W♥M (Archive)

Singer/songwriters: "J"

We cover a lot of women singer/songwriters, so here are some males with the first name starting with "J". Random, right? JERAD FINCK jeradfinckmusic.com Clowns to the left, jokers to the right, and here we have Jerad Finck's EP, Stuck In Your Riddle. It was released last October, via Rock Ridge Music and co-publishers BMG/Chrysalis. About the signing to Rock Ridge, Finck had this to say, "I am excited about my continuing and growing relationship with Rock Ridge. They have been a constant force over the past year and have really pushed me to grow as an artist. I am thankful for everything they have done. I can't believe how far we've come over the past year…" And then he mentioned something about ninjas. No idea. Things are looking great for this Spokane-based singer/songwriter, Finck is currently on the road with dada and 7Horse. You can use the codes "jerad123" for a discount if you are planning on seeing him on tour. Tour dates: Feb 01 Shank Hall Milwaukee, WI Feb 04 Musica , 7Horse Akron, OH Feb 05 Blind Pig Ann Arbor, MI Feb 06 Skullys Music Diner Columbus, OH Feb 07 Birdy's Indianapolis, IN Feb 08 The Cabooze Minneapolis, MN Feb 09 Park West Chicago, IL Feb 10 Old Rock House St Louis, MO Feb 12 Mad Frog Cincinnati, OH Feb 13 Hard Rock Cafe Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA Feb 14 The Wonder Bar Asbury Park, NJ Feb 15 The Note West Chester, PA Feb 16 Met Cafe' Pawtucket, RI Feb 17 Wilbur Theatre Boston, MA Feb 19 Toad's Place , New Haven, CT Feb 20 Highline Ballroom New York, NY Feb 21 State Theatre , Falls Church, VA Feb 22 The Norva Norfolk, VA Feb 23 Recher Theatre Towson, MD Feb 24 Smith's Olde Bar Atlanta, GA Feb 25 Vinyl Music Hall Pensacola, FL Feb 26 Trees Dallas, TX Feb 28 Canyon Club Agoura Hills, CA Mar 01 Brick By Brick , San Diego, CA Mar 02 The Coach House San Juan Capistrano, CA JOSH ELKES joshelkes.com New York singer/songwriter Josh Elkes has confirmed his self-titled debut EP for March 19th, 2013. You can preview his first single, "Laid Down in Bows" via his Soundcloud page: His music is said to be influenced by the works of Leonard Cohen (who isn't?) and more modern artists like Bright Eyes. Elkes just finished his four-month residency at The Living Room in Manhattan, but you can still catch him at some upcoming New York shows: 02/24/13 The Cake Shop New York, NY 03/01/13 Arlene’s Grocery New York, NY JOSÉ JAMES josejamesmusic.com Singer-songwriter José James' Blue Note debut, No Beginning No End, came out to critical acclaim - hitting #1 album on the iTunes R&B/Soul chart. James recently performed the lead single, "Trouble" on both CBS Late Show With David Letterman and TBS Conan, and was featured on The New York Times Arts & Leisure and on NPR All Things Considered. Last week, James kicked off his tour - returning to the U.S. in March for some West Coast dates. 02/10-03/06 – Asia & Australia Tour 03/08 – San Jose Jazz WinterFest – San Jose, CA 03/09 – The New Parish – Oakland, CA 03/10 – Brick & Mortar Music – San Francisco, CA 03/11 – Kuumbwa – Santa Cruz, CA 03/12 – The Del Monte Speakeasy – Los Angeles, CA Trivia: Jose James was born in Minneapolis. JEFF BLACK jeffblack.com Not related to Jack Black, Jeff Black is a singer/songwriter from Nashville. His latest release is album called B-Sides and Confessions, Volume Two; it is his ninth album. He just finished performing at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida (01/18-01/20) and is currently on the road: 1.24.13 Salisbury NC Keppel Auditorium 1.25.13 York SC Sylvia Theater 1.26.13 York SC Sylvia Theater 3.23.13 Kansas City MO Knuckleheads Saloon 3.24.13 Holdrege NE Rehmsworld Concerts 3.29.13 Manhattan KS Manhattan Arts Center 4.2.13-4.6.13 Nashville TN Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival Also: JARVIS jarvistheartist.com Capitol Records recently signed R&B singer/songwriter Jarvis (full name Jarvis Shaffer), with the intention of releasing his debut album, Cardiology for 2013. To stir up buzz, the record company released a single called "Make A Little Room." I don't know about you, but when I hear 'Jarvis', I just automatically think of Jarvis Cocker. JOHN GRANT johngrantmusic.com John Grant will be releasing his second album, Pale Green Ghosts, on May 14th, via Partisan Records. Recently, Stereogum showcased his new single, "Black Belt" (which you can actually hear on the Partisan Soundcloud.) JOHN VOURNAKIS bandcamp.com Atlanta singer/songwriter John Vournakis' second EP Hiraeth was released last week (01/21). You can listen to it on Bandcamp. If you were wondering about the name 'hiraeth', it is a Welsh word meaning "a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was." Quite a long definition for just one word. JOHN AMADON bandcamp.com Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Amadon is releasing The Bursting Sheaf on March 5, 2013. He's said that The Bursting Sheaf is more or less an extension of his previous album, Seven Stars, so if you like that, you'll probably love The Bursting Sheaf . vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Black Friday 2011

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

With Black Friday just around the corner, here is a black theme.

