Music FridayLive!

Rooftop Revolutionaries are a modern hard rock band from Los Angeles fronted by opera-trained rocker Eleanor Goldfield.  They have stood out in the Southern California underground rock scene by  expressing political and social views in their songs, blending a message with a heavy rock sound similar to that of Alice in Chains. Rooftop Revolutionaries have played Los Angeles venues such as The House of Blues Sunset Strip, The Roxy, Viper Room and the Troubador. They released their debut album this summer, Resolute, to rave reviews. Best of all Eleanor joins us Friday.

In an industry saturated with fly-by-night singles, auto-tune pop, and packaged artist-development, Alex Nester brings back the art of music-making in a collection of original music chronicling her trials and letdowns with the state of music business today and her bout with cancer as a teenager. A life of trial and triumph has  shaped her unique sound filled with messages of love, faith, positivity, and healing while channeling the retro soul artists of the 60’s and 70’s. Her resume includes 12 albums, countless jingles, and over 25 theatrical productions, as well as working with established musicians such as Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Fifth Dimension, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. We are so looking forward to talking with Alex this Friday at 2:30 pm ET.

Eighteen year-old Lena Fayre started her journey in Hollywood working with Golden Globe winning producer Jimmy Harry and emerging producer Sean Gould to create a set of deliciously melodic and energizing songs. She then recorded with award winning producer Chris Keup in the  White Star Sound studio in Virginia, with  collaborators ranging from the Dirty Projectors’ Olga Bell, to Bon Iver’s multi/instrumentalist Reggie Pace and acclaimed folk artist Sanders Bohlke. Upon her return to L.A., Lena completed the album in collaboration with three time Grammy nominated producer John Alagia. Her debut EP, OKO was released August 5, 2014 at a party in Los Angeles.

Pop-rock band War Poets are uncompromising social justice advocates who have infiltrated the pop-rock genre using smart hooks and compelling narratives to invite listeners to consider their social and political perspectives. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based group has garnered favorable comparisons to Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, and the Replacements.And like these artists, War Poets draw on Americana, pop, and rock to achieve an aesthetic that’s refined but rootsy. They are releasing 3 EPs in 2014: American Police State,Hot and Cold: American Relationships, and Searching for the American Dream.

Singer/songwriter, Rett Smith, was born in West Texas and raised in the mountains of New Mexico.  His early influences range from classic rock and country, including outlaw staples such as Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.  After settling down in Los Angeles to focus on his music, Rett played sold out shows across the city. His first album,  One to Blame, is now being produced by 9-time Grammy Winner Joe Nicolo, known for his work with The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Cypress Hill, The Fugees, Lauryn Hill.   "I Swear" is the first single from the upcoming album. We talk with him at the top of teh hour about the new album and what it is like to work with Nicolo.

Los Angeles singer-songwriter Jessie Payo, known for her brilliant vocal and poetic songwriting, spent the year crisscrossing the country supporting her new single “She Will Love Again” while she  opened and performed with The Jason Mraz, Eric Hutchinson, Lauryn Hill, and Melissa Etheridge. Her new EP Down The Mountain,produced by Aben Eubanks in Nashville,was released on September 17, 2013. Her music has appeared on MTV’s hit series’ “The Hills”, “The City”, “My Super Sweet Sixteen”, ABC’s “Make it or Break it”, FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance”, CBS’s “Criminal Minds”, and E!’s “The Daily Ten.” She opens next week at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood and we talk to her Friday about the show, her career and the new album..

Salme is an electro pop dance music artist, also known as the licensing queen because of her ability to license all of her songs for media use.  She is a  one-woman dynamo on the razor’s edge of mass appeal with radio ready songs like "Superstar Car Crash"  and  tracks like "C'Mon Y'All"  that are good sound and good fun. With songs on the Billboard Dance Chart and the Global Dance TraxTop 100, she never stops.  This summer alone she has released a new single, a new video and a new album.  And we will play samples from all of them when we talk with her Friday August 1.

