Grammy Award winners John Paul White and Rosanne Cash are teaming up for the new single “We’re All In This Together Now” which is out today. Watch the video directed by Michael Kessler below.
“John Paul and I have been friends for years, and early on we awkwardly tossed the idea of writing a song together, but we never got around to it,” explains Cash. “The last few years have been tough. I wanted to find some little corner of community, some instinct toward unity. It was hard to find, so I figured I’d have to write it. Last year, I wrote these lyrics and sent them to John Paul. He wrote this gorgeous melody very quickly. I was so moved. But the song didn’t fit on my last record, and it didn’t fit on his last record, so it sat there waiting for just the right moment. Which is now.”
White adds, “I don’t believe I’ve ever been a part of something that foretold things to come as vividly as this song, or something that would feel so relevant months after its completion. I loved the song, but for whatever reason it hadn’t yet seen the light of day. I had recorded a guitar/vocal of the song in my studio in Florence, Alabama. Once it dawned on me recently how prescient the song was, I asked Rosanne if she’d be willing to put her voice on it. She said, ‘I thought you’d never ask.'”
Raffi’s label, Troubadour Music, announces the release of I Am Kind by an exciting new artist: Lindsay Munroe. Imbued with joy and a deep respect for children, these 16 songs offer encouragement with sparkling simplicity. Raffi’s voice adds to the charm of this all-ages inclusive album, which will be released on digital platforms on April 24th via Craft Recordings in the US. Today, fans may also pre-order the CD version of I Am Kind, to be released on June 12th, 2020.
This is the first Troubadour album featuring an artist other than Raffi in decades. Munroe is a lifelong fan of Raffi’s music. In June 2019, she and her youngest daughter attended Raffi’s concert in Worcester, MA. Meeting Raffi backstage, Lindsay was delighted when he said he was a fan of her “Sing Along with Lindsay” videos on YouTube. Over time, Raffi enjoyed hearing Lindsay’s original children’s songs, inspired by her own kids, and he suggested that she record an album. She agreed and was thrilled when Raffi offered to produce it.
Raffi suggested that Munroe’s album include children’s classics like “This Little Light of Mine” and “Frère Jacques,” as well as Raffi’s own signature tunes “The More We Get Together” and “De Colores.” Munroe’s love of traditional folk music is reflected in the tracks “Peace Like a River” and “Bluebird Bluebird.” Raffi’s familiar voice and his playing (guitar, ukulele, electric piano, bongos, and train whistle) enrich this album, and the energetic voices of Munroe’s three children add to the feeling of joining a sing-along with family and friends. Raffi says that Munroe “brings traditional songs to life with charm and a calm energy, just right for kids.”
Munroe is a passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion, whose singalong sessions delight youngsters at libraries and preschools near her home in Massachusetts. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist and mother of three children with autism, she found inspiration in the Raffi Foundation’s online course in Child Honouring. Her songs reflect the Child Honouring principles of Respectful Love, Diversity, Caring Community, Emotional Intelligence, and Nonviolence.
Indeed, positivity and hope exude the title track “I Am Kind” and “Every One of Us Belongs.” With her golden voice and singalong melodies, Munroe offers both inspiration and practical tools for all children, including those who are neurodiverse.
Research shows that music can help people with autism to improve skills in areas such as communication, sensory issues, behavior, cognition, perceptual/motor skills, and self-reliance. Deeply sensitive to special needs children, Munroe speaks directly to those who may need a little encouragement. As Raffi notes, songs such as “Ok to Make Mistakes” and “Waiting Nicely” are “positive affirmations that kids can internalize for those times they might need a melodic reminder that they are indeed capable people. With the current emphasis in education on social and emotional learning and on inclusion, Lindsay’s songs are a gift to the emotional intelligence in the social and playful learning of children in their early years.”
“Kindness Counts” is this year’s theme for Autism Awareness Month, and at a time when warm-heartedness is needed more than ever, I Am Kind strikes just the right notes. “I am happy to contribute something to the world during these trying times,” says Munroe. “I hope that all families, especially those with neurodiverse kids, can feel inspired and uplifted by these songs.”
