Today, Hootie & The Blowfish released an Amazon Original cover of R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion,” available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.
“When we were cutting our teeth as a band, almost every night fans would hear us on stage covering R.E.M.,” shares Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker from his home in South Carolina. “‘Losing My Religion’ is a song that when you first listen to it, you can feel the struggle, the back-and-forth. Plus, Peter Buck wrote the song on mandolin, and being in the south, it’s a lot of fun to perform live. We’re releasing it as a cover with Amazon Music as I think it’s still as thrilling to people today as it was when it was first released.”
With the rich, bluesy vocals of Darius Rucker and gleeful harmonies of guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, Hootie & the Blowfish sold over 25 million records worldwide after their infectious melodies hit the airwaves in 1994 with hits such as “Hold My Hand”, “Let Her Cry” and “Only Wanna Be With You.”
The band’s 2019 Group Therapy Tour saw the band play to sold-out crowds across the U.S. and Canada, including two nights at the iconic Madison Square Garden, as well as a run of shows throughout the UK and Ireland. The triumphant return to the road earned Hootie & the Blowfish several prominent profiles recognizing their important musical legacy, including the cover story of the New York Times Arts & Leisure section. On November 1, 2019, they released their first new music in nearly 15 years with Imperfect Circle, named one of the “biggest albums to hear this season” by Entertainment Weekly and featuring radio single “Hold On.”
Amazon Music listeners can find Hootie’s cover of “Losing My Religion” on the “Certified Country” playlist, Amazon Music’s stage for country fans looking for a collection of smashes from the best names in country music. Amazon Music customers can also simply ask, “Alexa play the Amazon Original by Hootie & The Blowfish” in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices. In addition to the new track, Amazon Music listeners can access hundreds of Amazon Originals featuring both emerging and established artists across numerous genres, available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.
Host Nate Wilcox welcomes back Susan Whitall to discuss her book “Women of Motown: An Oral History.” Nate and Susan talk about the competitive yet familial atmosphere nurtured by Motown patriarch Berry Gordy, the backstage rivalry between Diana Ross and virtually every other woman at Motown and much more.
The Blank Generation is the earliest of the published DIY “home movies” of New York punk’s birth. It was filmed by No Wave filmmaker Amos Poe and Ivan Kral, legendary 1970s guitarist with Iggy Pop, Blondie and Patti Smith.
NewsRadio had aired its first two episodes when Phil Hartman guested here in 1995. This clip just serves to illuminate the strengths of a man gone far too soon.
You can’t say they didn’t announce themselves or weren’t polite about it: British avant-garde jazz-rockers Hill have released their cosmically surfable new video for “We Are In Your Garden” — available now!
“‘We Are In Your Garden’ is thematically centred on an allegory of gnomes in a garden,” frontman Pete The Beet — known to his library card as Maltese-born Russian multi-instrumentalist Pete Piskov. “We are all the gnomes and the garden is the world.
“Some ‘velvet capped,’ and others who ‘don’t want to disturb.’”
If it sounds trippy, it’s because it is.
That’s who Hill is, from main composer, string strummer, vocalizer and flautist Mr. Beet, to cosmic mumbler, bassista and dancer Willow Bumble, to tom tom and symbolist James the Seel.
Their burgeoning brand of psychedelic sojourns look deeply into the future and the past, lucidly laying claim to inspiration in everything around them. “Our music isn’t just for the sake of sound,” Piskov offers. “But for the sake of life.”
They live through what and how they play, heard most recently on 2020’s EP delivery of Into Outta This World. It’s a surreal, alchemical world pillared by powerful lyricism and improvisation. “We play messengers to harmony and dissonance meeting mystery and history in an eternal dance.”
Which brings us back to “We Are In Your Garden;” first released in 2018 and now re-visited on video for release this May, the video is compiled from several years worth of footage Piskov collected on his Sony hi-8 camera, edited during the recent lockdown of their home base in Brighton, England.
So, the song: Picture yourself lying on a cool patch of grass, looking up at the bluest of skies and the fluffiest clouds you’ve ever seen, and… Oh, yeah. Imagine you haven’t been in the same sweatpants for eight weeks.
Let’s go.
“The video emphasizes the layered quality of meaning and image,” Piskov pontificates. “The symbolism plays with concepts of self-realization and reflection.
“There are many symbols and directions and meanings behind each term,” he adds. “The mushroom being the Apple of Eden, but also considering the mycelium-like network of knowledge of self and the outer world as a part of this mythos is definitely a big one for me.
“As well as equating the Garden of Eden to right now as an assertion that we may be living an ignorant life, and are in the darkness, and are yet to bite the apple or mushroom or whatever else that will break the spell.”
They do beg your pardon, but Hill is now “In Your Garden.”
Canadian matriarch of the blues and veritable force of musical nature, Dalannah wants to know “What The Hell Is That” when it comes to the state of the world in her empowering single and exceptionally powerful video — each available now.
