George Taylor, Goochland Virginia native, is a storyteller at heart. The inspirations of his southern roots help him craft stories about common people, raw emotions and the reality of the world around him. But instead of a written manuscript, Taylor tells his stories through an Americana soundtrack laced with a bluesy guitar and harmonica. The final product is as honest and real as music comes- no easy job in a world where the musical tug of war between artistic and commercial rages on. Taylor is an artist who remains true to his musical voice.

After releasing his debut album, TroubleTown, that musical journey led him to the Delta searching for the heart of the blues, the genre that had taken a stranglehold on him. Serendipitously, while touring Helena, Arkansas, he found himself at a live broadcast of the historic blues radio show “King Biscuit Time.” The legendary DJ Sonny Payne, upon receiving and reviewing a copy of TroubleTown, invited Taylor to do an on air interview and featured “Raining & Cold” on the show! Then he hit the road to Austin, Texas, the “live music capital of the world.” In the three years he spent in Austin, Taylor established himself as a must see performer with residencies in the area. He has opened for Dale Watson, a Texas country legend, played with the late Gene Kurtz (writer/bassist “Treat Her Right” the Roy Head hit-1965) and wowed SXSW crowds. In summer 2013 he returned home to Richmond, VA where he has shared the stage with Charles Bradley and is leaving audiences in awe along with his top notch band at shows in the region.

His new album — Rain or Shine is available April 22.

Flesh and The Devils is Cincinnati Garage and Punk Rock throwbacks from bands such as The Pariahs, The Long Gones, The Cincinnati Suds and The Dixie Trash. The members are Kevin Donahue on vocals, Sean Morrisey on Drums and Vocals, Kevin Hennessy on Bass, Kevin Apgar on Guitar and Stace Keeney on Guitar and organ.  The tracks on this limited edition 7 inch were recorded on an old Otari 8 track reel to Reel by Stace Keeney and Jeff Higgins. The tracks were mixed by Stace Keeney and Dan Murphy at Group Effort Studio.  Not many were made, so grab them while you can – hit up the group via facebook.

Coming very soon from Hot Releases (and available at select live performances) — Stress Techno 12″– Outsider techno realized via modular synth, drum machine, stress by Andrew Peterson of legendary NC noise duo Yohimbe.  Check out the track “Yelling” and stay tuned to Hot Releases for shipping info on the record.

Composed and recorded in Los Angeles and San Francisco, I is the debut full-length album by Maxwell August Croy and Sean McCann. Croy is best known for his work in Bay Area duo EN, wherein he processes koto, voice, and other instrumentation into ecstatic and nuanced drone-based recordings. McCann is a solo artist whose work continues to undergo seismic evolutions, manifested most recently on the justly lauded “Music for Private Ensemble,” an album of autodidactic modern composition that defies easy categorization. Working as a duo, Croy and McCann have successfully synthesized compositional and aesthetic tropes from their respective discographies in order to produce something extraordinary. “Parting Light (Suite)” opens the album with a flurry of koto, cello, and violin lines masterfully woven together; a complex movement that dissembles to reveal a more spacious environment in which each gesture takes on a heightened significance. Croy’s koto lends the piece an Eastern aura that is complicated by McCann’s playing which is equal parts idiosyncratic and grandiose. Elsewhere, “Alexandria” finds the duo operating at their most celestial, working their instruments into a harrowing, beautiful dirge comprised of clarion tones and wide-eyed string arrangements. Ultimately, the sensibility cultivated by Croy and McCann on I proves to be utterly unique, perhaps situated best somewhere among the soundworlds of Gavin Bryars, Taj Mahal Travellers and Richard Skelton. The LP was mastered by Rashad Becker and the jacket features exclusive monotypes by Andrew Chalk.

Nyiko Beguin (“nee-koh” “bay-gan”) (born November 1, 1990), better known by his middle name NYIKO, is an American recording artist, producer, and visual artist.

Growing up in a close community of artists and musicians, Beguin started writing and recording music when he was seven years old. His music has taken on many forms since he began recording, but he is often identified with the genre of electronic pop. His stage name, NYIKO, is a South African name of the Shangaan people (which means “Gift”).

His new EP/Art Book — Always Always — is available now.

Most people now know Ari Herstand as the guy who helped them fly with their instruments. His Carry Your Instrument On The Plane… It’s The LAW blog post went viral and has been viewed over 250,000 with over 40,000 Facebook Likes. In just under two years, Herstand’s music business advice blog, Ari’s Take, has been nominated by the LA Weekly as the best music blog in Los Angeles and has become a go to resource for DIY musicians.

Ari Herstand is a DIY musician who has played over 550 shows around the country, has opened for Ben Folds, Cake, Matt Nathanson and Ron Pope, and has had his music featured in countless TV shows.

As an actor, he has co-starred in TV shows including 2 Broke Girls, The Fosters, Sam & Cat and Touch.

Before acting and blogging, Herstand spent a full year working on his newest release, Brave Enough, in his former home of Minnesota. Teaming up with his long-time engineer and close friend, Grammy nominated, Paul Marino, the two organized an all-star band, including Herstand’s “favorite drummer on the planet” Dave King (The Bad Plus), to create his 3rd full-length record.

Known by his fans primarily for his live looping – combining the trumpet, beat boxing, keys, acoustic guitar, percussion and vocals – this record is a clear departure from his solo show. The four interludes scattered throughout the record tease the looping he is known for.

Order the Vinyl release: http://ariherstand.com

Symbol is the solo effort of producer and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Royal King. Best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the massive orchestral-rock ensemble This Will Destroy You, King has also composed and recorded scores for a host of prominent feature-films and documentaries, established Light Lodge Records, and moonlights in Austin’s amorphous ambient collective AMASA•GANA.

Now, on his first solitary odyssey apart from TWDY King’s masterful ear for signal processing and affinity for corroded elegance takes free reign over a vastly expanded inventory of instrumentation. Throughout Symbol’s debut –  Online Architecture – (out on HOLODECK / LIGHT LODGE April 8th 2014 on LP / CS / DL) organic sound-sources are meticulously transmuted through chains of modules and magnetic tape, each successive stage creating a compounded quantity of detail and decay. After four studio albums with TWDY King has crafted an arresting solo debut that is both gorgeously tranquil and devastatingly heavy, offering a direct-line into his psyche which had not existed until now.