*Many may not recognize the name J.D. Wilkes. But it’s likely you have seen either one of his bands — The Legendary Shack Shakers or the Dirt Daubers — over the past two decades, slinging out a crazed, bug-eyed combination of rockabilly, hillbilly and country blues, somewhere near your hometown. Also known as Col. J.D. Wilkes, his hopped-up, caffeinated frontman status of those acts was a vehicle for his somewhat warped, generally manic and always intense aesthetic of Southern Gothic madness. - Hal Horowitz (American Songwriter)
*From Paducah, KY, Th' Legendary Shack Shakers vocalist Col. J.D. Wilkes roots-rock is carnivalesque. Wilkes uses terms like hillbilly-gypsy or boho bluegrass to express his latest project, which is grounded in the topography of Kentucky — a blending of mountain landscapes and the flat delta lowlands. His inspiration for Fire Dream creates a mingling of folk, jazz and blues.
The title track has an Eastern folk cabaret quality, giving the vivid illusion of a 19th century circus, with a round stage and a fire performer under a tent in front of seated onlookers. Usually, distorted vocals are unacceptable, but its effect on "Fire Dream" and "Hobos Are My Heroes" gives Wilkes a theatrical presence that greatly enhances the mood."Moonbottle" hides a mystery in its lyrics and "Down in the Hidey Hole" accents ska and jazz notes by the Bo-Keys' horn section. The fiddle on the traditional country tune "Wild Bill Jones" is indispensable. A vocal cry with a Southern drawl starts "Starlings, KY," which defers to a bluegrass jig. "Walk Between the Raindrops," has a secret spy theme and "Rain and Snow" showcases finger-picking. The ending to "Bible, Candle and a Skull" is marvelously spooky and "That's What They Say" brings back a gypsy motif after letting the piano shine. -Marlo Ashley (Exclaim!)
Hunnypot is proud to be J.D.'s official sync representative, ask John Anderson about LICENSING!
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March 10th, Hot Tub Johnnie will spinning before, between and after the bands! The MINT Live performances by The Nth power, Sugar Fly, Top Shelf Brass Band and Malik & The Loved Ones!
Proving that soul music can be exponentially greater than the sum of its parts, The Nth Power will inspire you to dance, groove, make love or just stand there with goose bumps.
Tickets and full show info HERE!
Hope Springs Eternal, unless you work for the government or it's hardly spring weather in Los Angeles. Last night Hunnypot Live! sprung in to action when Hot Tub hit the decks and opened the show with an eclectic set of bangers. Carla Clark got in to the hot tub and mapped out her music journey with tales of brave utility and tunes of grave electricity. The Songery performed and brought beautiful broken heart songs and dance-able beats, Nekeith stopped in to the tub for a minute to talk about his career before his hype as hell set of future rap classics, Scilla & No:Carrier engaged with electro dark and stormy atmospheres, Selling L.A. delivered catchy riff rock and Morgan: DJ True Savage unleashed a curated DJ set without any regard for how tired our dancing legs would be the next day. Recap and Photos by J. Gray 03/05/2018
How did Carla end up working in the music business? Good question. She has a long history of being a music nerd, starting piano at 5, viola as a teenager, and majoring in music in college. After college, Carla moved to Los Angeles and after working a few odd jobs, she decided to attend the music business program at Musicians Institute in Hollyweird. And, weird it was. But, they had a great internship program. The day of her meeting with the head of the internship program, she walked in to find her grumbling about nobody wanting this internship at NBC Music Services, as everyone wanted to be at a label! Carla asked what this internship was about; it was helping out their department which chose and cleared music for all NBC shows and promos. TV & Music? Carla thought that sounded really cool, and decided to go for it. And, lo and behold, she got the internship and was lucky enough to get a recommendation when a Music Licensing Coordinator position opened up at Rhino Entertainment, part of Warner Music Group, handling clearances for all of the WMG labels. After many years at Rhino, the synch departments at Rhino, and at WMG’s publishing arm Warner/Chappell, merged, so, she was lucky enough to get hands on experience handling publishing clearances too!
After over 11 years at Warner Music Group, Carla decided she needed to broaden her horizons, and left WMG for a mobile app. company, handling clearances for over 200 songs for a musicbased game. It was an organizational nightmare, but, Carla soon had it under control, thanks to Excel and extensive color coding. After leaving the mobile app. company, she was hired at Yep Roc Music Group as their Sync Manager, working with music supervisors, pitching songs and handling clearances.
So, it was pretty ironic that Carla’s career in music business all started with an internship no one else wanted! And, here she is, 14 years later, working at a really amazing label and publisher, Yep Roc Music Group. You never know where life will lead you!