Starting on Saturday, April 25th, Lindsay will publish activity guides to go along with each song. Visit LindsayMunroeMusic.com for the album news, and RaffiNews.com for the latest Raffi updates.
Penned by Shawanda and her husband/guitarist/producer Dewayne Strobel, the bittersweet ballad “When It Comes To Love” was the first single released from Church House Blues. She’s excited to release the song’s video here.
With regard to the video, Shawanda says, “For this song we initially had different ideas for the video, and planned to shoot it at home in Nashville, but due to the pandemic we’ve sort of been stuck in my hometown Wiikwemkoong reserve, in Canada, and were limited. So some of the footage is from a live show last year, and the rest was filmed by my Husband/guitar player Dewayne Strobel, and he and our little girl Zhaa Zhaa became my costars. I realize now it turned out the way it was meant to, because that’s what this song is all about, holding on for love. Kieth Holding was the video editor, and took all our home footage in a very creative way and made magic.
“I realize now it turned out the way it was meant to, because that’s what this song is all about, holding on for love.”
For her second album on True North Records, Nashville-based singer Crystal Shawanda has channeled the spirit and strength of blues greats such as Etta James and Koko Taylor, paired with a contemporary delivery that makes the 10 tracks on Church House Blues a rousing testament to her powerful vocal and songwriting abilities.
Recorded at several Nashville area studios, Crystal Shawanda says that the recording sessions for Church House blues allowed her to express herself without feeling like anyone was looking over her shoulder. “This is the most I’ve ever loved an album out of everything I’ve ever done,” she offers. “This is really who I am. It’s my most definitive album yet. All these songs reflect different aspects of who I am. It’s putting a finger on that definitively. I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m just being me. I’m done with trying to fit in.”
For the recording sessions, a sympathetic cast of all-star musicians was assembled, including session superstar Dave Roe on bass (Johnny Cash, Yola, Cee-lo Green), the McCrary Sisters on backing vocals, Dana Robbins of Delbert McClinton’s band on sax, and Peter Keys of Lynyrd Skynyrd on keyboards. Produced by her husband, collaborator and co-writer Dewayne Strobel, it not only marks her fourth blues effort to date, but one of her most demonstrative as well. That’s evident at the outset, from the fiery delivery of the title track, the riveting drive of “New Orleans Is Sinking,” and the assertive strains of “Rather Be Alone,” to the quiet, contemplative desire and despair that scorches “Evil Memory,” the radio-ready hooks illuminated in “Hey Love,” and the emotive strains instilled in the bittersweet ballads “When It Comes To Love” and “Bigger Than the Blues.” At the center of it all are Crystal’s evocative vocals, a powerful, provocative force of nature that elevates each encounter and sends the album’s entries soaring towards the stratosphere.
An indigenous musician who grew up on the Wikwemikong reserve on an island in Ontario, Canada, Crystal lived in a home filled with the music her oldest brother loved most: the blues – even though her parents encouraged her to play country songs. Moving to Nashville brought her some early success in country music, but as Crystal herself admitted in an interview, “The whole time I was singing Patsy Cline on stage, I was singing Etta James at home.”
Originally signed as a country artist to RCA Records in 2007, she produced a Top 20 hit on country radio, sold over 50,000 copies in the US, and reached Top 20 on the Billboard Country Album Chart; but the pull of the blues music she heard in her heart and soul was too strong to ignore. Eventually, she left RCA, formed her own label and began making the blues music that is her true calling.
It’s that free spirited approach that’s found her becoming a critical favorite. Her first album for True North Records, VooDoo Woman (2018) elevated her to the upper strata of today’s most expressive and exhilarating performers. Although influenced by such iconic individuals as Etta James, Koko Taylor and the Staple Singers, she claims a specific signature style all her own.
The critics agreed. “Shawanda is a real deal blues artist who isn’t dabbling in blues so much as channeling it,” Steven Ovadia wrote in Elmore Magazine. JD Nash of American Blues Scene raved, “Not only does Shawanda capture Koko Taylor’s Southside growl, but after a brief slow down for breath, morphs into a primal scream that would grab Janis Joplin by the shorthairs.”
