Tag: Ryan Sims

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Artists Worth Checking Out Awards LA Music Critic Awards Monday Mashup Women in Entertainment

Monday mashup 2018 – vol. 4

Hope you all got to watch the Grammy Awards last night.  That was an impressive show, especially the performance by Kesha, Cindy Lauper, et al. of her song “Praying.”  It really brought tears to my eyes with its sheer beauty and power.  Let’s all try to honor the message that came through loud and clear – no more harassment and discrimination – just work together in unity.  Here’s our column today.

INDIE ARTISTS WIN GRAMMY AWARDS

While most of these indie artists didn’t get credit, several of them were instrumental in helping someone else get a Grammy win.  Kyler England co-wrote five of the songs on Lisa Loeb’s winning Best Children’s Album, while Ross Hogarth was part of the production team that worked on Taj Mahal and Keb Mo’s winning Best Contemporary Blues album.  Great work indies!

In addition, LA Music Critic Award nominee The Jerry Douglas Band lost their Grammy bid for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album to Jeff Lorber, while fellow LA Music Critic Award nominee John McLaughlin won his Grammy bid for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for “Miles Beyond” from the album Live at Ronnie Scott’s, which we previously reviewed in December.

The winners for the LA Music Critic Awards will be announced at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 2, 2018.

LYNN CAREY SAYLOR WINS SONGWRITING COMPETITION

Congratulations to indie songwriter Lynn Carey Saylor, who recently won the Song Door International Songwriting Competition in the Hard Rock/Alt Rock category for her song, “Tidal Wave.”  Saylor has been a hit songwriter for many years,

NEW SINGLES

It’s been a busy week for indie artists, including several past and present nominees for the LA Music Critic Awards.  Here are a few of the latest singles to be released.

The first one is from former nominee Crimson Calamity, which released their latest single, “Fool’s Gold.”  We love their sound and think you will too.

Next up is past LA Music Critic Award and Grammy nominee and Blue Élan Records artist Janiva Magness with her new single, “Down Below.”  We expect this one will qualify her for additional nominations.

Next is the latest from Austin band Signy, featuring Delaney Gibson, with their single, “Human.”  We love how different this is from her solo material, and think you will too.

Multiple LA Music Critic Award winner and nominee Katie Costello has lent her voice to the new single “Bon Air” by Hardsoul.  This one is an amazing dance track that will have you on the floor in no time.

Last but not least this week is the latest single from another multiple winner of the LA Music Critic Awards, Keaton Simons.  His new EP 1-2-3 Go will be released on March 9, and he is whetting our appetite with “Crane City.”

MUSIC VIDEOS

Our first video this week comes from Italian rock goddesses Black Mamba, who we reviewed last week.  This video is for their single, “Loop.”  Get ready to rock out.

Next up is the latest from the songwriting guru, Kari Kimmel of her song, “Voices.”  Check out the amazing cinematography of this one.

Our third video this week is from former San Diego Music Award winner Gayle Skidmore for her song “Pale Ghosts.”  Once again, the cinematography is first-rate.

Our next video comes from first-time LA Music Critic Award nominee Ryan Sims, who we also reviewed earlier this month.  Here is his vision of his song, “Black and Blue.”

Last but not least is the new video from Lucy Levinsohn, former lead singer for Lily’s Siren and Waiting 4 Wyatt.  She has returned to a solo career and brings us “Dear God.”

Thanks for joining us today.  We’ll be back tomorrow with five more Get it or Forget it reviews.

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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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Get it or Forget it Reviews Women in Entertainment

Get it or forget it – Ben Anderson, Miller Campbell, Sam Marine, The County Liners, Ryan Sims

Happy first Hump Day of 2018.  We’re back with five more reviews for you, leaving only 12 more which we’ll get out by Sunday.  Once that’s complete, we will prepare our list of Top American Indie Albums of 2017, Top International Indie Albums of 2017, and Top EPs of 2017, before preparing our nominations for the LA Music Critic Awards for the second half of 2017.  In order to be considered, the album, EP, single, or video had to be released between July 1 and November 30 of 2017.  We had to cut back on this cycle’s eligibility period because of the surplus of submissions.  The eligibility period going forward will be December 1 through May 30 for the first half awards, and June 1 to November 30 for the second half awards.  Now, back to our reviews.

Artist Name:  Ben Anderson

Album Name:  YouTopia

Label:  Chromodyne

Genre:  Indie Rock

Track Listing:  1.  Clay Pigeon; 2.  Absentia; 3.  Goodbye Serenity; 4.  Lukewarm

Publicist:  Chromodyne

Review:  With a bevy of interesting sounds and textures, the music surrounds you in its complexity.  Although discordant at times, somehow Ben Anderson makes it work together.  Add to that the amazing lyrical content and the strong and smooth vocals and you have music that is commercially viable and suitable for placement in television and film.  His tunes begin acoustic, but build layer upon layer until they reaching their satisfying climax.  We also love that the four songs are all part of one concept, and that the accompanying music videos will be released as three parts of a trilogy.  Definitely give this guy a chance.  “Goodbye Sereny” is our favorite track.

