"The state of Alabama has long played an integral role in the development of American music, most notably blues and country. The groundwork of a rich musical culture was laid in the early 20th century, and the resulting influence can be felt more than ever today. This culture continues to serve as a hotbed for diverse, vibrant music from across the musical spectrum. Somewhere between the realm of jazz and psychedelia, you'll find Birmingham's Little Raine Band, who have been grinding across the Southeast for the better part of a decade." - Jordan Kirkland 'LiveForLiveMusic' 03/20/19

Little Raine Band is a rock-fusion jam band from Birmingham, AL. Members Davis Little, Daniel Raine, Isaiah smith, and Justin Sledge use their extensive musical backgrounds to seamlessly mesh elements rock, jazz, soul, electronica, and more. The band creates a sound that is truly one of a kind. Little Raine Band’s live show will carry you on a journey from an ethereal space of calmness into an unrelenting display of their musical prowess.

LRB has already gained a strong following in the southeast with a combination of their first album, Liveheart, and stellar performances covering a large spectrum of music laced with top notch improvisation. The band has held their own in large festival settings such as SweetWater 420 Fest and Counterpoint. They have shared the stage with acts like The Revivalists, Eoto, Dumpstaphunk, Twiddle, New Orleans Suspects, Dopapod, Jojo Hermann, and Perpetual Groove. Kicking off the year, LRB’s awaited sophomore album is set to release in early 2019 with supporting dates on the way.

The Grass Is Dead are a force of nature in bluegrass and Grateful Dead music. More than merely paying tribute to the Dead, these hot pickers have been seamlessly weaving bluegrass, blues, rock and funk into a unique sonic experience. Pulling from such diverse influences as Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, John Hartford, Allman Brothers Band, Pink Floyd and so many others, The Grass Is Dead have created a sound that not only pays homage to roots music and the songs of the Dead and Jerry Garcia, but expertly travels through time and space to explore the galactic and psychedelic nature of music itself. After many years of regional gigging, the past three years has seen The Grass Is Dead aggressively touring nationally and sharing the stage with such great acts as David Grisman, Del McCoury, Greensky Bluegrass, Leftover Salmon, Billy Strings, Peter Rowan, Donna The Buffalo, Jon Stickley Trio, Town Mountain and many more. This past year alone they played a number of highly regarded festivals such as Suwannee Spring Reunion, DelFest, The Aiken Bluegrass Festival, Rooster Walk, Suwannee Roots Revival, Hickory Fest, Wormtown Music Festival and Leftover Salmon’s Blue Ridge Jam. Look for more big announcements in 2019! 

"At the core of The Grateful Dead is the heart of American music, which is bluegrass and folk. You cannot hide behind these two genres. What you get in the studio is what you get onstage. And it's that vulnerability and honesty that sets the tone and attitude apart from the haphazard and polished nature of pop radio. Putting their music through the prism of string music, The Grass Is Dead showcases how Jerry & Co. buried innumerable gems of wisdom — sonically and spiritually — in the rich tapestry of their melodies and lyrics, all of which radiates in intimacy and inclusiveness of The Grass Is Dead when they stand in front of the microphone, and also the unknown night of curiosity and exploration that they seek out and grasp with such ease."  — Garret K. Woodward, Music Editor - The Smoky Mountain News 

“The Grass Is Dead allows me to play both traditional and Dead-like vibes on their show. It’s great energy and intent. Billy Gilmore and Steve Pruett are lifelong friends, and we know a million tunes between us. They really play bluegrass, yet they also are Deadheads. Their music is not just rock spiced up with bluegrass instruments. They have well-thought-out arrangements that draw on bluegrass but are accepted by even the most hardcore Dead fan. I never feel like I’m playing in a Grateful Dead cover band when I’m with them. Because of their intention and the way they put the songs together, it’s a real tribute to both bluegrass music and the Grateful Dead at the same time.”  — Rev. Jeff Mosier 

"Venable pulls off a stunner of gritty and/or sultry blues-rock tunes embellished with lots of tasty guitar solos" -Guitar Player Magazine

