

Celebrated Scottish songsmith Robin Guthrie returns with the 'Atlas' EP, released via his Soleil Après Minuit imprint. This four-track offering immerses the listener in a series of newly-recorded instrumentals, gracing the listener with his ever present signature sound and atmosphere.

Nearly 45 years since founding legendary dreampop / ethereal wave band Cocteau Twins, Robin Guthrie has certainly been its most prolific member, offering a steady and stellar stream of material over the years with a production style and signature guitar sounds that have shaped multiple genres and generations.

This is Guthrie's first significant release since 2021's 'Pearldiving', marking the end of a nine-year hiatus and signaling his long-awaited return. In what was an intensive year for Guthrie releases, he also put out three EP's: 'Mockingbird Love', 'Riviera' and 'Springtime'.

"I got travelling again after the pandemic and that’s always a source of inspiration for me. I absorb a lot and get most creative when I have travelled." says Robin Guthrie.

"As for the title 'Atlas', I found an old radio and was struck with how many of the places on the dial no longer existed. I was attracted to the romantic notion that these places were very far away, not only in distance but now in time as well. The world seems a smaller and more familiar place nowadays".

Guthrie's approach to music seems akin to that of a painter or a photographer. The adept use of light and shade, melody and counter melody, the carefully and precisely arranged instrumentation, musical textures and colorings gives his music a depth and level of detail which marks a master craftsman.

In his time, Guthrie's output includes film soundtracks and collaborated with many outstanding people, the latest impactful release happening with 2021's 'Another Flower' with Harold Budd, released just a few days before Budd's untimely passing. They had also jointly composed the film scores for Gregg Araki's ‘Mysterious Skin’and ‘White Bird in a Blizzard’. Other notable collaborators include John Foxx, Mark Gardener, Telefon Tel-Aviv, Eraldo Bernocchi and Jay Jay Johanson.

He has produced and remixed countless artists, including Lush, The Veldt, A.R.Kane, Dif Juz, Chapterhouse, Felt, Mahogany and Violet Indiana, which he'd formed with Siobhan de Maré in 1999. More recently, Guthrie worked with Heligoland, Jack Colwell, Resplandor, Fawns of Love, Ummagma, Hatchie and Tamaryn.

'Atlas' EP https://robinguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/atlas-ep
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/1wiUvS4yhplQriQOCj8oxB
YouTube playlist https://tinyurl.com/Robin-Guthrie-Atlas-YouTube
'Pearldiving' album https://robinguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/pearldiving
'Springtime' EP https://robinguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/springtime
'Riviera' EP https://robinguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/riviera
'Mockingbird Love' EP https://robinguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/mockingbird-love

Guthrie shares, "It’s been a relief to finish the Cocteau Twins re-issues that I have been working on lately, as focusing on the past can somewhat crush the present. It is, therefore, with great pleasure that I’m releasing some new music. 'Atlas', in many ways, is the intro to my next EP, which will be out later this year ... It's a slow gentle re-introduction to my world. The next one picks up where this one finishes off."

'Atlas' is now available on CD, as well as digitally on all major platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp, where Guthrie's rich back catalogue can also be found. Released via Soleil Après Minuit, it is distributed in North America via The Orchard and in Europe by Cargo. Guthrie is expected to release another EP later this year.

CREDITS
Written and performed by Robin Guthrie
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Robin Guthrie at his studio in Brittany
Album cover by Robin Guthrie, photographed in Angoulême
Released by Soleil Après Minuit
Catalogue Code: SM2401CD
EAN: 0767461008883
Robin Guthrie photos by Violette Guthrie and Jeanne Aimon
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

Keep up with Robin Guthrie
Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Apple Music | Press contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Instagram | Spotify | LinkedIn | Email

Koe Wetzel's '9 Lives' Arrives

July 19, 2024

For nearly a decade, the name Koe Wetzel has carried with it an “if you know, you know” reputation. To a devoted cult audience, the Texas singer-songwriter has been a genre disrupter, mixing country with rock, hip-hop, and grunge; a live performer as powerful and unpredictable as a tornado; and a notorious party animal who never met a bottle of tequila he couldn’t finish. Wetzel remains all of those things, but on his new album 9 Lives, available now via Columbia Records, he proves that there’s more to his story — and that a mass audience awaits. Listen HERE.

Produced predominantly by Gabe Simon (Noah Kahan’s Stick Season) alongside a string of trusted collaborators like Josh Serrato, Amy Allen, Carrie K and Sam Harris (X Ambassadors), 9 Lives finds the Pittsburg, Texas, native showing off his versatility as a writer and his prowess as an interpreter of songs.

“The way Gabe Simon goes into making music, he cares so much about it,” Wetzel explains of his producer. “He comes at it wanting to get everything out of the songs. Gabe came in and extracted everything from me; he got me talking about stuff, everything going on in my life. Usually, I go in with all the melodies, and then write the lyrics. Not this time.”

Simon went for the jugular. Laughing, Wetzel says, “Every song we wrote or found, we kept. There was a freedom: we sat down and talked about the shit going on in my life. By pulling all of that out of me, going in the vocal booth, that’s how free I was – and the most open I’ve ever been. You can hear it in the songs.”

You can also hear the urgency. Recorded at legendary Sonic Ranch in the border town of Tornillo, Texas, as well as Melody Mountain in Stephensville, Texas, they had that Lone Star fire. Add sessions at Nashville’s Blackbird and historic RCA Studio A, it alchemized a rush to 9 Lives that’s palpable. Recorded largely live, the tracks went down almost as lightning fast as the writing, with eight of the songs written in a pair of three-day bursts; one in El Paso, the other in Nashville.

A bleary-eyed, scene-setting lament “Continued” turns into a full-on rocking country proposition. A kick drum pumps and a chicken-wire electric guitar drops a few notes as the swaggering “9 Lives (Black Cat)” leans into an unrepentant catalog of misadventures survived. Bar fights, rodeo clowns, preachers, dealers, the twins next door, cheap tequila, bathroom snow and “a 12-pack, two dime bags, flat-lined twice, just to come right back” make a vivid world that only the fearless survive. And so it goes…

“Every record’s almost turning a new leaf, always a left turn because of how honest I am. I want fans to know that there's a different side of me, not just the sex, drugs, and rock & roll Koe that they may have heard about online,” Wetzel says. “I've grown up a little bit. I’m no longer the 20-year-old kid that's partying down and getting thrown in jail all the time. 9 Lives reveals a vulnerable side that people may not be used to hearing.”

