Tom Morello, lead guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, will release a third studio album for his solo project, The Nightwatchman, on August 30th entitled World Wide Rebel Songs. Shortly before this in May 2011, Morello released an EP Union Town after being inspired by his performance in Madison, Wisconsin last February during the protest of an anti-union bill. All proceeds from this EP continue to go to the America Votes Labor Unity Fund via SaveWorkers.org. Continuing to benefit worthy causes, Morello has announced a three day Midwest tour, including Madison WI, Cleveland OH, and Flint MI, along with Rise Against’s vocalist and guitarist Tim McIlrath to benefit The Nation Institute (for more information click here). Created as a non-profit media center, the goal of The Nation Institute is to promote progressive ideas as well as strengthen and allow for independent press to thrive. “This year’s Justice Tour aims to support independent media which is battling the mountain of disinformation and propaganda foisted on the public by right wing media barons,” said Morello. “We will also return to the union battlegrounds of the Midwest to help steel the backbone of workers under siege.” (source here). All profits from these performances will go to The Nation Institute. For the Madison performance ticket information click here. For the Cleveland performance ticket information click here. For the Flint performance ticket information click here.
Although the date of release has not yet been announced, former Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump has finished recording his debut solo album Soul Punk onto Island Records. He is one of the dozens of AP’s Most Anticipated Music issue coming out next month, and is letting his fans help in his decision of which version of “Spotlight” he wants to put on the album. Head over to patrickstump.com to cast your vote. I’m more of a “New Regrets” kind of kid if you ask me.
Owl City penned the song – “To the Sky” – to serve as the theme to Director Zack Snyder’s animation debut Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. The song “To the Sky” is not only the soundtrack’s first single, but is also featured prominently within the film and plays again as it soars over the end title sequence. Featuring themes and imagery from the film, the music video for Owl City’s “To the Sky” has just premiered on Vevo.
Just in time for summer, Gym Class Heroes front man Travis McCoy, now Travie, has released his debut solo album Lazarus. McCoy has been working on his pop, alternative, and hip-hop album for some time now. Lazarus reflects its diverse group of collaborators and producers from Bruno Mars to T-Pain. Each song has that little extra something that many songs you hear on the radio today tend to not have. Billionaire (Feat. Bruno Mars) is the radio hit you’ve probably already herd as Travie fills you in on his hopes and dreams of living the lavish life with an endless amount of cash in his pocket. In Superbad [11:34] hereleases his rock side with a deep bass and electric guitar behind his tremendous voice. Don’t Pretend (Feat. Colin Munroe) reflects his Gym Class Hero’s hip-hop background. This song in particular has a much slower beat than many of the other songs on the album and touches on a more sensitive side of Travie. I can’t help but applaud Travie for his well thought out and distinct solo album; job well done. If you want to catch these songs live and see Travie for your self, catch him this summer on The Last Girl On Earth Tour with Rihanna and Ke$ha.
Suggested songs : Dr.Feel Good (Feat. Cee Lo Green), Billionaire (Feat. Bruno Mars), & After Midnight
”This world has lots to offer, but in time it will go dark, & if this love is what we see it is, I’m sure we will go far, & with a girl as sweet as you, there’s not much else I can do but fall for you.” -Christofer Drew
There is a tour bus outside of Milwaukee’s famous Rave Club, outside it are teenage girls, all sporting their homemade shirts professing their love for Never Shout Never. Security guards are peeved, telling them they’re too close, and three feet away are four fans on their hands and knees, drawing a name in chalk around his traveling home. We venture onto the bus into the back and are greeted by the 19 year old who has purloined the hearts of millions of people besides the ones swarming around the venue. It is as if everyone in the English speaking language now knows of his existence. From his lack of shoes, ukulele tunes, and his message of spreading love and appreciation of nature, Christofer Drew has made the journey from his room in Joplin, Missouri, to the stages of nearly every state in the country. The first I heard of him was when I was in the eighth grade, still swooning over his Myspace picture. Three years later, I’m sitting on his couch, inhaling his secondhand smoke. Singing something I’ve never heard before and playing an acoustic, he lights a cigarette just as the door to the room we’re in closes. Humble and sure of where he’s going along with what he believes, upon reading his lyrics and speaking to him in person, it is no wonder why fans fall at the site of him.
What better reason to drive two hours into the city than to see your hero on stage?
First off, I know two hours doesn’t seem like all that long to you, but trust me, two hours in Chicago traffic can feel like ten. My mom (she has always secretly wanted to see Kate play, plus she paid so I didn’t argue), and two of my friends (Jenna and Sam) accompanied me to the amazing show at Park West. Surprisingly the show started pretty much on time (7:30) with a shy kid who’s hair fell slightly in front of his left eye, Matt Hires. Now, I’m not going to lie, Read More
Last night Jennnn informed me that I needed to have a post done in 24 hours or else…well, I don’t know what would happen, but she’s my “boss” so I figured I needed to have one done. My first thought was ‘well yeah, I do kinda owe you a post because I slept too late to take you to the show I was supposed to bring you to.’ But my second thought was ‘holy crap, I don’t know what I’m going to write about.’ Lucky for me, I got home from school today and checked my MySpace, and saw that Kate Voegele had her new single up on iTunes.
She’s been on tour with Kate Voegele, performed with Damian Rice, had songs featured in One Tree Hill, and landed several guest appearances on Gilmore Girls. Amy Kuney, a truly incredible lyricist, is definitely an artist to watch. Here’s our interview with this musician on the rise. Read More
In Arizona: The Grand Canyon, The Phoenix Suns, The Maine, and oh yeah, Mike Goodrick. With his poppish acoustic sound and his deep sincere lyrics he is out to make you smile. Seriously, that’s what he wants to do, make you smile. Influenced by bands like Relient K, he writes sad songs with happy upbeat music. The question is are you smiling yet?
1) How long have you been playing?
I’ve been singing in choir and stuff like that since I can remember.
I’ve been playing guitar for about 5 years. I taught myself in seventh grade how to play guitar and since then I’ve been teaching myself to play lots of other instruments like piano, trombone, viola, and the harp.
2) What made you want to become a musician?
Well I have always liked to sing but I never even considered it as a career choice until I got my first guitar for my 13th birthday. I immediately fell in love with Read More
Me (Jordan) and two of my friends went to the Simon dTour Live show at Gurnee Mills Mall in Illinois. The show was about 6 hours long, but we got there early and were able to spend 10ish hours standing in the mall. Which was amazingly awesome, and got to meet Read More
I had the opportunity to meet the oh so famous Katy Perry at this year’s Warped Tour. She seems really nice. While I was on side stage, during the opening song One Of The Boys, a (pardon my language) really stupid, moronic, just really idiotic fan decided to throw a bottle of water at her during her performance. Unfortunately, he didn’t miss. He hit her head on. Dude, she got splashed. So she threw her guitar at her tech (wouldn’t you?) and flicked off the crowd. I honestly respect her for continuing on singing after the little interruption. I would have done the same thing but my performance would have included a few curse words…haha anywho, after she was done with the set, I asked her, ”what would you tell the person who threw it at you?” and here’s the video. Read More
Just in time for summer, Gym Class Heroes front man Travis McCoy, now Travie, has released his debut solo album Lazarus. McCoy has been working on his pop, alternative, and hip-hop album for some time now. Lazarus reflects its diverse group of collaborators and producers from Bruno Mars to T-Pain. Each song has that little extra something that many songs you hear on the radio today tend to not have. Billionaire (Feat. Bruno Mars) is the radio hit you’ve probably already herd as Travie fills you in on his hopes and dreams of living the lavish life with an endless amount of cash in his pocket. In Superbad [11:34] he releases his rock side with a deep bass and electric guitar behind his tremendous voice. Don’t Pretend (Feat. Colin Munroe) reflects his Gym Class Hero’s hip-hop background. This song in particular has a much slower beat than many of the other songs on the album and touches on a more sensitive side of Travie. I can’t help but applaud Travie for his well thought out and distinct solo album; job well done. If you want to catch these songs live and see Travie for your self, catch him this summer on The Last Girl On Earth Tour with Rihanna and Ke$ha. 