 "The hottest new guitarist in blues music" - Good Times Magazine

 “This album shines like a beacon...All in all, this is an exceptional album” -Blues Rock Review

 " The solos are almost compositions by themselves, she can play fast, bust she also plays musically...Venable is the real deal," - American Blues Scene

“Puppet Show illustrates Venable’s remarkable writing skills. This is a strong and vibrant album and highly recommended”  -Making A Scene

  "As their performance begins your mind isn't fully grasping what you are seeing and hearing on stage. You notice a level of established comfort that radiates from the young performer."- New York, NY (Top40 Charts)

 "Venable is the new face and sound (and fury) of time's up girl power." -Midwest Record Entertainment

 "Best New Artist: The Ally Venable Band (She may be working in a traditional genre — the blues — but Ally Venable does what she does well. And she’s still only    in her teens!) BLURT!" – BEST OF  DAVE  STEINFELD / New York, NY

There's something about Texas. Open up the history books and you'll find the Lone Star State at the eye of every rock 'n' roll storm. Pull up a stool in any bar-room and you'll still hear Southern gentlemen spin stories of ZZ Top, Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Now tip a ten-gallon hat to the bandleader writing her own name onto the state's famed back pages, as Ally Venable releases breakout third album, - Texas Honey Debuted as #2 on the Billboard Blues Charts featuring Eric Gales and Mike Zito.

A Powerhouse from the Lone Star State, the Ally Venable Band has ignited excitement in the modern blues scene. Lead guitarist and vocalist, Ally Venable, started singing at an early age in church and at 12, picking up a guitar and finding her passion, established herself as a Texas Blues Guitar Slinger. Guitar Player Magazine stated that " Venable pulls off a stunner of gritty and/or sultry blues-rock tunes embellished with lots of tasty guitar solos."

She has received many awards including the East Texas Music Award in 2014 and 2015 for "Female Guitarist of the Year", three-time winner of the "Blues Band of the Year,” "Album of the Year,” and “Entertainer of the Year,” in 2018
2nd Place - Dallas International Guitar Show 10 Under 20 Contest 2015

Ally’s 2018 release ‘Puppet Show’ debuted at #7 on the Billboard Blues Charts, featuring Gary Hoey & Lance Lopez.

Each of Ally's bandmates are versatile on multiple instruments. As bassist, Bobby Wallace is a master of his craft and years of experience enhance the band. Drummer, Elijah Owings brings a steady, but dynamic sound to the band. Keyboardist, Fernando De Los Santos from Seville, Spain, brings a classic and energetic style when performing with Ally. They are the backbone of the band's Rockin' Blues sound, and they continue to represent the future of the blues.

Record Label: Ruf Records

Endorsements: Ernie Ball, Category 5 Amplification, Fishman Pickups, Knaggs Guitars, Galaxy Audio, Clothing from Everything That Blings

This New Orleans collective’s deliciously gritty sound exists in a realm of its own. Tearing through swampedelic rock with a taste of hill country blues and New Orleans groove, Deltaphonic infuses every note with a funky swagger. Their original songwriting oozes with rare talent to go along with their captivating stage presence and immeasurable entertainment value. 

“If you opened a lounge outdoors in a graveyard next to a swamp, this would be the only album you’d need on the jukebox … NOLA finally has an answer for the Black Keys and the White Stripes—dark Americana with history’s dust shaken off.” --OffBeat Magazine

"The band’s sophomore effort See Red is a resounding success. A rich and rewarding album that plays like a soundtrack to their very own wild, sprawling vision of an outlaw, modern south." --NOLA Defender 

Founded in 2010, the Jackson (MS)-based Southern Komfort Brass Band brought together 7 musicians who quickly discovered their niche - New Orleans-style street jazz with a unique Mississippi twist.  Countless thousands have traveled to New Orleans to hear the likes of Dirty Dozen, Rebirth, Soul Rebels, Hot 8 and Lil' Rascals Brass Bands.  

