Page 134 – That Eric Alper

Guitar Virtuoso Paul Gilbert Unleashes Concept Album ‘WROC’ With “Keep Your Feet Firm and Even”

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

Guitar Virtuoso Paul Gilbert Unleashes Concept Album ‘WROC’ With “Keep Your Feet Firm and Even”

Six-string wizard Paul Gilbert drops his ambitious new album ‘WROC’ today via Music Theories Recordings and Artone, alongside the video for “Keep Your Feet Firm and Even.” The project stands as one of his most outlandish and inventive statements yet, channeling George Washington’s Rules of Civility into a full-throttle rock manifesto.

“Keep Your Feet Firm and Even” draws from Rules 10 and 19, transforming 16th century etiquette into sharp-edged riffs and melodic hooks. “I realized that some of the rules might be more challenging than I had anticipated,” Gilbert says, admitting he was breaking one while writing about it. The humor runs deep, but the musicianship cuts even deeper.

‘I’ve never in my life had such a good time writing songs,” Gilbert shares. Many lyrics are lifted word-for-word from Washington’s guide, reshaped into driving choruses and soaring melodies. “WROC is my first vocal album since 2016… I hope my vocal and guitar melodies will stir your heart and improve your table manners. Spit Not in the Fire!”

Recorded live in four days at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, the album features Nick D’Virgilio on drums, Doug Rappoport on guitar, and Timmer Blakely on bass. AC/DC crunch meets Steppenwolf grit, with harmonic nods to Burt Bacharach, Todd Rundgren, and The Beatles. The result moves fluidly through shifting time signatures and styles without losing momentum.

From his pop-rock triumphs in Mr. Big to the high-velocity metal of Racer X, Gilbert has built a career on fearless evolution. ‘WROC’ captures that restless spirit, bending centuries-old civility into modern rock firepower. The rules may be historic, but the sound is immediate and alive.

Audiophile Reissue Label Mobile Fidelity Revives Harry Chapin’s ‘Verities & Balderdash’

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

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Audiophile Reissue Label Mobile Fidelity Revives Harry Chapin’s ‘Verities & Balderdash’

High-fidelity reissue leader Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab presents the first-ever audiophile editions of Harry Chapin’s 1974 folk-rock landmark ‘Verities & Balderdash.’ Available now at mofi.com, the album arrives as a numbered 180g 33RPM LP limited to 3,000 copies and a numbered Hybrid SACD limited to 2,000 copies.

Sourced from the original master tapes and mastered from analog to DSD 256 and back to analog, the vinyl is pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California and housed in a premium Stoughton jacket with a four-page insert. The Hybrid SACD comes in mini-LP-style gatefold packaging, honoring the album’s era and presentation.

Home to the No. 1 single “Cat’s in the Cradle,” ‘Verities & Balderdash’ remains a generational touchstone. Its tonal balance, instrumental separation, and organic naturalism come into vivid focus in these editions. The surfaces are dead quiet, the imaging expansive, and Chapin’s voice lands with striking realism.

Certified double platinum, the album moves from the romantic “I Wanna Learn a Love Song” to the vivid storytelling of “30,000 Pounds of Bananas.” These reissues spotlight Chapin’s soulful timbre and guitar work with renewed presence. ‘Verities & Balderdash’ stands tall as both a sonic and cultural milestone.

TRACK LIST (VINYL):

Side One:
Cat’s in the Cradle
I Wanna Learn a Love Song
Shooting Star
30,000 Pounds of Bananas
She Sings Songs Without Words

Side Two:
What Made America Famous?
Vacancy
Halfway to Heaven
Six String Orchestra

Nottingham Indie-Art Pop Outfit Vona Vella Unveil “Brand New Boy”

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

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Nottingham indie-art pop five-piece Vona Vella return with dreamy new single “Brand New Boy,” lifted from their second album ‘Carnival,’ out nowvia Strap Originals. The accompanying video finds front duo Dan Cunningham and Izzy Davis posing for intimate close-up selfies, nodding to the lockdown-era performances that first introduced them to fans.

“One of mine. Very Velvet Underground,” Izzy says of the jangling, introspective track. “About someone being too good to be true. About not believing something could be so good, so you’re holding off, waiting for it to go wrong.” The song glides on spangling guitars and entwined vocals, carrying a sense of suspended wonder.

