News, reviews, and features about artists and their work
The CD Awakening featuring brothers Kent and Brent Smedley performing as Eternal Odyssey is now available for pre-order from EMP Label Group. The estimated shipping date is April 12. The CD features nine songs in keeping with the band’s melodic metal/hard rock aesthetic. Kent and Brent have both dedicated their lives to music, including playing in or being associated with well-known bands.
Ok. I’m a sucker for a Christmas song. My daughters know this too well. I’m always bugging them to learn more Christmas songs. Sometimes they accommodate me, sometimes they don’t. So it made my day this morning to get an upbeat, kicking Christmas tune in my email from Gunboat Diplomats.
With Gunboat Diplomats, you never know what to expect. These musicians recording as a group, who perform in a variety of venues and bands, including solo acts, most definitely embrace variety. The last song, “Original Sin”, was described as “a bastardized bossa nova.” I liked that song, bastardization or not. The latest from GD is a sharp turn compared to past recordings, however.
I write about all types of artists, but this article is personal. Rebecca Day, vocalist and guitarist for The Crazy Daysies, will soon release a song that took her on a journey into faith and roots. The song is a personal reflection on what her faith means, and it was partly inspired by frustration. Have you ever sat in church and become frustrated with politics in the pulpit? I have, and so have others. “Living Room Blues and Faith” was in part inspired by that experience.
The Crazy Daysies are in perpetual motion these days, and it’s hard sometimes even for me to keep up. They peppered me with questions when they were young. Now it’s me bugging them about venues, gig times, and paperwork. Summer will be busy, and I’ve already advised them to stock up on bug repellant for outdoor gigs in the South. It’s not just the music that has them hopping though.
Yesterday was one of those days February loves to deliver here in North Florida. Cloudy and yucky. Not a good day to be outdoors. So I went fishing in the Facebook pond for things to write about. I love to discover music that is new to me. It didn’t take long before I found something I really liked.
On Saturday, the full moon was amazing as the Crazy Daysies wound down their celebration of the release of their album Mile Markers. Jennifer Day Thompson and Rebecca Day had a great time socializing with longtime and new supporters at Ragtime Tavern at Atlantic Beach (FL).
I decided doing an album release party is sort of like planning a wedding, complete with last minute surprises and worries about getting everything done.
When you’re an indie band, you are where the buck starts and stops. When you decide to do a full album, it sounds so simple. Write the songs and get them recorded, right? If it was only that simple.
The Crazy Daysies will air their fifth Facebook Live show today at 6 p.m. When the girls started doing this weekly show, none of us had any idea how it would be received. Now we do, and it looks like this weekly show will continue to air on Thursdays, with times potentially adjusted because of their gig schedule. There have been surprises aplenty as a result of the show.
