Information about this young performer urges us to be prepared for “an inspirational journey.” Some of the words used to describe Stefanie Jane’s life are: “assault,” “abuse,” “healing” and “love.” The trip from the first two, through the second to the last (love) is what See Me Change is about.
Billed as “rock,” “Southern rock” and “rockabilly” the music of Stefanie Jane certainly fits this bill. Crisp rhythm and rockabilly style guitar support a strong, young voice that only lacks a bit of experience to really stand out. The lyrics of “Time Keeps Tick’ en” aren’t the strongest poetry to be heard in this genre but they show that she is searching for answers in a sincere way.
“Scapegoat” tells the story of this Plano, Texas woman upfront, with few ideas held back. The musicians provide some down-home feel that works in this tune. She says, “I’m raising awareness to sexual abuse. It’s my mission to stop the shame associated with being a victim. It’s time to raise ourselves up, look at tomorrow and stop dwelling on the past. 50% of all music sales go directly to R.A.I.N.N. and Stop It Now organizations.”
She moved to Dallas to pursue her music, spreading the word – “change rocks!”
Tags: indie music, independent music, music, indie, stefanie jane
Top-level production and song selection should make Marcy Priest’s debut album Awake a favorite among those who prefer something like easy listening. But the voice of this young singer shouldn’t be dismissed as having no message, as having only entertainment value.
Listen to “Grace” to get a feel for what she is doing with her music. “Runaway Train” was nominated for an Independent Singer-Songwriters Association award as a pop song. However, there is some jazz feel to a few of her songs. The term “Beatlesque” has been tossed about in reference to one or two of Priest’s songs. This listener hears a bit of that in “Enough,” along with a bit of jazz styling in the vocals.
She calls Oklahoma City home and recently appeared at a number of venues in that area. She will be at Othello’s in Norman on Oct. 31 and at the UCO Jazz Club in January. Area music fans might want to venture out to hear what should be a very professional show from a young singer her is blessed with a clear and powerful voice.
Priest also applies her keyboard skills on piano and Wurlitzer and is capably backed by Bryan Jackson on guitar, Fred Hanradt on bass, Brad Stone on keys and Brent Burgess on drums.
Tags: music, independent music, indie music, marcy priest, indie
Venturing a bit to the sidelines, we look at Spore from EA games. Here’s what the PR content says about it:
”Populate the Spore universe with a simple-to-create animated creature which EA will put on leading digital networks for audience voting.”
Spore, a video game created by Will Wright (The Sims and Sim City), welcomed about 50 celebrities to the break-out contest. Among the “names” were: David Lynch, Elijah Wood, Richard Branson and Mark Cuban. Some of the folks from the Digg Web site were involved as well.
Currently, visitors to the Spore site are greeted by a menu that allows communication in a number of languages. Spore is not only designed to be compatible with PC and Mac, the Web site offers it to phone and iPod owners as well. Visitors to the site can give the “Creature Creator” a try simply by going to the page that offers PC and Mac versions. Download times vary from 5 minutes to 19 minutes, depending on system capability.
What is Spore? The answer might be best answered by quoting the site’s description: “Create and guide your creature through five stages of evolution.” Games currently available include Spore, Galactic Adventures, Spore Creature Creator, Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, Spore Creatures, Spore Origins, Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena. Prices for original Spore range from $35 to $50 at retail stores.
Tags: music, indie music, spore, indie, independent music
Be ready for metal and volume when you listen to Fallen Martyr. In trying to separate themselves from others in the genre, the members of the group started with the philosophy that ““Metal is starting to sound the same now-a-days. I don’t want to define a genre. I want to start my own. That’s how I’ve always felt.” Those words are from one of the founding members, Gabriel.
“The Man Becomes the Prophet” is certainly about screaming guitars, rapid-fire drums and the almost-vocal growl at the start. But the lyrics become clear as the song progresses, telling a disturbing yet inspiring story. “Reverse Metamorphosis” has the same energy with harmony on guitar that shows nice musicianship. The concept of the title is very interesting.
The Six Roots of True Will should be a favorite among metal and “growl” fans. Certainly, the drumming and guitars fit with what this listener has heard in a couple of venues around the country. The samples on the band’s Web site have gathered thousands of plays, not surprising considering the explosion of metal/growl popularity in the past couple of years.
“All In” lends credence to the PR statement from the band, Fallen Martyr is “a band without inhibitions, freely melting the forms of metal into artwork that cannot be
replicated or replayed in less than five minutes on the stage.”
Tags: indie, music, fallen martyr, independent music, indie music
This young fellow is a folk singer from Austin, Texas. But is that it, really? His music has a youthful energy that could fit the pop genre. Some of the information about Graham and his early musical efforts in the way: home/backtolife use the term “soul.” But don’t expect to hear traditional soul music with this singer.
All of his Web titles are in lower case so we’re going to stay with that for now. “the train dancer” could be considered roots music and the background horns do provide some “soul.” All things considered, this is a neat little song. “a horse named faith” is definitely a folk song, but Graham adds an interesting ingredient – horns, again. This changes things slightly, so that his billing as folk/soul just might work. The result is rather easy on the ears.
The most interesting fact about Graham and his introduction to the world of music was that the collection of music on CD was introduced at a gallery opening. According to Graham, “I didn’t make liner notes. I did have friends listen to demos and create album art. Their work is currently on display at gallery 5619 here in Austin.”
The music is produced by: Matt – vocals, guitars, banjos, trumpets; Susan – angelsounds; Keiko – cello; Michael – bass, vocals.
Tags: independent music, indie music, music, indie, matt graham
