real music. real people. real fun.

FREE 7-9 pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Indie Rock, contemporary, pop-rock approach to blues and American roots music  

Listen here:

https://tinyurl.com/yc4knf4a

American recording artist, Zach Person, is the new face of indie rock. Emerging out of Austin, Texas, Person plays loud, raw, and connects with his music fans on a primal sonic level. Person has a swagger, talent and grit beyond his years. With the poise of a seasoned veteran on stage and the stylings of a mega star, he commands an audience in seconds.

“Reminiscent of everyone from Elmore James and Duane Allman to The Black Keys and Jack White, Person channels a raw, pure-bred American swagger,” said American Songwriter. “Between the driving beat, Person’s fuzzed-out vocals and the layers of bombastic guitar parts, the tune shows off all the reasons that Buddy Guy once said of Person ‘What else can I say? The young man is hot!’”

His inspirations are varied, and include prolific artists like The Black Keys, Jack White, Chris Stapleton, Jonny Lang, Funkadelic, and Led Zeppelin. With his new project, Zach has created his own take on a contemporary hybrid of blues and rock music, arranged in a pop format.

Person’s self-titled, debut LP dropped on April 2, 2021 and garnered the attention of notable press including American Songwriter, Classic Rock Magazine, American Blues Scene, Guitar World, Premier Guitar and more.

The overall success of his LP, has led to additional collaborations with international brands like, Amazon, Kendra Scott, Soho House, Kimpton & Fairmont Hotels, and BMI.

Zach is currently touring in North America and Europe. Stay tuned as Zach will be releasing new music throughout the course of the year.

“There’s a whisper of Dan Auerbach in Zach’s vocals on this super-cool flourish of contemporary blues rock – recorded at Tyler Bryant’s studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Driving, distorted and smokily wreathed in soul, it manages to feel cavernous and intimate at the same time; the sort of music you’d rock out to with equal willingness in a huge theatre, festival or low-ceilinged dive bar. One of today’s rising stars bringing the blues to a new generation.”

FREE 7-9 pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Bluesy Americana, Roots, Alt-Country, Alt-Folk

  Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/4ta8nu9p

Alabama's native son, Early James, released  his sophomore album, Strange Time To Be Alive, on August 19th, 2022. The lyrical wordsmith conjures the ghosts of great southern gothic writers from Eudora Welty to William Faulkner, while channeling the haunted spirits of Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt. The album evokes a timeless amalgam of forsaken blues, wistful folk, and Tin Pan Alley crooning, anchored by the singer’s unmistakable voice that sways from gravel-filled shouts to pained, forlorn whispers – and songs that tread in the waters of darkly themed broken hearts, with the wry humor of the sad clown.

... “I make sounds for a living,” he says. “That’s a weird thing to say.”

James’ first album (Early James and the Latest, 2018)  is a riotous blend of styles and sounds, the type of wise-behind-their-years debut offering that makes one stop to wonder how a 22 year-old could possibly contain so much world-weary wisdom.

The album’s wide-ranging ten songs span a blend of hard-charging blues, wistful folk and ages-old pop crooning anchored by the singer’s once-in-a-lifetime voice, which can oscillate from gravel-gruff shout to honey-smooth whisper.

“Some people are good singers,” says the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who decided he needed to produce the singer’s debut album at his Easy Eye Sound studio after watching just two seconds of a video of him performing. “And some people are better than good singers, they just have this great form of expression.”

James’ voice conjures a century’s worth of American barkers and crooners, from Alan Lomax field recordings to mid-century iconoclasts like Billy Holliday and Howlin Wolf to ghostly late-century interpreters like Fiona Apple and Tom Waits. 

His life was changed forever when, at age six, he witnessed a local musician who’d been hired to play covers perform at a family function at his grandmother’s house. 

His life changed once again when, as a preteen, he discovered the music of Hank Williams Sr, whose music he began to sing in the shower every night. Then came the teenage years: grunge, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana. 