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Writing songs that deal with every color and nuance of life, The Songery aims to push mental boundaries through genre-bending pop and theatrics. The concepts, ideas, and messages behind the songs are more important than the songs themselves and every move, every sound, every visual is developed with care and intent in a final attempt to peel back the mask that humanity can so easily wear.
When asked why one person would decide to call herself “The Songery” she replies, “The Songery is more than a persona. It is a call to arms, a spearhead signaling for spiritual awakening, symbolic of an ideology that the world seems to be lacking severely and yet constantly surrounds us. For this reason, my project is grounded in story-line, integrity, concept, and character. I feel very secondary- as if I am the one driving the car, and it’s my car… but I am not the car. The Songery is a name I feel very intertwined with, I feel it so perfectly encapsulates the whimsical world I strive to show people. I’m not quite there yet. I’m still developing, completely on my own, so it is a process… but I’ll get there.”
-I also feel the name gives me freedom to play with all these abstracts and to adopt such a wide range of tones and subject matter. Some very light, some very dark, ranging substantially in color yet all unified within this world. I have been writing songs and performing since I was a little girl, and never really had the belief that I could or should be trying to make a career out of it… until The Songery came along. It sparked a purpose within me. I believe in The Songery with such passion that I want to keep fighting until I see it realized. The Songery comes with power to me. It is more than me. It is bigger than me. If I forfeited the name, the music would not feel the same. Nothing would feel the same. It would not be the same.-
The Songery loves Jonsi, Sigur Ros, Regina Spektor, Danny Elfman, Queen, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Beethoven, all the random hits of the 80s, and pretty much any film score.
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Nekeith, is an American hip hop recording artist, songwriter and dancer. While being raised in High Point, NC he began his career at the age of 15. He released his first mixtape 'Unbelievable' in 2012 under the stage name of Newprettyboii and performed in multiple venues to broaden his artistry. While still pursuing his career, Nekeith is currently a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte seeking a degree in Theatre and Film. Nekeith is the founder of D.O.P.E (Dreams of pursuing entertainment) an organization at UNC Charlotte. On March 8, 2016 Nekeith released his debut single and music video titled 'Bank' and released his “Brutally Honest Mixtape” in December 2016. Nekeith opened for singer K. Michelle at Charlotte Pride 2016. Nekeith highlighted his LGBT Rap at the 6th Annual Hip Hop Festival in Atlanta Georgia. With over 20k Views and stream downloads, Nekeith is just getting started on his legacy. The new single/video "LIQ" is out now!
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Scilla - Scilla is an award-winning singer and songwriter from Switzerland. Now based in Los Angeles, her music features pop, jazz, cabaret, and burlesque influences. As a songwriter, she won several international awards for her songs "Sometimes" and “Champagne and Sugar,” which can be heard in the award-winning movie “Muffin Top” (available on Netflix). As an artist she was a finalist in the Swiss final of the “Eurovision Song Contest” and “Switzerland’s Got Talent.”
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no:carrier/Chris Wirsig - no:carrier was founded by composer and producer Chris Wirsig in Germany in 1995. The band has released more than fifteen albums and EPs, often featuring unique singers from all over the world. It is a music project in constant evolution, finding its unique sound through inspiration from dark wave, synthpop, acoustic, and electro genres.
Chris Wirsig enjoyed classical training on piano and saxophone, studied audio engineering at SAE Technology College and has more than 20 years experience in music production. His music can be heard in games like the acclaimed Top Ten iPad game “Alien Tribe 2”, the short mystery movie "20 Matches" and in TV shows on ABC, E!, MTV, Audience Network/DirecTV and others. His music is available for licensing via his own library Counter Communications as well as other libraries and publishers.
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Morgan is a Philadelphia native. Morgan grew up in the Philadelphia punk/hardcore scene attending basement shows and the early days of "This Is Hardcore". She is not all HXC, Depeche Mode, was her first concert and is a top 10 favorite and where her DJ name is derived. Music from the 80s-00s goth,new wave, and industrial are her other major listenings. Morgan is an Ithaca College student who is interning for Hunnypot.
Kim Petras is a singer/songwriter and model from German. Petras' goal is to continue working as an artist, though she hopes her presence as a pop singer speaks to other young trans people. "It’s a hard thing to go through and it’s important to me to be able to help."
Her song “I don’t want it at all” has been watched over a million times, her video is pure pop and colorful, she calls her music “unapologetically pop”, that likens to the 80’s.
"I definitely always have a responsibility to the transgender community because I’m a part of it...It's definitely difficult to have role models being transgender. At the same time, I’m just having fun making my music, being artistically whatever I want to be and being free. My music’s not about me being transgender, but I’m writing songs about how I feel, what I’m obsessed with, what I love, what I hate, what makes me happy—just human emotions. It’s not songs specifically about being transgender,". Charlie XCX and Hunnypot Apprpved!
