JULIE RHODES EARNS EARLY PRAISE FOR ‘BOUND TO MEET THE DEVIL, COMPARISONS TO RHYTHM AND BLUES GREATS

SYNDICATED RADIO SHOWS BEALE STREET CARAVAN AND MUSIC CITY ROOTS CONFIRMED

Julie Rhodes’ debut album ‘Bound To Meet The Devil’ comes out February 26 but already praise is rolling in for her Etta James-meets-Cary Ann Hearst vocals, Muscle Shoals, AL production, and great songwriting. She’s confirmed tapings with syndicated radio shows Music City Roots and Beale Street Caravan and will be headed to play her first SXSW. What we’re hearing about Julie:

"Those songs are just perfect."
- Meredith Ochs, SIRIUS XM, January 29, 2016

“A significant new Americana/blues talent.”
- Adrien Begrand, Pop Matters, November 23, 2015

"While Rhodes' vocals evoke blues queens and soul shouters, "Bound to Meet the Devil" rounds up a range of roots sounds... Part of 'Bound to Meet the Devil's' charms come from the production and the players, but Rhodes' songwriting completes the spell. Her songs seem to rise from the ghosts of '50s blues and '60s soul greats. 'Hurricane' could be something Otis Redding penned in 1965... I have a feeling she'll be busy with national tours, trips to Europe and even a few late-night TV performances."
- Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, January 1, 2016

"The blues for a new generation... Rhodes shines... gritty and emotionally raw."
–Elmore, December 17, 2015

“Listen.”
– The Bluegrass Situation, December 10, 2015

"Powerhouse."
- Tara Joan, The Daily Country, February 8, 2016

“Sometimes you hear a song and realize that there's something inherently special about it, something that elevates it above the rest of its musical peers. And in regard to New England blues artist Julie Rhodes, that song is the lead track from her forthcoming debut record, ‘Bound to Meet the Devil.’ Everything from the tenor of its blues-influenced tones to the dusty, workingman's blues attitude causes you to suspect that Rhodes will soon find a much larger audience… There's nothing synthetic or fraudulent, only a pure determination.”
- Joshua Pickard, Nooga.com, December 4, 2016

JULIE RHODES TOUR DATES

March 4 – Somerville, MA – Thunder Road
March 5 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre
March 16 – Memphis, TN – Bar DKDC
March 22 – Knoxville, TN – WDVX Blue Plate Special (afternoon)
March 22 – Nashville, TN – The 5 Spot
March 22 – Nashville, TN – The Basement
March 23 – Franklin, TN – Music City Roots

FAST-RISING JOE FLETCHER NEW ALBUM ‘YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG MAN’ DEBUTS ON HEATSEEKERS CHART

SOLO ALBUM HERALDED BY ROLLING STONE, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, ESQUIRE AND BEYOND

SPOTIFY FEATURES “I NEVER (REPRISE)” ON THE PULSE OF AMERICANA PLAYLIST

For Joe Fletcher, 2014 has seen a rapid ascent into the top ranks of the Americana music world, with a debut at 69 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart today; packed sets at Americana Fest and Way Over Yonder (presented by Newport Folk); upcoming opening slots for The Devil Makes Three; and raves for his new solo album ‘You’ve Got The Wrong Man.’ Spotify has featured “I Never (Reprise),” which premiered at Paste Magazine, on its Pulse of Americana playlist.

“Must-see… [His] songs… wind and roll with steep changes, always ending with a birds-eye view that suddenly organizes it all into one delicate vision. The Rhode Islander-turned-Nashvillian's words flow more like folk poetry than verse-chorus status quo, picking on a honky-tonk spirit with a Tom Waits heart.”
- Marissa Moss, Rolling Stone, September 17, 2014

"Gritty... a bracing breath of fresh air.”
- Miles Raymer, Entertainment Weekly, October 3, 2014, full album stream

"Joe Fletcher is a natural storyteller... It's the lyrics that get you, the complexities of which are sometimes hidden by the musical styling. They paint the sort of deep portraits of American life many songwriters allude to but which few accomplish. There's darkness down there, but with it humor and, absolutely, a damn good time."
- James Joiner, Esquire, August 28, 2014

“Wildly imaginative… charmingly raw”
– Jon Freeman, Country Weekly, October 13, 2014

“A diamond in the rough.”
- Hal Horowitz, American Songwriter, October 7, 2014

“This band’s namesake gave up his day job as an English teacher to make music, and he goes to the head of the class with his latest release.”
- June Wulff, The Boston Globe, September 1, 2014

“Sounds a bit like pre-electric Dylan.”
- Bob Strauss, LA Daily News, September 22, 2014

“Awesome… [his] best yet.”
- Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, September 22, 2014

“Such a special record… Fletcher’s storytelling skills have never been better, and the characters in his songs are thoroughly developed and oh so dark.”
- Maeri Ferguson, Glide Magazine, September 25, 2014

Tour dates are here.