As soon as he was old enough, Early James moved to Birmingham, where he’s become an integral part of the city’s thriving music scene over the past half-decade. James plays in “like five other bands”: bluegrass outfits, folk collectives, alt-country groups. “I just try to convince people to let me play guitar for them.”

Coming out of a local music scene as first-rate as Birmingham has also helped sculpt James into a songwriter who obsesses over the craft and texture of every word he’s ever sung. “Every line has to mean something to him, personally,” says Auerbach. “It’s not good enough to just write a good song, it needs to have a deeper meaning. He’s unlike any person I’ve ever worked with. He’s not writing a song to be universal; he’s writing a song for him.”

In 2022 the band toured with The Ghost of Paul Revere, The Band of Horses, and The Black Keys.

FREE 7-9 pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Big Easy, eclectic rootsy Americana, 70 psych, lo-fi garage rock, and some good old country western

Listen here:  https://tinyurl.com/kujt7j4k

We shed old skin in order to evolve and move forward. We let go of who we were in the past and embrace who we’re meant to be now. The Deslondes have taken such steps as not only bandmates, but as brothers. The New Orleans quintet—Dan Cutler, Sam Doores, Riley Downing, Cameron Snyder, and John James Tourville—have weathered ups, downs, and everything in between only to strengthen the bond between them. Infusing everything from saxophone, flute, and synth to string arrangements and a full drum kit for the first time, the group naturally progress and evolve in real-time on their third full-length offering, Ways & Means [New West Records].

The Deslondes revealed their self-titled debut to widespread tastemaker applause during 2015. However, they really hit their stride on Hurry Home in 2017. Right out of the gate, Noisey proclaimed, “The Deslondes have found a comfortable sound to create art in, and it serves them well,” while Rolling Stone noted, “The Deslondes’ take on country relies on a gritty, grimy mix of early rock ‘n’ roll and lo-fi R&B.” In addition to praise from American Songwriter, Paste, The Boot, and more, the record closed out the year on Uncut’s “Favorite Albums of 2017.” Then, the musicians opted to quietly take a break.

Maybe it was something in the air, but  2021 seemed like the perfect moment for the boys to pick up where they left off. Dan elaborates. “From experience, we realized what we liked and who was good at what. In terms of the studio, it was probably the easiest album we’ve ever made.

The Deslondes draw on their own familial union to forge a similar connection with listeners. “To us, this is family,” John James leaves off. “It’s a part of our lives. When you hear our music, I hope you feel like you’re hanging out with us. The band’s back together now, and it just feels good.” “Riley, JJ, Dan, and Cam are my brothers,” Sam concurs. “We’ve all been through so much together. I don’t think any of us will have that experience with another group of people again in our lives. Sometimes, we drive each other crazy of course, but we’re family. I’d take a bullet for any of those geezers.

"...The Deslondes seem more in sync than ever, even as they stretch across rootsy Americana, ’70s psych, lo-fi garage rock, and some good old country-western...The deftness with which they morph and touch each sonic corner of their universe makes the album go down easy." 

No Depression

 "...by blending their collective vision with allure and character, there's no question that this group of pals and extraordinary songwriters is honing its own Big Easy neighborhood sound into some of the most intoxicating and mystifying music 

you might hear today."

Parklife DC
 

FREE 7-9 pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Rockabilly-infused roots, soul, and 

country swagger 

Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/5cuvd7fp

From being cradled as a baby in the arms of Roy Orbison, to performing a duet with Willie Nelson, you would think that Tami Neilson lived a country music fantasy life.  

However, in between these monumental occurrences, The Neilson Family Band, with Tami’s parents, and two brothers, were having to busk in the streets of small-town Ontario in order to put food on the table, performing gospel concerts to prisoners, and roaring down the Trans-Canada Highway in an exploding RV on her way to open for Johnny Cash, which she managed to do, at 18 years old, in her pajamas.  