Grown does not mean completely settled down, though. For everyone who caught the lightning bolt that was the state-of-scrapping musician Noise Complaint, there’s rowdy singalong “Bar Song,” all the raw swerve’n’blister in the high-flying autobiographic “Twister,” the atmospheric truth-telling that defines his “Damn Near Normal” and barn-storming take on how he keeps running while missing that certain one in “Runnin’ Low.”

“I like to drink,” he says, owning the obvious. On a record that conversationally drops Ambien, Xanax, El Paso dust, blow, THC… he knows his way around the contraband in his songs. “It’s a family tradition. My dad’s side is all Southern Baptist: no drinking, no cursing – though he loved Creedence, ZZ Top’s ‘LaGrange,’ BTO, Petty. My mom’s Methodist: let’s party, go hard.

Wetzel’s diverse musical background is evident on one of the album’s most surprising tracks, a cover of the late XXXTentacion’s “Depression & Obsession.”

“I always loved that era of music – that Lil Peep era, XXXTentacion – he was one of my favorite artists out of that group,” Wetzel reflects. “I feel like there’s a lot of music that we didn’t get from him, so it’s kind of just a nod to him and I hope we did it justice.”

A Lone Star native through and through, he was also heavily impacted by Charlie Robison’s Good Times, the album arriving in Wetzel’s life as a Christmas gift in seventh grade. A Texas Music sensation who had signed to a major Nashville label then bailed, the songs, attitude and harder sound from Robison captured Wetzel’s imagination. He also gravitated to some of the deeper, soul-baring songs.

To homage that spark, Wetzel offers a minor-keyed strum that’s as much low-impact Nirvana as it is High Plains Drifter on “Reconsider.” That slow-moving lament comes from Robison’s Better Days, with Wetzel realizing along the way that it – like many Texas music classics – was originally by Keith Gattis.

“I thought Charlie had written a lot of them, but then I find out about Keith Gattis. I never got to meet him; he and Charlie died six months apart. I have so many emotions right now about all that, you can hear them.”

For a guy who is fully a man’s man, he also has that romantic tenderness that undermines his machismo. Whether Gabe Simon and Mick Coogan’s flowing tangle of how hard love is on “Hatchet” or his own smoky, haunted “Sweet Dreams,” the notion of love that might still be salvaged comes with a throb that pulls listeners in.

Just as potent is Wetzel’s ability to let go of the rope. Sometimes hilarious – the sweet pop/folk “Leigh” recounts his losing record with women, particularly those whose names all have that suffix in common: Haleigh, Baleigh, Kaleigh and more – and other times flat indifferent – the soaring “High Road” (with a version featuring rising star and labelmate Jessie Murph currently delivering as his Country radio debut) – he’s not afraid to get out of something that ain’t working.

That sense of self permeates 9 Lives, especially the closer, “Last Outlaw Alive,” with a ragged gravitas to the loping celebration of a dying way of life. Laconic doesn’t have to mean sleepy. Like the many vibes and rhythms on Wetzel’s album, he – and the players – deliver a spark.

“The thing about this album is writing can be grueling. But this time, after writing a song, there was always that adrenaline rush. What do you do with that? Put it into the songs, no matter how fast or slow.”

Having defined a rogue rock/cowboy ethos over his album, Wetzel found a new intensity. “Being on the road for so long, you start to think you’ve hit a plateau. You wonder, ‘Is this what I’ll be known for? Will these songs be what it’s all about?’

“I get a lot of joy playing the older songs. But you want to grow. I love playing those records I grew up on, so I understand. But I’ve been honing and growing a certain sound, and we’re hitting it. This is where the rest of it begins…”

For more information on all things Koe Wetzel and to purchase tickets to upcoming shows – including a hometown stadium show as he joins Morgan Wallen’s One Night At A Time World Tour in Arlington, Texas on July 26 and his headlining Damn Near Normal World Tour kicking off July 27 – visit KoeWetzelMusic.com and follow on Instagram and Facebook @KoeWetzelMusic, TikTok @Koe_Wetzel and Twitter/X @KoeWetzel.

About Koe Wetzel
Koe Wetzel never met a genre wall he couldn’t tear down: The Texas singer-songwriter has earned a rabid audience for his songs that mix country, rock, hip-hop, and even Nineties grunge. His 2016 album Noise Complaint endeared him to fans with its no- holds-barred lyrics about drunken nights, broken hearts and stints in jail, and included the Gold-certified hits “Love” (feat. Parker McCollum), “Something to Talk About” and the infamous “February 28, 2016.” Wetzel’s 2020 major label debut, Sellout, only furthered his legend with the Platinum-certified “Drunk Driving” plus the Gold-certified “Good Die Young” and “Kuntry & Wistern.” The 2022 follow-up, Hell Paso, hit No. 3 on Billboard’s Country Albums and spawned hits on both the country and rock charts, including the Gold-certified “Creeps” and “Cabo.” To date, Wetzel has 2.8 billion total streams and has created a genuine experience with his live concerts, which he describes as “total chaos.” In 2023 alone, he sold more than 275,000 tickets, and appeared for a third time on POLLSTAR’s Top Worldwide Tours. Wetzel will play prominent festival sets this summer and open for Morgan Wallen on the superstar’s One Night at a Time Stadium Tour in Texas, while also headlining his own Damn Near Normal World Tour. His new album, 9 Lives (Columbia), is available everywhere now as lead single “High Road” feat. Jessie Murph arrives as his debut Country radio single.

Chicago's REPENTANCE Support Swedish Metal Act ORBIT CULTURE on 8-19 in Detroit, MI and 8-20 in Chicago, IL

July 19, 2024

Chicago, Illinois-based metallers REPENTANCE have announced they will provide direct support for the Swedish metal act ORBIT CULTURE on 8-19 in Detroit, Michigan and 8-20 in Chicago, Illinois.

Check out the band's latest visualizer for "BURIED BY FEAR" taken from the sophomore release THE PROCESS OF HUMAN DEMISE Out Now!

Founded in 2018 by former SOIL and DIRGE WITHIN guitarist Shaun Glass and with a critically acclaimed debut album under their belts (God For A Day, 2020), REPENTANCEsoon became known for their distinctive heavy yet dynamic sound, packed with details, groove and intensity. Playing numerous shows with high profile acts such as TRIVIUM, DEVILDRIVER, JINJER, SKULL FIST, TOXIC HOLOCAUST, SACRED REICH and others, REPENTANCE have taken the heavy scene by storm and represent a sound, which is sure to obliterate fans of extreme music everywhere.