Alice Bag’s new video for her new song "77” is the new feminist anthem for 2018, addressing the pay inequity among women in the work place. The video is an adaptation of the 1980s comedy “9 to 5” about three women who fantasize about overthrowing their “sexist, lazy, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss. Alice Bag with fellow original punk feminist Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hannah, Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile play the roles of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. The domineering boss who is tied up during the “77” video is played by experimental electro punk artist, Seth Bogart who sports a Pee Wee Herman/1970s inspired took. Garbage front woman Shirley Manson also makes an appearance in the video as a boss yourself. “77” is the second track released on Alice Bag’s sophomore album “Blueprint”, the album also features “Turn It Up” which was the first song released on the upcoming album.
-Morgan DeShields-McClure
Cameron Jibril Thomaz, AKA Wiz Khalifa is back with another banger.
The music video for "Letterman” was directed by Ethan Lader who also collaborated with Wiz on the huge single “We Dem Boyz” which was nominated for MTV Video Music Award Best Hip-Hop Video and BET Hip Hop Awards Best Music Video of the Year.
Ethan Lader has directed some incredible Videos including Bruno Mars - “Just The Way You Are”, Rob Roy - "Fur In My Cap", Dev - "Booty Bounce" and the King Fantastic classic "Why? Where? What?" to name just a few.
Hunnypot has featured many of Ethan's bad-ass videos. Check them all!
If you’ve watched Real Estate’s video for their song “Darling,” then you’re acquainted with their unique stoicism. The video is for the lead and most popular single off their latest album In Mind, an album again filled with interlocking stratocaster sounds and poetic lyrics the band has made themselves known for. Led by hipster-glasses bearing Martin Courtney, these east coast boys are in many ways the picture-perfect example of an American indie band--tall and thin, plain-faced, and hazy eyed.
And, if you’ve watched Real Estate’s video for their song “Darling,” you know exactly how they perform live on stage (minus the horse, of course). The band stands in a fairly typical “u” formation, with Courtney center stage. Each of the members asynchronously bob their heads and step forwards and back as the pace of the music hastens. Rainbow beams of light stretch from the floor of the stage over the band horizontally, casting an almost heavenly glow. And, despite their stoic performance, between songs the band members eventually break character, making excessive note of the fact that this is their first show in Oakland after years of tour dates spent in neighboring San Francisco.
Additionally, they sounded exactly as they do on record--perfectly timed, calm, and passively satisfying in their chiming chord progressions and fuzzy synths. Courtney’s voice sounds clear and consistent, backed by tittering drums that are nearly hypnotizing. The banter between guitarists and drummers is also endearing, gathering laughs from the crowd as they hypothesize different made-up connections to the bay area. Especially endearing was when bass and guitar player Alex Bleeker endearingly complained about his nerves upon moving to the bay area--a comment that evoked lots of laughs from the crowd.
While at times boring, Real Estate’s performance at the Fox was also soothing. Their music washed over the crowd smoothly and easily, and after the show everyone appeared pleased and refreshed. They were everything I expected, but that isn’t bad--if you were expecting more than a chilled-out pleasant show, Real Estate is the wrong show to attend. -Veronica Irwin
Photo via Real Estate Band
Melodic hardcore band, Iron Chic established in 2008 has made major strides in the hardcore music scene starting in Huntington Station, Long Island. Iron Chic cut their first full length album “Not Like This” on Long Island based label, Dead Broke Rekerds in 2010. During the interim of their first albums, Iron Chic toured the East Coast growing their fan base, playing packed shows with Lifetime and Title Fight, two fellow East Coast native hardcore bands. In 2013 Iron Chic joined their hardcore brothers by releasing their sophomore record “The Constant One” on well-known label Bridge Nine Records.
Never losing momentum, even after the loss of guitarist Rob McAllister who left the band prior to this death in January 2016, the band went on to play sold out shows. Iron Chic has toured as support for Samiam and Off With Their Heads and appearing on the bill festival shows such as Wild Fest and Booze Cruise while traveling along the East Coast, Canada, and Europe. In Fall 2017, long standing label SideoneDummy released the band’s third album “You Can’t Stay Here”. In conjunction to the third album Iron Chic set out on tour with Propagandhi around the world this time selling out shows in the U.S. and overseas, while taking breaks to headline their own shows in and out of the U.S.