Southern Komfort Brass Band presents a live show that focuses on traditional Brass Band standards, originals by the aforementioned groups, and Southern Komfort originals as well as special arrangements of popular blues, jazz and R&B tunes.  This party band has expanded their line-up to include up to 9 musicians. Their act is fast, fun and never fails to get their audiences singing, dancing and occasionally forming second-lines.  The Southern Komfort Brass Band appeared in the James Brown biopic movie "Get on Up" that was filmed in Mississippi in 2013-2014.

"Finally Free" marks Daniel Romano's eighth long playing album in the last eight years. He has had what understatedly would be considered a prolific output of incredibly entrancing, poignant and creative records in this span of time. Recording, producing, designing and landing his records into the minds and hearts of scores of fans the world over. He has been called a shapeshifter, contrived, a chameleon, a Charlatan, the best living songwriter, an asshole and a genius. His last record, "Modern Pressure" received outstandingly high acclaim and praise from every notable publication out there and was acknowledged by most reputable "for-profit-prize-corporations" as well as a plethora of voguish "music-as-competitive-sport" year end lists. Despite being the bronze placeholder in most of these dogfights, he is most often noted as a person of astounding influence on all of his musically economic successors. 

"No matter what he does, everything he puts out is better than anything else being put out by anyone else." - Unnamed Subjugate.

Romano's new effort "Finally Free" could stand alone as being pivotal if it were only its profound and breathtaking prose on paper. Writing now like an agnostic Whitman in his prime, Romano explores and uncovers new language and meaning for old sentiments grown tired, stating, "these poems are most certainly my finest and most principled efforts to date." Finally Free sings like a radical revelation, exploring the concepts of music as a celestial being, flora as a consequential ancestor and singing, no matter its quality or sound, as the endmost important output of our species. This record contains a vivid religious articulation despite its clear condemnation of a god as a singular ruling white male. New words have replaced old words for new meaning and the definitions have been left up to interpretation. It seems safe to say that Romano has broken the literary soil hard and ferociously to find the remaining repose in our current "danse macabre."

This masterful record could easily transfix listeners if it were merely a collection of beautifully arranged and recorded instrumentals. Romano told me this record was recorded with one single microphone in "sitting vocal position". He went on to say "I wrote the songs as I recorded them and I had a guitar amplifier to my right and a bass amplifier to my left. The drums were behind me and my chair in the middle. The microphone never moved no matter what instrument I was recording and the preamp settings never changed. I basically mixed the room instead of the individual tracks." Finally Free was recorded on a 4 track Tascam cassette recorder. This means Romano was making constant stream of consciousness commitments to everything that was being recorded in order to bounce them down to stereo and free up tracks for additional elements. A method virtually unused by his peers. "On every record I make strict limitations for myself. This was by far the most extreme, but I also believe it has rendered the most honest and liberating results." Romano, no matter how many times I asked, wouldn’t disclose what microphone was used.

Overall, this record harks back to Romano's early studies and obsessions in traditional folk music while simultaneously conveying a surprisingly modern and engaging aesthetic. Dense with new wisdom and blissfully encouraging in these end times.

"FINALLY FREE" is available everywhere worth going NOV, 30th, 2018 on You've Changed Records in Canada and New West Records everywhere else.

Joe Marcinek Band is an experience you will never forget. That is because each show features a different lineup of musicians creating a different set of music every night. This lineup consist of Papa Mali other featured  musicians. Joe Marcinek tours nationally from New York to LA and everywhere in between. 

Papa Mali is probably best known as the front man for 7 Walkers, a band formed in 2009 that includes  Grateful Dead founding member and drummer Bill Kreutzmann, The Meters’ founding bassist, George Porter Jr. , and Matt hubbard. Lyricist Robert Hunter,  co-wrote much of 7 Walkers material with Papa Mali. Papa Mali has collaborated with the New Orleans supergroup The M&M’s made up of Robert Mercurio & Stanton Moore of Galactic, and John Medeski of Medeski Martin and Wood. 

 Most of Joe Marcinek's lineups will only happen one time making every night a can't miss show. 

