RG Ingersoll and Grammy Award Winner Norman Brown.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
RG's All Nite Funk Band - Go For It Sucker (Original Mix)
RG Ingersoll and Grammy Award Winner Norman Brown.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Friday, July 19, 2019
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Friday, July 12, 2019
Reba Russell
Reba Russell is a name synonymous with the Memphis Music scene. She is a published songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, backing vocalist, bandleader, and producer, as well as a touring and recording artist
.
Reba Russell and her band tour throughout the United States and Europe and have released eight independent albums that showcase songwriting and delivery. She is also a highly respected Memphis studio/session vocalist
.
The list of credits for recording artists that Reba has performed backing vocals in session for is vast. A few notable credits are; U2 (When Love Comes to Town, BB King/ Bono). Class of 55 Homecoming featuring: Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins. Huey Lewis and the News, album; Soulsville. Numerous local/blues/regional acts including Tracy Nelson, Jim Dickinson, Sid Selvidge, and Lucero.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Melissa Childers
Originally from Rockton, IL this small town girl has set out to make a name for herself musically. Combining her bluegrass roots with mainstream country she has created a sound that's all her own.
Musicians from Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and Nashville Tenneseee have asked to be on her upcoming record. This is only her second release and critics expect great things from this uo and coming artist.
Things are starting to heat up for Melissa Childers who is releasing her first single with The James Carratt Carratt Project.
Melissa Childers, of Rockton Illinois. Melissa is featured on the song entitled “Unwind” and critics are starting to take notice of this new up and coming artist.
We sat down with Melissa and talked about her music and her inspiration behind song writing.
JC: Where are you originally from?
MC: I’m originally from the Rockton, IL area and graduated from Hononegah High School.
JC: Did you take music or band classes in high school?
MC: I took 4 years of choir in high school and 1 year of jazz choir.
JC: You really have a tone in your voice that sets you apart from other artists. Tell me who were your musical influences growing up
MC: Shania Twain, Reba McCentire, Jo dee Messina, Miranda lambert, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn
JC: I can definitely hear those styles in your music. Was the guitar your first instrument?
MC: No actually the clarinet was. I started playing in middle school but that didn’t last long.
JC: I see you’re from a very musical based family. How did they influence you?
MC: My dad plays rhythm guitar, grandpa, who has since passed away, use to play fiddle and also the guitar. My mom plays bass.
When I was 4 yrs old my aunt told me if I sing, “Any Man of Mine” by Shania Twain on the coffee table she would give me a quarter. So, of course I did.
My sister has a mental disability. She’s 23 and lives with my parents. Physically she is fine, mentally she is age of 8. She loves drums! She doesn't consistently play but she is mesmerized by them.
JC: Your married. Any songs about your husband?
MC: I wrote “Meant to Be” and “Long as I’m With You” especially for my husband Brady. He truly is my inspiration and has helped and supported me all along the way. He constantly helps advertise and promote my shows. He says if we make it big he’s coming on the road with me like Loretta Lynn’s husband, Beau.
JC: When did you write your first song?
MC: I wrote my first song when I was 18 years old. I had just started getting better at playing the guitar and took up songwriting, I have no idea what sparked my interest to do it, but I am glad I did.
JC: What was it and what was it about?
MC: My song was entitled, “Small Time Country Town”. I wrote it with my dad.
It’s about living in a small town, and how we can find happiness in just being at home with each other and playing music.
JC: Other than your husband, what else inspires you to write?
MC: I try to find things, places, topics that people can relate to. About half songs may be secretly about myself or my experiences and half about topics that are relatable to other people.
JC: Do you write the lyrics first or the music?
MC: I have written songs both ways; however, I find it easier to have the music and melody together first myself.
JC: Are there any local artists you look up to?
MC: Bree Morgan. She’s a great musician who is about my age. She has her own band license, and has inspired me to do my acoustic shows. I figured if she can do it, I can too!
Keep an eye out for Melissa Childers who has been getting booked at local clubs throughout the area. We expect great things from this new up and coming artist. Her new single, “Unwind” will be available June 18th 2019 on all digital distribution platforms.
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Motown Songwriters of Classic Disco Hit "Go For It Sucker" featured on new European Album
RENO NV (IFS) -- After its three (3) weeks release, Winton's "Under The Influence" Disco collection starts the short trip up the charts with its smash lineup of songs that include RG Ingersoll and Kenneth Howard Smith's dance floor classic, "Go For It Sucker" topping off this album.
As one of the more stronger songs on this set of classic musical pieces, Ingersoll and Smith continue their four (4) year rein of the specialty charts that includes their "Something To Believe In" and "Thousand Shadows" that still live in the top five hundred songs in the world charts.
Zee Records UK, has released over seventeen (17) chart rated albums in their history and continues to thread the needle by choosing selected songs among the most influential dance tracks around the world to fuel their success.
Smith released his electronica instrumental of "Words Fail When Heroes Fall" about the same time, and the reception of the single is absolutely astounding as it has hit a real nerve and is appearing on the charts in every major market.
Considered by some as the new anthem for remembrance ceremonies in the 21st century, Smith wrote the song sometime back in 2014 in honor of his baby brother Clyde Edgar Smith, who was killed in a heavy equipment accident in Utah.
"Words Fail" has hit the mainstream digital distribution point with the majority of the keep players jumping on board, such as Spotify, Deezer, and iTunes. Smith says, that it all goes back to the roots of Jobete Music songwriting, as "It's What's In the Grooves that Count".