Recorded at Albion Rooms in Margate and produced by Jason Stafford, ‘Carnival’ expands their sound into lush art-pop terrain. From the Breeders-leaning “Bass Driver” to the punch of “I Wanna Tap Into Your Heaven Again” and the ache of “Exit Plan,” the album captures a band sharpening its identity with precision and flair.

Following support from BBC Introducing and national tastemakers, plus tours alongside Babyshambles and Justin Hawkins, Vona Vella launch their headline Fun House tour. The Nottingham homecoming at Bodega caps a run that cements their growing momentum. “Brand New Boy” stands as another confident step forward.

CARNIVAL TRACKLIST:

Carnival
Bass Driver
You Can Be So Ugly
Come By
Over and Over
I Wanna Tap Into Your Heaven Again
Exit Plan
Settle Down
Brand New Boy
Selfish Dogs
Falling In A Sleeping Wind
Bear Trap
Bottled

TOUR DATES:
March
1st Bury, Wax and Beans (Instore show)
2nd Liverpool, Jacaranda (Instore show)
3rd Leeds, Crash (Instore show)
4th Coventry, Just Dropped In (Instore show)
5th Oxford, Truck (Instore show)
6th London, Dash The Henge (Instore show)
7th Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club
11th Birmingham, Dead Wax
12th Leicester, The Big Difference
13th Derby, The Victoria Inn
14th Blackpool, Bootleg Social
17th Bristol, Exchange
18th London, The Social
20th Manchester, Rat & Pigeon
24th Liverpool, Jacaranda

April
4th Stockton Calling, Stockton
28th Nottingham, Bodega

Folk-Blues Guitarist Todd Albright Unveils ‘Blues For Dexter Linwood’

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

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Folk-Blues Guitarist Todd Albright Unveils ‘Blues For Dexter Linwood’

Detroit folk and blues 12-string stylist Todd Albright releases the second single from his upcoming album ‘Blues For Dexter Linwood,’ produced by Charlie Parr and arriving April 17. The record launches Misfortune Records, a new Detroit imprint inspired by the city’s Fortune Records legacy. It is a stripped-down, reverent document of pre-war songcraft.

Recorded in mono with a single microphone by Tom Herbers, the album revives songs by Blind Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lead Belly, and Mississippi John Hurt. The sound is immediate and unvarnished. Every scrape of string and breath between lines carries weight.

The new single, a slide-driven take on Paul Geremia’s “If That Woman’s Love Was Whiskey,” finds Albright in open-D Vestapol tuning. “It’s one of those songs that I didn’t so much learn as absorb,” he says. Producer Charlie Parr adds, “Todd Albright kind of exists in mono anyway… Every note is purposeful.”

‘Blues For Dexter Linwood’ follows Albright’s previous releases, including work with Third Man Records after being signed by Jack White. A veteran of AmericanaFest, MerleFest, SXSW, and more, Albright draws from John Lee Hooker and Dave Van Ronk while forging his own steady voice. The album lands as a direct line to tradition, played with conviction and depth.

TOUR DATES:
March 12 — Stockbridge, MA — Lion’s Den
March 13 — Peterborough, NH — Harlow’s Pub
March 14 — New Bedford, MA — First Unitarian Church
March 15 — South Kingstown, RI — Java Madness
April 17 — Hyattsville, MD — Archie Edwards Blues Foundation
April 19 — Pittsburgh, PA — Acoustic Music Works
April 21 — Asheville, NC — The Grey Eagle
April 24 — Charlottesville, VA — The Front Porch
May 16 — Bethlehem, PA — Godfrey Daniels
May 17 — Beacon, NY — Guitar Workshop
May 22 — Northampton, MA — The Parlor Room
June 26 — La Pointe, WI — Tom’s Burned Down Cafe
June 29 — Rochester, MN — Mayo Clinic – Charlton Building
July 14 — Appleton, WI — Stone Arch Brewpub

Funk-Rap Firebrand TiaCorine Drops “Was Hannin” Video With Wiz Khalifa

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

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Funk-Rap Firebrand TiaCorine Drops “Was Hannin” Video With Wiz Khalifa

North Carolina funk-rap force TiaCorine unleashes the official video for “Was Hannin” featuring Wiz Khalifa, a swaggering standout from her acclaimed album ‘CORINIAN,’ out now via Interscope Records. The visual opens backstage at a strip club, where Tia prepares alongside dancers as tension simmers. A split-screen tracks Wiz clearing security, setting up a twist that flips the script into a slick revenge caper.