The group has featured many prominent special guests including Bernie Worrell (P-Funk, Talking Heads), Melvin Seals (Jerry Garcia Band),  George Porter JR (The Meters),  Ivan Neville (Dumpstaphunk), Alan Evans (Soulive),  Kris Myers (Umphrey's McGee), Tony Hall (Dumpstaphunk, Dave Mathews & Friends), Shaun Martin (Snarky Puppy, Kirk Franklin), Allen Aucoin (the Disco Biscuits), Marty Sammon (Buddy Guy), Jason Hann (String Cheese Incident / EOTO), Erik "Jesus" Coomes (Lettuce), Borahm Lee (Break Science), Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman (Trey Anastasio Band), Mike Greenfield (Lotus), Borham Lee (Break Science), Steve Molitz (Phil Lesh & Friends / Particle) Joey Porter (The Motet / Juno What), Fareed Haque, Scott Metzger, Nate Werth (Snarky Puppy) Garrett Sayers (The Motet) Allie Kral (Yonder Mountain String Band), Freekbass, Vinnie Amico and Jim Loughlin (moe.) and more! 

Space Kadet

Navigating the space ship is Alex Etheridge on bass, synth and production, Rohan Prakash on drums and samples and Thomas Garrett on guitar. Mixing elements of electronic, dance and traditional music genres such as drum and bass, house, break beats, electro funk, dub, trip hop, lofi hip hop and more- whatever it is, Space Kadet will make you dance and leave you in a trance. With Prakash and Etheridge’s history of producing music together as well as the virtuosity of Garrett’s guitar abilities proves that the versatility and cohesiveness of this 3 piece band surpasses many others. The band combines live improv, technical chops and atmospheric sounds with live electronic production and soaring guitar melodies. This electronic trio has been making waves through out the south east and beyond over the past 5 years. Originating in Auburn, AL, the band now resides in their home city of Atlanta, GA. Space Kadet has had the honor of sharing the stage with fellow friends/road warriors The Floozies, Manic Focus, Sunsquabi, Russ Liquid Test, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, The Werks, Flamingosis and many more. 2019 marks a notable year for the trio as they released their debut album “Simulated Reality”. Guest features on the album include Jeffree Lerner of STS9 on percussion and local Atlanta legends, The Terminus Horns. Space Kadet came together to form an always changing, never ending, groovy space odyssey.

Quarx

Composed of Alaric Fricke (vocals and rhythm guitar), Keagan Soto (lead guitar), Thomas Vercher (drums), and Jonathan Zeringue (bass guitar), Quarx was born in the swamps of Baton Rouge in 2017 as a product of Fricke's songwriting. Each member of Quarx brings their own unique musical influences and diverse experience to produce a sound that they describe as "Wholesale Rock-n-Roll". From Progressive and Southern Rock to Blues and Funk, Quarx's melting pot of influences allows their music to have a taste of something for everyone.
 
The band focuses on each member receiving creative freedom and equal input, which allows the group songwriting process to become as complex or as simple as the story trying to be told. While strong songwriting helps define the band, Quarx shines the most during their live performances. Playing on bills with bands such as CBDB and The Iceman Special and playing in prominent venues such as Baton Rouge's Varsity Theatre and New Orleans' Howlin' Wolf, the band is no stranger to captivating crowds with their live sets. Improvisation, raw energy, and rotating setlists set the stage for twists and turns each show.

Miss Mojo is a soul-pop band based in New Orleans, LA that moves audiences through its potent songwriting and high-energy live performances. The band’s creative strength draws from neo-soul and New Orleans’ extensive funk tradition, producing smooth and soulful original music in which “hip” and “pop” flawlessly coexist. Years of playing in the city’s vibrant live music scene has sculpted Miss Mojo’s memorable performance style, engaging audiences and showing the bands’ passion for making music together. Lead by the dynamic combo of Jenna Winston and Piper Browne, Miss Mojo also seeks to use its platform to highlight the power of women through music. 