“This song is simple in its structure with a message of disdain for what is,” she says. “It’s a musical commentary on the state we are in.
“This conspired notion that everything is a commodity and ‘for sale’ in today’s landscape? Some of us who have been through the wars of change, resistance, and honouring our time have gone ‘under cover,’ so to speak, but still holding on to what we hold dear: The ability and opportunity to live beyond the manipulation of society with our core values and beliefs, (and that) every person has the right to live in a land of equality and equal freedoms.”
The song is the latest to come from her fifth and most recent studio album Looking Back, out via Quest Records and with support from Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia.
“I am very fortunate at this time in life as I usually get a message from spirit that it is time to do a CD,” Dalannah shares of her creative process and how Looking Back came to be. “All my albums have come from a waking moment where something comes through me…
“There has always been an underlying theme for my recordings,” she adds. “For Looking Back, I woke up one morning and knew I still had something to say musically at this crucial time. The more I thought about it, I knew that it was — and is — the undeniable fact that we need to take a good look at how we walk on Mother Earth…
“A good look at how we ‘be.’”
Born of African-Canadian and Cherokee heritage, Dalannah Gail Bowen’s indisputable prowess as a prolific singer, songwriter, actress, playwright, storyteller, event producer, social activist, International Memphis Blues Awards semi-finalist and Blues Hall of Fame Master Blues Artist has secured her standing as a fixture of the blues, rock and soul music-making scene for over 40 years.
Canadian Musician Magazine says she “has a truly spectacular set of pipes, and a most commanding stage presence,” before adding that Dalannah “has one of those voices that lays claim to part of your soul the first time you hear it, and never lets go.
“Smoky. Earthy. Soulful. Powerful. But it’s not just the voice, it’s what she does with it. So much emotion. So much control.”
Critics and colleagues across the board have long been ones to agree; an in-demand vocalist, she has performed alongside or opened for the likes of Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, as well as The Monkees and The Guess Who during her time with all-female group, The Feminine Touch.
Downbeat Magazine named her 2015 release Been Around A While one of the top blues albums of the year, and that year she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as a Master Artist. Releases Mamma’s Got The Blues and Them Menz were also released to international critical acclaim, and she can also be heard in a wide range of musical collaborations, including traditional drum group The Snowy Owl Drummers, tribute collective to the world-renowned gospel singer in Songs of Mahalia Jackson, and Billie’s Blues: A Tribute to Billie Holiday.
It’s efforts like these that awarded her “The Key to The City” and have December 11th officially declared “Dalannah Gail Bowen Day” by Vancouver’s Mayor and Council.
All this to say there have long been many facets of Dalannah to shine, and they all share a common spark, joy, determination and fire towards her womanhood and craft.
The new release, Looking Back, takes the dynamic artist’s work in a new direction, with the music drawing more heavily from Dalannah’s own and more personal story.
“My journey has led me from an unsettled childhood, to finding music, to getting lost in the trauma, to finding traditional ceremony, and all that that means as far as healing is concerned,” she shares. “My journey as an activist started way back in the 60s, marching for the anti-apartheid movement and human rights… Women’s rights.
“Now, at this place and time, I have the opportunity to be a messenger through my music, and through Looking Back.
“The album also takes a hard look back at our world, and our cultures,” she adds of its genesis. “It takes a look towards our future, too.”
Produced by Michael Creber, Looking Back was recorded at Vancouver’s Monarch Studios and Warehouse Studio on classic mics seemingly designed to capture Dalannah’s rich, arresting vox.
The album features a veritable who’s who of the area’s local music scene, including Jim Byrnes, The Sorjourners, Tom Keenleyside, Andreas Schuld, Chris Nordquist, Miles Hill, Olaf de Shield, Brian Newcombe, and Rob Becker.
“We could have probably called it ‘How We Spent Our Summer’,” she laughs, recalling the release’s recording process. “We more or less missed hitting the beach, but our studio tans looked great!
“And wait ‘till you hear what we put down.”
You don’t have to wait much beyond this line… Looking Back and “What The Hell Is That” are available now.
With 20,000+ views and counting, Oakville, ON-based contemporary country singer/songwriter Jeff Orson and his new single “Pray” is connecting fans around the world while raising funds towards COVID-19 relief.
“I received an email from the editor-in-chief of a popular travel e-zine, The Moodie Davitt Report,” Orson recalls on “Pray” and its original origins. “Martin Moodie asked me to compose an anthem for the hard-hit travel industry in Europe, and other parts of the world.
“I went away with the idea and really thought about it… I really started to take in what the scope of the virus was, and the impact it was having on the world.
“It really struck me how — even beyond the travel industry — the song could serve as a way of reaching out to people feeling isolated and uncertain.
“From there, I wrote ‘Pray’ in a few days,” he continues. “Martin’s idea was to hold a remarkable fundraiser and share the song with the world to raise money for the UNICEF COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.”