Repentance are:
Adam Gilley – Vocals
Shaun Glass – Guitar
Eric Burns – Guitar
Eric Karol – Bass
Brandon White – Drums

Find Repentance Online:

Find NOBLE DEMON online:

https://linktr.ee/nobledemon

Kittie's 'Spit' Leopard Picture Disc

July 16, 2024

Featuring massive hits “Brackish” and “Charlotte,” KITTIE’s debut album Spit catapulted them to fame with heavy airplay and MTV exposure. They rocked stages at Ozzfest 2001 and SnoCore Festival and toured with Slipknot, Chevelle, and Suicidal Tendencies.

Spit debuted at #79 on the Billboard Top 200 and topped the Heatseekers Chart, staying on the Billboard Top 200 for 37 weeks and achieving Gold status with over 650,000 units sold.
GET IT HERE

Ireland's intriguing PERRY BLAKE unveils new music gems on legacy-defining album 'Death of a Society Girl'

July 16, 2024

"One of music's great untapped resources and still on top of his game" ~ Music OMH

"The Last of The Great Songwriters" ~ Radio Nova

”Blake sounds like a cross between Bowie and Michael Nyman – only better” ~ Uncut

"Blake's glimpses of people living a state of mind is one of those great escapes, it's very hard to get away from. His gift here is to take a subdued, grown-up collection of songs but make them sound like they deserve daytime radio" ~ RTE.ie

'"A resilient rebirth’’ ~ The Observer

"We can luxuriate in Perry Blake’s generous, comforting voice – spotting traces of Nick Drake, trip hop and Gary Numan” ~ Hot Press

"A rich evolving sound-scape that cocoons Blake's almost surrealist lyrics. The limits of the Downtempo rulebook are broadly stretched with a weaving instrumentation that dips and wanders" ~ The Goo Review

Irish singer-songwriter Perry Blake, who largely came to fame in France and flourished with a career that brought opportunity throughout Europe, has released his new album 'Death of a Society Girl' via Moochin' About Records . There are nine compositions on offer, including the focus track 'Let's Fall In Love'.

His first music in five years, following the critically acclaimed ‘Songs of Praise’ (5 Stars MOJO), this album also marks 26 years for Blake as a recording artist. Very much of the here and now, this album also offers traces of Perry’s previous heady work - not dissimilar to his French Top-40 eponymous debut album - finding Perry at the height of his powers.

Earlier, Blake released the epic title track 'Death of a Society Girl' featuring British actor Paul McGann, known worldwide for his roles in BBC's 'Doctor Who', 'Withnail & I', 'Empire of the Sun', 'Alien 3' and 'Queen of the Damned'. He also teased the light-filled cinematic single 'Concertina' shortly before the album's release.

Co-written and co-produced with long-term collaborator Graham Murphy (Clannad, Sharon Shannon, Marie Brennan), this album features Blake's hallmark surrealist lyrics and original artwork by Syrian-born artist Helen Abbas.

Known for his delicate, downtempo and beautifully melancholic output and uniquely soothing timbre, he is well known as a collaborator of Françoise Hardy, who sang on 'War in France' (from his album 'Still Life'). He also contributed lyrics for her platinum-selling album 'Tant de belles choses’, having co-written, mixed and produced two songs ('Moments' and 'So Many Things') on this record, together with Marco Sabiuhe. Blake would later release his own versionof the latter track.

Hailing from Sligo county, Perry Blake has been dubbed one of music’s great untapped resources. Polydor UK released his debut album ‘Perry Blake’ in 1998 (with three 'Singles of the Week' on Jo Wiley BBC Radio 1), after which he moved to France. He achieved cult status there and across Europe, releasing a string of critically-acclaimed studio albums, a live album recorded at Cirque Royal Brussels with a full orchestra, as well as the soundtracks for ‘Presque Rien’ and 'Trois Petites Filles'.

'Death of a Society Girl' album https://moochinaboutltd.bandcamp.com/album/death-of-a-society-girl-2
'Death of a Society Girl' album https://open.spotify.com/album/4vLiUb4UF09SmcAVMf8R1Y

Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/artist/perry-blake/41417526

Over the years, his musical endeavours has led him to collaborate with numerous musical luminaries, including Toby Pitman (Paul McCartney, George Michael, David Arnold, Clint Mansell, Shirley Bassey), Steve Jansen (Japan, Rain Tree Crow), Glenn Garrett (Dead Can Dance, Brendan Perry), Neil Conti (David Bowie, Prefab Sprout), Rik Carter (The Mission, All About Eve), Marco Sabiu (Ennio Morricone, Tanita Tikaram, Luciano Pavarotti), Dickon Hinchliffe (Tindersticks), and world-renowned French electronic artist Émilie Simon.

Perry Blake’s melancholic, melodic soundscapes have featured in many European TV series and cinematic works. Between 2006 and 2011, these include 'Tiger Lily'and 'Clara Sheller' (France’s version of 'Sex in the City'), plus hit Italian movie 'L’uomo cheama' starring Monica Belluci. He has also appeared regularly on French TV and toured Europe with Carla Bruni, as well as with the French National Jazz Orchestra.

Perry Blake has published the children's book 'Gatos em Lissadell', as part of a collection by 12 authors, including former U.S president Jimmy Carter, Will Smith and Julie Andrews. He also has a separate collaborative music project with Glenn Garrett and Graham Murphy, called Electro Sensitive Behaviour.

'Death of a Society Girl' is now available exclusively for download via Bandcamp - this edition includes three bonus remixes by UK electronic artists KosmetiQ and Inertia. On July 5, the album will be released on CD and digitally everywhere else, including Apple Music and Spotify.

ALBUM CREDITS
All songs written by Perry Blake & Graham Murphy
Recorded at Orchardleigh, North West Ireland & the Production Suite Dublin
Engineered and mixed by Perry Blake & Graham Murphy at the Production Suite Dublin
Mastered by Steve Hall at Future Disc America
Produced by Perry Blake & Graham Murphy
Perry Blake - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards
Graham Murphy - Bass, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Additional Drum Programming, String Arrangements.
Artwork by Helen Abbas
Album cover design by Jason Lee Lazell
Released by Moochin’ About @2024
Distributed via PIAS @2024
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Artist photos by Sid Rainey

TESTAMENT | REMASTERED VERSIONS OF THE LEGACY & THE NEW ORDER OUT NOW!