On February 19th 2018 one of those self-headlining shows was held at the “Hi-Hat”, one of LA’s newer music venues. Hi-Hat, a multifaceted bar, venue, and billiard hall is ironically located in a residential community. The venue is compatible to those located in Philadelphia and New York such as Boot & Saddle, Johnny Brenda's, and Mr. Beery’s. Growing up not only on the East Coast, but in the Philly/NY Hardcore music scene and currently living in Los Angeles, one is often searching for a taste of home, Iron Chic performing at Hi-Hat was that taste of home.The scenery upon entering Hi-Hat was as I hoped, a dark room, show attendees playing pool, Tecate tall boys and Hamm’s beer cans slowly piling up on high-tops. The venue gives off a cozy lounge vibe with carpeted floors with an official capacity of 300 which at most shows can feel personal. The closest people were still a minimum of 5 feet away during the opener on the typically lit 3-foot-high stage located in a corner across from the bar. Customary to most shows the crowds fills in more and more with every act. Regional supporting acts Garrett Dale (Red City Radio), Dead Bars, and Racquet Club produced sounds complimentary to Iron Chic while giving the audience variety between each act.
It was at once time for Iron Chic to hit the stage, crowds began to tightly gather around the stage. The full band took their places on stage and singer Jason Lubrano, moves around the stage very calmly placing two Hamm’s beer in front of the bass drums while reviewing the handwritten set list, which was jotted on small piece of paper opposite side of Racquet Club’s set list. They opened with “Cutesy Monster Man” the song’s intro is roughly one minute long during this Lubrano has his back to the audience building up the crowd’s anticipation for their chance to yell the first few of lines of the song. In an interview, Jason Lubrano stated many of the bands songs especially on the current album deals with “…anxiety, depression, relationships, substance abuse, mortality, life, and death”. Lubrano sings every song as though he is experiencing those emotions again for the first time keeping his eyes closed tight for each song. He keeps the mic in his left hand, the cord tightly wrapped around his fist while leaning into the crowds, belting out a deep, raspy voice with levels that could act as their own gang vocals. Phil Douglas, Gordon Lafler, Bobby Brungus and Mike Bruno bring a high-energy performance and backing vocals. They all clearly have a passion to produce a gritty hardcore punk chord progression sound with a melodic paraphrasing. Seeing Iron Chic at Hi-Hat in LA brought me back to the once neon colored A,B,C 1,2,3 carpet in the basement of Philadelphia’s First Unitarian Church. The LA club brought feelings of home with their enthusiastic crowd surfing, stage dives, and screaming the lyrics to their favorite parts in the mic.
-Morgan DeShields-McClure
Little Coyote weaves intricately dynamic songs using her lyrical abilities in combination with detailed piano parts to create a vast space in music in which she attempts to explore human darkness and the fabric of dreams. Her complex writing often compared to the likes of Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor and Nick Cave.
Since her 2017 release Little Coyote has gained praise from news outlets such as Noisey and Pop Matters, as well as international attention with North American and European tours, including a show at David Lynch’s acclaimed private Paris night club “Silencio."
All songs are represented by Hunnypot Master/Pub. Focus tracks are "Witness", "The Bottom", "Daylight Twilight", "The Trouble With Teeth" and "Teeth Rot".
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Noisey - Little Coyote Wants You to Know It's OK to Be Dark in "Daylight Twilight"
By the end of 2016, she was one of the genre’s most celebrated new artists and a ubiquitous presence on late night television and at major festivals around the world. It’s the kind of year most musicians can only dream of, and the arrival of Price’s spectacular sophomore album, “All American Made,” proves that she hasn’t taken a moment of it for granted.
Far from overnight, Price’s recent meteoric rise is the product of more than a decade of hard work and sacrifice. While she’d long been one of East Nashville’s best-kept-secrets, she burst onto the international scene with the 2016 release of her first solo album, ‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter.’ The record debuted in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart and graced Best-Of lists everywhere from Entertainment Weekly to NPR Music, who called it "the hard-won arrival of an artist who feels like she's always been here.” Vulture described Price as “one of the most compelling country talents to come out of Nashville in recent memory,” while Pitchfork hailed the album as “a potential classic,” and Rolling Stone praised its “amazingly vivid songcraft.”
Price solidified her next-big-thing status with stellar performances on Saturday Night Live, Colbert, Fallon, CBS This Morning, Seth Meyers, A Prairie Home Companion, and more, in addition to taking home Emerging Artist of the Year honors at the Americana Music Awards and winning the American Music Prize for the year’s best debut album. She shared stages and bills with Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, and Chris Stapleton among others, and her compelling story—years of toil in the Nashville trenches, the loss of her family’s farm and the tragic death of her infant child, a brush with the law, selling her car and pawning her wedding ring to afford studio time, signing to Jack White’s Third Man Records as the label’s first country artist—was recounted in glowing profiles everywhere from the NY Times Magazine and the New Yorker to Morning Edition and Fader.