KINGSLEY FLOOD STEPS ONTO NATIONAL STAGE AT NEWPORT FOLK FEST

"WE WERE GOBSMACKED" – AMERICAN SONGWRITER

"SPECIAL PROPS" - BILLBOARD

Kingsley Flood kicked off the Newport Folk Festival on the Fort Stage (the fest's largest) in a set captured by NPR Music.

Paste Magazine's Dacey Orr had named them one of ten bands to catch at Newport, saying, "This hardworking band is rapidly making an impression nationally. Their recent album 'Battles' holds several tracks that translate into rowdy on-stage anthems."

Rolling Stone's James Joiner said, "Kingsley Flood kicked off the main stage, shirking the rain with puddle-splashing, foot-stomping folk rock and their signature high energy."

Billboard's Devon Maloney wrote, "Special props ought to be given to a pre-rain, fest-opening set by energetic Boston mainstays Kingsley Flood."

American Songwriter's Sean Maloney testified, "We had never heard these guys before but we were gobsmacked – GOBSMACKED – by the Boston band’s soulful, folk rockin’ shimmy on the Fort Stage. We heard echoes of X’s sun-scorched punk, moments of Muscle Shoals groove and some gnarly fuzz bass, which was the last thing we thought we would hear at a folk festival. It was great way to kick off our fest and their new album Battles made a great soundtrack for the ride home."

Stream 'Battles' here.

Pigeons & Planes blog called the set "a great live show," continuing that they "did not disappoint… At turns riotous folk rock, at others pastoral stillness, the overarching theme is their infinitely palpable passion."

Their hometown press echoed these sentiments. The Boston Globe offered, "Kingsley Flood played a triumphant set on the Fort Stage Friday afternoon, alternating between heart-on-sleeve ballads and all-out rockers."

DigBoston said, "For KF I saw more enthusiasm than I saw at a bunch of the much bigger acts… when they left the stage I immediately missed them."

The Boston Herald said that Kingsley Flood "absolutely killed it, thrilling a huge crowd."

NPR Music premiered the "Sigh a While" video on July 17.

Kingsley Flood Tour Dates

August 17, 2013 - Lowell Summer Music Series - Lowell, MA (w/ Josh Ritter)

September 13, 2013 - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA (w/ Toy Soldiers)

September 20, 2013 - Black Cat - Washington, DC           

October 12, 2013 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA

Kingsley Flood bio

Boston and Washington, DC based six-piece Kingsley Flood released their first full-lenth Dust Windows in 2010, generating both critical acclaim and a passionate fan base. In 2011, the band issued the six-song EP Colder Still, with tracks that were touted by NPR, Esquire, and Paste.The band, described recently by the Boston Herald as a “Rolling Thunder Revue with a punk rock sneer,” has supported Grace Potter and Nocturnals, Angus and Julia Stone, Langhorne Slim, and Brett Dennen, among others, and is a two-time winner at both the Boston Music Awards and the Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll.

In 2013, Kingsley Flood has no plans to sit still. Battles, their latest full-length (released Feb. 5), is the band’s most honed, complex, and meaningful project to date. Recorded with producer Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Langhorne Slim, David Wax Museum) at Great North Sound Society in rural Maine, Battles amplifies the band’s pension for dynamics — rock songs that can fill music halls, quiet songs that sound two feet away.The resulting sound blends Dylan-esque storytelling, Kinks-inspired melodies, and the urgency of the Clash. With songs inspired by everyone from delusional dictators to spray-tanned politicians to laid-off workers trying to get back on their feet, Battles winds a deliberate path from self doubt (opener “Don’t Change My Mind”) to quiet determination (closer “This Will Not Be Easy”).The band is:

• Naseem Khuri: vocals, rhythm guitar
• Jenée Morgan: violin, saxophone, vocals
• Chris Barrett: trumpet, keys, percussion, vocals
• George Hall: lead guitar, vocals
• Nick Balkin: bass, vocals
• Travis Richter: drums, percussion

AMERICANA'S "STAR ON THE RISE" (BOSTON HERALD) AMY BLACK TO RECORD LIVE ALBUM WITH FULL BAND AT JOHNNY D'S JANUARY 4

SINGER-SONGWRITER TO APPEAR ON WUMB EARLIER THAT DAY

FAN PHOTO FROM THE SHOW WILL BE INCLUDED IN ALBUM ARTWORK

WITH SPECIAL GUEST ON VOCALS, WARD HAYDEN FROM BOSTON MUSIC AWARD-WINNING BAND GIRLS GUNS & GLORY

Fresh from a national tour and performing at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, TN, singer-songwriter Amy Black will be recording a live album at Johnny D's, around the corner from her Davis Square apartment, on January 4 with her band. The Boston Globe has called her music "deeply felt," continuing, "From steely murder ballads to tender love songs that evoke bedrock country tropes, the record is Americana in its broadest definition. It's rooted in folk and country but with tinges of Southern soul and blues."