July 14, 2024

Iconic Bay Area thrash metal pioneers TESTAMENT are proud to announce an explosive celebration of the band's enduring legacy and their influential presence in the thrash metal scene. The remastered versions of their seminal albums The Legacy & The New Order are available both digitally and now on vinyl via Nuclear Blast Records.

Eric Peterson comments, "The time has come for these limited edition Legacy and New Order re-releases to finally hit the streets! They sound better than ever and with a nice slicey tight wallop! Plus album-sized booklets with personal photos and notes never before seen from these eras! Also slightly different covers and different band pics from those photo shoots! What are you waiting for?🤘🏼"

The Legacy & The New Order were remastered by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound. Each album is available digitally and on 180G vinyl. The Legacy on red and white swirl with black splatter and The New Order on blue and purple swirl with black splatter, both limited to 1500 units worldwide. These special, limited-edition remastered LPs include alternate cover artwork, gatefold packaging with new liner notes, and an oversized booklet with never-before-seen images.

Order The Legacy here:
https://testament.bfan.link/the-legacy-remastered

Order The New Order here:
https://testament.bfan.link/the-new-order-remastered

This Fall, the 'Klash of the Titans' makes its triumphant return to North America! Fans will enjoy an epic night of metal with thrash royalty TESTAMENT and KREATOR co-headlining the run. The 33-date trek will kick off on September 12th in Reno making its way across the US and will include 7 Canadian dates before concluding in San Francisco on October 27th. Joining the night are special guests Bay Area death metal pioneers and labelmates POSSESSED.

Don't miss your chance to witness this epic line-up!
Purchase the tickets at www.testamentlegions.com & www.kreator-terrorzone.de.

Confirmed dates for TESTAMENT and KREATOR's co-headlining 'Klash Of The Titans North American 2024' tour with POSSESSED are:
09/12/2024 Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort
09/13/2024 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
09/14/2024 Salt Lake City, UT - The Union Event Centre
09/16/2024 Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
09/17/2024 Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
09/18/2024 Vancouver, BC Canada - Vogue
09/20/2024 Calgary, AB Canada - MacEwan Hall
09/21/2024 Enoch, AB Canada - River Cree Casino
09/22/2024 Saskatoon, SK Canada - Coors Event Centre
09/24/2024 Winnipeg, MB Canada - Burton Cummings Theatre
09/26/2024 Maplewood, MN - Myth Live
09/27/2024 Chicago, IL - Radius
09/28/2024 Huber Heights, Oh - Rose Music Center
09/29/2024 Detroit, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
10/01/2024 Cleveland, OH - The Agora
10/03/2024 Toronto, ON Canada - History
10/04/2024 Montreal, QC Canada - MTelus
10/05/2024 New Haven, CT - College Street
10/06/2024 Boston, MA - House of Blues
10/08/2024 Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
10/10/2024 Montclair, NJ - The Wellmont Theatre
10/11/2024 Bethlehem, PA - Wind Creek Casino
10/12/2024 Raleigh, NC - The Ritz
10/13/2024 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
10/15/2024 Orlando, FL. - Hard Rock Live
10/16/2024 St. Petersburg, FL - Jannus Live
10/18/2024 Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall (Lawn)
10/19/2024 San Antonio, TX - The Aztec
10/20/2024 Dallas, TX - The Factory
10/22/2024 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
10/23/2024 Albuquerque, NM - Albuquerque Convention Center
10/24/2024 Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren
10/26/2024 Los Angeles, CA - Palladium
10/27/2024 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield

More information:
www.testamentlegions.com
www.facebook.com/testamentlegions
www.twitter.com/testament
www.instagram.com/testamentofficial
www.youtube.com/testamentofficial
www.tiktok.com/@testamentlegions

Dela Kay's EP, Falling Into Place, Explores Mental Health & Triumph Over Trauma Celebrating Resilience and Newfound Artistic Freedom

July 12, 2024

Alt-Pop artist, Dela Kay, has unveiled her highly anticipated EP, Falling Into Place, today. Co-written by Dela Kay, Nick Cozine, and Stefano Pigliapoco, this EP marks a pivotal moment in her career,

embodying her personal journey of self-rediscovery and artistic evolution after a challenging hiatus.

Falling Into Place is a profound reflection of Dela Kay’s transformative years, where she faced and overcame significant adversity, including a traumatic brain injury and a sexual assault shortly thereafter. These experiences led to a decline in her mental and physical health, leaving her struggling to regain her balance. However, after a period of healing and reconnecting with her musical roots, she emerged stronger, ready to share her story through her new music.

In collaboration with co-producer and co-writer Ryan Dulude, and main producer Stefano Pigliapoco, Dela Kay found herself in a creative space where everything seemed to "fall into place." This creative synergy is evident throughout the EP, particularly in the title track, which was penned during her first session with Stefano and Nick Cozine. The song poignantly addresses themes of anxiety, depression, and trauma, offering a beacon of hope to listeners who may be facing similar struggles.

"Creating this EP was a deeply personal journey for me. After everything I went through, from my brain injury to the assault, my mental health was in a fragile state. It was especially meaningful being able to collaborate with such supportive friends and create music that allowed me to find my way back,” said Dela Kay. "The title track is a message to my fans that things do get better, even when they seem hopeless."

Dela Kay's music has always been characterized by its authenticity, vulnerability, and high energy. With Falling Into Place, she delves even deeper, sharing her true self and crafting music that resonates with her and her audience on a profound level. The EP is not just a collection of songs but a testament to her resilience and a celebration of newfound artistic freedom. "I hope this EP reaches those who need it the most," Dela Kay continued. "Every time I listen to it, I’m reminded of my own journey and how important it is to keep moving forward. This is just the beginning of my new sound, and I’m excited for my fans to hear what’s coming next."

MORE INFO:
Dela Kay, who hails from the vibrant music scene of Nashville, TN, draws inspiration from artists such as The Maine, Maggie Lindemann, Paramore, and Avril Lavigne. Falling Into Place follows the success of her pre-release singles, “Saving Face,” “Nasty,” "IDWTAY" and "Let You Down," which have amassed over 210K streams and secured a spot on Shazam's Best New Music Apple Playlist. Dela Kay, who identifies as a songwriter first and foremost, believes that this phase of her career is her most authentic to date. With a commitment to releasing a series of singles throughout the rest of this year, she is determined to leave a lasting impression and make her mark on the music industry with her unique voice and perspective.