Recommendation:  He’s worth the risk – we recommend you grab his EP.

Artist Name:  Miller Campbell

Album Name:  Sweet Whiskey

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Country

Track Listing:  1.  All Summer’s Breaking Loose; 2.  Obsession; 3.  Ghosts of Fidalgo; 4.  One Step; 5.  Emmeline; 6.  Baby Back off of Me; 7.  Sweet Whiskey

Publicist:  Ever Kipp

Review:  For a young lady from Washington State, Miller Campbell has taken to classic country like she was raised in Nashville.  Her lyrical content reflects her youth, but the music is downhome country, and suitable for country dancing, drinking and partying all night long.  Campbell performed at our Western Montana Fair this year, and totally wowed the crowds with her country sound.  This young lady has a tremendous future ahead of her, and should definitely consider moving to Nashville to further pursue her goals.  She has some of the same feistiness of early LeAnn Rimes and Taylor Swift, without the pop music influence.   Check out the fiddle on “Ghosts of Fidalgo” and the Linda Ronstadt vibe on “One Step.”  Our favorite track is “Baby Back off of Me.”

Recommendation:  Hop on the train early before it leaves the station – this one’s a keeper.

Artist Name:  Sam Marine

Album Name:  Big Dark City

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Roots Rock

Track Listing:  1.  Big Dark City; 2.  Dawn Come and Gone; 3.  Freeze em Out; 4.  I’ll Soon be Gone; 5.  Mike Lee

Publicist:  KG Music Press

Review:  Sam Marine has been creating a name for himself on the California Country scene, playing alongside such indie greats as Rod Melancon, Jamie Wyatt and Sam Morrow.  Consequently, it only made sense that Marine would choose Brian Whelan to produce this EP, especially considering Whelan’s track record this year with mega hits for Rod Melancon and Chris Shifflet, as well as his pedigree as the lead guitarist for Dwight Yoakam.  His songs are pure roots rock, his lyrics are well written and his raspy vocals have been compared to Tom Petty and Springsteen.  The bottom line is this EP rocks, and we are proud to add it our list of the best EPs of 2017.

Recommendation:  Don’t hesitate – Get this one today!

Artist Name:  The County Liners

Album Name:  Mary Jane Dunphe & Chris McDonnell in the County Liners

Label:  Wharf Cat Records

Genre:  Americana

Track Listing:  1.  Love Letter; 2.  Walkin’ Out; 3.  Maria; 4.  The County Line; 5.  Oklahoma

Publicist:  Promo Juke Box

Review:  Very strong effort, with top-notch guitar rifts, soaring and unique vocals, and a total package that keeps your toes a-tapping and makes your body want to get out and cowboy boogie.  Both sets of vocals are haunting and draw the listener into the story line and the mood of the song with hook after hook.  We just wish they could get the notes right!  Great job, however, on the cover of  Lucinda Williams’ hit “Maria.”

Recommendation:  In a year of some many great alt-country and roots rock artists, and the amazing albums they have generated, you should probably just Forget this one, unless tonal quality is not a priority for  you.

Artist Name:  Ryan Sims

Album Name:  My Side of the Story

Label:  High 4 Recordings

Genre:  Country Rock/Americana

Track Listing:  1.  Get Away; 2.  American Things; 3.  Black and Blue; 4.  Tragedy; 5.  Red Head; 6.  Before I Sell Myself; 7.  Little Ms. Bad Decision

Publicist:  MSO PR

Review:  We must admit that we have been waiting to review this one ever since our friend Jason “Slim” Gambill, the guitar player for Lady Antebellum, raved about working with this artist.  Ryan Sims has been paying his dues for quite a few years, but finally broke out in 2011 when he was chosen to perform on The X Factor.  For this EP, he had help from the aforementioned Gambill, as well as Darryl Jones (Rolling Stones), Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty, John Mellencamp) and Kim Bullard (Elton John).  The result is a dream come true for true music lovers.  Sims has a voice that squarely puts him alongside his superstar peers like Brad Paisley, Diercks Bently, and Florida Georgia Line.  These songs have “HIT” written all over them, starting with the rocking tracks “Get Away” and “American Things.”  “Black and Blue” has that Tim McGraw feel while “Tragedy” reminds us of one of Collin Raye’s tearjerkers.  “Redhead” is a beautiful waltz with a sweet story.  Sims closes out with a pair of rockers, “Before I Sell Myself” and “Little Ms. Bad Decision.”  Truly one of the great EPs of 2017.

Recommendation:  Add this one to your list of must-haves.  Get it now!