Ward Hayden from the Boston Music Award-winning band Girls Guns & Glory will sit in on the set. The band is made up of top shelf Boston-area musicians: Jim Scoppa (Duke Robillard), electric guitar, Russell Chudnofsky (Lori McKenna, Sara Borges), rhythm guitar; Lorne Entress (producer of Black's stellar album 'One Time' and drummer for Ronnie Earl), drums; John Styklunas, bass. Tom Dube of Front Of House Sound, who has worked with Rosanne Cash, Jackson Browne, Richard Thompson, and Kathleen Edwards, will engineer the live album.

The audience will have the opportunity to advance purchase the album (both CD and a download before it's even released) for $5. A group photo of all who come out will be included in the artwork for the album. Black plans to release it in the spring and mount a tour behind it.

Black will also appear live on WUMB 91.9FM at noon on January 4.

"NEWCOMER OF NOTE" (BOSTON HERALD) AMY BLACK TO SHOWCASE AT AMERICANA MUSIC FESTIVAL & CONFERENCE FRIDAY, SEPT. 14 AT SHERATON LISTENING LOUNGE

Amy Black – the minister's daughter with storytelling and Southern tradition in her blood – will perform at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, TN on Friday, September 14. The acclaimed singer-songwriter's finely wrought and gorgeously-sung songs have earned her a following in her native New England and have begun to cement her as part of the next generation of Americana artists. She will also appear on a panel "Channeling Your Inner CEO: Business Best Practices" on Thursday, September 13.

Click here for high res photos.

No Depression has written, "Amy Black has a smooth, seductive sound that commands attention… [She] sings in a folk-styled country voice that suggests bits of Patty Loveless, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Judy Collins, edged by the blues of Bonnie Raitt and a hint of Jennifer Nettle’s sass." Her hometown Boston Herald said, "Her album, 'One Time' [is a] a stunning debut... the beautifully imagined sound and soul of her originals make her a newcomer of note." And WUMB-FM Boston wrote that “her latest album, One Time, reveals her as one of the best storytelling songwriters working today.”

Amy's live show varies from full band to duo as seen in this clip.

AMA SHOWCASE DETAILS

WHO: Amy Black, in the round with Susan Cattaneo, Rose Cousins and Rod Picott

WHAT: Americana Music Festival & Conference Official Showcase

WHEN: Friday, September 14, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

WHERE: Sheraton Hotel, Listening Lounge, 623 Union St., Nashville, TN

TICKETS: Open to AMA badgeholders and press; Press RSVP to Nick Loss-Eaton at nicklosseaton AT gmail.com.

PANEL DETAILS

WHO: Amy Black, alongside moderator Ralph Jaccodine, Boston Management Group; Susan Cattaneo, Berklee College of Music; Thad Beatty, writer, instrumentalist, producer; and Dino Cattaneo, Jersey Girl Music

WHAT: Channeling Your Inner CEO: Business Best Practices panel

WHERE: Sheraton Hotel, Suite 7, 623 Union St., Nashville, TN

WHEN: Thursday, September 13, 4:00 – 5:00 pm,

TICKETS: Open to AMA badgeholders and press; Press RSVP to Nick Loss-Eaton at nicklosseaton AT gmail.com.

A latecomer to the craft of songwriting, Black spent more than a decade in the business world as a professional marketer before discovering her writing talents. The panelists will discuss setting and tracking goals; creating a strategy; smart marketing; and building a team on a shoestring budget or with no budget at all.

She reflects, "I was always a singer. I grew up singing in church and joined a few bands in college, but I didn't know that I had it in me to write. I was sitting at my kitchen table one night and thought, 'You know, you should do something with your voice.' Fast forward five years and I'm a touring artist, singing my own music. I tell my audiences it's not too late to go after your dreams!" Black sold her comfortable suburban house and moved into an 800-square-foot rental in Somerville, MA, where she began to dedicate her time to writing, recording, and touring.

Filmed along Boston harbor, the video for "Whiskey & Wine" perfectly captures the song's contemplative nature as the character reconciles how two people so different could still love one another.

Click here for national tour dates.