In 2014, her electro-pop style began to emerge through a collaboration with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and producer, Femke Weidema; which eventually led to her first electro-pop/European-infused single release, “9 out of 10,” as Dela Kay in 2016. Named by Earmilk as an artist who was gifted “with a rich, distinctive vocal style” for her 2018 release of “Make You Mine,” Dela Kay went on to continue releasing singles and garnering hundreds of thousands of streams. In 2019 Dela Kay released “All My Love” through Sony Music, which ended up charting 49 on the top 150 global artist charts for Digital Radio Tracker as well as in the top ten for the Top Independent Charts. The release of “Think About You” shortly followed, which ended up becoming Dela’s highest-streamed song to date with almost 800k streams and counting. After a brief hiatus, Dela Kay marked her return by debuting a new, more alternative sound in 2021 with the release of “The Worst Part,” via Wonderland Magazine.

DELA KAY ON SOCIALS:

Colin Stough Drops Hard-Hitting Lookin’ For Home EP

July 12, 2024

Pairing burning passion and coming-of-age struggle with the raw strength of a supercharged vocal and stinging lyrical honesty, 19 Recordings/BMG Nashville artist Colin Stough stands tall where Country and modern Southern Rock collide in his brand-new Lookin’ For Home EP. Available across all streaming platforms and digital retailers, listen to Stough’s Lookin’ For Home EP here.

“This EP is really special to me. I connect with every song on this project, and I’m so grateful for the writers who came together and helped me make this body of work what it is. It’s a pretty good reflection of me and my different personalities too,” shares Stough. “‘Boat Somewhere’ is me on a lazy – ‘I don’t want to have a care in the world’ – kind of day. That’s just a fun one, while ‘Sober’ and ‘Amen’ are those darker records where there’s a bit more of my struggles with right and wrong, pain, loneliness, and heartbreak out on display. ‘Makes Two of Us’ and ‘Outside Lookin’ In’ are the relationship songs, and relationships are usually where I find myself struggling with my demons the most – and then there’s ‘Lookin’ For Home.’ I’ve felt out of place most of my life, like I can’t figure out where I’m meant to settle or even if I’m meant to settle down somewhere someday. So, I guess in the meantime, I’ll just keep wandering about and writing songs about the journey.”

Presenting a full-spectrum view of a free spirit on the run for something more, the Lookin’ For Home EP reveals Stough as a vulnerable storyteller who’s fearlessly exploring the push and pull between small-town comfort and the drive to leave his mark on the world. Co-penned with hit-makers like Rivers Rutherford, Jacob Durrett, Chase Matthew, and more, highlights include previously released songs like the craving “Makes Two of Us” and tormented “Sober” – plus the road-weary “Amen,” a foreboding ballad sung from the end of an emotional rope. Narrated by a broken soul pining for the simple days of the past – and praying for escape from the demons at his door – “Amen” matches Stough’s warm growl with a softer side, as it chases down a dreamer who’s ready to leave the fast life behind. A chilling rocker with a dynamic Southern rasp, the pure grit track helps bring Stough’s mix of dark and light themes into sharper focus. All about the contrast between living hard and living well with lyrics by Stough, Jacob Durrett (also the producer), and Jordan Dozzi, listen to “Amen” here.

Arriving as Stough continues to carve out his place in the genre, the Lookin’ For Home EP follows his debut EP Promiseland, which helped introduce the American Idol Season 21 finalist as a serious contender in Nashville and beyond.

After a head turning appearance at CMA Fest 2024 last month, Stough will spend the rest of the year on the road with a series of coast-to-coast fair and music festival dates, plus select shows with Austin Williams, Chase Matthew, Midland, and The Lacs. Find a full list of dates here. 

ABOUT COLIN STOUGH:

While Country Rock phenom and Gattman, Mississippi, native Colin Stough is only knocking on the door to his twenties, he has traversed a long journey in a few short years – starting with his debut EP Promiseland and following up with new EP Lookin’ For Home. After learning to play guitar at 8 years old, Stough first pursued his artistic dreams at 10, boldly trading childhood possessions for his first guitar at a local pawn shop – an instrument he still plays to this day. After graduating high school, the naturally gifted singer and self-taught songwriter began working full-time as an HVAC technician, before his mother convinced him to audition for American Idol. Impressing judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie, Stough stunned viewers and soon built a thriving fan base, finishing third on Season 21 of the show in 2023. He spent the ensuing months writing and recording original music, while also touring nationwide to put his blowtorch vocal and guitar-slinging edge on full display. After signing with 19 Recordings/BMG Nashville, his distinctive mix of Southern Rock distortion and pure-Country style has helped Stough’s music rack up more than 19.8 MILLION global on-demand streams. Stough has headlined across the country and opened for established artists like Chase Matthew, Kidd G, and Drake White.

KEEP UP WITH COLIN STOUGH

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | YOUTUBE

SINGER + GUITARIST TIM MONTANA RELEASES NEW ALBUM SAVAGE TODAY, JULY 12

July 12, 2024

“Tim Montana is making a case for being 2024’s breakout rock act” (Loudwire)as the singer/guitarist/songwriter drops his debut rock album Savage, today. Get it here.

"I've finally found my creative freedom after a decade-plus in Nashville, feeling like an alien on a strange planet," Montana offers about the record. "I've been told I was too loud, too vulgar, and my appearance was scary for as long as I can remember on Music Row. Now, I can own all of these things with confidence and write the music I've always wanted to write."

He continues, "Savage was produced by one of my best friends, Micah Wilshire, and we came loaded for bear and ready to release one on the rock scene. These 11 songs go hard into my life thus far and are unapologetically me. Written and recorded between an 1800s cabin in Wise River, Montana and a converted tuff shed in Nashville, Tennessee, I was right in my element. This is the beginning of my future and the world better be ready because here comes the f***in' trailerhood."

The record has received press accolades from Knotfest, Metal Injection, Loudwire, and more.

“Montana harnessed a heavier rock sound… that's long been a part of his musical DNA.” (ABC Audio)

“He is bringing the hard rock influence of his childhood, the experiences of Los Angeles and the storytelling chops he built up in Nashville all together for a new rock album.” (Loudwire)

“Offering testament to his rock music lineage, the album combines Montana's keen songwriting ability with the kind of grit and conviction that has been his signature since day one.” (Knotfest)

Today, he shares the new focus track “Get You Some.”

"My wife would argue that I've never bought my four kids a five-star dinner; so, I'll call those lines foreshadowing," Montana laughs. "'Get You Some' is the heaviest song off the record and one helluva banger. It's a shout out to all the lost kids from the lost towns and marching orders to chase their dreams and keep clawing to the top!"