In January of 2017, Miss Mojo released its debut EP, Up & Personal, a six-track album whose soulful ballads and body-loosening funk tunes demonstrate the band’s versatility. The group released their full-length debut, Love In Time, in June of 2018. This new album displays the bands stylistic development as well as a more holistic approach to the album writing process. The record jumps between genres while simultaneously sticking to an overarching thematic element, leading the listener through a sonic and emotional journey of the ups and downs in love.

Miss Mojo has shared stages with many of New Orleans’ most iconic acts, such as Dumpstaphunk, Rebirth Brass Band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation and Galactic. Constantly learning from and being inspired by musicians in the city, the band is in a state of continuous growth. With the release of new music and on the horizon and national tours in sight, Miss Mojo is hitting 2020 running and not looking back. They’re thrilled to be bringing their sound and energy to audiences across the country, celebrating life through playing, moving and singing together.

Don Giovanni Records will release Youth Detention///(Nail My Feet Down to the South Side of Town), the third full-length album by Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires.

Call it Youth Detention for short.

A double LP spanning 17 songs, it is the band's most ambitious work to date -- a sprawling and visceral record given to both deep introspection and high-volume spiritual uplift.

Where The Glory Fires' previous LP Dereconstructed (2014) sought to dismantle one-dimensional notions of Southern identity and culture, Youth Detention has a similar, but more personal intent. "It's about dismantling myself and the narratives that I've taken on," explains Bains. "It's an examination of youth and the processes through which we begin to consider ourselves, our identities, and what various communities we belong to or are in tension with." Often, the songs detail moments in which cultural boundaries and biases become apparent -- scenes in which systems of privilege and oppression become visible, particularly as they relate to race, class, and gender. Everyday settings -- a church, a ballpark, a cafeteria -- are revisited again and again, to explore these fleeting moments of revelation from different perspectives and roles. It's a record defined by accumulation. Stories, images, and thoughts pile up to create confusion and cacophony in the narrative.

Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Battletapes with engineer Jeremy Ferguson and producer Tim Kerr, Youth Detention captures the band in raw form. Each song was cut live to tape, with the four performing in the same room without headphones or baffling. The result is thoroughly human, Lynn Bridges' mix retaining the band's live energy and looseness at the expense of a few out of tune strings. The Glory Fires' music draws deeply from punk, but also soul, power pop, country, and gospel. It's equal parts careful curation and geographic inheritance. "It's the sound of my place," says Bains. "I want to know it. I want to argue with it. I don't want to be a band from anywhere that could be doing anything. For me, that's what punk is about -- figuring out who I am and how to be the best version of myself. I can't do that by pretending to be something I'm not."

The songs are deeply rooted in Bains' experience of his hometown, Birmingham, AL. Youth Detention depicts a Southern city in the decades surrounding the turn-of-the-millennium: in the throes of white flight, urban disinvestment, racial tension, class struggle, gentrification, gender policing, homophobia, xenophobia, religious fervor, deindustrialization, and economic upheaval.

The lyrics could ring true anywhere, though. The South exists in the world and, like the South, the world is increasingly beholden to many of these same tensions and forces. The songs on Youth Detention are meant as small acts of resistance to those systems. Documenting minor moments -- the refusal to sit quietly through a display of bigotry, the act of quieting down and listening to somebody's struggle, sticking up for friends targeted for their difference -- that, hopefully, serve as the beginnings of a more profound awakening.

Voodoo Visionary

Hailing from the Dirty South musical mecca of Atlanta, GA, Voodoo Visionary’s improvisational funk dance music balances a tight, grooving rhythm section with soulful organ, funky clavinet, singing synthesizers, masterful guitar licks, and moving vocals to create a sound the group calls psychofunk. Influenced by a wide array of artists from Parliament Funkadelic and the Meters to the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers Band to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, Voodoo Visionary has a uniquely blended sound that’s guaranteed to put the 'oogie in yo boogie.

The band is Trent Gilson (bass), Scott MacDonald (vocals), Jose Rivera (percussion) Mac Schmitz (drums), Marcus White (keys) and Mike Wilson (guitar). Over the past 11 years, these players have built a unique chemistry that allows for exceptional improvisation during live shows and relaxed and creative songwriting sessions.