Icelandic author/songwriter/composer and former journalist Ívar Páll Jónsson is the genius behind Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson, Furniture Painter. Author of the book, lyrics and music, Ívar has been writing music since the age of 15, perfecting his craft by writing thousands of songs in his career, most of them unpublished. His ambitious new concept album just released with guest appearances by renowned songster Liam McCormick (The Family Crest) and an all-star lineup of Iceland's top singers, entitled Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter. It's also the score for an off-Broadway theater production featuring former Miss America Kate Shindle and Tony winner Cady Huffman. A homage to the grandeur of classic rock at its most epic with influences including Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, and Sufjan Stevens, the album weaves a tale of love, war, and brotherhood that that all takes place within the microcosm of an oblivious man’s elbow.

Juliette Ashby is a British singer-songwriter with potent synthesis of R&B, reggae and neo-soul.She wrote her first song when she was 7 years old, in the car while on holiday in Greece.  She met her best friend Amy Winehouse at nursery school when they were 4 years old and by the time they were 10 they were writing and performing songs, dances and raps and recorded 3 original songs together.  Juliette now resides in London but is relocating to Los Angeles to continue to record and write music .  Her latest album is Bittersweet and the single“Over & Over”  produced by So So Def’s Mike Kalombo is now on the radio in theUK and coming this way.

Laura Evans is originally from the Valleys of South Wales, UK, home to many musical legends such as Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey. After 5 successful years on a BBC TV sitcom Laura decided to pack up and move stateside to pursue her biggest passion - music.  She recently wrote and recorded a 7 track EP live at the 'House Of Rock' Studios Santa Monica, entitled 'Remember When' released this April.  She has been likened to artists such as 'Duffy'  'Lucie Silvas' and a country and western version of 'Mariah Carey'.  Laura says her biggest musical influences are Country and Soul, she explains " hopefully if every heartfelt love song that I write, has a perfect mixture of both, then it works for me "

Dree Paterson has been a  singer/songwriter virtually since birth, with influences from powerhouse women like Sara Bareilles to Amy Winehouse and pop rockers like Bruno Mars. On her new EP, A Louder Side of Me to be released in two weeks, she brings out the eccentric side of herself by fearlessly experimenting with different sounds and stories from surging rock anthems to bouncy pop beats, all with engaging stories with a hint of attitude.We get an advance peek at the album and a conversation with the star herself.

Matt Borck, lead guitarist and singer of  the Canadian band YUCA joins us with the driving al rock of the bands newest album, Rebuilding The Fallen Empire that evokes Muse, Coldplay a Canada's hardest working music groups, with 375 shows nationally and internationally. We are thrilled to welcome them back to the USA and let you talk with Matt about their music and news on their upcoming tour. Maybe he can slip out unannounced USA dates?

Scout Durwood, AKA Lady Scoutington, is an acclaimed chanteuse and comedienne who was recently named one of The Huffington Post's “20 Burlesque Stars to Know,” as well as Funny Not Slutty’s “10 Women Who Rock Comedy” and Stand Up Talk’s “Five Awesome Women’s Musical Comedy Acts.” She is the author of three solo shows, including the one woman musical, "Hi, How Can I Help You?," which debuted at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is a Moth Story Slam Champion whose work has been featured on MTV, The Howard Stern Show and The Mindy Project. She is one half of The Yip Yip Sisters with Amy Hessler and hosts of The Whimsy! Show in Los Angeles. And she joins us for hope will be a bleep-free interview (or not).

Born in Havertown, PA and currently based in Los Angeles, CA, Singer/Songwriter Mary Scholz makes music that is sweeping the nation with its heartfelt melodies and lyrics. Mary’s voice resonates with a clarity and emotion that engages her listeners from the first note. Singing since the age of four and writing since the age of fourteen, Mary’s music is a blend of lyric folk & pop/rock with a bittersweet twist that puts her in a category of her own.She has toured the countrty for  7 years and has settled in LA with a career in film and especially in music.  Her songs are very, very personal, but they touch people in a way that makes it feel like each song - wheter live or recorded - a private concert for them and about them.  She comes to us with a new album, The Girl You Thought You Knew which is a magical as her live performances.