Montana cranks the knobs to 11 on "Get You Some," a certified hard-rock banger. It's the heaviest and most aggressive track on his debut rock album Savage. Thanks to the gnarly riffage, breakneck pace and Montana's ferocious howl that sounds like it crawled from the bowels of hell, "Get You Some" will find its way onto your gym playlist because it gets the red out! Throw the horns up, bang your head, start a mosh pit and "Get You Some."

On Savage, Montana gets in touch with his undeniable rock 'n' roll roots. Armed with grit, guitars, and a hunger for glory, Montana has been endorsed by Dave Grohl and ZZ Top's Billy F Gibbons, booked by David Letterman, and had his anthems used by the MLB and NHL. His moody, crackling, '90s-influenced riffs and whiskey-soaked vocals reel fans in while his storytelling keeps them. Savage is a custom and combustible cocktail, served in a dirty, cracked glass that proves why Montana earned iHeartRadio's "On The Verge" accolade.

Giving fans a preview of the project with a series of releases, the road to Savage kickstarted with “Devil You Know,” a track that Loudwire called “One of the 30 Best Rock + Metal Songs of 2023” and “a flawless track, both musically and lyrically.” The single would climb into the Top 5 at Rock Radio and solidify his place in the genre. It was followed by the breakout title track and most recently he leaked the final preview with “Die Today”, “a gritty and grungy anthem that pays tribute to the special forc

Tim Montana is touring heavily this year. He will support Bush, Jerry Cantrell, and Candlebox this summer and has appearances booked at major festivals. He will support Seether and Skillet on their U.S. tour this fall, and has also been confirmed as direct support to Myles Kennedy on his upcoming Winter 2025 tour. So, Tim Montana will continue to rock on through next year and beyond!

All dates are below.

TIM MONTANA ON TOUR:

SUMMER 2024:
SUPPORTING BUSH, JERRY CANTRELL, + CANDLEBOX:
7/26 — Bend, OR — Hayden Homes Amphitheater
7/27 — Spokane, WA — Northern Quest Pavilion Amp
7/31 — Salt Lake City, UT — USANA Amp
8/1 — Greenwood Village, CO — Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
8/3 — La Crosse, WI — Copeland Park
8/4 — Indianapolis, IN — Everwise Amphitheater At White River State Park
8/6 — Cedar Rapids, IA — McGrath Amphitheatre
8/7 — Chicago, IL — Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island
8/9 — Nashville, TN — Nashville Municipal Auditorium
8/10 — Maryland Heights, MO — Saint Louis Music Park
8/13 — Cleveland, OH — Jacobs Pavilion At Nautica
8/14 — Cincinnati, OH — Riverbend Music Center

FALL 2024:
SUPPORTING SEETHER + SKILLET:
9/17 — Asheville, NC — ExploreAsheville.com Arena
9/19 — Baltimore, MD — Pier Six Pavilion
9/20 — Boston, MA — Roadrunner
9/21 — Bethlehem, PA — Wind Creek Event Center
9/23 — Pittsburgh, PA — Stage AE Outdoors
9/24 — Chicago, IL — Radius
9/27 — Huntington, WV — Marshall Health Network Arena
10/2 — Kansas City, MO — The Midland Theatre
10/3 — St. Louis, MO — Saint Louis Music Park
10/5 — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall Lawn
10/6 — Dallas, TX — Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie
10/11 — Mesa, AZ — Mesa Amphitheatre
10/15 — Denver, CO — The Mission Ballroom
10/19 — Des Moines, IA — Vibrant Music Hall
10/20 — Minneapolis, MN — The Armory

WINTER 2025:
DIRECT SUPPORT TO MYLES KENNEDY:
1/17 — Joliet, IL — The Forge
1/18 — Minneapolis, MN — Varsity Theater
1/21 — Flint, MI — The Machine Shop
1/22 — Toronto, ON — The Concert Hall
1/25 — Glenside, PA — Keswick Theatre
1/27 — Boston, MA — Brighton Music Hall
1/28 — Asbury Park, NJ — The Stone Pony
1/30 — Baltimore, MD — Baltimore Soundstage
1/31 — Charlotte, NC — Neighborhood Theatre
2/2 — Nashville, TN — Brooklyn Bowl
2/3 — Atlanta, GA —Variety Playhouse
2/5 — Destin, FL —Club LA
2/7 — San Antonio, TX — Vibes Event Center
2/8 — Dallas, TX — Echo Lounge & Music Hall
2/11 — Lawrence, KS — Liberty Hall
2/12 — Denver, CO — Summit
2/14 — Mesa, AZ — The Nile Theater
2/16 — Los Angeles, CA — El Rey Theatre
2/18 — Sacramento, CA — Ace of Spades
2/20 — Seattle, WA — The Neptune
2/21 — Spokane, WA — Knitting Factory

MAJOR FESTIVALS:
8/30 — Pryor, OK — Rocklahoma
9/28 — Louisville, KY — Louder Than Life
10/8 — Boise, ID — Revolution Concert Hall (With Halestorm)
10/10 — Sacramento, CA — Aftershock

About Tim Montana:

Tim Montana forges a new frontier for hard rock. Following a tumultuous and downright unbelievable childhood in a trailer off-the-grid, the singer, guitarist, and entrepreneur left his home state of Montana in the rearview at barely eighteen-years-old. Driven by a restless work ethic, he quietly carved out a niche without comparison. Along the way, he performed on The Late Show with David Letterman at the behest of the host (practically unheard of for a totally independent artist), collaborated with everyone from Billy F Gibbons to Kid Rock (cracking the charts for the first time), made a fan out of Charlie Sheen (who directed the "Mostly Stoned" video), and even attracted his idol Dave Grohl to his corner. Forged by a long grind, he fulfilled his destiny in 2023. Tim shook the rock world with "Devil You Know." Christened "flawless" and "One of the 30 Best Rock + Metal Songs of 2023" by Loudwire, the breakout single surged onto Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay and Rock & Alternative Airplay charts. In its wake, iHeartRadio touted him as an "On The Verge Artist." Soon, he found himself booked for tours with Staind, Seether, Saint Asonia, Bush, and Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains (another hero of Tim's). Simultaneously, he and Gibbons purchased an historic bar and hotel Wise River Club in Wise River, MT. Coming back home to Montana inspired him to go even wilder on his 2024 full-length album, Savage. The hooks hit harder, the distortion was cranked up louder, and the spirit became freer. Tim is telling a story that will resonate far beyond his home state, and you can hear it loud and clear on the Music Knox/BMG project available now.