“The response was immediate and overwhelmingly positive,” Orson says. “‘Pray’ seemed to strike a chord so any proceeds from downloads via Bandcamp will continue to go to the fund until the end of the year.”
Born in Niagara Falls, and now a resident of Oakville, Ontario, Orson’s first introduction to the guitar was by way of a Christmas gift at the age of six. Some lessons from his cousin and a few years playing sporadically aside, it was an extended hospital stay battling colon cancer that had him look to music as an outlet.
“After getting over the initial shock, I turned to writing music for solace,” he shares. “A hospital custodian heard me playing from bed during my recovery and urged me to take my music to the world.
“Before I knew it, one tune seemed to lead to another and I had a catalogue of over 100 songs!”
Clean bill of health in hand, Orson took his story public; features in the Toronto Star, CTV, CBC, and more amplified the Canadian Cancer Society’s annual drive to raise awareness for screening and early detection of the disease.
He also, soon after that, took to Nashville, further solidifying his music’s now-signature style of relatable, heartfelt lyrics inspired by real-life experiences.
Since his breakthrough debut EP California to today’s single “Pray,” Orson’s contemporary country has served chart-climbers “Won’t Let Me Let Go,” “Country Kids,” “Little White House” and more, as well as shows headlining the Horseshoe Tavern to playing Burlington’s Sound of Music Festival, to tour stops including Canadian cities like Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal, plus abroad in Singapore, France, Sweden, Ireland, England, Scotland, Mexico, and the U.S. — Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, New York City, Miami, and Honolulu.
Pearl Jam revealed the music video for the Gigaton single “Retrograde.”
For the visual, the band teamed up with director Josh Wakely [Beat Bugs, Motown Magic]. The animated clip opens with a lone traveler driving through the rain and descending upon a strip mall. Visiting a psychic, the protagonist witnesses the destruction of the world in a crystal ball as the seas overtake the Eiffel Tower in Paris, London Bridge in London, and the group’s native Seattle. Fluid animation moves like an oil painting in motion as the animated musicians—Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron—step out of their respect tarot cards and into a march. While the water continues to rise climate change activist and revolutionary Greta Thunberg appears behind the crystal ball as a clairvoyant.
“Retrograde” is the latest single from the band’s new album, Gigaton—available now.
UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro have released their version of the Bill Withers classic “Lean On Me (in aid of NHS Charities Together)” The GRAMMY and BRIT nominated UB40 have sold over 70 million records worldwide, making them the UK’s most successful reggae-pop band.
They’ve been hard at work in the studio recently and wanted to get the song out for everyone to hear, with all proceeds from the track going to the NHS Charities Together Urgent Covid-19 Appeal.
Ali Campbell explains “Astro and I have really felt it was the track that encapsulated everything that’s going on at the moment, we’re all needing to lean on our NHS heroes. We wanted to make our contribution to this great cause; covering this song was the perfect way to show our appreciation.”
This is not the first time Ali and Astro have supported the NHS through music – back in 2018 they helped celebrate the NHS 70th Anniversary as part of the NHS Voices. Alongside NHS singers and other stars including Nile Rogers, Gabrielle, Guy Garvey, Seal and many more, they recorded ‘With A Little Help from My Friends’, produced by BRIT-award winning producer Jon Cohen.
Everyone has had to lean on the NHS at some point in their lives, and Ali and Astro are no exception. Aged 17, Ali was attacked and gained a severe eye injury but, with treatment from NHS doctors, they managed to save 20% of his left-eye vision which otherwise would have been lost. Financial compensation that Ali received after this attack enabled him to start UB40.
Astro knows all too well how exceptional they are, sharing a beautiful statement about how the NHS helped his mother:
“I can’t praise our wonderful NHS enough”, Astro says. “My incredible mother was diagnosed with leukaemia back in 2003 which was a blow to the whole family, but I’m happy to say she was successfully treated at the Heartlands & Queen Elizabeth hospitals in Birmingham! She sadly passed on 18th Dec 2013 aged 82. In my heart I know they gave her the best treatment possible, and I thank them for that! What made me realise what a different breed our doctors and nurses truly are was, as busy as they were, they’d still somehow find the time to have a chat with my mom, genuinely making her feel like she wasn’t there on her own and forgotten about. I know they didn’t have to, but they did, they’d go that extra mile. The same goes for care workers that helped her to convalesce, all that makes them so special! You can teach people to do almost anything, but you can’t teach people to care! Our NHS, they care.”
It goes without saying that this song is becoming a somewhat anthem for the NHS, with its heart-felt message truly hitting home at this trying time. There will of course be versions from other acts – just yesterday Beverley Knight, alongside Joss Stone, released a rendition of the song.
Ali and Astro want others to join in and take part in this unified support. “I’m sure Bill Withers would have been happy to see his beautiful song put to such great use”, Ali adds.