Still, Crystal is hardly what one might call an overnight sensation. “I grew up with blues music and I used to jam with blues musicians when I was still living in Canada,” she recalls. “It’s funny. After moving to Nashville the second time in 2000, I was discovered while actually playing the blues —the music made by Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Big Mama Thornton, Janis Joplin. But when I was offered the record deal to make country music, it felt like the opportunity of a lifetime, and so I took it and ran.”
After scoring initial success as a country artist, she garnered a legion of devotees, marquee status as a major headliner, and even became the subject of a reality show, “Crystal: Living the Dream,” on the CMT television network.
She followed her stint at RCA with an independent effort Just Like You, garnering Canada’s prestigious Juno Award in the process. She also had the distinction of performing at President Barack Obama’s inauguration festivities in 2013. She’s since made her name as a motivational speaker and currently serves as board member of the not-for-profit Nike 7 charitable foundation.
“I veered towards the blues because that’s the music I love to sing,” Crystal says in retrospect. “It feels so natural, the kind of music I was meant to sing. It’s a beautiful release. It’s like letting a bird out of a cage. This is what I’m supposed to do. This is how I fly.”
Often, it’s easy to put a big button-down-shirt on a fresh fall day with a pair of jeans on top. No matter how preppy or straightforward, the down button is a classic look preferred by legends of beauty such as Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and Jane Birkin. With the arrival of Instagram available apparel, the charm of this iconic look has undoubtedly lost sight. Instead of the casual, more sexy style, we prefer eye-catching corsets and bra tops.
However, as the coolest stars say, the shirt is set to be the best styling tool this year — it might never have gone away entirely, but indeed during the New York Fashion Week, it had its time in the sun again. There were loads of striped button-downs lying on bright clothes and sporting thick, bumpy dresses. Others opted to stay with one-shoulder covering tops on the back. The traditional American prep look was inclined as well, i.e. with boxy-cut tops worn over the arms and a pair of jeans that matched beautifully.
It’s time to start this season and use the look for the button-down shirt. Buy your favourite bottom down shirt online and do not forget to use Napapijri discount code during checkout for some fantastic offers. Below, you can notice a few shirting choices.
With Basic Jeans
Nothing goes wrong with a pair of jeans, and the white down button is no different, shockingly. Both things are the big guns of our wardrobe and look so new and fresh together. Carry an oversized bag and pull your favourite pair of heels for that extra bossy look. One more thing! Do let your hair go down for the feminine touch.
All-time favourite Sneakers
Pull down the crisp button and search for a pair of stylish sneaks and a yellow Baseball Cap – it never looked so good! In this look carrying a backpack can never go wrong to show your casual side. Style your hair in any form, that’s the versatility of the shirt.
Skirt
We are a fan of how the skirt brings a fantastic amount of volume to our straight-up-and-down shirt, whether it’s mini, at the knee, midi, or full. These oversized button-down shirts can never go wrong with skirts. Throw your favourite jewellery or any accessories to look at a different dimension. Wear sneakers or heels; you can style anything.
Add Warm Layers
“This season is all about fabrics, and the Oversized Shirt which is suitable to blend into a trench coat or blazer or even a pair of funky overalls, with an angled collar or a not too thick cloth. Wear it under a sweatshirt and pull the sleeves and collar out of it. Do not forget to add a subtle neckpiece and a funky sunglass to compliment the look.
Going Offbeat with extra details
Are you going to attend a party after your meeting? Are you confused about what to wear on a brunch date? The traditional white button-down shirts go amazingly with leather details from a motorcycle top, a giant size leopard clutch or wrap-around platforms. Put your favourite lipstick shade, and guess what? You are ready to rock the party. White button-down shirts are easily available online at great deals by using Boden promo code.
Light Hues
We all have tried the denim on denim look but ever tried wearing light hues all round? Well, and then be the CEO of fashion on your group by pulling off the white button-down shirt with a soft hue bottom. Pair your clean white denim or gentle shade to your white button-down for an all-over angelic feel.
For a limited time only, Martin Guitar has partnered with TrueFire, the #1 most comprehensive online resource for guitar players of all skill levels, to give Martin customers 3-months of unlimited streaming access to TrueFire’s online library.
