Several years ago our friend Laura G. Falls (Red Boot PR) turned us on to one of her clients, Jesse Macht. At the time he had just released what became one of our favorite albums, Suitcase Heart, which we reviewed back in January 2015 on AXS.com.
Macht’s father is actor Stephen Macht, and his brother is Gabriel Macht, star of USA’s Suits. Although he isn’t an actor, he has still made a presence in Hollywood with the placement of his music in a multitude of shows, including The Next Great American Band, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, LA Ink, The Voice, and much of Viacom’s programming.
Through his publicist, Macht became affiliated with Keaton Simons and his step-father, Eric Roberts. As a result, Simons placed his song “When I Go” on the Suits season 5 episode “Faith,” while Roberts became a recurring character on the show.
Macht brought his “A” game to the intimate Second Stage at the renowned Hotel Café. His band included Rob Humphreys on drums Kenneth Belcher on guitar, Jeff Liffmann on piano and Tyler Carroll on bass.
During the show, he played songs from his diverse catalog, including the title track to his latest album, I Was Born, which was become one of his most successful songs, and “Broken my Faith,” which is one of our favorite songs off Suitcase Heart. Despite some technical difficulties mid-set, Macht and his band turned in a superlative set, culminating in one of the best covers we have ever heard of the Tina Turner classic, “What’s Love Got to do With It.”
All in all it was a wonderful night of great music and catching up with friends, as Roberts and his wife Eliza were among the audience members, as well as Alisha and Dan Kalisher of Sleep Machine, another Red Boot client. We highly recommend going to his live performance if he ever makes it to where you live.
Happy Monday. Hope you all had a great Mother’s Day and remembered to thank her for all she’s done for you. This time next month we will be in Los Angeles for the ninth annual Hollywood Fringe Festival. In addition, we will be announcing the nominations for the LA Music Critic Awards for the first half of 2018. In the meantime, let’s check out some new singles and music videos, and catch up on what’s happening in the indie world.
SHEENA METAL PRESENTS THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES
Since 2006, promoter and radio host Sheena Metal has been directing and producing The Vagina Monologues for charity. This year is the 20th anniversary of playwright Eve Ensler’s non-profit, VDay.org, whose mission is to end violence against women, across the globe. Other non-profits participating include RaisingtheVibration.org and VDayLA.com.
This year’s production opened last Thursday at the Loft Ensemble Theatre in Sherman Oaks, and will continue this coming Thursday and Friday, May 17-18. Tickets may be purchased by clicking here.
JANIVA MAGNESS TO PERFORM AT THE GRAMMY MUSEUM
Grammy-nominated indie blues artist Janiva Magness, recent winner of the BB King Entertainer of the Year Award, will be performing at the Grammy Museum, located at 800 W. Olympic Boulevard on May 22. The doors will open at 7:30 p.m. and the show begins at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here.
Unsigned Only is currently accepting submissions for its Grand Slam promotion from May 8 to June 6. Today is the last day to submit for the Digital Distribution portion, but each week will have a different theme. The week one winner will receive one free album distribution online and one free video distribution courtesy of @symphonicdistribution. To learn more, click here.
NEW SINGLES
Our first single today comes from up and coming pop songstress Mauve. Here is “Sweetness,” which was just released on Friday.
Our second single is “Deep Love,” by Dela Kay. We are proud to be able to debut this single, which is being released today. Ask for it at your favorite dance club.
Our final singles today come from two of LA’s premier indie bands. First up is “Come Around” by Sleep Machine, who are releasing their entire album one single at a time. The second is “It’s All for Love (For Goodness Sake) by No Small Children. Check them both out live when they perform at The Satellite on May 17.
NEW MUSIC VIDEOS
First up is the latest from one of our iconic musical legends, Rusty Young of Poco. This is for his single “My Friend.” You can catch him in concert at the LA Music Critic Award Winners Showcase at the Mint on June 19.
Our second single comes from Colorado-native Rob Drabkin, who reminds us that “It’s a Beautiful Day.”
Our final video today is from actress and singer/songwriter Katie Vincent. The song is called “The Way it Goes,” and it was used in the award-winning indie fillm Pickings. We think it is the perfect way to close out this edition of Monday Mashup.
Mother Nature has made it clear these past few days that she’s not ready for spring yet here in Montana, as we have been bombarded with snow, high winds and sub-zero temperatures. Regardless of the weather, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival kicked off last Friday night with a sold-out screening of the film Dark Money, attended by our very own Governor. Attendance at other screenings on Saturday, Sunday and today have been high, including quite a few sell-outs, including Forever B, the one I attended tonight about kidnap victim Jan Broberg, a child kidnap victim and author of Loss of Innocence.
We have a bit of news for you today, as well as four new singles and three new music videos, so let’s get to it.
DIANA REIN LAUNCHES CROWD-FUNDING CAMPAIGN
Referred to as the “The Six-String Siren,” LA Music Critic Award winner Diana Rein has announced the launch of a crowd-funding campaign for her upcoming album, Queen Of My Castle. The follow-up to her critically-lauded 2016 release Long Road, Queen Of My Castle is being co-produced by Michael Leasure (drummer extraordinaire with the Walter Trout Band).
“The new album is a collection of 15 songs, with one of those songs being a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan,” says Rein, just back from representing Guitar Girl Magazine at the 2018 NAMM Conference. Rein is the featured artist for the month of April in their 2018 Calendar. “There’s a lot of traditional blues, as well as high energy, upbeat, and blues-rock songs that I know you guys will love. This album will be lucky #3 for me and my first full-band album. I loved making my last record on my own, but I am really looking forward to challenging myself this time around and collaborating with the pros.”
HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL NEWS
The Hollywood Fringe Festival is getting ready for their ninth run June 7-24, and is looking for interns and volunteers, specifically in the areas of Fringe Central Set Design, Events, Volunteer Coordinator and Cabaret. Interning with the Fringe is the best way to get hands on experience behind the scenes of the largest performing arts festival in the west. Interns work directly with Fringe staff to help run various aspects of the festival. Click the link for position details. If you are interested, please submit a cover letter and resume to internships@hollywoodfringe.org. Please specify which position you are interested in. The deadline to apply is April 1.
NEW SINGLES
Here’s the first single from the forthcoming album People Person by Everett Bird. The single is entitled “Bucket of Dark Meat,” and we think you’ll like it. It is different from many of the songs featured here, so get ready to try something new.
Next up is “The Monster” from LA based garage rock band Bird Concerns. This one truly rocks.
Our third single today is from folk singer songwriter Brown Kid. It is definitely a step down energy wise from the previous song, but it is different enough to pass on to you. The song is entiled “Sunrise” and we want to hear your feedback.
Our final single today is from another LA Music Critic Award winner, Sleep Machine. They are releasing their newest album one song at a time. Here is “Mother.”
NEW MUSIC VIDEOS
Our favorite Italian rock band is back with another hot video. Check out “Never Obey” from Black Mamba. We guarantee this one will rock your sock.
Our next video is the latest from Allison Iraheta and Mathew Hager, aka Halo Circus. It is a video for their single “Narcissist,” which we debuted two weeks ago. Please let us know what you think.
Blue Élan Records continues to bring back classic bands, and the latest to return is Fanny Walked the Earth. Here is the video for “Lured Away,” their first single in 34 years.
Sleep Machine is an amazing rock band based in Los Angeles, featuring Alisha Zalkin on lead vocals, Dan Kalisher on guitar and Kiel Feher on drums. If you’ve been following this writer’s posts, then you know that the band has been nominated for several LA Music Critic Awards, and won the award for Best Video (live) in 2015.
The band has been hard at work on their sophomore EP, Animal High, which is set to drop on September 20. It is our pleasure today to help those efforts by premiering their new music video for the title track, which the band released yesterday, September 5.
According to their website, the band touts itself as a modern-day female-fronted Led Zeppelin. Although many bands fall short of their hype, Sleep Machine is right on with their assessment. Take a listen to their video, and we are sure you will agree.
Sleep Machine has already garnered an impressive list of placements from their debut EP, Cover me in Gold. Those placements include Quantico, Finding Carter, Younger, and The Royals. That trend continues with placement of two of their new songs in a recent episode of The Fosters.
Besides the TV placements, Sleep Machine has also been featured in Entertainment Weekly and was chosen by Myspace as the “Artist of the Day.” Individually, they have each performed on global tours and on such stages as The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The View and the MTV Movie Awards, as well as at such famous Los Angeles venues as the Hotel Café and the Viper Room.
These guys are the real thing. Check them out through their website and Facebook pages, follow them on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
Happy Monday – it’s time for another edition of the Women in Entertainment series. Today we will spotlight Alisha Zalkin, a Los Angeles based singer/songwriter and the lead singer of the popular rock band Sleep Machine, which was recently featured by Entertainment Weekly.
Alisha was brought to this reviewer’s attention by another Women in Entertainment member, Laura Goldfarb of Red Boot PR in June 2014, after the release of On This Road, which was reviewed by Examiner.com. This reviewer was so impressed with the EP that he attended a live performance in Los Angeles later than month, which resulted in Alisha’ first live review.
In addition to the attention given to Alisha by Examiner.com, she was also named one of the eight break-out artists of 2014 by AXS.com and was the recipient of two 2014 LA Music Critic Awards: Best CD for On This Road and Best Music Video for the album’s single, “Fearless.”
AXS.com had this to say about Alisha: “San Diego may have been her hometown, but Los Angeles is falling in love with Alisha Zalkin. What sets her apart from other singer/songwriters is her heartfelt passion for social change and her willingness to set an example for others to emulate. Her ballad “Fearless” has set the standard for social change and become an anthem for those fighting oppression and social stigma. Alisha is well on her way to becoming one of Los Angeles’ biggest stars in 2015.”
It seems that the writer at AXS.com nailed his prediction in this case. Since December 2014, Alisha has become the lead singer for Sleep Machine, a hard-rocking LA indie rock band which is quickly coming to national attention. The band has already received placements for their music on several national shows, including The Fosters (ABC Family) and Younger (TV Land), in addition to a commercial for the upcoming ABC drama series Quantico. The band’s single “Wild for You” was featured by Entertainment Weekly in their TV Jukebox feature.
What inspires Alisha? “I’ve always been one to find inspiration from music that comes from a pure place, regardless of genre. I’m inspired by well-written songs that are delivered with purpose. Anything that reaches out and grabs my emotions. Music and emotions go hand in hand. My emotions inspire my music and the music I listen to influences my emotions.”
Where does Alisha see herself in the future? “I’m currently playing around town (LA) with my band Sleep Machine. We will be releasing a music video for our song, “Game Over,” from our debut EP Cover me in Gold. We are also in the process of putting together our second EP. In addition, I am working on a new solo record, writing and recording for a new folk project, and working as a session singer.”
It is just this kind of work ethic that has propelled Alisha into the spotlight, and promises listeners that good things are still to come for this impressive artist. To keep up with Alisha, check out her website and Facebook page, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to her YouTube channel.
Thanks to Laura Goldfarb for the background information and for turning this reviewer on to this amazing artist.
