[video]
Austin, TX musicians Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears employ a classic blues / rock / funk sound that is both instantly addictive and somewhat timeless. The band recently finished a huge tour of the US, including a stop at Metro in Chicago where the Groovebug team were in attendance. The tour was a secondary run supporting his last album, Scandalous, which you can now stream in full via the Groovebug iPad app. Fans of The Black Keys, Jimi Hendrix and Charles Bradley would all be interested in checking out the sounds on the album.
Check out Groovebug for iPad for Black Joe Lewis music, news, videos and more.
Q: Tell us about the tour you just wrapped up… how did it feel to sell out iconic venues such as Metro in Chicago?
A: The tour was a good one for us. We don’t have a brand new record out now [Scandalous was last year] and all the shows were still packed so that’s bad ass. Selling out Metro blew my mind. I didn’t expect that. It was a giant stoic Chicago crowd.
Q: What impact has touring had on your career?
A: We do this for the live shows. We love it and it is what we are best at so touring is my favorite thing. I saw the mountains and the ocean for the first time on tour. I hadn’t been to many places prior, so it’s bad ass.
Q: Which do you enjoy most - performing live or recording in the studio?
A: Like I said, the live sh*t is the best.
Q: What is the most fun you’ve ever had writing a song? Either actually writing it or the situation that inspired it?
A: I guess Ballad of Jimmy Tanks. I just read the story in the paper about an old man that had a gun battle with the repo men and took one out but they got him too. The song just wrote its self.
Q: Which places or people inspired the songs on the Scandalous album?
A: She’s So Scandalous was about this scandalous b*tch that always cheated on me but I kept going back for more
Q: What can fans expect next from Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears? Time off to relax? Back in the studio?
A: We just finished recording the next album and it’s our best work yet. So… expect us to be in your town again soon.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
A: My dad said I need to learn to be patient. My rush attitude has bit my ass a lot of times. In a lot if different ways.
Q: Which historical musical moment do you wish you were present for?
A: To see Jimi Hendrix at Monterey Pop.
Check out Groovebug for iPad for Black Joe Lewis music, news, videos and more. Also, Like Groovebug on Facebook to receive music and news artist, and Groovebug updates and recommendations.
One of the many musical outputs of Noah Tabakin, Ssssnake is a hip hop-, funk- and soul-fueled project with a wild, joyous vibe and one heck of a live show. Twenty-plus years of singing and making music has helped the multi-instrumentalist perfect his latest persona, who is probably most at home on stage than anywhere else in the world. The first album from Ssssnake is Hostile Snakeover, a 10-track rollercoaster tinged with sexual edge, humor, and pure grit, and you can now stream in full via the Groovebug iPad app. Fans of Cee lo Green, Jamie Lidell and Justin Timberlake should check it out.
Q: Introduce your sound in five words…
A: Hip-hop soul, big beats.
Q: What can the fans expect from Ssssnake in 2013?
A: A national tour with the New Belgium Brewing Company’s Music festival the “Tour De Fat”. Album number two, tentatively titled “ssssnake tracks”. As many videos as possible to accompany the album release. Treefort Music Festival in Boise, ID. Lots of West Coast shows.
Q: Which places or people inspired the songs on your last album?
A: The last record had a few tunes I used as a place to process the darkness around my divorce, Blood and Cut Till My Blade is Dull were inspired by my ex-wife for sure. A few celebrated the upside of my new relationships in the tunes Slow and When I Lay you Down. Under the Snow is about how things turning out in the aftermath of problems and def had images from Chicago winters with the green grass waiting to spring out. Deep Down was inspired by watching the documentary “American Hardcore”, It reminded me of my early musical days and the power of aggression in songs, so that one is a little rough and tumble.
Q: What is the most fun you’ve ever had writing a song? Either actually writing it or the situation that inspired it?
A: Recently I had been working on a number of new tracks and feeling like none of them were jelling. I decided to stop working and working them to death and try to make a new tune from scratch. I was in Austin in my girlfriend’s living room and a few hours later the song Poseidon from my forthcoming record was done! It felt way better than the tracks I had been working for months. I love it when tunes just fall out of you. I usually work and re-work the hell out of track so it’s refreshing for a tune to pop out quickly.
Q: Who has encouraged you the most to pursue a career in music?
A: My family have all been super encouraging. My step father managed my first band for 10 years which would probably make him the most supportive, but mom, non step dad and even my grandparents always fully backed me. I’ll never forget my grandfather when he was in his 70’s being at a show with a bunch of young folks, he came up to me after and referenced a song specifically and said how he liked the lyrical content. I was amazed that he was paying that much attention, that he wasn’t just there to show face, that he was interested in what I was doing.
Q: What advice could you give a new musician wanting to pursue a music career?
A: You can do it! Go hard after it and fail a bunch. If you still want to pick up the mic after some pretty tough/embarrassing experiences, then don’t ever stop. It’s super challenging but life is lived in the challenging moments.
Q: What impact has touring had on your career?
A: I love the road. I have build my life around touring. I went in on a building with a friend and rented it to tenants before ever living there. I used the advance money I got from the Tour De Fat to buy a big Sprinter touring van and hit the road and I’ve been living in man van touring hard for over a year now. I say I’m home free not homeless…
Q: Which do you enjoy most - performing live or recording in the studio?
A: I like all aspects of music a lot, but performance is by far my favorite. The pure focus that comes from executing the music as perfectly as possible and nailing engaging performance is where I feel truly in the moment. The most present I get in life is during performance.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
A: I had a great piece of advice handed to me when I was in college from Ben Harper, who was just starting his career at the time. He told me if you want to make it your job treat it like a job, put in your 40 or more a week. Music is a lot of fun but to make it work you got to work!
Q: Which historical musical moment do you wish you were present for?
A: I would have loved to have seen Ray Charles in his prime.
Check out Groovebug for iPad for Ssssnake music, news, videos and more. Also, Like Groovebug on Facebook to receive music and news artist, and Groovebug updates and recommendations.
[video]
Groovebug invites you to the launch party for our latest app, Concert Vault for iPad, that brings the world’s greatest collection of live concert audio and video recordings to the iPad. You and your guests are invited to join us for an after work party at Crimson Lounge in Chicago on Thursday, Marchl 21st,to celebrate the release of Concert Vault for iPad.
We will be hosting a gathering of musicians, entrepreneurs, coders, mobile enthusiasts, marketers, music lovers, and all kinds of groovy people from 6pm until 9pm with Corazon Tequila sponsoring a two hour-long bar with complimentary cocktails, along with DJ Andrew Emil aka Change Request(Classic Music/Seasons/Great Lakes Audio), and DJ Form (Fat Beats/Pseudo Slang) spinning a blend of classic and modern grooves.
We’ll be giving away a couple annual memberships to Concert Vault, and some cool swag courtesy of Wolfgang’s Vault. We’ll also have iPads on hand to demo the app.
Concert Vault for iPad is available now in the App Store
We would love for you to join us, talk music, explore the Concert Vault for iPad app, and connect in person. You can RSVP at http://concertvaultforipad.eventbrite.com and there is also a Facebook Event Page. Please Register, and feel free to invite guests.
Please contact us if you have any questions or comments: jeremiah@groovebug.com
~ The Groovebug Team
Concer Vault for iPad Launch Party
Crimson Lounge (inside Hotel Sax)
333 North Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60654
Finish Tcket are an indie pop-rock outfit from San Francisco. We fell for the fun uptempo rhythms, retro-tinged synth sounds and beautiful vocals of their latest album, Tears You Apart, which you can now stream in full via the Groovebug iPad app. Fans of The Killers and Alt-J should definitely give the album a listen.
Check out Groovebug for iPad for Finish Ticket music.
Q: Introduce your sound in five words…
A: Angsty, Upbeat, Indie, Alternative, Rock
Q: What can the fans expect from Tears You Apart LP?
A: When we were recording Tears You Apart, we were all going through a lot of changes and had many uncertainties, and I believe it shows in the music. Fans can expect an easily relatable album, no matter what mood they are in.
Q: Which places or people inspired the songs on the album?
A: We were inspired by our home town, Alameda, Los Angeles and the different colleges we attended.
Q: What impact has touring had on your career?
A: It has given us a lot of exposure and allowed us to see a lot of beautiful places all across the country.
Q: Which do you enjoy most - performing live or recording in the studio?
A: Definitely performing live, there is no feeling quite like playing to a good crowd.
Q: What’s the most fun you’ve ever had writing a song?
A: Catch You On My Way Out was a really fun one to write. At the time we did not have a drummer so Brendan wrote the drum part with one hand and the chord progression with other. It worked out well!
Q: What can fans expect next from Finish Ticket?
A: We will be continuously touring over the next year and working on a new EP. The writing has already begun!
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
A: Work hard. It is easily the best advice we have ever gotten as a band.
Q: Which historical musical moment do you wish you were present for?
A: Summer of Love in San Francisco. Being from the Bay Area we have heard so many stories about how amazing it was. Wish we could have been there!
Check out Groovebug for iPad for Finish Ticket music, news, videos and more. Also, Like Groovebug on Facebook to receive music and news artist, and Groovebug updates and recommendations.
We’re proud to announce the latest product built on the Groovebug Platform, Concert Vault for iPad by Wolfgang’s Vault. The app brings the Groovebug user experience to the world’s greatest collection of live audio and video concert recordings. The app also links to the amazing Wolfgang’s Vault memorabilia store.
Any music junkie knows the name Bill Graham; he was one of the greatest concert promoters who ever lived, with a storied career spanning from the 1960s until his death in 1991. His childhood nickname was Wolfgang, which is where Wolfgang’s Vault gets it’s name. The company was started with the Bill Graham Presents archives and now includes many more collections including the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Daytrotter, Paste Magazine, and Ash Grove Blues collections to name a few.
There is only one place where you can hear Bill Graham introduce the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East, watch the Grateful Dead bring in the new year at Winterland in 1978, and listen to Bon Iver’s Daytrotter set just before they rocketed to stardom - Concert Vault. These recordings aren’t available through any other streaming service or download store.
The audio and video collections are all available for high quality streaming to your iPad. Download the app for free and sign up for a free trial, or purchase a subscription with an in-app purchase. Subscription options are $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year, and allow you access to Concert Vault on iPad, iPhone, Android, Sonos, and the web, as well as featured content including suggested playlists, photo slideshows, related memorabilia and a music discovery engine. The app is also AirPlay integrated for Apple TV users, taking to concert videos from you tablet to you HD TV. Members also get two free weekly full-concert downloads, and for a limited time, annual memberships will get a free exclusive vinyl edition of a previously unreleased Van Morrison concert from New York’s Bottom Line club in 1978.
Download the app for free and register for a free trial today.
[video]
English indie rockers Mystery Jets have been building their success since their 2006 debut LP, Making Dens. Last year saw their fourth studio album, Radlands, even hit number 40 on the UK Albums Chart. Soon to release their first live LP to coincide with Record Store Day 2013, we asked guitarist William Rees a few quick questions. Fans of The Libertines and Pink Floyd should definitely take notice.
Q: Introduce your sound in five words…
A: Thats a hard question to answer…ok, i’d say our sound is a ‘roaming, restless rendez-vous of any/everything we’ve ever been through’… (thats 9 words, sorry)
Q: What can the fans expect from Mystery Jets in 2013?
A: Different Disguises.
Q: Which places or people inspired the songs on the Radlands album?
A: Austin, Texas was a huge influence on the songs of Radlands. It’s a liberal dot in the republican ocean of Texas and for about two months it became our home and writing spot. We knew we were looking for something before we headed out there, a certain unnameable that we could hear in early Neil Young records and the Mick Taylor Stones’ albums, but whether or not we ‘d find it we couldn’t be sure. Really, Austin and it’s colourful characters are the fabric that Radlands is printed upon, it offered itself as a context for our songs and when we finally realised that we were off and running with it.
Q: What is the most fun you’ve ever had writing a song? Either actually writing it or the situation that inspired it?
A: There’s so many occasions, it’s hard to pick one. Someone in our band thought it’d be a great idea to get bag pipes on our song Lorna Doone (off the Serotonin LP), so we googled bag pipe players in the London area and what walked through the door was a very lost looking young man who’d just clocked off from his stock-broking job in the city. He had his suit jacket tucked under one arm and an electric bag pipe in the other. After he’d showed us all his skills with a rendition of the Star Wars theme tune, we sent him to the recording booth and quickly realised that he was completely tone deaf. Not a single note he played was in tune. To add to this he kept popping into the loo’s and coming back with the sweats ( a mid-song snort we all presumed) until the last time when he emerged wearing a penguin mask. It was then that he played his part perfectly and disappeared into the night….£500 richer.
Q: Who has encouraged you the most to pursue a career in music?
A: Henry has been a huge part in that. From teaching us our first Buddy Holly renditions on spanish guitars to bank rolling early tours and releases before we got signed. Our management company Urok have been fantastic too, giving us great advice on our songs, remix/writing work and of course endless tours with some of our favourite bands.
Q: What advice could you give a young musician wanting to pursue a music career?
A: Work hard, regularly, play your ideas to friends, find the things that excite you the most and emulate them.
Q: What impact has touring had on your career?
A: I love touring, it’s like stepping onto a roller coaster, only it lasts for 3 weeks instead of 3 minutes.
Q: Which do you enjoy most - performing live or recording in the studio?
A: Both, when you’ve done enough of one it’s time to be doing the other and vice versa. Touring and recording are two sides of the same coin and they need each other.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
A: Turn your guitar down please.
Q: Which historical musical moment do you wish you were present for?
A: The Rolling Stones at Hyde park, with King Crimson in support.
Check out Groovebug for iPad for Mystery Jets music, news, videos and more. Also, Like Groovebug on Facebook to receive music and news artist, and Groovebug updates and recommendations.
[video]