If you've not done so, make sure you subscribe to the RockOm Podcast. Each week you'll get a new installment which features RockOm news, featured interviews and even backstage access audio.
This week's "backstage access" podcast comes from RockOm's interview with Emery. Hear the behind-the-scenes raw, unedited audio directly from the horse's mouth (so to speak).
Today RockOm is bringing a huge dumptruck load of new content for you to check out!
To kick things off, we have two new featured articles including Part II to last month's Zakir Hussain interview as well as a new piece called Social Change and the Power of Music (w/ Ram Dass, Odetta and Christine Stevens).
Secondly, this week's Track of the Week and podcast are with singer/musician Larkin Grimm. Larkin's dark and sensual music breaks the genre mold and her life story (which includes a religious cult, an Ivy League school, psychedelics and spiritual experiences) is quite unique and fascinating. Check out her track "Ride That Cyclone" on the homepage this week as well as our 20-minute interview on the most recent RockOm podcast episode.
Lastly, the week ahead is going to be an intense one here at RockOm. You can come along for the wild ride and join us as we prep in-depth features and interview a dizzying array of stellar musicians and artists in the South Carolina / Georgia area. This week’s feast includes Platinum-selling emo rockers Hawthorne Heights, Vans Warped Tour alum and Fellow South Carolinian-to-West Coast transplants Emery and four-time Grammy-Award winners, The Blind Boys of Alabama. Both Hawthorne Heights and Emery will be appearing in Hilton Head Island, SC at The Shoreline Ballroom this week. The Blind Boys of Alabama will be appearing at Café Loco on Tybee Island, GA. Originally, The Blind Boys Of Alabama were scheduled to appear at The Shoreline Ballroom, but the show has been rescheduled courtesy of the great folks at Café Loco, as promoter Robert Marzbanian of Lighthouse Entertainment, the promoter for the Shoreline Ballroom was recently hospitalized and is being treated for cancer. The entire RockOm team sends our best wishes for healing to Robert, his family and the entire Shoreline Ballroom Family.
Hawthorne Heights headlines the Never Sleep Again Tour of 2008 performing new cuts off their latest CD entitled Fragile Future on Victory Records. No stranger to the top of the Billboard’s charts and accustomed to MTV, VH1, and Fuse rotation as well as Platinum and Gold selling brackets of the record industry, Hawthorne Heights is pushing past, but by no means forgetting the untimely death of guitarist/ vocalist Casey Calvert just over a year ago. Fragile Future marks a new chapter in the band's story and there is, no doubt, much more to be written in the annals for the now quartet as the tracks from Fragile Future point toward bigger and more meaningful avenues waiting. Catch Hawthorne Heights on December 4th at The Shoreline Ballroom on Hilton Head Island, SC or at one of their other tour dates.
South Carolina’s own Emery got their start in the small up-state town of Rock Hill but in 2001 decided the West Coast was where they were destined to really kick it in to high gear and now call Seattle home. These guys have four albums out on Tooth & Nail records including their latest EP While Broken Hearts Prevail and are a part of the 2008 Never Sleep Again Tour featuring Hawthorne Heights, Tickle Me Pink, The Mile After and The Color Fred. Emery will be joining Hawthorne Heights on December 4 at The Shoreline Ballroom, Hilton Head Island, SC. For other tour dates, click here.
Since 1939 The Blind Boys of Alabama have been serving audiences near and far with their blend of Gospel music and have garnered four Grammy Awards along the way. Several members have come and gone since 1939 but the music is still the same crowd-pleasing, spirit moving mix they’ve perfected throughout their years of performing. The Blind Boys of Alabama have collaborated with a diverse assortment of artists including Ben Harper, Aaron Neville and Mavis Staples. They’ve even joined Tom Petty and Peter Gabriel on tour. Catch them live December 5th at at Cafe Loco on Tybee Island, GA., or at one of their other dates.
Watch for these featured interviews in December at RockOm.net.
As Berthold Auerbach said, "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." We hope your interactions with RockOm are a quick respite from the stresses of "everyday life" and give your day a quick boost, if even just a little.
Keep your eyes peeled later this week or early next as RockOm will be announcing the release of our very first compilation album. You can see a teaser page right now but watch for the full details and ordering information very, very soon.
Finally, this week's Featured Track of the Week (on the homepage) is from a Boston-based, "transcendental hip-hop" group known as Govinda Sky. If you’re a fan of hip-hop music – especially that with a positive message – you’ll want to give these guys a spin. Be sure to also listen in on this week's podcast, an interview with the band's lyricist, percussionist and creative director, James Cennamo.
...and you will get a big surprise. Today RockOm has two exciting things for you to check out!
To begin, we're very proud to introduce "The Offering: A RockOm.net Compilation, Vol. 1." As this "teaser page" does a great job explaining the project to you, we'll let it do the talking. Click over and find out more about this great new album which will be available later this month!
Secondly, it's a couple of days late but this week's podcast features an interview with David Stukenberg, the singer, instrumentalist and songwriter behind this week's Featured Track of the Week. David shares with RockOm about the spirituality in his album Mountain of Pieces as well as a new very exciting project he's working on entitled The Silo Project.
A preview of Stukenberg's The Silo Project...