Friday, July 5, 2019
Judy Wexler
It had been two years since I released Dreams & Shadows, and I was eager to get back into the studio. I had been performing steadily in the intervening years and was inspired to make a recording that reflected my creative journey so far, while also paying homage to artists who had done so much to inform my sensibilities. My goal was to craft something even more personal than I had done before, and to create a musical ambience that expressed the joyousness of love, inevitable loss, tenderness, humor, and wisdom.
The arrangements needed to be spacious and modern. It was a no-brainer to ask Alan Pasqua to collaborate again since we had worked together on my last two projects. His playing is virtuosic and full of heart, and his arrangements are open and richly harmonic. Instead of adding flashy contrivances, he lets the song speak for itself.
The other musicians on this recording – Darek Oles, Steve Hass, Larry Koonse, Bob Mintzer, Bob Sheppard, Walt Fowler, and Alex Acuna – all contributed so magically with deep communication and empathy. Producer Barbara Brighton, who is a dear friend and with whom I also worked on my other projects, was on board to help me deliver personal readings of these tunes that are so special to me, while Associate Producer Geoff Gillette contributed his engineering talents and musicality.
With my collaborators in place, I set about to find songs that are not typically offered in a jazz idiom, such as Wonderful Wonderful, which was a huge hit for Johnny Mathis in the late 1950’s; Avec le Temps, a very popular 1970’s French tune from which I took the CD’s title, Under a Painted Sky, from English lyrics written by my husband; and Till There Was You, which was indelibly etched in my brain when my parents took me to see The Music Man when I was a kid. I heard something that moved me in each of these songs.
Of all the jazz vocalists who have inspired me, I pay homage to some of my favorites on this recording. They have all left the planet too soon, but have left it a far more beautiful place.
Abbey Lincoln’s depth and spirit are heard in every raw note she sang and every song she wrote, including And How I Hoped for Your Love, her sad song about finding and losing love.
Shirley Horn had a remarkable gift in her ability to sustain emotion and meaning through her very generous use of space. Her repertoire was a deep well of outstanding material, including The Great City, a hip tune that conveys a snarly warning to innocents venturing into Manhattan.
Blossom Dearie’s girlish voice was inimitable, her delivery wonderfully conversational and effortlessly witty. Her beautiful rendition of Don’t Wait Too Long, a song about an older woman and a younger man and the brevity of life, motivated me to try and capture the song’s poignancy, ache, and resignation.
Carmen McRae wrote Last Time for Love and actually accompanies herself on her live recording of the tune. I couldn’t find another recording of it by anyone else, and here pay homage to one of my favorite singers with one of her rare compositions.
Although An Occasional Man was a big hit for Jeri Southern in the mid-50’s, I first heard it on a TV commercial. It’s about a woman skinny-dipping on a deserted island. It’s a sexy song that just makes me smile.
The imagery of A Little Tear is beautiful, and I love the metaphor of the tear that falls on the hand of the beloved holding all their memories of tenderness.
Café is a dream of a woman walking to meet her old lover. When she meets him, time stands still; and then, suddenly, as in all dreams, the moment ends and we are back to reality. I love how Walt Fowler’s flugelhorn and Alex Acuna’s percussion sustain the dreamlike quality of the lyrics.
Alan and I were both enthusiastic about including Whisper Not, a classic written by the great Benny Golson and Leonard Feather with a cool, timeless feel.
The last tune is Sack Full of Dreams, an optimistic, beautiful song made even more beautiful by the interplay of Alan and the incredible Larry Koonse on guitar. It is a wish for peace. It is what I wish for all of us.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Purple Olive of Rosamond California
ROSAMOND CA (IFS) -- Once upon a time in the little town of Rosamond California lived several guys that went to school together and played in the elementary school band. They continued their quest up into high school and college. They were never that good at all. Consistently sloppy musicians, but together they created great music. It was a kind of magic. They rehearsed in their garage for over two years before they played the first gig. And almost got "boobed" off the stage. They were not that good, however, their achievements in the music industry are profound, as members of the band went on to have careers with RCA Records, Motown Records, and Sony Music as producers, artists, and songwriters.
So one of the members of the group decided that they should make some records, and they did. It started off with just one record on their Heavy Rock Records label, and then they exploded as single artists onto the world stage with RCA Records, Century Records, Flagg Records, Glenn Records, Motown Records, D-Town Records, Vault Records, Specialty Records, and Fraternity Records, just to name a few labels over the years.
What was the exporting factor with this group was a quantity unknown. It was just the way they did things that were so different. First of all, they were the beginnings of the "Garage Bands" music.
These guys could play country music, rock, gospel, R&B, musical stage plays, and reggae music before anyone really knew what the form was. Not that they created it or anything, but was very heavy into the introduction of it.
Purple Olive was actually three (3) groups in one. They transformed themselves into the music of the evening and became that entity. Depending on what was on the agenda that night, they would bring in members like Billy Foster (I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James, Chess Records), Bobby Mandolph (from the play of HAIR who doubled for Ronny Dyson), or Mark Montijo (Dogs Of War), Jimmy Winter-road, the Gilchrist Brothers (Pepper and Ernie), and many others over the years.
The band itself actually managed to hit the charts with one hit record back in 1968, with the song "MaryBeth" written by Kenny Smith and resurfaced again in the early 1990s.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)