NOTE: THE Blogktalkradio.com server was corrupted and the podcast for this show will not play.  You can hear a clean copy at Music Friday: www.blogtalkradio.com/musicfriday.

Dark Beauty will tell the legend of the Dark Angel who fell from grace and now rules an evil tower in an unknown land.  Banished from heaven she is pulled down from grace above, falling deep into the woods of the dark primeval forest.  With a broken wing she descends through twisted cathedral-like branches of trees.  Dark Beauty, five supremely talented musicians who range from opera singer to a professor at the Manhattan School of Music have come together in a classically influenced, gothic alternative Progressive Rock band that will tell this tale in its concept album, “Fall From Grace”. This will be the first time anyone has ever heard it.

Joy Collins is a fourth generation vocalist who has seen a lot of life, both good and bad.  After hitting bottom, she has gone through a metamorphosis, like a caterpillar into a butterfly, shaking off addictions, hitting bottom and finding love again.  With a perfect pitch voice and lyrics and power than come from having lived  the stories sings,  she is ready to take the music world by storm.  Joy has worked with some of the most sought after players in Nashville and is now stepping out and a strong, emerging country musician. Her new album , It Ain’t Just Music, is what country is about – life as it comes at you and we are proud to have her.

A pastor's daughter,  Eliza Rickman learned to play the piano in church at age 13, and then discovered Nick Cave.  Things went south from there - or north depending on your prespective - and now Rickman is a  musical artist who is not exactly religious, although her most recent album, O, You Sinners, is laced with religious references. Controversial but honest themes pervade her music and her acts, which are often accompanied by a toy piano or an accordian or a grand piano in complex lyrical melodies.  She is witty, sometimes profane, down to earth, always in tune and very, very talented. Her music is a joy to listen to and her lyrics make you think.  There is nothing like her and you will be so happy you listen to her words and her music.

Cold Blood Club is a dark,8-piece band that sings like an indie rock love letter to New York City and puts a new spin on the electro dance/pop sound with an edgy blend of soul and rock influences. Inspired by life in New York and the likes of New Order, Depeche Mode, Broken Social Scene and The Flaming Lips, guitarist/songwriter Tom Stuart (Radio America) began writing songs for powerhouse singer Kendra Jones. What started as a small studio project quickly evolved into a collective of dynamic live musicians. After recruiting former bandmates Jesse Reno (Radio America) to play bass and Brad Peterson (Earlymay) to join on lead vocals, Cold Blood Club was soon joined by wunderkind drummer Shin Kamei (Angela Jane), flame haired violinist Hilary Davis (Bella Koshka) and Adina Benno on keys. The rest is history - and great music.

Doña Oxford is an extraordinary soul, R&B and boogie woogie singer/songwriter and keyboardist who’s old school soul vocals and high octane keyboard piano create music that crowds of all ages go wild for.  She puts on red hot live shows - many have called them  “Gladys Knight meets the Rolling Stones” concerts. Doña has played with legends including Keith Richards, Bob Weir, Levon Helm, Albert Lee, Buddy Guy,  Shemekia Copeland and  Johnnie Johnson, and played keyboard for Van Morrison in his latest studio recording. Labeled the ‘Goddess of Soul’, Doña toured her sassy, soulful 6-piece band throughout the world while recording four fast selling albums. She joins us on Musiic Friday Live! at 2:05 pm ET.

 

Fourth generation Californian Corinne West, described as "the Siren of the Sierras" brings a powerful and eloquent voice coupled with finely crafted song to the global acoustic roots music scene. At 15, she left home with guitar in hand to travel America in a converted school bus, sang in an edgy rock-n-roll band, studied theatre, restored bi-plane wings, built custom curved walls as a river rock mason and opened a fine art business in glass and metal with a blacksmith in the High Sierras.  All of that informs her elegant new sexy acoustic jazz-rock-folk,  "west-coast acoustic soul" sound. Her newest album, The Promise is a collaboration with Pam Delgado and Jeri Jones of Blame Sally and is a soaring triumph. She joins us at 2:30 pm ET.