And then Tami left to start her own family on the other side of the world in New Zealand, where she now resides. Her busking chops served her well, as she took to the streets of Auckland looking for her big break. From open mic nights to clubs, to then headlining theatres and major festivals across New Zealand, Tami has now won almost every music award possible.  

Tami’s story is at the centre of this feminist tapestry. “King of Country Music” reveals her country music lineage: singing with Queen of Country music Kitty Wells at the age of 10, touring with her family, slipping demo tapes in laundry bags of stars. Unlike the male stars who inherited their position by virtue of being white men in a system built by and for white men, this song addresses the challenges that women face earning their place in the industry.   

The story of Tami Neilson is just taking shape, from her humble beginnings and tireless work ethic, and success, on her own terms. Tami Neilson is now using her voice to be a game changer, a cage shaker, a Kingmaker. 

“THE AWARD-WINNING SINGER’S EFFORTLESS FIFTH ALBUM CHANNELS PATSY CLINE AND FEATURES A SOARING DUET WITH FAN WILLIE NELSON. AN IMPERIOUS TALENT” ****  

THE GUARDIAN

FREE 7-9 pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Bluesy Neo-Noire American Roots 

Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/4k9z7z8a

Jake La Botz’s new album, Hair On Fire, balances the wisdom and patience of his decades of Buddhist training with the grit and vigor of his Chicago upbringing to create a sound that’s at once unabashedly vintage and decidedly present. The writing is raw and direct here, cutting straight to the heart of things with honesty and urgency, and the performances are similarly spare and unvarnished, fueled by lean, spacious arrangements centered around La Botz’s well-worn vocals. Add it all up and you’ve got a spiritually enlightening dose of neo-noir American roots from a writer who’s unafraid to wear his soul on his sleeve, an alternatingly dark and hopeful collection that tips its cap to everyone from Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen to Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello as it ruminates on compassion and vulnerability, strength and surrender, growth and redemption. 

“From the first time I heard him playing guitar and singing his songs in a smoky bar on La Brea and Sunset, I became a devoted fan of Jake La Botz.” Steve Buscemi

”Jake LaBotz turns paranoia into a haunting, Tom Waits-worthy piece of cabaret Americana with “They’re Coming for Me,” the title track from his newest solo effort. He delivers his lyrics like a method actor, imbuing each line with a mix of theatricality and wild, wide-eyed believability.” Rolling Stone

 “…this idiosyncratic songwriter can handle types of heavy lifting that many others frankly can’t.” 

No Depression

 “One of the year’s best Americana albums.” PopMatters

 “This album has staying power. 

It’s a good kind of weird.”” 

GLIDE

FREE 7-9 pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Genre hopping guitar based Blues, Rock, R&B and more... 

Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/f3wsf3y2

Jackie Venson is a multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter known far and wide for her complexly beautiful music and blazing guitar skills. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Jackie has traveled the world playing to massive crowds both as a headliner and as support for major acts such as Gary Clark Jr, Melissa Etheridge, Aloe Blacc, Citizen Cope to name a few. With the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cancellation of her entire tour schedule, and the wave of social change sweeping across the country in 2020, Jackie committed herself to releasing more music than ever before, connecting with her fans directly and speaking up about the change she wanted to see in her city and country. Since then, Jackie has released 2 studio albums, 2 live albums under her name and several electronic albums under her side project titled Jackie the robot. During the pandemic, Jackie Venson also made her National TV Performance Debut on Austin City Limits 46th season, a huge honor for the native Austinite. Venson’s 2021 release, “Love Transcends”, Venson firmly established herself as a sonic force to be reckoned with out of Austin, Texas.:

“Jackie Venson is truly an Austin legend in the making.” -Forbes

“A rising star these past several years, Venson’s wicked guitar solos and radiating glow got everyone to take notice, but this contemporary era of stark division absolutely uncovered in Venson a palpable hunger to fight. Increasingly, she uses her voice for change – refusing to halt or conform” 

Austin Music Awards, Musician Who Went Above & Beyond 

FREE 7-9 pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Classic and psych-rock, Motown, and more influences with modern pop flourishes 

Listen here:

https://spoti.fi/3seviaw

The second full-length from Emily Wolfe, Outlier is an album built on exquisite tension: an endless push-and-pull between desire and resistance, determination and self-sabotage, the instinctive need to belong and the urge to strike out on your own. For help in channeling that complexity of feeling, the Austin-based singer/songwriter/guitarist explored and obliterated the boundaries of rock-and-roll and modern pop, mining equal inspiration from the likes of Judas Priest and Ariana Grande in her bold but masterful genre-bending. Produced by Michael Shuman of Queens of the Stone Age and Mini Mansions, the resulting body of work finds Wolfe upending the conventions of each genre, ultimately arriving at a guitar-drenched sound that’s wildly unpredictable and immediately magnetic.  The follow-up to her self-titled debut album (a 2019 release produced by Ben Tanner of Alabama Shakes), which featured the single “Holy Roller,” Outlier came to life in Shuman’s garage in Los Angeles, where Wolfe was joined by her longtime bandmates Evan Nicholson (bass) and Clellan Hyatt (drums). After completing basic tracking for the songs, Wolfe and Shuman layered on new and unexpected textures with the help of programmed drums and beautifully warped synth tones.   ““Outlier” is a different direction for me musically,” says Wolfe.” I wanted to try something new and different. I wanted to step outside of the blues-rock box and see what else could happen. This record is my attempt at crossing genres between classic '70s rock, '80s pop, '90s grunge, and modern pop elements of today. I wanted to see how far I could push my boundaries musically, while still holding onto my integrity as a guitar player first and foremost. This album is a huge indicator of where I'm headed as an artist — my goal is to create well-crafted rock songs with polished pop production, but stay true to myself as a lover of guitar solos.”  If 2021 weren’t busy enough – landing a label deal; Outlier’s release; the launch of her signature guitar by Gibson/Epiphone; multiple TV sync placements; returning to performing and touring; and writing for her next album – the year may pale in comparison to what’s next in 2022.

FREE 7-9pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Soul/R&B

  Listen here: https://spoti.fi/3wec99U

At the core of soul music is a vibrant, embracing spirit, one aimed at connecting the dots of humanity that reside on both sides of the microphone.   “It doesn’t matter if there are 10 people in the audience or a 1,000,” says Jordan Anderson, lead singer/keyboardist for J & The Causeways. “It’s that sacrifice we make of our art, so that people can feel it that much harder the first time they hear you.”  In a serendipitous sequence of events, J & The Causeways was formed at the legendary Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. A juggernaut soul/R&B ensemble, the group is filled with heavy backbeats and a soaring horn section, all swirling around the magnetic vocal stylings of Anderson.  “We definitely shine live because each and every member of this band loves to be onstage and in that genuine moment of performance,” the 31-year-old Anderson says. “New Orleans is home to some of the finest singers and musicians on the planet, which also means you have to bring your A-game to every single show — you’re representing this city and the long history of beautiful music that’s been created here.”  As a kid, Anderson was first exposed to the power of music from his grandmother, a piano teacher in his small rural Louisiana hometown. It was her backroom record collection that mesmerized Anderson, where he found himself thumbing through the vinyl and discovering the likes of Otis Redding, Al Green, Queen, and Aretha Franklin.   “I learned early on to not fall into the vanilla variety of pitch,” Anderson says. “It’s about finding a certain power that you can harness with the pure emotion of your voice, which is what all of those singers had — finding that spectrum of vocalists who put it all out there for the audience.”  With J & The Causeways, Anderson is fronting a band that finds itself mentioned in the same breath as the likes of St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and The Marcus King Band — all modern-day entities of passion and purpose, each summoning the pulsating, endless energy of soul/R&B music.  “With soul music, it’s those live moments where you feel truly elevated, and you’re bringing the audience along with you to that higher place,” Anderson says. “And you’re creating this space of inclusivity and connectivity — there’s no way you’re leaving that stage without a smile on your face.”  For J & The Causeways, it’s about bringing forth a communal sense of self within the greater universe of knowns and unknowns — we’re all in this together, so let’s share in the depths of our raw, honest emotions through the sound and spectacle that is live music.  “I like to help people find joy. And I find that a lot of people just don’t know how to be vulnerable enough to find that joy,” Anderson says. “I want our music to help unlock that beauty that resides within each of us, to let out that vulnerability of what it means to be in the presence of live music, and of each other — music has always lifted me up, and I want to lift up the listener every single time I’m on that stage.”  

FREE 7-9pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Soul/Blues 

Listen here:  https://spoti.fi/3yjR28D

All his life, Eddie 9V (9-volt) has acted on instinct. Aged just 15, this old-soul artist turned away from the path of college and jobs to burst all guns blazing onto the roots and blues club circuit of his native Atlanta, Georgia. Flash forward to 2019, and for his debut album, Left My Soul In Memphis, the prodigious multi-instrumentalist simply powered up the amps in his mobile trailer and with his brother/co-writer/producer, Lane Kelly, laid down one of the year’s breakout releases, acclaimed as “fresh and life-affirming” by Rock & Blues Muse. “Memphis was a total side project,” shrugs Eddie, “that ended up taking off.” Now, released in 2021 on Ruf Records, Little Black Flies is the 25-year-old’s most impulsive move to date. Tracked live in Atlanta’s Echo Deco Studios through November 2020, once again with Lane turning the knobs, plus a who’s who of the state’s best musicians, it’s an album that Eddie planned to feel like it’s unfolding right in front of you – right down to the clink of bottles and loose studio banter. “I’ve seen a trend in modern recording,” he says. “There’s no soul. I took inspiration from Albert Collins, Otis Rush, Mike Bloomfield. All those great records were done live with their buddies and no overdubs. I wanted the playing to be spot-on – but even if we made a mistake, we kept going.” Little Black Flies represents a passing of the baton to a bandleader that many credit for reinvigorating the South’s proud roots scene. 

With his brother Lane and his friends, he was digging back into the catalogues of blues giants like Al Green, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Freddie King and Percy Sledge. “I studied the older cats,” he explains, “saw what made them groove and tick.”

Eddie still recalls the frustration of watching local musicians load into the fabled clubs of Atlanta. “My first heroes were the local legends like Sean Costello, but I was too young to go see them,” he remembers. When he finally made it inside, it was as a performer, learning his craft at the sharp end, and at precocious speed, with early vehicles like covers band The Smokin’ Frogs, and its maturing blues-rock offshoot, The Georgia Flood. In 2013 – and before Eddie had even graduated high school – The Georgia Flood represented the Atlanta Blues Society in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. That band spilled over into the indie-rock group PREACHERVAN, but perhaps the pivotal moment came in 2019, when he adopted the Eddie 9V moniker for his solo work. “I was on the road with PREACHERVAN and we were talking like mobsters. We all gave each other names – and mine was Eddie. ” Since that rebirth as Eddie 9V, he’s not only pricked up the ears of the music press (“A huge talent,” wrote Blues Blast, “to be noticed and followed”), but earned a respect on the scene that made it easy to recruit local heroes for the Little Black Flies sessions. 

FREE 7-9pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Pop Folk Rock

Listen here: https://spoti.fi/3HHK93z

Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!, the new album from Aaron Lee Tasjan, a genre-bending rising star who’s bold reimagination of classic sounds and songwriting has established him as one of the most idiosyncratic artists of his generation. His self-titled fourth album is a masterclass in interstellar pop, vintage glam, 90s Anglophilia and experimental and psychedelic rock & roll. Irreverent lyrics may show Tasjan with his tongue in his cheek, but Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is an album with something to say. His autobiographical lyrics reflect on self-acceptance, expose his own contradictions and offer a unique self-deprecating critique on the millennial generation’s simultaneous capacity for great empathy and narcissism. 

“Tasjan is here to represent, in both lyricism and musical vision, delivered with the whimsy of a sweet and salty spun confection.” - NPR

“Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is a triumphant progression, merging all Tasjan’s varied strands of his musical DNA into a genuine tour-de-force” - Rolling Stone

“Nashville’s most eclectic singer-songwriter returns with a trippy stunner full of swirling, immersive rock songs that evoke both the effervescence of the Sixties and the grit of today.” - Rolling Stone   

FREE 7-9pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

Psychedelic Indie Rock

Listen here: https://youtu.be/Vj4z-Xaa36Y

The Get Right Band is a psychedelic indie rock power trio from Asheville, NC. They are a band focused on following their muses to honest self-expression, to whatever excites them and pushes them into unexplored territory. The Get Right Band proudly carries the torch for a long line of genre-bending power trios from Cream to The Jimi Hendrix Experience to The Police to Violent Femmes to Primus to Green Day to Nirvana to Sublime. It’s the space between the notes, the rawness and the maneuverability, that makes a power trio, well, so damn powerful. 

The band is built on the musical brotherhood that guitarist/vocalist Silas Durocher and bassist Jesse Gentry have formed playing music together since middle school. Durocher, who is a trained composer and has been commissioned to write for symphonies and chamber groups, has guitar chops that can soothe or rage and a charismatic swagger as a frontman and a singer. “Durocher has an impressive range and rich clarity to his vocals—think a more soulful Dan Auerbach” (Connect Savannah). Gentry’s virtuosic bass playing “catapults from elastic to nasty” (The Mountain Xpress). With the addition of Jian-Claude Mears, a drummer with “precision, passion, and an inescapable momentum” (Live For Live Music), the group’s sound has become an unstoppable force. They have been wowing audiences around the country and the Caribbean since their inception in 2011 with an unparalleled live show and a relentless tour schedule. 

"The Get Right Band are the type of performers that you just know will break out. Their songs are infectious and take you immediately to a place. The lyrics are smart and bear weight." 

-The Huffington Post

“I love this song!”

-Marc Maron, of WTF podcast

FREE 7-9pm

575 Riverside Road, Roswell, GA 30075

http://roswellgov.com/RiversideSounds

R&B Soul

Listen here: https://youtu.be/oTR_ls5a4MQ

Deep, raw funk. Stax-style Southern soul. Uplifting Motown-channeling anthems. Atlanta’s Ruby Velle and the Soulphonics are the heirs to the thrones of the old-school masters. But they’re much more than just a group of revivalists trying to create a period piece. Powerhouse singer Velle and her band will settle for nothing less than bringing these classic sounds glimmering into the now with a fresh new modern sheen.  Ruby Velle and the Soulphonics have made a name for themselves captivating audiences with their stirring live performances. They’re a world-class modern soul revue topped off with the cherry of Velle’s sultry voice, as she deftly toggles between sweetly crooned R&B tunes and expertly belted barn-burning get-downs that can instantly jolt a roomful of wallflowers into a wild dance party.  It’s this inviting and accessible bravado that has scored the band critical acclaim from outlets such as The New York Daily News, MTV, Paste and more. And in addition to their critical success, at a time when record sales are at an all-time industry low, the independent, DIY-minded Velle and the Soulphonics sold a quarter-million downloads of their single “My Dear” on iTunes, landing them in the top 30 on Billboard’s Heatseeker charts and at a stunning #4 on the iTunes R&B charts when their debut album It’s About Time was released in 2012. The group has shared bills with megastars and indie press darlings alike, including Erykah Badu, The XX, Goodie Mob, Gary Clark Jr., Animal Collective, Feist and Kendrick Lamar.

"An R&B classic in the making" -- Paste Magazine  PASTE MAG/ http://bit.ly/2pBRA4W  

“The New Wave of American Soul 2.0”  -- AXS.com  "Atlanta's Queen of Soul"  -- NPR /WABE/ Lois Reitzes  

"It’s clear they’re ready for the big leagues."  -- Creative Loafing/Hal Horowitz