KEEP UP WITH TIM MONTANA
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | X | YOUTUBE

NYC electronic artist PAS MUSIQUE presents new 'Come Follow Me' album, a tribute to the dark genius of Fad Gadget

July 12, 2024

"A glitchy and eerie trip... an adventurous sonic thread, the electronic maestros we know as Pas Musique weave an instrumental path inspired by pioneers such as Zoviet France and NEU!" ~ The Spill Magazine

"Channeling the raw energy of industrial electronica, Pas Musique crafts a cacophonous yet electrifying soundscape, translating into a mind-bending experience" ~ Amplify Music Magazine

"Fans of 1980s electronic music will recognise the influences: early monophonic synths that spit out jarring sawtooth and creamy muted wave forms in equal proportion, as well as the one-note crunchy handclaps, tinny electronic hi-hats and thudding beat repetition to infinity" ~ Joyzine

"Pas Musique recall an industrial that once was, such cacophonous and ominously bustling sounds from the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Zoviet France, or more modern wreckers of civilization like the Belgian duo Silk Saw" ~ PopMatters

"Constantly pushing the boundaries of electronic music... Like neurons firing impulses on all cylinders contrasted by lightly biting buzzsaw nicks, much electro-knob-twiddling and a menacing sonic undercurrent" ~ Big Takeover Magazine

"An appealing if appropriately bizarre flow to everything... effective sound art" ~ Scene Point Blank

Brooklyn-based experimental electronic artist Pas Musique is ready to reveal his new full-length album 'Come Follow Me', released via NYC-based label Alrealon Musique. Prepare to be led down a shadowy sonic path on this new full-length exploration of electronic dissonance with seven tracks that pays homage to the late Frank Tovey a.k.a. Fad Gadget.

With roots deriving from 80's synthpop, these compositions offer a touch of modern noise, lyrics that are inspired by metaphysical and philosophical themes, and abstract vocalizations. These electro-krautrock-influenced tracks were previewed by the title track and the single 'Too Civilized', which blasts the myth of progress, implying that the shiny veneer of progress masks a society and systems that have been degraded - a regression of our own making.

Influenced by such artists as Faust, Coil, Zoviet France and NEU, Pas Musique was launched in 1995 Brooklyn as a solo abstract-sound project of founder Robert L. Pepper, having since evolved through different lineups and variations of experimental electronic iterations.

Album order https://alrealonmusique.bandcamp.com/album/come-follow-me
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/6H6sOxEpbNr7EvtUknZY6I
Apple Music https://open.spotify.com/artist/6H6sOxEpbNr7EvtUknZY6I

The new album follows up 2023's 'Shaman' album and 2021's 'Amateur Radio', when Pas Musique was a four-piece consisting of Jon V Worthley, Michael Durek, Jesse Fairbairn and Robert L. Pepper. While still involved with live performances (and other recordings currently in the works, it is solely Pepper involved in the new album.

"This is the first album where I added vocals and not solely vocalizations. It's a balance of the commercial and the strange. It is a tribute to the pop-industrial project Fad Gadget so I tried to keep my experimental edge and add in some pop elements. I never thought I would be trying something like this. But if you know Pas Musique's history, we change periodically with different styles. I like to keep the sound fresh and challenge the project sonically," says Robert L. Pepper.

"It started with a concept of "Could I make an album with vocals, while dipping into a pop edge?" So I wrote sequences that use some 80's sounding synth sounds in the style of Fad Gadget. Then the vocals just came to me. 'Come Follow Me' was the first track that materialized and then the workflow began. Tracks just evolve naturally."

Since emerging on the music scene 29 years ago, Pas Musique has pursued musical elements of electronic and experimental music with krautrock undertones. Pas Musique has collaborated with many great musicians, including Faust, Rapoon, ZEV, Philippe Petit, HATI, Chester Hawkins, Jim Tuite, and many more. Pas Musique has performed in 18 countries and throughout the United States. Pas Music is also currently working with Robin Storey of Rapoon on other completely avant, experimental, improvisational compositions.

On July 12, the 'Come Follow Me' album will be available everywhere digitally, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. It will also be released by Alrealon Musique on CD.

CREDITS
Written and performed by Robert L. Pepper
Recorded, mixed, mastered & produced by Pas Musique
Catalog Number: ALRN145
Video created by Pas Musique
Film footage by Anrrea Dune, Anthony Donovan, Audrey Dégez, Black Saturn, Brandstifter, Cristobal Eme, Damien Olsen, Dan Gitlin, Daniel McKleinfeld, El Santo del Rock, Jim Tuite, Jon Worthley, Katrin Rätte, Ken Beckford, Kensaku Nishizato, Kurt Schamann, Lazaro LaVista, Linda Ganus, Marc Edwards, Meeky, Rute Ventura, Shaun Sandor, Susannah Gilley Nishizato, Thomas Boettner (Straight Panic) & William Kurtis Chang (張光偉)
Artist photos by y Robert L. Pepper
Cover artwork and photography by Pas Musique
Released by Alrealon Musique
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

TOUR DATES
SEPT 07 Salem, MA - Sonorium/SATV
SEPT 11 Boston, MA - O'Brien's Pub
SEPT 12 Troy, NY - No Fun
SEPT 14 Homer, NY - NEEM Fest/Homer Center For the Arts
SEPT 16 Buffalo, NY -Mohawk Place
SEPT 20 Columbus, OH - Frequency Fridays at Fuse Factory
SEPT 21 Chicago, IL - Tri Triangle
SEPT 22 Indianapolis, IN - The Irving Theater
SEPT 23 St. Louis, MO - William Kerr Foundation
SEPT 24 Nashville, TN - Random Sample
SEPT 25 Memphis, TN - The Lamplighter
SEPT 26 Louisville, KY, CAMP
SEPT 27 Athens, GA - Bolo Bolo
SEPT 28 North Charleston, SC - Tualingua

Keep up with Pas Musique
Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Soundcloud | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music | Press contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Instagram | Link edIn | Email

FEDERALE marks 20 years of Alternative Spaghetti Western music on sixth album 'Reverb & Seduction' album. Catch their West Coast tour

July 12, 2024

“Equal parts Ennio Morricone, Lee Hazelwood, and Nick Cave with a touch of Chris Isaak’s less romantic side… few if any artists are brave and/or creative enough to channel this ghostly, often ominous vibe into moving, sensual and stirring music” ~ American Songwriter

"Their most immersive and varied album to date, Collin Hegna and his merry band of music-makers take us on a fantastic journey... and on ‘Heaven Forgive Me’, Hegna channels the post-punk vibes of such bands as The Church, Pink Turns Blue and The Mission to our delight" ~ The Spill Magazine

Portland's iconic outfit Federale present their sixth studio album 'Reverb & Seduction' album, out July 12 via Jealous Butcher Records. Led by Collin Hegna, Federale marks 20 years with this release. A member of The Brian Jonestown Massacre for equally as long, Hegna has been party to a lot of feedback & fuzzed out guitars in his time.