AMERICANA SONGSTRESS AMY BLACK ANNOUNCES NATIONAL TOUR INCLUDING AMA SHOWCASE IN NASHVILLE; SOUTHERN LEG WITH FIVE-TIME BOSTON MUSIC AWARD WINNERS GIRLS GUNS AND GLORY

BLACK COMES TO MUSIC CAREER BACKWARDS, LEAVES COMFORT OF THE SUBURBS AND TAKES TO THE ROAD

Amy Black – the minister's daughter with storytelling and Southern tradition in her blood – is launching a national tour including a showcase during the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, TN. Black is an acclaimed New England-based Americana artist with a compelling voice who has been compared to Patty Griffin and has opened for stars including Chris Isaak, Rodney Crowell, and Suzy Bogguss.

No Depression has written, "Amy Black has a smooth, seductive sound that commands attention… [She] sings in a folk-styled country voice that suggests bits of Patty Loveless, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Judy Collins, edged by the blues of Bonnie Raitt and a hint of Jennifer Nettle’s sass." Her hometown Boston Herald said, "Her album, 'One Time' [is a] a stunning debut... the beautifully imagined sound and soul of her originals make her a newcomer of note."

A latecomer to the craft of songwriting, Black spent more than a decade in the business world as a professional marketer before discovering her writing talents. She reflects, "I was always a singer. I grew up singing in church and joined a few bands in college, but I didn't know that I had it in me to write. I was sitting at my kitchen table one night and thought, 'You know, you should do something with your voice.' Fast forward five years and I'm a touring artist, singing my own music. I tell my audiences it's not too late to go after your dreams!" Black sold her comfortable suburban house and moved into an 800-square-foot rental in Somerville, MA, where she began to dedicate her time to writing, recording, and touring.

Filmed along Boston harbor, the video for "Whiskey & Wine" perfectly captures the song's contemplative nature as the character reconciles how two people so different could still love one another:

Amy's live show varies from duo as seen in this clip to full band. Several of her tour dates are with Girls Guns and Glory, about whom the Boston Globe called "Sublime… Buddy Holly-meets-Buck Owens twang ‘n’ roll," continuing, "The constant comparisons to crooners like Chris Isaak and Lyle Lovett are well-deserved — and his band’s amber-soaked melodies, tight musicianship, and casual elegance were a tonic."

Girls Guns and Glory is the brainchild of Lonesome Day recording artist Ward Hayden. GGG is now an internationally touring band, a two-time winner of both the Roots Act of Year (Boston Phoenix Awards), and five-time winner of Americana Act of the Year (Boston Music Awards). GGG is also the only band of its genre to ever take home the top honors of Act of the Year (Boston Music Awards) and to win the legendary WBCN Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble.

AMY BLACK 2012 TOUR DATES

Friday, September 7, 2012 - The Skinny Pancake - Burlington, VT

Friday, September 14, 2012 - Americana Music Festival, Convention Center -  Nashville, TN

Sunday, September 16, 2012 - Canterbury Shaker Village - Canterbury, NH

Friday, September 21, 2012 – The Saint – Asbury Park, NJ

Saturday, September 22, 2012 - Listen Live Music - Macungie, PA

Friday, September 28, 2012 - Iron Horse - Northampton, MA (w/ The Lori McKenna Band)

Saturday, September 29, 2012 - Johnny D's - Somerville, MA

Saturday, October 6, 2012 - Off the Common Coffeehouse - Bridgewater, MA

Saturday, October 13, 2012 - The Vanilla Bean Café - Pomfret, CT (United States)

Sunday, October 14, 2012 - Rodeo Bar - New York, NY (Girls Guns and Glory)

Monday, October 15, 2012 - House Concert - Sheffield, AL

Tuesday, October 16, 2012 – The Bluebird Café - Nashville, TN (w/ Rod Picott & Ward Hayden, in the Round)

Friday, October 19, 2012 – The National Underground - Nashville, TN (w/ Girls Guns and Glory)

Saturday, October 20, 2012 - Charles & Myrtle's Coffeehouse - Chattanooga, TN (w/ Girls Guns and Glory)

Sunday, October 21, 2012 - Eddie's Attic - Decatur, GA (w/ Girls Guns and Glory)          

Thursday, October 25, 2012 - Narrows Center for the Arts - Fall River, MA (w/ Rodney Crowell)

Saturday, November 3, 2012 - Old Sloop Coffeehouse - Rockport, MA          

Sunday, November 4, 2012 - The City Island Community Center - City Island, NY

Friday, November 9, 2012 – NERFA - Kerhonkson, NY

Saturday, November 10, 2012 – NERFA - Kerhonkson, NY

Friday, November 30, 2012 - Godfrey Daniels - Bethlehem, PA

Friday, December 7, 2012 - Bridge Street Live - Collinsville, CT (with John Gorka)