Hattiesburg, Mississippi-based Power Pop / Alternative Rockers Paul Johnson and The About Last Nights have released the Official Video cover of the classic John Waite hit single “Missing You.”
Paul Johnson & The About Last Nights may be from Mississippi, but this isn’t your traditional “southern rock. Singer/Songwriter Paul Johnson and Drummer Zack Lewis had a vision in mind, which was to play songs people want to sing, a kind of “Power Pop”, with the emphasis on “Power.” They unified on the principle of a “song first, honest music” mentality. High-energy rock n’ roll that draws from their influences like Cheap Trick and the Foo Fighters and at times the band recalls the performances of Weezer and Sloan in full-on rock mode, but never neglecting the art of the power ballad. This is a band with a purpose, which is to make great music and have fun doing it and their live show prove that with reviews like:
“Potent AC/DC-ish riffage kept aloft by crisp Tom Petty-ish harmonies, a passel of radio-ready rock songs built to appeal to everyone from fans of Pyromania-era Def Leppard, the anthemic paces of Smashing Pumpkins as well as the music that erupts from Active Rock radio today .”
— Mik Davis,The Chronical“Passion, the new music, and Live show are an example of that! I look forward to seeing/hearing people’s reaction to this great music from this great Rock n’ Roll band!”
– Kevin Mckay, WKSM.COM, 99ROCK“Really, it’s adolescence. Being young, bored and hopeful that one day things will be whatever we make it, but right now is all that matters. Looking back as adults, we sometimes see that maybe those were the best times of our lives. Getting through those years feels like an eternity, but in the grand scheme of things, it is only a moment.”
– Paul Johnson
Their Debut Album\EP Give Up The Ghost is on the way. Their new single and music video “Burn It Down” will be released March 2017. Recorded in Atlanta, Georgia at RCRD Recording Studios and engineered by Dan Dixon (Pls Pls, The dropSonic) with 1st engineer Patrick McConkey, and produced by Tuk Smith of The Biters. The band’s debut video and first single, “Burn It Down” was directed by Rahim aka “Video Rahim”, with videographers Chance White, Matthew Hurley 2nd, and Ashley Simpson as Producer. Special effects makeup and creature by Shane Morton from Silver Scream FX Lab.
LINKS:
http://www.pauljohnsonmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/pauljohnsonandtheaboutlastnights
https://twitter.com/pauljohnsonsolo
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3tvdcn5j6zn3r9A-tOm_rg
https://www.instagram.com/theaboutlastnights
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The Impersonators – Cloud Nine
The Impersonators came into being after the demise of Finnish pop/rock band Carmen Gray in 2013 when Tommi Tikka, the other half of Carmen Gray’s songwriting team, joined forces with lyricist Antti Autio to write some new songs.
While Carmen Gray had recorded for major labels, such as Sony and Warner, The Impersonators’ story was going to be different from the get-go. With this particular group, Tikka wanted to have complete artistic control over the songs he recorded to avoid generic and sterile production typical for modern pop/rock.
For quite a while, Tikka auditioned musicians for the new group. However, after three failed attempts to put together a lineup that did justice to the new songs, he decided to make The Impersonators a group of two songwriters rather than a group of four or five musicians. Hence began the search for a great producer rather than the right musicians.
Finally, in early 2017, Tikka teamed up with Janne Saksa, a seasoned professional in making records, who became Tikka’s collaborator in the studio and took over the head producer’s reins from him. Together, they’ve arranged and produced the group’s two singles “You Are The One” and “Burning Blue.”
The best way to describe the sound of The Impersonators is to call it sixties-flavored “alternative pop/rock”. Their goal is to nurture and cultivate the creativity, spirit, and warmth that graced the pop records of yesteryears.
LINKS:
https://impersonatorsmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/ImpersonatorsBand
https://twitter.com/1mpersonators -
The Silence Factory – High
Windsor, Ontario rock band The Silence Factory has released the Official Video for “High,” the second single off of their upcoming EP due out later this year. Produced by Juno award-winning and Grammy-nominated producer Gavin Brown (3 Days Grace, Billy Talent) and the video directed by Jendo Shabo from Moonjump Productions.
The band formed in October of 2015 and has been playing shows across Canada ever since. The band entered a number of competitions in 2016 and placed in the top 10 for their region in CBC Searchlight and took first place in the Windsor/Walkerville Fringe Festival Battle of the Bands. Notably, in June of 2016, the band took first place in Rocksearch sponsored by 97.7 HTZ FM out of Niagara. This prestigious contest helped launch the careers of many rock bands including the Standstills, Glorious Sons, My Darkest Days, The Trews and Finger Eleven.
