Happy Monday – hope you are all recovered from your Cinco de Mayo celebrations. I spent the weekend working at a Grizzly track meet, played our first softball game of the year, handed out water at a half-marathon to support Veteran Suicide Awareness & Prevention, and got hired by CMS to work the summer concert series at Big Sky Brewery. I’ve also been working on my schedule of shows to review at the ninth annual Hollywood Fringe Festival, and already have 21 shows confirmed. Hope to see 40-50 during my two weeks in Los Angeles next month. We will be publishing our list of most anticipated shows later this month.
We’ve got some news for you today, as well as five new singles and music videos to check out. Let’s get going.
INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITING COMPETITION UPDATE
After reviewing more than 16,000 entries, the 2017 International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has concluded, and a Denver-based indie EDM artist has won the Grand Prize. Nick Miller, better known to his fans as Illenium, takes home the Grand Prize for his song, “Crawl Outta Love ft. Annika Wells.” The song was co-written with Annika Wells, Kate Morgan and Michael Blancaniello, and was released on his sophomore album Awake. Wells and his co-writers will receive $25,000 in cash and more than $35,00 in additional prizes. Here’s that award-winning song.
STACY JONES BAND TOURING EUROPE AFTER WINNING MORE AWARDS
The Stacy Jones Band, who we reviewed back in September, continue to pile up the accolades. They recently took home 10 awards at the Best of the Blues, including Best Blues Band, Best Blues Recording (“Love is Everywhere”), Best Female Vocalist, Best Songwriter, Best Harmonica, Best Blues Bass, Best Blues Drummer, Best Blues Writer, Keeping the Blues Alive and Best Non-Festival Blues Event. To celebrate, the band began their European tour on May 4, playing their first of eight shows in Switzerland. The band will perform in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands before heading back home next weekend.
NEW SINGLES
Our first single, “Everything Nearly Comes Apart Completely,” comes from Dante Matas. We love his sound, and think you will too.
Our second single comes all the way from Stockholm, Sweden, and is the debut for Sabine Women. Here is their song, “Buenos Aires.”
Moving over to Germany for our next single, here is Bonnie Li with “Décroche.” We love the mix of English, French, and Mandarin.
We rock it up with our fourth single this week from Feel Alright. Here is their single, “Truth About Us,” from their new album set for release on May 18.
Our final new single today is from one of our favorite up and coming singer-songwriters, who we have been following for several years. We really think you will love “Sonic Baby” by Santa Barbara-based indie artist Jamey Geston, which just had its radio premiere last night.
https://soundcloud.com/jamey-geston-music/sonic-baby-final/s-sAVqT
NEW MUSIC VIDEOS
Our first video this week comes from YouTube darling Megan Davies for her single, “Doesn’t Matter.” We think they’re on to something, as we are adding this artist to our hot list. We don’t mind jumping on the bus for her.
Next up is “Dino” by The Mountain Carol. It is a raw rock song with powerful cinematography. Definitely check them out.
Our third new music video is an homage to The King. Check out Australian Susie Scurry and her tune, “The Elvis Hour.”
Our next video is the final single from the debut album for All for Darcy. Check out “Ordinary Life.”
Our final video this week is “I See You Among the Stars,” a chill tune from Jessica Risker. Have a wonderful week.
