J. Roddy Walston and The Business is a Baltimore, Md.-based rock band playing melodic, often upbeat and catchy songs influenced by the Southern rock tradition and featuring accomplished lyrics and musicianship. Their songs are often piano-driven and also feature strong guitar solos. The band moved to Baltimore from Tennessee.
Justin Earle comes from good stock... His father (legendary and ground-breaking singer/songwriter Steve Earle) must have taught him well. But don't be so quick to compare him to his father. Whatever he may have learned from his old man, he continues to prove himself as an individual- always forging his own path no matter where the others are going. Maybe that is the most important lesson he learned from his father (as well as being the main thing they have in common artistically). Aside from that, you must speak a different language when discussing Justin Earle.
Mr Charlie Duke, (Mr Duke) is a country singer/songwriter, born and bred in Snowdonia, North Wales, he cites many different influences through out his career.
At the age of 17 (2000) he left North Wales for London to join "prog" band "Elysium Fields" whom, he stayed with until 2003.
The following couple of years resulted in Duke hitch-hiking all aver Europe, meeting people, and reading 1950's American "Beat" literature, which would have a profound effect, as did the music of that era.
Biz Markie is an East Coast hip hop artist, DJ and world-renowned Human Beat Boxer, best known for humorous singles like "Just a Friend" and "Pickin' Boogers." and his pre-MTV hit "Vapors". He has been labeled The Clown Prince of Hip-Hop. His career began in the 1980s. In 1992, Biz recorded a song called "Alone Again," but Gilbert O'Sullivan claimed the track featured an unauthorized sample of his hit "Alone Again (Naturally)," and served Biz papers. His career was quite damaged from the lawsuit, and Biz ducked out of the harshest glare of the limelight for the remainder of the 1990s.
Singer/Songwriter Sarah Hughes is a local favorite, playing the bars and venues in the college town of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The powerful Southern voice anchoring her folk-rock style has drawn comparisons to Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, & Lucinda Wiliams. She draws from such diverse influences as Gillian Welch, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, & Widespread Panic, resulting in a sound that houses traditional country storytelling in steady rhythms & strumming with some southern jam-rock on the side.
Eliza Gilkyson (born in Los Angeles) has been recording and performing her unique blend of folk, country, and other genres since the late 1970s. She is the daughter of the late Terry Gilkyson, an accomplished songwriter noted for music he composed for Disney. She is also the sister of Tony Gilkyson, a former guitarist for the punk rock band X. She has collaborated with both during the course of her career.
The Society Islands is the musical project of Cologne, Germany-based composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Boris Rogowski. The Society Islands were founded in 2006, shortly before the release of their debut album "Kiss & Tell" (until then Rogowski had already recorded a dozen of albums and EPs under the moniker M.D. which may or may not be released at a later point in time). The music of The Society Islands oscillates between Neo-Folk, chamber music and Indie Rock and is further characterized by stylistic shifts and ominous undertones.
Comprised of Micah Schnabel (vocals, guitar), Shane Sweeney (bass, vocals), Andy Schell (keyboards), and Cody Smith (drums), the outfit, which plays more than 200 shows a year (and has for the past six years), has made their darkest, yet most rewarding record to date, writing songs that deal with the problems and dilemmas of growing up, coming to terms with ones dreams versus reality, as well as songs about substance abuse...
The Blackeyed Susans are an Australian band, formed in Perth in 1989, based in Melbourne since 1992. They were initially a "holiday band" put together by David McComb in 1989 while The Triffids were in hiatus. Although line-ups have varied from year to year, almost all of them have featured Rob Snarski and early Triffids member Phil Kakulas. www.blackeyedsusans.com.au