Before we get to that - check out Polyvinyl Record's amazing annual Black Friday deals - including a massive 70% sale. Get that Mates of State DVD for a mere $3.00 (less than a Chai Tea at Starbucks!) or Architecture in Helsinki's EP Like It or Not vinyl+MP3 for $2.40. Too good to pass up for any music lover.

As for me? I will be spending tonight (Thanksgiving), heading out to Best Buy with my siblings for our annual Black Friday shopping madness. We tell ourselves, "you have to spend money to save money".

See also Black, Preparing for Black Friday and Black Friday 2010.

ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT
robertglasper.com

Black Radio will be the new album from Robert Glasper Experiment, to be out on February 28th, 2012, via Blue Note Records/EMI. Reading the press release, you can look forward to a good mixture of experimental sounds of jazz, hip hop, R&B... that sort of urban sound that I love about Gorillaz.

Guest vocalists on the new Glasper's album will feature Erykah Badu, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco, Lalah Hathaway, Shafiq Husayn (Sa-Ra), KING, Ledisi, Chrisette Michele, Mos Def, Musiq Soulchild, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Stokley Williams (Mint Condition).

Looking over the title tracks, I am very interested in hearing Glasper's interpretation of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I'll bet it will sound like nothing I've ever heard.

BLACKBERRY SMOKE
blackberrysmoke.com

Blackberry Smoke announced their DVD called Live at the Georgia Theatre (pre-sale started November 23rd, to ship December 6, just in time for Christmas). The show was originally sold out, so if you're a fan, this will be a good way of checking out what went down four months ago at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA. From everything I've read about this band, they seem like they cut their teeth on live performances, playing to massive crowds with Zac Brown Band, ZZ Top & Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The band was recently announced as special guests on the newly announced 2012 "Eric Chuch-The Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour" where they will join Country Music's "Chief." More dates to be announced soon, in the meantime, here are some confirmed dates:

November 26, 2011 | Duluth GA Wild Bills
November 30, 2011 | Fort Lauderdale FL. Revolution
December 01, 2011 | Jacksonville Beach FL. Freebird Live
December 16, 2011 | Asheville NC. The Orange Peel
December 17, 2011 | Wilmington NC. Brooklyn Arts Center
February 24, 2012 | Jim Thorpe PA Penn's Peak - Jim
February 25, 2012 | Stowe VT. Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center
March 01, 2012 - March 05, 2012 | New Orleans LA. The Rock Boat XI
March 09, 2012 | Biloxi MS Hard Rock
March 22, 2012 | Dothan AL. Toadlick Music Festival
August 19, 2012 | Le Roy NY. Frost Ridge - Le Roy, NY
August 21, 2012 | Uncasville CT Mohegan Sun ~ Wolf’s Den
September 22, 2012 | Auburn IN. Cycle Fest USA

JEFF BLACK
www.jeffblack.com

Jeff Black's album, Plow the Mystic came out last Tuesday (November 22nd).

Don't really know much about him, it sounds like acoustic country music, but I read that it's closer to "neo-folk and dirt blues". The album features contributions from Sam Bush (according to Wikipedia was the creator of newgrass, which is more or less like progressive bluegrass), guitarist Jerry Douglas, and singers Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters and Kim Richey.

The funny thing? Jeff has a series of podcasts called "Black Tuesdays", I guess it is his answer to Black Friday.

Black Sabbath at their November 11 reunion press conference at the Whiskey A Go Go in West Hollywood, CA (Photo: Lester Cohen/WireImage)

BLACK SABBATH
blacksabbath.com

Black Friday? How about a Black Saturday? Spin.com wrote, "Around 11:11 EST on 11/11/11 ... their not-especially-metal official twitter tweeted a photo of the venue's marquee that reads simply "BLACK SABBATH REUNION II II II.""

So it's all true, Black Sabbath will reunite with a new studio album (and possibly a new Ozzfest nationwide tour?) to be out in 2012 via Vertigo/Universal. The band (Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward) hadn't had this lineup since 1978.

Look for Black Sabbath to headline at the Download Festival on June 12, 2012. In the meantime, here are the confirmed 2012 dates:

5.18.12 Olimpiski Russia, Moscow
5.21.12 New Arena Russia, St. Petersburg
5.23.12 Hartwall Arena Finland, Helsinki
5.25.12 Stadium Sweden, Stockholm
5.27.12 Jelling Festival Denmark, Jelling
5.29.12 Bergen Calling Festival Norway, Bergen
5.31.12 Spektrum Norway, Oslo
6.2.12 Malmo Stadium Sweden, Malmo

ARCHER BLACK
www.archerblack.com

Speaking of Black Sabbath, their biography lists: "Archer Black takes us from Black Sabbath to Bjork and from Steve Reich to Steve Albini on the record, all within a matter of minutes.". That sounds interesting... and also scary.

Archer Black's debut album is called Forgiveness Is A Weapon to be out on January 3rd, 2012. The preceding single for the album is called "Onward & Down". Those who purchase the digital single directly from their record label, Post Planetary Records, will get it in a lossless audio format and a bonus song, an acoustic version of "The Sounding".

You can hear "Onward & Down" now on Soundcloud.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M