Tag: Michael Peterson

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Artists Worth Checking Out Best of 2018 Women in Entertainment

Forty best albums of 2018

What a year for indie music.  We received a boatload of review requests from around the world, and published reviews of nearly 1,000 CDs and EPs.  We culled through those we reviewed first to pick our nominations for the LA Music Critic Awards, and now to compile our list of the 40 Best CDs of 2018.

Due to the sheer volume, we only considered full-length projects for this list, but that doesn’t mean that quite a few of the EPs we reviewed weren’t also worthy of distinction.  We may yet put together another list of just EPs.

In the meantime, while we wait for the winners of the second half of 2018 for the LA Music Critic Awards to be announced tomorrow, here are our favorite CDs of 2018.  You can find their individual reviews by searching for them on our blog.

40.  Kate Reid – The Heart Already Knows

39.  Deb Ryder – Enjoy the Ride

38.  Jeffrey Foucault – War on the Radio

37.  Katie Herzig – Moment of Bliss

36.  Eric Tingstad – Electric Spirit

35.  Fanny Walked the Earth – self-titled

34.  Wily Bo Walker – Almost Transparent Blues

33.  Buddy Guy – The Blues is Alive and Well

32.  Walt Weiskopf – European Quartet

31.  Mindi Abair & the Boneshakers – All I Got for Christmas is the Blues

30.  YYNOT – self-titled

29.  Peter V Blues Band – Shaken but not Deterred

28.  Delta Moon – Babylon is Falling

27.  The Textones – Old Stone Gang

26.  Ronny Morris – Sweet Silence

25.  Sydney Wright – Seiche

24.  Gleeson – The Years Have It

23.  Colin Devlin – High Point

22.  Everlast – Don’t Complain

21.  Zsuzsika – Start Again

20.  Michael Peterson – From Here to Eternity

19.  K. Michelle Dubois – Autumn

18.    Broken Bellows – I, Kaleidoscope

17.  Rachel Sage – Myopia

16.  Janiva Magness – Love is an Army

15.  John Flanagan Trio – Honest Man

14.  Lee Ainley’s Blues Storm – Shoot me Down

13.  Floods – Bad Times

12.  Frank Hannon (From One Place . . . to Another, vols 1 and 2)

11.  Keith Harkin – In the Round

10.  Southern Halo – Just Like in the Movies

9.  Cindy Alexander – Nowhere to Hide

8.  Kari Kimmel – Gold & Glitter

7.  Hymn for Her – Pop-n-Downers

6.  Jordan Siwek – Sun Inside You

5.  Slim Gambill – Fake Jazz

4.  Gina Sicilia – Heard the Lie

3.  Birds and Arrows – Arbitrary Magic

2.  Brigitte Rios Purdy – Still I Rise

and the Best Album of 2018 goes to

Norway Reloaded – My Longest Mile

 

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Artists Worth Checking Out Monday Mashup Women in Entertainment

Monday mashup 2018: vol. 33

Last night I had the privilege of working one of the best concerts I have ever experienced in the form of The Head and the Heart and The Avett Brothers.  It was an experience not to be missed.  We will be publishing our review shortly.  In the meantime, we have some news from the AmericanaFest and one of LA’s premier radio hosts, as well as five new singles and music videos to share with you.  Hope you have a great week.

17th ANNUAL AMERICANA HONORS AND AWARDS

The Americana Music Association recently handed out awards at their annual Americana Festival in Nashville.  Here are the winners:

Album of the Year:  “The Nashville Sound,” Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, produced by Dave Cobb

Artist of the Year:  John Prine

Song of the Year:  “If We Were Vampires,” Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, written by Jason Isbell

Duo/Group of the Year:  Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Emerging Artist of the Year:  Tyler Childers

Instrumentalist of the Year:  Molly Tuttle

“Spirit of Americana” Free Speech Award, presented in partnership with the First Amendment Center:  Rosanne Cash

Americana Trailblazer Award:  k.d. lang

Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist:  Buddy Guy

Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance:  Irma Thomas

Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive:  Cris Williamson and Judy Dlugacz of Olivia Records

LA TALK RADIO HOST SHEENA METAL LAUNCHES NEW COLOGNE

Long time Los Angeles concert promoter and personality Sheena Metal has always been a lover of all things that smell good, and secretly wanted my own fragrance.   Thanks to Scott Travis and CBT Candle LA, her dream has come true and she is celebrating the release of her own cologne, Ascend, on Sunday, September 23.

The launch will take place at the Hollywood Improv, alongside the celebration, of her 24-year radio host anniversary, and will feature celebrity guests, an audience interactive, live radio broadcast of my daily LA Talk Radio show, “The Sheena Metal Experience”, a red carpet before and a meet-and-greet after, as well as plenty of surprises. If you would like to attend, please send an email to her, and watch for more events leading up to her 25th anniversary.

NEW SINGLES

Our first single this week is from the amazingly talented duo Smoke Season.  Entitled “Hot Damn,” it is another smash from this hugely popular LA band, and we think it is the perfect song to kick off this new week.  Listen for it on your local radio station.

Our next single is the latest from multiple LA Music Critic Award winner and Blue Élan Records artist Rod Melancon.  We think you will love the autobiographical “Westgate” and we can’t wait to hear his next album.

Our third single comes from New York-based DJ/Producer The Afterprty, and features Nashville-based indie vocalist Harper Grae on “Wonder Woman.”  This one has an infectious beat and amazing vocals.  Let us know what you think.

Single number four is from The Textones from their forthcoming comeback album on Blue Élan Records.  We are so glad that this amazing band is returning to the music scene, and can’t wait for the release of Old Stone Gang, which we will be reviewing on Friday.  In the meantime, enjoy “20 Miles South of Wrong.”