To qualify, residents of the US and Canada simply purchase any Martin instrument by May 31st and register the warranty at martinguitar.com/warranty by June 30th. Customers will receive a unique code that unlocks 40,000+ video lessons on TrueFire.com, along with a free download of Corey Congilio’s Acoustic Rhythm Guitar Playbook – that’s a $115 value!
TrueFire offers lessons for every style, genre, technique and skill level. Features include progress tracking, slo-mo and looping, and live stream sessions. For more on TrueFire, visit https://truefire.com.
Corey Congilio’s Acoustic Rhythm Guitar Playbook is a must for any serious guitarist. It dives deep into the art of acoustic rhythm playing with a massive curriculum, which is organized into six sections featuring 60 rhythm guitar studies and grooves. Visit https://coreycongilio.com for more on Corey.
For those looking to add to their collection of Martin guitars, or buying their long-awaited first, there has never been a better time to pick up a new Martin and take your playing to the next level.
Canadian future house electro artist Fonkynson’s genre-pushing creative heavy lifting is Falling into place with the release of his newest album — available now!
“Falling is an album where I took time and perspective about my music,” the Montreal-based artist says of the LP, touching on how it weaves a series of social flash points into a genre that doesn’t often touch such. “It reflects what I have been through the past years, musically and personally.
“I wanted something else, more ‘mature’ music and less ‘club’ music. Music you can listen to on your couch and is still relevant.”
Like the album’s title track, designed to serve as an immersive, self-reflective sonic cocoon. “I wanted it to be a song you can lose yourself into, let your feelings be expressed, go inward… An introspection, of sorts, but also a song you can close your eyes and dance to and let yourself go.
“I was in a special mood when I began to play some keyboards the day I wrote ‘Falling.’ It was rainy, I was feeling a bit nostalgic — not sad, but like when you cherish a memory, or a special moment that’s gone that overflowed with feelings you didn’t necessarily know how to deal with.
“I don’t get sad when I remember painful moments,” he continues. “I dig into them.”
Of the single “Mind Games,” he says, “That is our tendency as humans… To be enemies when it comes to life matters. Negative self-talk is something we all deal with but don’t necessarily talk about, especially in music. On this track, Desiire made an amazing job at writing a positive and uplifting song that inspires, as well as makes you dance.
“Best of both worlds!”
Speaking of Desiire’s co-write credit on “Mind Games,” that’s just one example of the creative collaboration Fonkynson called on for Falling, something he’s never really done before. “I’m trying to not be so alone in my process anymore, so I invited several musicians and singers to join the party, and bring their own meaning to the songs,” he explains. “Working with other artists really made the music take off elsewhere.
“I was kind of a lone wolf before, but if I learned one thing during the making of this album, it’s that working with the right artists can make your project even more personal and achieved. Collaborating helps you express feelings you couldn’t do yourself.
“I stepped out of my comfort zone, and I like where it all landed.”
Beyond “Mind Games” and arm wrestling negative self-talk, the album explores concepts of love being given a second chance (“Giving U Up”), and how anxiety can create its own sense of false comfort, “like a cocoon where you feel comfortable, but it’s really a poisonous home,” he explains of “Reefer Madness” and “Ultra Violet.”
Or missed connections — but not with another person, but rather one’s self, as heard in “Missed Connection”. “It’s not the original meaning, but more about the missed connection between you and your own life, your destiny.
“That’s even sadder, when you think about it,” he laughs, “but also more inspiring and poetic.
“It’s not always easy to express abstract feelings through instrumental music, but I did my best to translate those emotions in the album. There are still club bangers, but with an emotional note.”
Fonkynson’s concept for the album ripples outward to society as well, most notably in the cover art. “I wanted to bring a big concern of mine — and everybody else’s too, (or at least it should be!) — and touch on the catastrophic outcome we’re about to face as humans on this planet.”
The result is an artful series of pictograms that predict Fonkynson’s prediction of the future. “It starts with a guy getting punched in the face because he uses a straw in his drink,” he explains. “It reflects the violent hypocrisy of lesson givers and the diversion of concerns. The notion led to the title of the album, with Falling as a fatality.”
