STRATEGIC ARTIST ADVOCACY SINCE 1997
"'Soft Exchange' simmers at the edge of lush art pop and melodic indie rock, carried by meditative keys and meandering guitar lines.
“Karl Blau’s soft vocals and the band’s instrumentation gently craft a pastoral scene and the results fit effortlessly into the track’s hazy summer backdrop."
Thanks to Under the Radar for the kind words about my favorite song from the debut EP by Opal Eskar! See the premiere at the link.
Vinyl at Bandcamp!
Check out The Chapin Sisters, with an acoustic preview of their next single "All Through The Night" on The Great American Folk Show via Prairie Public Radio!
Click for your life… and see the video for the duo’s most recent single, “Bergen Street,” below!
"Karl will continue to be one of our country’s finest songwriters, coast to coast."
Thanks to KEXP for chatting with Karl Blau about the debut EP (out now) by Opal Eskar, his new collaborative project with Heyward Howkins and Chet Delcampo of Later Fortune along with Charlie Hall and Robbie Bennett of The War On Drugs.
Click the link for the full article, or hear it on the air tomorrow (Saturday, May 20). Listen to the EP and buy vinyl here.
"With a soulful psychedelic swell, we are greeted by ‘The Woodsman,’ the latest offering from Opal Eskar, a collaborative project from the prolifically diverse DIY icon Karl Blau."
cc: Heyward Howkins; Chet Delcampo
Thanks to Folk Radio UK for the love!
"Leaving Brooklyn, coming back as visitors and discovering both familiarity and estrangement inspired The Chapin Sisters' new song."
Abigail and Lily chat with BK Reader today about "Bergen Street," their first new music in five years.
"Growing up, art and music permeated Lily and Abigail’s lives. With GRAMMY-winning singer Tom Chapin as a father and folk-rock musician Harry Chapin — of ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ fame — as an uncle, it’s no surprise that music accompanied the sisters’ artistic lives."
Click for your life!
The first thing that jumped out at me when I saw this video was what I call "the twirls." It gave me that mellow NYC on a sunny morning when not everyone is up yet feeling. If you know, you know.
See the twirls in the music video for "Bergen Street" by The Chapin Sisters! Many thanks to The Bluegrass Situation for the premiere. More news soon!
P.S. It's National Siblings Day!
Back when he began recording 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦, J Hacha De Zola called to say he was collaborating with Fernando Vélez, an original member of the Dap-Kings.
I started to imagine what Fernando's musical contributions and sonic wisdom would bring to this record when paired up with J's distinctive style and point of view.
Jedd Beaudoin of Strange Currency has already called 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 the "spookiest make-out record of 2023 or any other other year," perfectly capturing what my thoughts had aspired to!
Hear "Stay Away" now. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 arrives June 9 via Caballo Negro, distributed by Slow Start Records! Photos by Adrian Buckmaster.
Good day!
Matthew Schwartz of Pacifico chatted with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the new Pacifico album 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 ahead of this Saturday's release show at Smith's Olde Bar.
Writer Matthew Smith calls the new Pacifico music "Ultra-catchy... compelling and cohesive."
See Pacifico this Saturday, February 18 at 8PM ET w/ support from Perfect Animal, Tiny Banshee, and Kick Snare Crash. Sponsored by WREK 91.1 FM, Criminal Records Atlanta & Terminus Tees | $12 ADV / $17 DOS.
David Byrne digs "Pure Drivel" by Alex Lilly! Check it out on his "Music For Valentines" playlist.
Alex's latest album 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐𝘴 𝘈 𝘚𝘪𝘯 is out now on Release Me Records!
Matthew Schwartz from Pacifico chats with SPIN today about a topic I am also too familiar with: The debilitating ways of the music industry!
The new Pacifico album 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 is about all manner of personal struggles with well-being. In this lengthy interview, writer Amanda Peukert focuses in particular on the single "Comatose," which makes the music biz its subject.
Schwartz says of the industry, "You’ve got to be the loudest person in every room, and, for me, that just isn’t healthy; I don’t like that." Amen!
mxdwn is calling the new video for "Complicated, Confiscated" by Pacifico "stunning" this morning, saying, "The pain in his eyes is recognizable and relatable through his guitar and soft voice."
Frankly, songs performed direct-to-camera have to really go all-in to convince me and Matthew just gives everything here. I feel like 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 (the new Pacifico album, out February 10) is brave in the raw way it addresses Matthew's personal struggles with anxiety and depression.
This record doesn't feel shrouded in third-person pondering. Like with the "Complicated, Confiscated" video, it comes right at you. I can't wait for you to hear it in full! For now, check out the video or listen where you listen.
Click for your life!
"The aneurysm affected his vertebral vein, so he isn't able to put as much pressure on his vocal cords or play instruments with the same intensity, but all of his attributes and innovative spirit emerge on each song."
I'm so happy that Dani Meza from the crushedvelvets recently got the opportunity to tell his story to Brian Blueskye of the Desert Sun, which is the daily paper in Indio — the town famous for Coachella where Dani grew up and still lives.
Click the image for the article and also video of the two talking music at Finders Keepers Records.
A full-length album by the crushedvelvets is in the works to follow-up Dani's trio of 2022 EPs called, "dreamy and soulful shuffles that have all the night-kissed grace of Julee Cruise and the poetic finesse of the Jazz Butcher," by Alex Green of Stereo Embers.
"Harbors a stormy undercurrent, reminiscent of both Elliott Smith and Radiohead at their most eerily understated."
"Complicated, Confiscated" is the latest single by Pacifico, out this Friday on Pacifirecords. Many thanks to Treble for premiering it this morning.
This one really gets me, as Matthew from Pacifico has so openly discussed writing this song as a mantra to get himself through crippling bouts of depression. He explains, "Each single, like every song on 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦, deals with a different form of self care. These songs deal with anxiety, depression, grace, patience, and drawing healthy boundaries."
Thanks to NPR member station KQED for spotlighting the "impassioned and sometimes painful emotions" of Caitlin Cobb-Vialet's signature song "Disco Ball," which is playing in my mind right now!
Caitlin will be performing at Cornerstone Berkeley on Tuesday, January 31. Debut album 𝘌𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘥 is out now. See the unforgettable "Disco Ball" video now.
Here we go 2023!
Queen City Sounds and Art describes "Afterglow" by Pacifico as a "tenderly psychedelic chamber pop song" with "beautiful acoustic guitar work and quietly luminous vocals and string arrangements that sound both melancholic and at peace."
A lovely thought to start the week, eh?!
Click the image to read more and to check out the stop-motion collage video.
𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 - the first Pacifico album in five years - is out February 10 (day before my birthday, fam!) with a record release show to follow (first full band show in a decade!) at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta on February 18.