Voodoo Visionary released their debut album, Spirit of the Groove in March 2015 and their sophomore album Off The Ground in February 2017. While playing across the country over the last several years, the band has been direct support for Col. Bruce Hampton, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe featuring Jimmy Herring, TAUK, DJ Logic, Big Something, Zach Deputy, Earphunk, Roosevelt Collier, Jerry Joseph, The Main Squeeze, Futurebirds, Fruition and more. In May 2015, they made their major festival debut at Counterpoint Music Festival near Rome, GA. Since then, they have excelled further into the national music scene with festival performances at Suwannee Hulaween, Sweetwater 420 Fest, Imagine Festival, Backwoods Music Festival, Funk Fest, Purple Hatters Ball, Great Outdoors Jam, and Hookahville.

“Voodoo Visionary… synthesizes elements of funk, jazz, disco, and rock ‘n’ roll into their unique improvisational sound.” – Live For Live Music

“A mix of psychedelic southern funk, Michigan soul, and gulf coast flavor.” - Relix

"Vooodoo Visionary is the next generation of Atlanta funk bands." - Seth Weiner, Inside Out WTNS

“If this band had been around in the early ‘70s out of Atlanta, they would surely have been scooped up in a heartbeat by Capricorn Records... Repeated listenings reveal layer upon layer of elements. This is simply a superb recording, in terms of composition, performance, and sound.” – Scott Hopkins, MusicFestNews.com

“Spirit of the Groove refuses to confine the band to a single genre and takes listeners on an adventure through sound and time... Voodoo Visionary has embraced and harnessed this epic blend [of influences], resulting in a truly amazing studio record.” – Randy Harris, Live Music Daily

“While genre conventions are clearly upheld, driving rhythms, blistering lead guitar, and gospelesque lyrics, Voodoo Visionary escape the generic and create their own space, capitalizing on what works within funk as a genre. These guys will no doubt jam easily into the college bar scene, keeping the waning hippie contingent well fueled with healthy servings of funk. For that matter, Voodoo Visionary maintains the spirit of bump and sway in an otherwise monolithic universe of EDM. Before robots usurped dance music, this was what you dropped doses to. This is what outer space looked like from fifty thousand feet.” – Jon Litten, The Artifact Magazine

Teddy and the Rough Riders

The Nashville, TN natives have the unique ability to combine almost every genre, so I would not even single out their music as country rock. Ryan Jennings (Bass, vox), (Jack Quiggins – Guitar, vox), Luke Schneider (Pedal Steel), and Nick Swafford (Drums), have something special going on with Teddy and The Rough Riders and we are seeing that with their debut EP.

With any combination of country, rock, Americana/folk, psychedelic pop, and many others, Teddy and The Rough Riders debut is a 6 song EP containing a myriad of sounds. From the slow melody of “Martini”, to the swinging alternative country rock sounding “Buckle Bunny”, this EP is an endless musical kaleidoscope. 

Teddy and The Rough Riders may get their name from Theodore Roosevelt, and they might be reminiscent of Grateful Dead, but they are making a name for themselves with this EP and their awesome hodgepodge of sounds and influences. 

Country Westerns

Country Westerns is a three-piece rock band from Nashville that sounds nothing like its name. Drummer Brian Kotzur (Trash Humpers, Silver Jews) and singer-songwriter-guitarist Joseph Plunket (The Weight, Gentleman Jesse) began working on songs together in 2016, after bonding over the shared desire to be in a band in a town full of solo artists and guns-for-hire. Following a couple of years writing and playing shows with varying lineups, Sabrina Rush (State Champion) joined the band as bassist. The now complete Country Westerns recorded their debut album in New York and Nashville, encouraged by friend and producer Matt Sweeney. Plunket’s raspy bravado and subtle twang, his insistent 12-string guitar riffs, Kotzur’s dynamic and metronomic drumming, and Rush’s harmonic bass playing create hyper catchy rock songs, with lyrics that bend towards poetry and punk rock sneer in equal measure. Their self-titled debut is slated for release in 2020 on Fat Possum Record.