It’s not all curious existentialism for Fonkynson, however; one silver-lining of such rad album art translates beautifully onto merch… “When we received the artwork, the label and I thought, ‘oh damn! Can’t wait to see this on vinyl!!’”
Growing up in France, Fonkynson — nee Valentin Huchon — was greatly influenced by his father’s music. “It was the iconic set of sounds from artists like Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones,” he recalls. “As my interest started shifting, I developed a taste for house, drum n’ bass, and techno. From there, I started to produce my own.”
And start, he did. Fonkynson’s debut EP — a super-funky, vinyl-only release that sold over 2,000 copies — first landed in 2008 via Super HiFi. 2013 saw a decidedly French house EP, Thirsty via Heavy Disco, followed by 2015’s Horny via Montreal-based label, Lisbon Lux Records.
Hitting sonic stride, Fonkynson delivered the full-length #followme, in 2016 — with singles “Aquarelle” and “Caresse” quickly topping Hype Machine and Spotify’s viral charts.
With over 100,000+ streams across Spotify, award-winning Canadian alt-folk rock-to-blues country duo Fresh Breath are sharing some fresh and positive perspective in their two new singles, “Tomorrow Today” and “Make It Together” — both available now.
“‘Tomorrow Today’ was written during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Katie Pascoe recalls. “Josh was playing the piano riff one day during our isolation, and I thought of the lyrics on the spot.
“The song is inspired directly by the health care heroes and front line workers out there that are choosing daily courage over fear, and fighting for our ‘Tomorrow Today.’”
“Production was unique to this track,” Josh Pascoe adds, citing the restrictions that come with social distancing and isolation. “We recorded at our home studio and shared the files to our producer, Brett Humber at Sound Foundry Studios.”
The video features a mindful cameo from Ann Pascoe, Josh’s mom, who is a sign language interpreter, and marks a way to share the inspiring message with as many people as possible. “The idea of including her came from watching press briefings and public announcements,” he explains. “The video was created at our home, with careful social distance practices in place.”
For “Make It Together,” the inspiration echoes a similar sentiment, even if the lyrics came from a different time. “I was using different arrangements Josh had been working with, and flipping through an old lyric journal,” Katie says. “I found a rough poem-style entry from a few years back and they happened to fit the guitar licks and chord progression.”
While the pair didn’t realize just how the words rose to the world’s current scenario until after the song was put together, that Women of Substance Radio says “this band delivers an encouraging message of hope and fortitude set to an upbeat and memorable melody” goes to show this is inherently who they are.
“We spread peace, love and Fresh Breath,” the Ontario-based husband and wife duo offer. “We’re all about no attitude, all gratitude.”
Their lyrics evoke everything from hard truths, to vulnerable moments of self-reflection, to inspiring ideologies on how to pick up and move on from the uncertainties of life.
That it’s packaged in a high-energy, infectiously listenable way makes it a force to be reckoned with.
Folk Roots Radio notes that they have “great energy, (and are a) great live band;” Buzz Music LA agrees, adding “good, high energy with an electrifying delivery… (Want) to see a performance like this live!”
93.9 The River / AM 800’s Dan Macdonald says “Fresh Breath is on FIRE on this new record,” citing their 2019 release, The Big Picture, which also received airplay on 99.1 CKXS, CJIM, CBC, and more. Previous albums have also included 2017’s Us Against The World, 2015’s A Dream That’s Not Followed… is a Dream That Is Lost, and 2010’s The Speed Of Sound.
“Tomorrow Today” and “Make It Together” are available now.
Tame Impala is the project of Kevin Parker, a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Perth, Australia. Since putting his first EP in 2008, Tame Impala has been nominated for two Grammys and won eight of Australia’s ARIA Awards. Multiple albums of his have been named best of the year. As a producer, he has collaborated with Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, The Weeknd, and more. The most recent Tame Impala album is The Slow Rush, which came out in February 2020. For this episode, Kevin chose to take apart the song, “It Might Be Time.”
In 1992, a then-unknown musician named Brian Warner made it on camera as part of the audience of “Hanging With MTV”, the successor to Dial MTV and the predecessor to TRL. What a nice young man. He later became Marilyn Manson, who was also a nice young man.