Our final single this week is from the amazing MAWD, who sounds like a cross between Janis Joplin and Elle King.  Check out her song “Wandering Eye,” which we guarantee will get you up and dancing into the week.

https://soundcloud.com/soundx3music/mawd-wandering-eye-2

NEW MUSIC VIDEOS

First up this week is the video for the third single, “Harlan,” from the award winning album Wow and Flutter by Amilia K Spicer.  This one brings back a lot of memories of small town living.

Our next video is very special, as it features our friends Raining Jane, who are currently on tour with Jason Mraz.  Enjoy this very special lyric video, “From Me to You.”

Next up is the video of a single we debuted here last month from LA indie rock artist, Kim Kline.  Listen to the words of her song “Stand Tall” and help us fight bullying.

Former country great Michael Peterson has returned in a big way in 2018, and has released a new video for his two time #1 song, “From Here to Eternity.”  This is one of the most beautiful and romantic songs ever written, and we think you will love this updated version.

We close out this week with another artist from Blue Élan Records.  We recently featured her previous video, and really love this new one from Roan Yellowthorn.  Here’s “Lie.”

 

 

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Artists Worth Checking Out Interviews

Catching up with country artist Michael Peterson

Michael Peterson performs live in Branson, Missouri.

Twenty years ago you couldn’t turn on country radio without hearing the strong voice of Michael Peterson.  Like many of his peers, he was a victim of the major labels’ quest for more profits.  Fortunately for music lovers, he has just released his first indie album, and is giving this new music generation a taste of his greatness.  Before we review his album tomorrow, we wanted to spend some time and catch up with him.  Here’s our interview.

IVB:  What is your background?

MP:  I was born in Tucson, Arizona and raised in Richland, Washington, where I was an athlete and a singer in high school.  I was offered scholarships for both music and football at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and I chose football.  Our team became the 1980 NAIA Division II National Champions. Ironically, that decision opened the door to my career in the music business when a team mate married pop star Deniece Williams (“Let’s Hear It For The Boy”), who signed me to my first publishing/management and record deal.

I started going to Nashville in 1988, and moved there in 1996.   I got a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music in late 1996 and my record deal with Warner/Reprise in 1997.  The first three singles off that album went #1 on CMT, as well as made it to the Tot Ten on Billboard.  I was the top new airplay artist of 1997 and the top selling new male artist of 1997-1998.

I was a finalist for both the 1998 CMA “Horizon Award” and the ACM top new male artist of 1998.  I was the recipient of the TNN/Music City News (now the CMT Awards) “Star Of Tomorrow” award and Country Weekly Magazine’s “Golden Pick” award for the best new male artist of 1998.

Currently, that first album I released on Reprise is only 18,000 units or so away from 1 million in sales.  The 18 albums I have released so far in my career have sold about 1.3 million copies.

IVB:  What was the music scene like back in the early 2000’s as opposed to today?

MP:  When I started in the music business in 1985, cassettes were the new technology. Hahaha.

Back then, the dream was to get signed by a major label and build a career with their help.   Nowadays, the dream and effort of young artists is to get 5 million streams on YouTube for a video you shot on your iPhone.  Major labels are still important to artists’ careers, but Indie artists have so many more opportunities to find an audience than ever before.  It is exciting!

IVB:  Remembering when we first met back at Fan Fair, how has that event changed?

MP:  FAN FAIR – What a fun time.  So glad I got to experience that.  It was at the Fair Grounds (in Nashville) and it felt like a fair.  It was all in one place and that made the event feel more like a reunion of sorts.  I loved it.  Nowadays, the CMA Music Fest feels like a “BIG TIME” event.  So fun to see country music become so popular that it grew to such an enormous platform.  I have loved experiencing both.

IVB:  Why did you decide to make your comeback as an indie artist instead of going back to a major label?

MP:  It is a great time to be an “Indie Artist.”  The previous stigma many indie artists felt is eroding because they are succeeding in greater numbers than ever before.

IVB:  How did you connect with Steven McClintock?  Was his pop music background a challenge or a help?

MP:  Steven McClintock and I have known each other for nearly 20 years.  When it came time to make this new record, he and I had already been speaking about working together.  I’m so blessed to be working with him.  His depth and breadth in many genres of music gives him a real advantage when it comes to marketing the album, which we produced together with Billy Yates.  Steve is an amazing guy with a great track record of success as both a writer and publisher, and I see us doing a lot together in the years to come.

IVB:  What are your current plans to promote your new album?

MP:  Our first single on the HOT DISC Chart in Europe was my remake of the classic Johnny Lee hit, “Lookin For Love,” which spent 10 weeks in the Top Ten before peaking at #2, where it stayed for two weeks.  My second single is my former #1 hit, “Drink Swear Steal & Lie,” which debuted at #24 before jumping to #4 the second week.  We just found out that it went to #1 today (April 24)!

We are planning to release several more singles off the album for the European market as we head towards a month long tour of Europe in August.  We are currently scheduled to perform in Poland, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

Here in the States, we just shipped “Lookin For Love” on CDX, and already have 36 stations playing it after just two weeks, a great start.   We have a lot of great songs on this album and we look forward to playing a LOT of shows in the next two years to share this music with the fans of classic country music.

The album is now available on nearly every major platform.  You can purchase physical copies, download it or stream it on Apple Music, Amazon, CD Baby, iTunes, Spotify, and my label’s website.  It’s pretty exciting!

IVB:  What are the best ways for your fans to connect with you?

MP;  I LOVE connecting with the people who are enjoying the music. These days the best ways to connect with me are through my Facebook page, as well as on Instagram.