V-Day 2015

You know the old saying, don't get VD on V-Day. February 14th is Valentine's Day, here are some bands in the mood for love.

Read more Valentine's Day.

Read More Lights Canada's acclaimed pop multi-instrumentalist Lights has debuted a nostalgic new video for 'Running With the Boys.' The track is taken from her latest album, Little Machines, which is nominated for 'Pop Album of the Year' ... X Ambassadors For X Ambassadors, an unshakable sense of brotherhood has long shaped the sound and spirit of the band. Growing up in small-town upstate New York, frontman Sam Harris, his brother Casey, and childhood friend Noah Feldshuh ... Saint Motel Touring on their way to Coachella 2015 (and I'm assuming they'll likely play SXSW 2015 as well), Saint Motel will be stopping by Minneapolis' 7th Street Entry on Saturday, January 31st. You may recall that we caught them ...

LIGHTS
iamlights.com

Canada's Lights (aka Valerie Poxleitner) is kicking off her national US tour at Mill City Nights in Minneapolis this Valentine's Day (Saturday) with support from X Ambassadors. If it wasn't for the fact that I've already committed to Sleater-Kinney and Lizzo this same night, I'd definitely be checking out this geek girl pop multi-instrumentalist (she's into comic books!)

The Little Machines tour will take her to Coachella 2015, which Ryan Seacrest included Lights in his '10 Artists You Must See at Coachella,' saying "Lights has a knack for creating celestial beats by combining alternative rock and contemporary synth-pop."

With a couple of Juno Awards (sort of like Australia's ARIA Awards or USA's American Music Awards) and Gold records under her belt (and not to mention a recently sold out European tour), she's amassed a dedicated 'Lights Army' over the years (1.3 million Facebook fans, over half a million Twitter fans), including self-professed fans Miley Cyrus, John Mayer, and K'Naan among others.

Lights upcoming tour dates:

02/13 Kansas City, MO Arvest Bank Theatre
02/14 Minneapolis, MN Mill City Nights
02/15 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
02/17 Iowa City, IA Blue Moose Tap House
02/18 St. Louis, MO Ready Room
02/20 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
02/21 Austin, TX Emo's
02/22 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
02/24 Orlando, FL Beacham Theater
02/25 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
02/27 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
02/28 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
03/01 Nashville, TN Rocketown
03/02 Charlotte, NC The Fillmore Charlotte
03/04 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
03/05 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Small's Theatre
03/06 Columbus, OH Skully's Music Diner
03/07 Indianapolis, IN Deluxe at Old National Centre
03/09 Cleveland, OH House of Blues - Cleveland
03/10 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
04/11 Indio, CA Coachella Week 1
04/14 Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theatre*
04/15 San Diego, CA The Irenic*
04/16 Sacramento, CA Ace of Spades*
04/18 Indio, CA Coachella Week 2

All dates with special guest X Ambassadors with the exception of (*) with Saint Motel. Full tour dates and additional information over at news.weheartmusic.com.

Read More Meiko Singer/songwriter Meiko's second night in her Fall/Winter 2014 tour took place at the Loring Pasta Bar in Minneapolis, last night, September 21, 2014. If you were a little worried about how the Loring Pasta Bar would host live music, fear not! ...

MEIKO
meikomusic.com

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Meiko's five-track EP Lovers & Fighters came out this week (February 10th). You can officially stream the EP over at meikomusic.com.

Hear the first track, "Raincoat Song":



We love her and have seen her live at SXSW 2009, 7th Street Entry in 2012, and most recently Loring Pasta Bar in 2014... she's always fun and entertaining live.

Also, if you have some CDs for her to sign, she's usually accessible after her show. Very approachable and always friendly.

You can spend V-Day with Meiko this February 14 at Hotel Café.

Tour dates:

Feb 14 Hotel Cafe Hollywood, CA
Mar 03 Stubb's Austin, TX *
Mar 05 Dosey Doe Music Cafe Houston, TX *
Mar 06 Poor David's Pub Dallas, TX*
Mar 28 Safety Harbor Singer-Songwriter Festival

* with Lex Land

Read More Hayden Hayden, the Canadian singer / songwriter / grunge-rocker (yes he is eclectic) played at the Triple Rock Social Club (with fellow Canadian opener Lou Cannon) in Minneapolis last Sunday night in ...