The track pulses with glowing synths, rubbery bass, and sharp percussion from boysarerolling, Owdji, and vito. Tia commands the groove with melodic ease, chant-singing lines that glide over the beat. Wiz Khalifa enters with effortless cool, matching her wavelength and sharpening the record’s bounce with punchline-driven bars.

‘CORINIAN’ brims with stylistic pivots and fearless collaborators, including Saweetie, Flo Milli, Smino, J.I.D, and Pouya. The project has drawn wide acclaim, earning praise from Pitchfork, HYPEBEAST, HYPETRAK, Rolling Out, and XXL. Its run of striking visuals, from “Lotion” to “Backyard” and “ATE,” reinforces Tia’s flair for cinematic world-building.

The album completes a trilogy following ‘Almost There’ and her debut ‘I Can’t Wait,’ home to the RIAA Gold hit “FreakyT.” Since making the XXL Freshman Class, TiaCorine has toured major festivals and joined high-profile collaborations, including work with Chance the Rapper and the supergroup The Scythe. “Was Hannin” lands as another bold chapter in her evolving story.

Winnipeg Indie-Folk Project tofusmell Unveils Debut Album ‘All My Time’

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

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Winnipeg Indie-Folk Project tofusmell Unveils Debut Album ‘All My Time’

Winnipeg by way of Orlando indie-folk artist Rae Chen releases the debut tofusmell full-length ‘All My Time’ on CD and digital April 24 via Hardly Art. The album expands Chen’s vulnerable, clear-eyed songwriting into a broader, lusher sonic landscape. It moves with patience and depth, balancing restraint with surging emotion.

“You cannot plan anything. You can’t expect anything good or bad. Everything is just going to continue to be however it will be,” Chen says of the record’s guiding philosophy. Across these songs, impermanence becomes grounding rather than destabilizing. The writing is precise and intimate, circling uncertainty with steady focus and quiet resolve.

After touring with Leith Ross and relocating from Florida to Winnipeg, Chen completed the album with new collaborators. Six tracks were co-produced with Keiran Placatka, shaped as much by emotional atmosphere as arrangement. Four others were crafted with Paul Larson in Los Angeles, leaning into a dynamic live-band energy rooted in early-aughts folk-rock.

Out now, “Dreams I’ve Had” arrives with a lyric video directed by Chen. “This song is about some dreams that I’ve had,” he shares, reflecting on fragmented images of lateness, loss, and death. Despite the varied production hands, ‘All My Time’ remains cohesive and assured, held together by Chen’s enveloping storytelling and steady artistic voice.

Alt-Country Troubadour Adam Gaffney Unveils “Don’t You Cry”

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

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Alt-Country Troubadour Adam Gaffney Unveils “Don’t You Cry”

St. Louis alt-country artist Adam Gaffney releases “Don’t You Cry” on April 23, a deeply personal song of forgiveness written for his mother before her death. Built on angelic three-part harmony and glowing Wurlitzer tones, the track drifts between chicken-picking twang and cosmic textures. It feels expansive and intimate at once, anchored by a chorus that rises with open-armed honesty.

“My mom had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer,” Gaffney says. He describes long drives in silence, hospital visits delayed by bureaucracy, and the helpless weight of watching her fade. “I wanted to take care of my mother there at the end… The song came to me while driving in that silence.” The vulnerability cuts straight through.

“Don’t You Cry” previews Product of Another Sad Song, out May 8, 2026. The 13-song album, woven with four short poems, traces grief, lost love, and sobriety with unflinching clarity. Traditional country echoes meet folk lyricism and a stubborn, rebellious streak. It is a record grounded in lived experience and hard-won resolve.

