Tag: Eli Raybon

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Artists Worth Checking Out Best of 2017 Women in Entertainment

Best American EPs of 2017

Continuing on with our “Best of” lists for 2017, here are the Best 15 EPs released by American artists, as well as a few more that deserve mention.  You can find the complete reviews of each EP in our Get it or Forget it columns.

Honorable Mention – Red Hymns self-titled EP; Helen Culver Seven Year Glitch; After Hours Radio What Happened?; Broken Bellows The Card Table; Life Lessons Best When in Motion

15.  Sam Marine, Big Dark City – Definitely a surprise, this five song EP was obviously the result of an artist who has learned how to become part of the local community and reach out to them for help when needed.  We think you’ll be hearing a lot more from this artist in the future.

14.  Surf Rock is Dead, We Have no Friends? – A perfect combination of American and Australian ingenuity, this was another surprise this year with a huge potential.

13.  Eli Raybon, Green – This 20-year old Southerner has risen to the challenge and has set the bar high for subsequent projects.

12.  Mare Island, Eponymous – Likewise this Bay area band has some large footprints to fill in the future with this amazing debut EP.

11.  Ben Anderson, YouTopia – Indie label Chromodyne chose wisely in signing Anderson, and his four-song EP shows great promise.

10.  Riley Smith, self-titled – Riley Smith has made quite a name for himself as an actor on such beloved programs as Frequency and Nashville.  He can now add accomplished musician to his resume, as this EP was simply amazing.

9.  Ryan Sims, My Side of the Story – Another rising star in the country music field had a lot of help from his friends, including Jason “Slim” Gambill, Darryl Jones, Kenny Aronoff and Kim Bullard.  They helped him achieve a breakthrough sound that will have him rising up in Nashville in no time at all.

8.  Jacquie, The Only One – She survived NBC’s The Voice and a bad experience with the music industry to come back stronger than ever as an indie artist.  Can’t wait to see what’s next from this future superstar.

7.  Social Repose, Empress – Nearly 300,000 Facebook fans can’t be wrong about this one, and their latest EP proved just how good they are.

6.  Matt Westerman, Life Out Loud – One of LA’s brightest rising stars, Matt Westerman has a very promising future ahead.  We truly believe the sky is the limit for him.

5.  The Khourys, Good Stuff – Sisters Guila and Jahnna will surprise you – imagine one doing vocals and one doing rap – the combination is heaven’s nectar.  They are just as good in concert.

4.  RVBY My Dear, Cycles – Australian born and Brooklyn based musician Gabbi Coenen blew us away with her sophomore release.  Watch out for this one.

3.  Alex Mabey, Enough – An alumni of the Durango Songwriters Expo, Mabey seems destined to follow in the steps of another famous alumni, Meghan Trainor.

2.  Katie Costello, New World – A perennial winner of many awards, including the LA Music Critic Awards, Costello brought us both an EP and an album in 2017, and both were superb.  Here’s of taste of what makes this artist so great.

1.  Vinnie Paolizzi, Kids – Biggest surprise of the year was receiving an EP from this young self-promoted artist that simply blew us away.  We are dying to see what comes next from this young man.

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Artists Worth Checking Out Get it or Forget it Reviews Women in Entertainment

Get it or forget it – LOLAA, Shannon McNally, Eli Raybon, Kelly Fitzgerald

Because of some snafus with getting access to several of the CDs and EPs that were released in June, we now have quite a few that need to be reviewed so that we can get back to the reviewing those that have been released since July 1.  Here are (we hope) the final three from June, as well as one from July.  While we try to catch up, we will be interspersing the Get it or Forget it reviews with our live performance reviews of recent shows, including Chris Chilton, Jerad Finck, Celtic Festival Missoula, and Anni Piper/Magic City Blues Festival.  Let’s get this party going!

Cover by Jose Garcia

Artist Name:  LOLAA

Album Name:  LOLAA

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Indie Pop

Track Listing:  1.  Breaking Sound; 2.  Always Been; 3.  Lola; 4.  Song 6; 5.  Barricades; 6.  Spirits

Publicist:  The Syndicate PR

Review:  Toronto based sisters Lex Valentine and Nadia Valerie King combine their amazing voices to form LOLAA, and the result is pop heaven.  The music is upbeat and makes you want to tap your toes or get up and dance.  The songs are radio friendly.  This band deserves industry attention.  We love all six songs on this all-too-short EP, and can hardly wait to see what comes next.  We especially love their first music video of “Always Been” and also love the song “Barricades.”

Recommendation:  Don’t waste any time.  Just Get this one – trust us.

Artist Name:  Shannon McNally

Album Name:  Black Irish

Label:  Compass Records

Genre:  Roots/Americana/Blues/Soul

Track Listing:  1.  You Made me Feel for You; 2.  I Ain’t Gonna Stand for It; 3.  Banshee Moan; 4.  I Went to the Well; 5.  Roll Away the stone; 6.  Black Haired Boy; 7.  Low Rider; 8.  Isn’t That Love; 9.  Stuff You Gotta Watch; 10.  Prayer in Open D; 11.  It Makes no Difference; 12.  Let’s go Home

Publicist:  The Syndicate PR

Review:  Shannon McNally has been floating around the indie music community for quite a few years.  In fact, Black Irish is her tenth studio album.  But what sets this one apart is the fact that it is produced by Roots icon Rodney Crowell, who brings out the best of McNally, both in her vocals, the musical arrangements and the overall sound of her songs.  He also wrote two of the songs, including “You Made me Feel for You,” and co-wrote one additional song.  These songs are radio ready and definitely should be considered for placement in a myriad of television and movies.  McNally’s interpretations of songs from classic artists like Robbie Robertson, J.J. Cale, Muddy Waters, The Staple Singers and Stevie Wonder, clearly establish her as a major voice in today’s music market.

Recommendation:  We can’t believe we haven’t heard of this artist until now.  If you’ve also been in the dark about this amazing voice, remedy that by running out to Get this CD.

Artist Name:  Eli Raybon

Album Name:  Green

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Alt/Indie Rock

Track Listing:  1.  30 Cents; 2.  Like an Eel; 3.  Sucker me In; 4.  Unsymmetrical

Publicist:  Working Brilliantly

Review:  Don’t let them tell you that 80’s music is dead, because it is alive and well in the person of Eli Raybon.  His songs bring back memories of such acts as A Flock of Seagulls, and have a soothing effect, especially on those of use who still remember that decade.  This four-song EP is far too short, but is the perfect teaser of what is to come from this truly outstanding artist.  We can’t wait to see what’s next.

Recommendation:  Definitely Get this EP digitally now, even before the hard copy comes out.  It will brighten your day.

Artist Name:  Kelly Fitzgerald

Album Name:  Find the Silver Lining

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Indie Singer-Songwriter Pop

Track Listing:  1.  I Think You’re out of my Mind; 2.  You’re the man for Me; 3.  Piece of Cake; 4.  Behind Bars; 5.  Everything That’s Good; 6.  I Can’t Stop Thinking About You; 7.  Make Your Heart Happy; 8.  Sweet Love; 9.  Thinkin’; 10.  Bring me Back

Publicist:  None

Review:  Kelly Fitzgerald is one of those old school indie performers.  Her songs are well crafted and upbeat, her voice is heavenly and she is one of the sweetest and most personable of performers.  She sings about everyday subjects in such a way that they become instant classics.  This time around she has hooked up with Brian Pothier and the result is one of the most fun CDs we have reviewed in quite a while., as she mixes genres with ease.  We especially love the jazzy fun horns on “You’re the Man for Me,” and the ukulele on “Piece of Cake.”  Our other favorites include “Behind Bars,” “Everything That’s Good,” and “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” which pretty much sums up the way we feel about Fitzgerald.

Recommendation:  If you love great music, then this one is a no-brainer – Get it ASAP.  If  you’re in Southern California, we strongly suggest you see her perform live.  It is definitely a rewarding experience.