HAYDEN
wasteyourdaysaway.com

Leading up to Valentine's Day, Hayden shared the title track, "Hey Love", from the forthcoming Arts & Crafts release, Hey Love, over at Soundcloud.



Hey Love comes out March 24, 2015 on Arts & Crafts.

Tour dates:

02/18/15 Halifax, NS Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
02/19/15 Fredericton, NB Fredericton Playhouse
02/20/15 Quebec City, QC Imperial Du Quebec
02/21/15 Montreal High Lights Festival
02/21/15 Montreal, QC Virgin Mobile Corona
02/24/15 Kingston, ON Grand Theatre
02/26/15 London, ON London Music Hall
02/27/15 Ottawa, ON National Arts Centre
02/28/15 Toronto, ON Massey Hall
03/01/15 Guelph, ON River Run Centre
03/05/15 Winnipeg, MB Garrick Centre
03/06/15 Saskatoon, SK O'Brian's Event
03/07/15 Regina, SK Darke Hall
03/09/15 Banff, AB Eric Harvie Theatre
03/10/15 Calgary, AB Jack Singer Concert Hall
03/11/15 Edmonton, AB Winspear Centre
03/13/15 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre
03/14/15 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre

Read More Paws The co-headliner is Paws, a Glasgow-based punk band signed to FatCat Records. The trio's latest album is Youth Culture Forever, which came out earlier this year. ...

FUZZKILL RECORDS
fuzzkillrecords.bandcamp.com

You know I'm a cover lover, so here is a new Valentine's Day compilation by Fuzzkill Records called Under the Covers, featuring love song covers by some Scottish (and some Manchester bands). The compilation will be released on limited cassette tapes on February 14th, with all profits going to the Greater Maryhill Foodbank and CLAN Cancer Support.

Track listing:

1. The Bellybuttons - Anna (Go To Him) (Arthur Alexander)
2. FROTH - Happy Together (The Turtles)
3. SHARPTOOTH - Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)(The Shangri-Las)
4. Catholic Action - Somebody Made For Me (Emitt Rhodes)
5. PAWS - Sea Of Love (Phil Phillips)
6. Secret Motorbikes - Alison (Elvis Costello)
7. Pinact - Sparky's Dream (Teenage Fanclub)
8. Twin Mirrors - For Your Love (The Yardbirds)
9. Poor Things - I Will (The Beatles)
10. The Pooches - You're The One For Me (Jonathan Richman)
11. Bite - I Feel Love (Donna Summer)
12. The Sh**hawks - She's Like The Wind (Patrick Swayze)
13. Tuff Love - Lovely Day (Bill Withers)
14. Faiides - Just Like Honey (The Jesus and Mary Chain)
15. Fruit Tones - Tears On My Pillow (Little Anthony and the Imperials)
16. Elara Caluna - O, Willow Waly (Georges Auric)

Read More Elle King Elle King is currently in the studio working on her debut album for RCA Records, but you can catch her at various shows next week ...

ELLE KING
elleking.com

Often compared to Janis Joplin, singer/songwriter/banjoist Elle King will be releasing her debut album Love Stuff next week, February 17th... just missing out on Valentine's Day. The Love Stuff album featured her new single, "Ex's & Oh's", which you can hear it live on The Today Show next Tuesday.

Here's what they said about the single:

"Ex's & Oh's" was #1 Most Added at AAA radio upon release and has received tremendous praise: Billboard raves “Mix Duffy's vocals, the Black Keys' urgent rhythms and a hook and tempo that recalls P!nk's "So What," and you have Elle King's catchy and clever RCA debut.”

She's set to play at Hangout Music Festival 2015 in Alabama.

Love Stuff Track listing:

1. Where The Devil Don’t Go
2. Ex’s & Oh’s
3. Under the Influence
4. Last Damn Night
5. Kocaine Karolina
6. Song of Sorrow
7. America’s Sweetheart
8. I Told You I Was Mean
9. Ain’t Gonna Drown
10. Jackson
11. Make You Smile
12. See You Again

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic