STRATEGIC ARTIST ADVOCACY SINCE 1997
Mark Bryan made an appearance on the 50th episode of the Ranking The Beatles podcast, discussing the Rubber Soul tune "I'm Looking Through You," as well as his new solo album. Mark also discusses another band he's involved with called Hootie and the Blowfish that is apparently making some waves.
Many thanks to The Big Takeover for the early review of The Original Plan by The Enigmatic Foe. "It mixes leisurely, The Church-like shoegaze... with more propelling, Kitchens of Distinction / Real Estate dreampop... springy, vivacious, The Go-Betweens / The Smiths indie pop... and even jazzy and disco-fied, horn-flecked soul."
If those words don't get you to check out The Enigmatic Foe, then how about these words from me: check out The Enigmatic Foe! Go here to pick up 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯 (out July 30) on sweet, double 45RPM vinyl.
Abbreviations is a rock band from Dallas.
Also a pop band, an alternative band, and a supergroup (of sorts) i.e. members Ashley Leer (Guitar / Vox), Matt Leer (Guitar), Chad Walls (Bass), and Tony Wann (Drums) have played in many of the city’s most active bands over the years.
Staying active makes you strong, makes you super. “Turn On You,” the upcoming debut single from Abbreviations (Red Zeppelin, June 18th) radiates understated power.
No wonder that producer Stuart Sikes (himself a Grammy®-winning superpower for his work on Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose, in addition to his credits with The White Stripes, Modest Mouse, Phosphorescent, Cat Power, and many more) signed on to helm “Turn On You.”
“It’s about that moment where you realize you have feelings for someone other than the one you’re with,” Ashley says of the tune. Abbreviations is finishing its debut album now with a release scheduled for late 2021.
In a recent review as park of a “best new music” roundup, The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania wrote that Midlife Priceless “suggests Bryan brings more to [Hootie & the Blowfish] than appearances suggest. Bryan’s solo songs have a bit poppier feel than Hootie & the Blowfish, but there’s still a rootsy, unpretentious quality to these songs.”
FLOOD Magazine calls the new Elroy single "Excite Me Much” a "lounge-y, downtempo tune that boldly contrasts with its title,” while Elroy himself explains that "the guitar just sort of played the line from this song without me thinking or trying too much.” Well, jeez! I'd like to have my guitar write the songs for me, too! Hear it now!
The self-titled debut album from Elroy - a member of the Finn family (of Crowded House fame, amongst so many other ventures) as well as a touring part of Wild Nothing and Connan Mockasin - is out August 13 from Grand Phony.
“I used to feel like I was the only one that should have a say in my process,” says Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Gregory Ackerman of his music. “I’ve since discovered that both life and music get better the more people you share them with.”
The latest work that Ackerman is sharing with the world is Still Waiting Still (out Sept. 17th, 2021), the follow-up to 2019’s “Stresslove EP” (V2/Munich Records), and Ackerman’s first full-length since his debut album And Friends in 2018.
Still Waiting Still was produced by Pierre de Reeder of Rilo Kiley who adds touches of hypnotic mysticism on top of the California summer sunset melodies, which beautifully combine with Ackerman’s plainspoken philosophical lyrics and twisty, dexterous guitar to create what is now Ackerman’s signature sound.
“It’s not perfect, just as nothing with a heartbeat ever is, but I hope that it represents some part of me that perhaps I could not express any other way.”
Still Waiting Still, the second album by Gregory Ackerman, arrives on Sept. 17th, 2021.
“Never before have I felt such a departure from reality as I have during the lockdown—people dying, family, friends, and their families, dying,” reveals J Hacha De Zola, discussing the deep feelings behind his new single "Which Way.” De Zola told American Songwriter, which premiered the track today, that “never before was there this blatant defiance of all rational thought being demonstrated by those in positions of power, pure fear, pure hype, [and] the population at large seemingly trapped in this dogmatic, dualistic fatalistic slow decay.”
New album East of Eden is out June 11th via Caballo Negro.
The Original Plan - the new album from The Enigmatic Foe - arrives July 30! Fans of Empire Of The Sun, tahiti 80, and #starflyer59 (with whom E-Foe's Jared Colinger has worked with previously) will feel the first single. Now, Colinger is offering up some insight into his creative process via a short podcast series with his collaborators.
He explains, "In this episode, you’ll be hearing a phone conversation I had with Frank Lenz who did the drums, percussion, and background vocals on The Original Plan. We spoke about music, his gear, the songwriting process, and you get a real behind the scenes look at the production of the album."
Check it out via the link in bio, then pre-order the gorgeous gatefold 45RPM double vinyl here.
If you ask me, Chris J Norwood is cool. But I am a fan of humility, so I will tell you on his behalf that his new singe, “I Am Not Cool," and his upcoming album of the same name (due August 20 from State Fair Records), is fantastic. It premiered earlier today on Americana Highways and will be out everywhere this Friday, May 21 - the same day Chris celebrates his birthday in Dallas. Americana Highways praises the song as “unpretentious and genuine,” and Chris says it’s “one of the most ‘me’ sounding tracks that [he’s] ever released.
A talented multi-instrumentalist – “I was obviously surrounded by instruments a lot growing up thanks to my Dad, so I was very fortunate in that way,” he says – Elroy was written, produced, recorded, and mixed by Elroy himself.
A brief self-release of the record in his native New Zealand earned attention right away for the hazy, coaxing sound that Elroy says he hopes will “evoke the weightless feeling you get just before you fall asleep.”
Another great chat to chat about! J Hacha De Zola and Adam Bernard recently met on Zoom to open a pack of ProSet MusiCards and talk about the great artists therein, from Tina Turner (“at the top of the list… a force of nature”) to MC Hammer (Spoiler alert: yes, J did once own parachute pants), and how each relates to De Zola’s musical upbringing.
J Hacha De Zola’s new album, East of Eden, is out on June 11 and lead single "Lost Space" can be heard everywhere here.
De Zola’s Greatest Hits is available now. His new album, East of Eden, is out on June 11 and lead single "Lost Space" can be heard everywhere here.
Spill Magazine just premiered “The Kids Are Alright,” the first single from Enigmatic Foe’s upcoming double LP The Original Plan (out July 30). As Spill notes, while “the album’s first single lifts its title from The Who, Jared Colinger’s original tune ‘The Kids Are Alright’ is far from a cover. In fact, the song shows off just how singular Colinger’s voice and music actually are.”
The Enigmatic Foe
The Original Plan
New Jersey Digest has a long and illuminative interview with J Hacha De Zola, who is prepping for the release of East of Eden next month while concurrently promoting his recent Greatest Hits package (on all DSPs now, alongside East of Eden advance single “Lost Space”).
According to the site’s Amaris Pollinger, that collection is “proof of his polished sheen of genius,” while the forthcoming LP is his “masterpiece (so far).” Enjoy their conversation, which delves deep into the origins and evolutions of De Zola’s persona and sound.
Or Chris J Norwood, as the Dallas-based singer-songwriter bills himself, is not cool.
So “not cool” that when searching for a synonym for “uncool” that starts with “J” in order to complete a lame joke, this writer could not find one.
Pretty damn uncool.
Norwood is honest, however, and in a world that becomes more cynical by the moment, the kind of honesty that he conjures and delivers so eloquently and elegantly on his new, very uncool, album I Am Not Cool (Aug. 20th, State Fair Records), well, that kind of uncool is... cool?
The album is the follow-up to Norwood’s much-praised 2017 debut record Longshot.
In addition to Norwood’s genial ability to say things you may not want to hear and leave you appreciating the experience, he is also masterful at a kind of tongue-in-cheek levity that is sorely missing from this genre.
There’s only two kinds of music
What’s true and what ain’t
It only takes three chords to set the record straight
Norwood sings these lyrics on the “I Am Not Cool” title cut, a perfect example of how his economy of words is quizzical, meta, and puts a smile on your face all at the same time.
I Am Not Cool, the second album by Chris J Norwood arrives via State Fair Records on Aug. 20th.