Backed by the Balladeers and produced by Jorge Valcarcel, Gaffney performs alongside Austin Jones, Ryan Gillespie, Laura Noelani, Kendell Scott, Karen Choi, and Evan Farris, with poems recited by Fred Friction. Mastered by Alex Saltz, the album builds on festival appearances and national stages. “Don’t You Cry” lands as a quiet anthem of endurance.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
Mar. 1 — Festus, MO @ Taytros
Mar. 6 — St. Louis, MO @ Hammerstones
Mar. 7 — St. Louis, MO @ Stellar Hog
Mar. 12–18 — Austin, TX @ SXSW
Mar. 28 — Staunton, IL @ Mississippi Culture

Apr. 3 — St. Louis, MO @ CBGB
Apr. 4 — Edwardsville, IL @ Samm’s Last Chance Saloon
Apr. 17 — Long Island, NY @ South Shore Guitar Boutique
Apr. 18 — Brooklyn, NY @ Pete’s Candy Store
Apr. 20 — Long Island City, NY @ LIC Bar
Apr. 25 — Sparta, IL @ White Rooster
Apr. 26 — Lincoln, NE @ Bierhaus

May 2 — Laramie, WY @ Ruffed Up Duck
May 3 — Golden, CO @ Goosetown Station

Kasey Tyndall Teams With Pop Evil On “Maybe You’re The One”

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

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Kasey Tyndall Teams With Pop Evil On “Maybe You’re The One”

Country-rock standout Kasey Tyndall joins platinum-selling rock band Pop Evil for the new single “Maybe You’re The One,” a soaring call-and-response ballad built for big stages and bigger emotions. Fueled by grit and arena-sized hooks, the track bridges country storytelling with hard-driving rock intensity.

Pop Evil’s Leigh Kakaty brought most of the song to the table and sought a female country voice who matched its spirit. The collaboration came together in Nashville, where the artists recorded with producer Derek Wells. “When someone suggested a collaboration with Pop Evil, it was a no-brainer,” Tyndall shares. “Their music is so authentic.” The result hits with force and feeling.

“Sometimes the one you overlook is the one who never left,” Kakaty adds. Known for explosive live shows and a debut album praised for its country-rock balance, Tyndall continues her ascent with major tour dates and songwriting credits including “Bar in Baton Rouge” on Lainey Wilson’s GRAMMY-nominated ‘Whirlwind.’ “Maybe You’re The One” lands as a powerful crossover moment.

Country-Rocker Stephen Styles Gets Candid On “Whiskey And Vinyl”

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

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Country-Rocker Stephen Styles Gets Candid On “Whiskey And Vinyl”

With “Bar By Now” climbing the Music Row Country Breakout Chart, California country-rock artist Stephen Styles shifts gears with his new digital release, “Whiskey And Vinyl.” Solely written by Styles and available now on all streaming platforms, the track reveals a quieter, more reflective side of the rising singer-songwriter.

“There’s something different about vinyl, it’s raw, imperfect, and real, and that’s how emotions are too,” Styles shares. “For me, this song represents using music as a way to survive hard moments.” Built on his signature “Zero to Hillbilly” blend of classic country grit and Southern rock edge, the track leans into heartbreak, reflection, and finding calm within chaos.

“Bar By Now” continues its strong run with Top 10 most added honors at country radio, international airplay, a #2 spot on PlayMPE’s UK Streaming Chart, and placement on more than 500 Spotify playlists. “Whiskey And Vinyl” deepens the narrative, offering emotional honesty and a reminder that sometimes music is the only thing that truly understands the weight of the night.

Experimental Alt-Rock Project PARAXENIA Confronts Disconnection On “Trained to Ignore”

Music

Eric Alper

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Mar 2, 2026

0

Experimental Alt-Rock Project PARAXENIA Confronts Disconnection On “Trained to Ignore”

Experimental alt-rock project PARAXENIA announces the release of “Trained to Ignore,” available worldwide on March 24. The new single dives into emotional detachment and digital overstimulation, tracing how indifference becomes normalized in contemporary life. Through stark imagery and immersive sound design, the track reflects a landscape where noise overtakes meaning and distraction feels constant.

Built on layered guitars, atmospheric pads, textured production, and introspective vocals, “Trained to Ignore” unfolds like a suspended moment of blurred perception and muted reaction. Continuing the conceptual thread of previous releases, PARAXENIA aligns sound, visuals, and narrative into a cohesive aesthetic. The artwork and production evolved in tandem, reinforcing a minimalist yet emotionally charged identity.