It's the week of that spookiest holiday of the year! Expect some posts later in the week about Halloween, the darker side of spirituality and the music that goes with it!
Today we're extremely delighted to bring you a featured track of the week from the Portland-based band NIAYH (Now Is All You Have). If you're a fan of funky, groove-based rock music, this is one band you'll absolutely fall in love with... we at RockOm certainly have. In fact, we were so pleased and intrigued with their new album "Hope", later this week we will be writing about and bringing to you a full-length review. In the meantime, check out their featured track "Rock" on the homepage and then also be sure to swing over to their MySpace page, check out more songs and pick up a copy of their incredible album.
Lastly, today we bring you a new "Backstage Access" podcast (the raw audio from RockOm's featured interviews), this time from our phone interview with Don Campbell, author of "The Mozart Effect" and a new book entitled "Sound Spirit." Download it for your drive/ride to work tomorrow!
According to Wikipedia, the word synchronicity means:
The experience of two or more events which are causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner.
RockOm's newest podcast (posted today) features interviews with this week's featured artist, songwriter Brendon Thomas of Foreverinmotion, as well as next week's featured artist, the Portland-based band NIAYH (Now Is All You Have).
Though these two "causally unrelated" music acts were chosen through a random process, there are several very interesting synchronistic similarities that would lead one to believe that we intentionally put these artists together. In particular, both artists speak specifically to the importance of being conscious of the present moment. In fact, each of them chose their band name based on the idea of, and their experience of, the eternal NOW.
As if that weren't synchronistic enough, both Brendon and NIAYH spend some time talking about the theme of HOPE in their music. While neither chose to specifically align that hope with any global crises we currently find ourselves in, no one would doubt that we could all stand for a little hope these days.
Be sure to listen to (or subscribe to) the RockOm podcast to hear these great interviews and be introduced to two amazing artists that together want to remind you that "now is all you have."
One of the things we're working on at RockOm is building our community. We have taken commenting off of the main site and have instead posted links to the RockOm forum in each of the blog and article posts. We hope that after reading an article, you'll click on the "Discuss" link which will take you to a thread in the forum where you can leave some feedback and read others' feedback. Please consider checking out the RockOm forums daily, respond to some other people's comments and threads and start some of your own. Let’s keep the conversation going so we can all learn from and be inspired by one another!
Secondly, this week's Featured Track of the Week comes from Joseph Israel. Joseph's "messianic reggae" will challenge and encourage you to find your hope and peace in your inner being rather than in outward structures such as nations and even religion. Additionally, you can hear an interview with Joseph Israel on this week's podcast.
We'll see you in the forums!
The RockOm staff is back from a trip to San Francisco and look forward to sharing some new interviews from Bay area artists with you in the coming months.
For now, however, we're very pleased to be bringing you several new features for your reading and listening pleasure. To kick things off, we've posted two new Feature Articles (in the middle column of the main page) - "More Fully Alive: An Interview with Over the Rhine's Linford Detweiler" and "Don Campbell and the Spirit of Sound."
Secondly, California-based artist John Staedler provides this week's Featured Track of the Week with his "nihilist reggae" tune - "I Believe in Nothing." You can listen to the streaming audio of "I Believe In Nothing" on the RockOm homepage from now until October 7th. In addition, also check out an audio interview with John during last week's podcast.
Finally, an all new edition of the RockOm Podcast featuring the raw audio from our phone interview with Linford Detweiler (from Over the Rhine) will be posted today. Enjoy... and, as always, we welcome and encourage any comments/ feedback on your RockOm experience!
RockOm is quite excited about our two offerings we have for you today.
Look across the homepage to the right column and you'll see a Featured Track from Sanskrit chant singer and musician Girish. Girish's funky song "Hanuman 2" will have you invoking your internal Hanuman - the monkey deity known for his devotion and boundless energy. If this song doesn't move your feet (and heart) nothing will!
In addition, we have posted a new podcast featuring interviews with Girish as well as next week's featured artist - The Transpersonals. Between Girish's sharing about the yoga music genre and philosophy and Tim's (from the Transpersonals) story about his psychedelic-inspired spiritual awakening, this is one RockOm podcast that you'll absolutely want to check out. Clocking in at nearly 30 minutes, this episode is a great one to load onto your music player and listen to on your way to work or school this week. See this and all episodes on the podcast page.
Just like your trash pick-up on a holiday week, RockOm's a day late getting you this week's Featured Track of the Week and Podcast - but we're proud to announce they've both arrived and are very exciting.
This week's Featured Track is from Chicago singer / songwriter Mike Reeb. Mike's song "Like a Wing" is a beautiful, simple song of comfort and protection that you'll certainly be encouraged by and enjoy. Give it a listen - and then be sure to check out Mike's websites as well, get to know him better and consider picking up some of his music. As Red Eye Chicago puts it, "[Mike Reeb] keeps drawing positive reviews and kind comparisons to musical legends. Names like Dylan and Springsteen are often thrown out too loosely when used to describe up-and-coming artists. In Reeb's case, however, the connections may be warranted."
Then, swing over to the podcast page to check out this week's epidsode. You've read RockOm's interview with the legendary Odetta - now listen to the raw audio from this interview to hear how Odetta herself shares her gentle wisdom.
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