Their debut CD released in February 2016 has received critical acclaim from Canadian Beats magazine and the Windsor Independent magazine. Canadian Beats had this to say about the album:
Drawing on modern rock acts Reignwolf, the Living End, Billy Talent, Our Lady Peace, and Matthew Good, mixed with the classic sounds of The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, NM&TSF are helping usher in a new wave of emo-rock with the listenability of pop, the intensity of emo, and the power of hard rock. This band has a sound that the riff aficionado, the hip dance, and the tortured writer can go to on a date together and all enjoy the show.
In music cinema and folklore, audiences appreciate the story of the long term musician plugging away for decades until finally making it, are awed by the suddenly risen star, the musician who is discovered and instantly famous, or, through a series of fortunate musical events, creates a spontaneous and rapid name for themselves.
NM&TSF fall into the latter category, a group who, since forming last November, has had a series of serious commercial accolades including winning the 2016 97.7 HTZ-FM’s Rock search, being a Regional Top 10 finalist for CBC Searchlight, and being the 2016 Windsor-Walkerville Fringe Festival Battle Winners. NM&TSF carries a mighty rock and roll axe drawing serious blood with each swing.
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Claudio Conti – Old Clouds Fell
Claudio Conti is an Italian songwriter whose style is rooted in the same romantic pensiveness that marks the music of Tim Buckley, Nick Drake, Gene Clark. and Tim Hardin. Largely drawn to psychedelic music, folk rock, and 80’s indie rock, he considers Gram Parsons, The Doors, The Smiths and early R.E.M. as his main influences.
His new 14-track album ‘Garnet Dusk’ is a very ambitious and personal album with moods alternating between the chaotic experiences of a man in his early to mid-thirties, the solidification of his beliefs and worldview, including its flaws and qualities.
‘Garnet Dusk’ addresses such issues as migration and maturity – the product of deep thinking about the impervious, inevitable situations that life dishes up, usually not on a silver platter. This album was equally inspired by the sound of the ocean as by a woman’s departure. This is Conti’s attempt to explain unusual encounters like ships passing slowly in the night.
“This album is about the mysticism of love and rediscovered affection. The truth in children’s eyes and parents’ lack of consideration. And the frustrations, the illusions of flippancy that take us far from certain situations and on a detour towards the firmness of our insight, the channel of real life, where we find the life source that we really need,” says Claudio Conti.
Back in 2003-04, Conti self-released a sequence of home recordings called ‘Botticelli’, followed by the ‘Handmaids Skim The Marble’ EP in 2008 and the ‘Northern’ EP the following year. Having spent a significant amount of time in the UK and the United States, his various life experiences there allowed him to further shape his expressive-musical style and influences, resulting in the album ‘Every Forest Has Its Shadow’ (2012), which he fully wrote and then recorded with psychedelic folk rock band Magic Salad.
After a two-year hiatus, Conti split his time between Chicago, Los Angeles, and London last year, and decided to officially release his first solo album ‘Saltworks’ (recorded in 2013-14) with Seahorse Recordings and was very well received by Italian magazines and webzines.
This latest album ‘Garnet Dusk’ is like fire in the sky, lasting just a short while but holding your core intuitions – carpe diem. Then comes the night with its glorious shadows and blinding lights… a reel for the poets… a tryst for the unsatisfied.
“A sumptuous violin courtesy of Alessio De Vita immediately demands the full attention of the listener as Conti’s light, calming tones perfectly accompany. It magically refrains from upping the tempo and serves as an almost angelic call to the heavens”
– Louder Than War“Claudio Conti uses a folk scenario in which he weaves songs that you never get tired of – this is a pleasant and fluid earful… an inward-looking journey the artist leads us on discreetly”
– Rockit“Here unfolds a cherished and evocative dimension with swaying images of pure and luminous harmony”
– Music Map“Claudio interprets this genre uniquely, sneaking in races of British folk-rock under the influence of Jeff Buckley’s intimate vocal dynamics and the liquid atmosphere of a superb electric guitar”
– TempiDuri“You could easily become enveloped by the notes in Conti’s music or the genuineness of his vocals”
– Sound36 MagazineLINKS:
http://www.facebook.com/Claudio-Conti-1479110699037058
http://twitter.com/claudioconti70
http://soundcloud.com/claudio-conti-1981
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkwofKkFAABqlS_hjhcTpmA/videos
http://open.spotify.com/album/3qE7dqbAJTLmCSI7TgYbUs
http://itunes.apple.com/it/album/saltworks/id949723409
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=claudio+conti+saltworks
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/claudioconti