'Reverb & Seduction' is a 10-track tour-de-force road trip from psych rock to country duets, never straying too far from the spaghetti western roots that inspired the band many blood-moons ago. What began as an homage to those cinematic soundscapes of the Italian 60s has evolved well past those not-so-humble beginnings. Today's Federale draws from inspirations as wide ranging as Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Lee Hazlewood and also, naturally, BJM.

The throughline in all these influences is a penchant for the darkly romantic. Our narrator guiding us through these stories delivers the news in deep baritone reflecting the gravitas of the song’s arrangements. Distorted guitars, mellotrons and 70s inspired string arrangements sit side by side with driving drum patterns and moaning pedal steel. This goat's head alphabet soup of inspirations mingles to create a sum stranger than the whole of its parts. A siren calls us in the night towards certain destruction, but its song is so beautiful we cannot resist.

These musical homages involve a lineup of well-known Portland rock-scene vets, including talents from The Dandy Warhols, The Shivas, Roselit Bone, Rogue Wave and Delines. Members of The Black Angels, Jenny Don’t & The Spurs, Mission Spotlight and Courtney Barnett's band also contribute, as well as Grammy nominee Hunter Lea (Nancy Sinatra / Lee Hazlewood reissue producer) and Andrew Joslyn (Nancy Wilson, Kei$ha, Macklemore, Mark Lanegan)

'Reverb & Seduction' album order https://pocp.co/reverb-and-seduction
Bandcamp https://federalemusic.bandcamp.com/album/reverb-seduction
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/0FJAzzoB80bjFF6wdu3G9B

“This album to me represents the culmination of 20 years of sonic exploration. With each record I’ve allowed a few more genres and musical influences into the playground. And with this, our 6th full length, I wanted to see how well they all played together at once. I was curious what happened when you crossed 80s deathrock with 70s folk balladeer stylings. Or 60s acid jams with string laden country crooning. It turns out it works pretty well,” says Collin Hegna.

"Before, I'd have an idea and think, 'Well, that can't be a Federale song', because it had distorted guitars or whatever. But then I thought, 'Well, why not?'"

Recorded at Revolver Studios in Portland, this album was engineered by Collin Hegna, Matt Thomson and Andrew Joslyn, who boasts five 5 Grammy Award winning albums. Mixed by Hegna with Jeff Stuart Saltzman (The Black Keys, The High Violets) and Matt Thomson, it was mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph Mastering.

This openness to a broader palette of influences allows 'Reverb & Seduction' to veer into psychedelic and even gothic territory - think Love and Rockets or Sisters of Mercy - that the 2010s Federale might have considered off limits. For instance, the album's first single 'Heaven Forgive Me' draws on Goblin (the Italian prog-rockers who scored 'Suspiria') and a little Depeche Mode, and the 'No Strangers'is a sonic tribute to Lee Hazlewood, while the third single 'Advice From A Stranger' borrows the fuzz and feedback of DIG!-era BJM and The Electric Prunes.

Beginning to color outside those Ennio Morricone lines, perhaps Hegna has finally decided to give his psych-rock alter ego a seat at the Federale table. For all these rumblings of change, 'Reverb & Seduction' is still very much a Federale record, and longtime fans will find plenty of the cinema-ready soundscapes they've come to expect.

Federale has carved out a unique niche within the indie music landscape, blending their signature spaghetti-Western instrumental sound with increasing doses of moody vocal arrangements in the spirit of Lee Hazlewood and late-period Leonard Cohen. Through it all, Hegna – as both songwriter and lead singer – maintains a strictly retro vibe. Federale's records have always sounded period-correct for an alternate-universe 1971, where rock and roll never caught on.

The film industry continues to take notice as well: The band's latest licensing successes include placing tracks in the trailer for the Colin Farrell / Brendan Gleeson vehicle 'Banshees Of Inisherin', as well as in the Kate Hudson thriller 'Mona Lisa & The Blood Moon' and Swiss action/comedy 'Mad Heidi'.

As of July 12, 'Reverb & Seduction' album will be everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and Band camp. It will also be released on CD and limited edition vinyl, available via the net and from fine record dealers.

Federale's 'Reverb & Seduction' tour, which takes them up and down the U.S. West coast and beyond, kicks off in Portland on July 12 with their album release show. A European tour is anticipated in late fall 2024.

CREDITS
Written, arranged and produced by Collin Hegna
Recording Engineering - Collin Hegna, Matt Thomson, Andrew Joslyn
Recorded at Revolver Studios in Portland, OR
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5 Mixed by Matt Thomson & Collin Hegna
Tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Mixed by Jeff Stuart Saltzman
Mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph Mastering
Drums on Tracks 1-5 by Pat Spurgeon
Drums on Track 6 by Joe Mengis
Drums on Track 7 by Dave Mudie
Drums on Tracks 8-10 by Brian Gardiner
Pedal Steel & Guitar on Tracks 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 by Rick Pedrosa
Guitar on Tracks 1-6 by Jared Molyneux
Guitar on Track 4 by Victor Franco
Guitar on Tracks 1 & 3 by Ryan Lynn
Guitar on Track 9 by Paul Dillon
Strings on Tracks 7, 8, 9, 10 by Andrew Joslyn
Harpsichord on Tracks 7 & 10 by Hunter Lea
Harpsichord on Track 9 by Brian Gardiner
Additional Harpsichord on Track 10 by William Morrisey Slater
Vocals on Track 8 by Jenny Connors
Vocals on Track 10 by Carla Kihlstedt
Additional Vocals on Track 5 by Kristen Leonard
Additional Vocals on Track 2 by Alex Maas
Trumpet & Piano on Track 4 by Cory Gray
Trumpet on Track 8 by Cory Gray
All other Instruments, percussion & vocals by Collin Hegna
Management: Andy Ross @ Exit Strategy Productions
Publicity: Shauna McLarnon @ Shameless Promotion PR
Tour poster designed by Tobias Berblinger
Released by Jealous Butcher Records
Album Catalog #JB248